Devil in My Mind

Dante VS Trigon

In the dead of night, gasping, Raven awakes in her bed. Resting on pillows saturated in tears, she assumes. Why else would the fabric be wet? Spooked, she holds her head then examines her hand. There's blood in her hair and on her face. She uncovers herself, ungracefully tumbles onto the floor, then gets up, aspiring to make her way to the bathroom down the hall for a shower.

But all she can do is open her bedroom door with her powers. Disoriented, she trembles in place and stares at her hands. The blood is fresh and warm and feels like it came from her chest, from her heart. Everything seems so real, so paralyzing. She covers her face as she did in the dream then shakes and sobs.

What a horrible feeling. But she's not alone. She doesn't realize Dante's entered the room, with Ebony and Ivory raised, searching for whatever attacked her. He quickly realizes that whatever it was, it wasn't physical. Though it must have been traumatic, considering the blood coming from her chakra. She reminds him of himself when demons attacked his childhood home. He remembers exactly how it felt to be that helpless and small, and embraces her empathetically.

"Shhh, hey, it's alright." He hugs her closely and shushes her carefully, stroking her hair and making her feel so protected, it's as though Trigon never existed. Softly he asks her, "What happened, Bunny?"

Raven feels outside of her body, looking down at a kid version of herself. Is he really there with her, comforting her inner child? How soothing! Should she tell him now, the way she loves him?

"No, what am I gonna say? Hey Dante, I love you like a father and I even wished for you to be my dad before I ever met you. And I'm so happy you're here, hugging me!"

"I had a nightmare," she says through sniffles, gripping onto him tightly. Unexpectedly, he replies with...

"Let me in once more and I'll destroy whatever demon caused that nightmare."

"You, you will? Really?"

"Yes."

She gazes at him, wondering how she can make it so.

Her eyes go white.

Before anything else can happen, Dante finds himself standing among stone ruins, on a pine-covered mountain. The sky is orange and pink, beautiful yet melancholy, with drizzling clouds rolling along an ancient city below.

Azarath.

A colorful playground catches his eye. There, banshee-like demons circle menacingly.

"In a place like this, devils should be forbidden to dwell," he remarks with apprehension.

RAM. One of the monsters lunges into the little bars where children are meant to play. To Dante's horror, a small child's voice cries out!

"Help, I'm trapped!"

He conjures his Devil Sword and goes into a semi-Devil Triggered state, manifesting only his glorious wings. Disinterested in whether he meant to do that or not, he hurries in for the kill.

"On my way!"

SWOOSH. He swoops in and slays them all! It's a terrible gore fest but lucky for the little one hiding at the top of the slide, it's over quickly.

"All done," he tells her. "You can come out now." Poking her head out cautiously, she looks around to see all the demons, dead. His heart skips a beat.

It's Little Raven!

She gasps at the sight of him, her eyes filled with wonderful, angelic love. Thrilled, he lets his sword vanish, then kneels so she can run into his arms.