DmC Illia's Chronicles

Mission 18: Epilog

The day came speedily, packing up all of their belongings in Axel's car. Vergil climbed into the driver's seat, kind enough to take on the mantle of driving as they all settled in. The pair said their final goodbyes from the bar, catching Enzo, who came clumsy running when he heard the news. With the team gone, the bar finally disappeared, back into hiding as it initially did between the realms. This vale of Limbo may be gone, but different powers still enveloped the world and with Rodin's type of business, he didn't like being out in the open.

It was challenging to get out of the destroyed city; attempting to avoid evacuees was its own huddle, but once they found the path for emergency vehicles to come and go, Limbo city faded from view in mere minutes. Illia directed Vergil on how to get to where she desired to go. 'Avalon,' a beautiful town that resided two hours away, where the rich would settle down for generations of lavish living and the place of her birth. Moderate conversations about Vergil's plans got both Illia and Heine thinking. The legend of Sparda was a tale that everyone was familiar with the devil that stood up to his leader using his blade and the blood of a maiden to seal away the underworld from humankind, though, with Mundus' influence, you'd be a fool to speak about it aloud.

But alas, most of the actual history of the story was gone, where the location of where Sparda sealed away the underworld had been lost to present-day scholars. Expesselly being protected from the public eye to avoid those who would attempt to stand up to the old demon king's deception.

Nonetheless, it was something Vergil wished to look into; even Illia was fascinated about what could be learned from that history. Heine's eyes lit up as they drove past the intricate architecture of the large homes that were spread out on the narrow roads; even Vergil cocked a curious brow to the state of the town, wondering why Illia didn't mention she had such robust ties such as this. Illia slid down in her seat, not fully prepared to be seen by anyone who might recognize her and partly to escape the nosey side-eyes from her companions she received. They reached the end of one of the roads that Vergil was instructed to turn down, approaching a giant brink fence with a large iron gate. A large "H" engraved on the handle of the gate's emblem still shined brightly in the sun's light. Halting the car adjacent to the entrance, they all exited; Heine and Vergil slowly followed Illia, who took the lead—watching as she quickly threw up her hood to avoid prying eyes from them and possible neighbors.

"Come on, stop staring before someone thinks we're casing the place!" Illia yelled in a hushed whisper as she ushered them both inside, With them both shuffling immediately as she closed it behind them.

With vegetation, claiming the stone of the mansion. The yard was unkept, along with weeds invading the overrun flowerbeds. The outside of the windows was dirty as the statues littered various lawn places. It was all covered in grime from the past five years.

"Illia, whose house is this?" Heine questioned, keeping pace with her as she shyly started inspecting rocks near the front door,

"It's mine...." She said, throwing aside sizeable rocks that didn't seem to be what she was looking for,

"This is your family home?"

"It is...." She lingered, still digging,

"You made it sound a lot smaller in your stories." He said, stepping closer to glance at the stonework of one of the lions that stood at the side of the door,

"Well, it's not something I like to brag about!" finally finding the one she was searching for, she removed a key that was embedded as the bottom,

Unlocking the front entrance, it creaked annoyingly to the team that pressed inside cautiously. Illia wasn't sure what she might find in the study that she was never permitted to enter; however, if her mother sent the necklace that she stashed in the jacket pocket ahead of her, it must have been significant. She tested the light switch and was relieved that electricity still ran in this manor, thank goodness. The estate was even more stunning on the inside, the complete opposite of the untidiness of the front lawn. It was as though someone had been here recently to at least dust and do mild cleaning. Not that she would know who, she inherited the home after her mother passed but was told someone else would be looking after it in her absence.