Aria of the Devil Soul

Two Kind of Hurts

Someone was behind him. Nero could be sure of it. Someone who tried to reach out for Blue Rose. A tiny hand if he could sense it right. It never happened to him before.

Who would dare and try to steal Blue Rose? The nerves.

When the hand was about to grab the handle of the revolver, the devil hunter catches it, pulling the thief in front of him in order to face them. To his big surprise, it was Crow from the Phantom Thieves, Akechi Goro from his real name. His fancy but ruined suit shows that he had a rough night that should had been a good time. His left eye was clearly dead, his left side covered with burns and scars, like mentioned in his files. But it was still disturbing to see... wait a minute... his eyes were shining in an odd way... a non-human way... could it be...

Maybe... maybe it was one of the Personae? He couldn't say what those being could or couldn't do so, maybe thinking that was stupid. No one could say it to him. But, if it was true, which one was in front of him: Loki or Robin Hood? And, most important, what happened to Akechi?

"What are you trying to do?" Asked Nero, still annoyed by the fact someone tried to take his beloved revolver.

"Let..." The person, it was still confusing, tried to free his hand from Nero's grip but was not strong enough. "Let me go! I just needed a gun to protect someone!"

"I won't let you go, Akechi." Said Nero, making the younger man froze and look at him in chock. "Or are you Loki? Robin Hood? I'm not sure."

"How do you know our human's name?" Was confused the being. Then really angry, trying harder to set himself free. "Who are you? What do you want from us?!"

"Nero Sparda, Devil Hunter from the Devil May Cry agency. And I know your name because Lavenza and Igor gave it to us. They asked us to find you, protect you and get you back home. The all of you." The being seemed to calm down, processing what was just said to him. Once he was totally calm, Nero let him go. Massaging his sore hand, the Persona asked how he could believe what he said.

How would he know he could trust Nero? Especially since he was able to say he was not Goro. How was he able to tell the difference?

"Simple." Was Nero's answer, pointing his own eyes. "Your eye shine in a non-human way. I don't know much about Personae, so I assume you have abilities that overpass my knowledge. Like switching with your human. Was I wrong?" Not really but that's different.

It's rare that human could do that. They have to work hard to be able to give some freedom to their Personae. Well, it was still important to say that this time, their humans had been forced to sleep in the back of their mind. His mind partner was trying everything he could to wake up their dear Goro.

And the Persona decided he would maybe believe him. With his gun, his sword, and his strength, would he have been wanted to kill him, no doubt he would already have done it. And if Nero wasn't sure of how he should feel about this, he decided to ask about the person he wanted to protect. Because he said he wanted to protect someone? Was it one of his teammates? Or just Akechi? Were they hurt or something?

Yeah, it was the old man, Jean Valjean. He was injured by a demon while trying to protect them. He needed help in a short time or he, and Zenkichi, would both die.

"Show me where he is. I can do something for him." They were no time to lose. It's a good thing he had a large vital star on him. Never knew when one will be needed.

"I let him rest two street away." Said the Persona with some relieve in his voice, leading Nero to Hasegawa. "And I'm Robin, by the way. Loki still doesn't really trust you." Nero muttered something about not being surprised while following the Persona in human body.

He didn't lie, two street away, half hidden behind a garbage container, Hasegawa Zenkichi, his torn jacket used to put pressure on his side wound. He looked pale and weak, was barely awake when Nero reached out to him.

"Who... who the hell are you?" He asked in French before coughing loudly. Robin got by his side, talking to him in Japanese.

The older Persona still seemed not ready to believe him. It didn't matter. Nero just used the vital star on him, making him so confused of what just happened. The torn injuries on his side disappeared with a great part of the pain, leaving Valjean mostly tired and confused. Then he asks Robin if he could see with Valjean how tired he was. If the man needed help to walk, even to be carried. They will go to the Devil May Cry agency to rest while the Devil Hunter were still looking for the rest of the team.

Robin nodded, saying he would explain everything to his partner at the same time. Helping his elder to stand up, receiving a kiss on his forehead, Robin started to speak in Japanese. The jacket was completely soak with blood, but Jean still brings it instead of throwing it away.

At some point, Valjean said something really odd, and in French.

"Holy freaky demons! They put us in a really bad posture by taking us here!"

"I don't want to assume but I guess he say he think the demons are responsible for your problems. Right?" Robin translated to his partner, confuse of what just happened. He finally replied when Jean said yes to him. "I guess you deserve to have the full explanation of what happened. Lavenza gave us some explanation too. To be sure we're ready to face what brings you in this dimension." And, under their confused gaze, he started to tell them everything he knew, Robin translating to Valjean.

And saying they were mad was a euphemism. Even Loki, from what Robin said, agreed to say that he was the one to fear the most among them. Not that lovely man known as Arsène Lupin. Even the devil prince Sathanaël was a darling demon. How can someone right in his mind could think something so horrible about them?

Back at the agency, they were already three Phantoms: Goemon, Jeanne and Milady. They will be five. Half of them were already found. Just remained the other half. And it was only midday. They just hoped they would them all the very same day. It would be good.