Fighting Through the Air of Darkness

Mission 5- Onward and Upward!

        "Dante! Look out!", Akira shouts at him as she sliced a Greed demon in half. Dante quickly dodged another demon strike and quickly shot it and it turned to sand in an instant. The fights were getting more intense the more Dante and Akira ascended up to the top of the tower and they were wearing her down so much that she almost fainted from fighting; she wasn't used to it like Dante was and he took notice when she nearly fainted. Akira never realized it until it was too late but she was near an edge as the stone below her feet crumbled and gravity took over, making her reach out for Dante's hand as he hurried to catch her. Just in the nick of time, he caught her wrist, but his hand didn't have a strong grip enough to stop her fall as he watched helplessly from his position; Akira still had her hand extended as she fell towards her imminent death, and as she closed her eyes, she felt her own fire powers being channeled to her back and when she opened them, flames in the shape of wings formed on her, making her fly upward to Dante, who quickly stood up and backed away from the edge as her feet touched the ground.

        The wings faded away once she was on solid ground when she suddenly fainted and Dante caught her while noticing a circlet with an orange gem in the middle, hidden in the young woman's bangs. The gem glowed a very dim light as if it had a small flame deep inside it burning as he realized Akira wasn't going to wake anytime soon, so he carried her bridal style while advancing in the tower. He set Akira up against a wall as he watched her sleep, she was beautiful, he had to admit, but he wondered where did she come from, who was this "Annabelle" person, and was she like him. All of these thoughts had him so deep in them he never noticed he was getting closer to her face and that she opened her eyes to him as close as he was; she let out a yelp of fright and with all of her strength, she punched him in the face, making the half-devil go backwards and land a few feet from Akira lying on his stomach as she pulled her legs closer to her and her arms covered her chest so innocently while shouting, "Wh-what was that all about?!" "Calm down, sweetheart", he said as he stood up, "I didn't know I was that close to you"

        He offered his hand and she took it and stood up when they both heard the sound of a groan echoed the halls. Whatever it was, it was coming to them when Akira noticed someone walking towards them in a limping way, making Akira shout, "ZOMBIE!!!!" The zombie took notice of them and soon enough, a horde was right behind it as Dante shouted while pulling on her shoulder, "Run, run!" They hurried until they both took a wrong turn to another ledge, making Dante let out a string of cursing. The horde was coming closer and Akira soon said to Dante, "Take my hands, Dante" "What-?" "Take my hands!", she repeated and he did so with no question; Akira jumped from the ledge with all of her strength and bound while the flame wings formed once more on her back and the zombies fell to their death.

        Dante's hands slipped and he quickly grabbed her ankles, giving her a chance to use her fire powers to burn the horde as they fell and he couldn't help but look down watching the horde burn and fall; as high as they were, it could easily kill anyone, even a demon, and once the last zombie fell off the edge, Akira flew to the ledge, letting Dante let go of her ankles and he landed with his feet a foot from the ground. "You gonna-", Dante began but was cut off when he turned around and saw Akira screaming with laughter as she flew in front of him while shouting, "I'm flying! Whoo-hoo!" Her laughter was music to Dante's ears as he watched her fly all around the tower, but he knew she would have to come back to land soon; as if on cue, Akira shouted to him, "Brace yourself, I'm gonna try to stick my landing" He watched her when a sudden gust of wind blew her off course a bit and she focused on getting to land; the wind was gusting towards Dante and sure enough Akira collided into him, making him skid across the floor and stop near a door leading further into the tower. They both let out groans of pain as Akira soon looked down to see Dante underneath her while her lips were pressed against his, making her blush wildly and jump while saying "Sorry", but Dante just got up and said as he brushed himself off, "Ya know, I've been known to make girls come to me, but not like that"

        Akira tried to hide the blush but it wasn't enough when Dante noticed it as he gave her a devilish grin, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him with her back on his chest while he purred into her ear, "C'mon, sweetheart, I didn't mind it" Akira just squirmed out of his grasp and just fell to her knees with tears coming from her eyes; she couldn't believe it, she had been kissed by Dante and she thought it would be sweet but it wasn't, she was scared and she didn't know why. Dante just rolled his eyes and said, "Sweetheart, please stop crying. I was just playing with you" Akira just looked at him as she wiped her tears and said, "It's not you, it's me" Dante was at first confused by Akira's answer but it soon clicked in his head of what happened and that he had pushed her way too far and he said, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to get you upset" "It's alright", Akira said standing up, "Let's get going. I don't think we have much further to go"

        As they continued onward, Dante couldn't help but ask, "So, who is this Annabelle? Is she your sister or something?" "She's my friend", Akira said, "We've been friends since I can remember. She's the tomboy between us, came from a rich family while I was in a poor family. She saved me from bullies once, but back then I had short hair and was made fun of all the time. One day I asked her if I should keep my hair short, and she said, 'You should keep your hair long, it looks better for you!' and I guess since then I've kept my hair long" Dante took a step back and said with a nod, "Yeah, long hair suits you" Akira blushed when she heard that and said shyly, "Th-thank you" They both hurried to the top of the tower as Akira thought, 'Please be ok Ann', and with that she ran awaiting her next battle as she hoped and prayed for her friend's safety, even if she was with Vergil.

        "Alright!", Dante said as they made it to a door, "Are you ready for another fight?" "Hell yeah, Dante", she replied as she opened the door, "What are we waiting for, let's go