The Countess and The Demon (Resident Evil X Devil May Cry)

Chapter 6: The Blood Link

About 2 hours later, Karl woke up to the sound of a heated discussion between Dante and Alcina. His ears were ringing, and he couldn't hear very well, but Dante sounded nonchalant, while Alcina was yelling at him. It sounded like she'd heard about the whole situation that had happened in the living room downstairs. Slowly but surely, he sat up in bed, making sure nothing was broken. His jaw still hurt like hell, that'd been one hell of an uppercut he'd taken. Twice in one day, he'd been swatted around like a fly. Noticing his hammer was nowhere in sight, he called upon his powers to bring it to him. Upon it smashing through the door, everyone looked over, sighing in relief as they saw him stand up and put his sunglasses back on.

Surprisingly, Donna was the first to ask if he was OK. The fact that she asked first didn't surprise him; she was the most empathetic of the 4 lords. What surprised him was the fact that she herself asked instead of Angie. Even the doll looked up at her with a surprised look, astounded that she had talked for herself for once. "Hey there, rust bucket, how're you feeling?" Dante asked, grimacing. "Fine, thanks. Now spill, fuckface. Who was that in the living room?!" Karl demanded, summoning a magnetic storm in the room, causing all metal objects to start shaking. Donna, not wanting to be caught in the middle of it, backed away into a corner where she hid behind the 3 daughters of Alcina, whom he hadn't noticed arrive. Slowly, Dante sat down, as did Alcina and Donna. "It's hard to talk about, but I'll keep it short. The man that attacked us in the living room.... was my brother. I thought he died 3 months ago, but somehow, he's still clinging to life. His mind is warped and broken, but he didn't seem as aggressive as before, almost like he's slowly breaking free of whatever Mundus did to him... and I have a feeling he and I are after the same thing." He said, before leaning forward. "He's after that damned sword I showed you, and news flash. What I did to you outside, Karl? That was me holding back. That was child's play. He won't show you the same mercy I did. He and I, we're 2 halves of the same coin. He fights to obtain power so that he may never experience loss again while I fight to defend those I care about. We've quite literally disagreed over the very reason of our existence all our lives. This is the kind of grudge that only ends one of two ways. Either one of us dies, or we both do. And so far, we've matched each other blow for blow, but he keeps coming back, more and more powerful, and I'm not properly equipped to deal with him. Lupo here did a fantastic job, but it's just delaying the inevitable. Does anyone have a pen?" He asked, pulling out a notepad. "Yeah, but why do you need it?" Karl asked, leaning back, hammer resting on his knees. "Gonna put in a request with the Duke. If I'm gonna be fighting my dear old twin brother, I'm gonna need to call in a favor," he said, before taking the pen and writing some instructions down. "Is there a phone around, by any chance? Gotta make sure some old friends hold their side of this little arrangenent." Lady Dimitrescu nodded. "There's one in my private chambers, I'll have Cassandra show you the way," she said, waving her daughter over.

Dante then proceeded towards the door, leaving without a word. He needed some time alone to process everything, but was stopped by Cassandra. "Come on, old timer, I'll show you where the phone is. And try not to fall behind." Dante didn't even get a chance to react before she exploded into a swarm of flies and phased through the door. Before she knew it, he was hot on her tail, keeping pace without even breaking a sweat. Looking back, she saw him gaining on her, almost like it was a race. Before they knew it, they arrived at a set of double doors with the sigil of House Dimitrescu on the center. "Phone's inside, make it quick. Let me see that letter, I'll make sure it gets to the Duke. Mother has decided to foot the bill, just this once, so do show your gratitude next time you see her," Cassandra said, before swiping the letter and phasing through the floor, towards the Duke's room. Inside the room was a large vanity, a stool, and a mannequin with one of Lady Dimitrescu's dresses on it. Near this was an old rotary style telephone, almost exactly like the one he had back at the shop. As he started to call Morrison, he heard something outside. When he looked out the window, he saw nothing but a few crow feathers fluttering against the scaffolding. Shrugging, he picked up the phone and made the call, arranging a meeting point between the Duke, who would deliver the weapons into the valley, and his allies back home who would prepare his weapons for the long shipment.