Fan Fiction ❯ Hell Hath No Fury ❯ Back From Hell ( Chapter 1 )

She looked at the figure lying at her feet. The debate in her mind continuing even as she gazed at his unconscious face. He looked human enough, but she refused to let go of the sight of the medallion around his neck, and the fact that she had just saved him from the underwater ruins of Mallet Island.

"Chara," a youth's voice called.

Deep purple eyes narrowed slightly as she turned her attention to the road ahead of her. Of course Gage would want to meet with her. She was all that the teen and his sister had left. "Go back home. We're going to have a guest," she said as her deep green hair blew in the wind. Chara looked down at the mysterious man at her feet again. He was handsome, she wouldn't deny that. But with where he was found, there was little doubt that he wasn't a demon. She knelt down to the man again and looked at him. "This better not be a mistake, otherwise, I'll make you wish you were still in on that island," she growled before lifting him up onto her shoulder.

A groan escaped him. Hazy jade colored eyes opened to meet large gold ones. A frown crossed his face. He was still alive, and it didn't look like he was in Hell. But that left too many options for him to be.

"Are you awake?" the girl sitting next to him asked. She looked at him with innocent eyes and it made his heart ache. All children were innocent.... It was one of the few beliefs that he still held.

As he opened his mouth to say something, the girl turned away from him. "I think he's waking up Chara," she said standing. 

He looked around trying to get his bearings. He stopped when he saw a tall woman with long green hair and the darkest pair of purple eyes he'd ever seen looking at him. He saw the way her jaw tightened, as if ready to rip his head off. But what surprised him the most was how soft her voice was when addressing the little girl.

"Go find your brother Gabby. I want to have a talk with our guest," she said running her fingers through soft cinnamon colored bangs. She watched the girl as she ran out of the room and took a slow breath. Once the ten year old was gone, she turned a vicious glare to the man in her bed. "Are you a demon?" she asked bluntly.

He shifted around and tried to force himself to sit up. A sharp pain laced through his side, making him fall back to the mattress. His pale green eyes glared up at the woman in front of him, almost as if she was the cause of his injuries. "Half," he bit out.

She felt her lips twitch as she went to go and get a cup of water. He seemed like the type that tried to do everything for himself... even cause himself unnecessary pain. "Do you have a name?" she asked as she turned her back to him.

"Do you?"

This time she did smile. "I asked you first, and besides, you owe me." She turned and looked into his eyes. "I could have simply left you in Mallet Island. Surrounded by nothing but blood, Blades and water."

He glared at her. He'd always hated being in debt to anyone, and by her attitude, she was going to be a case reason as to why. "It's Dante," he said barely keeping the growl out of his voice.

"Well, Dante. You can call me Chara," she said placing the glass of water on the night stand next to him. "And I'm only going to warn you once, harm any of the people in this village, and I'll send you straight to Hell."

He was speechless as she looked into his eyes. Before he could say anything, she was lifting him into a sitting position and piling pillows behind his back. "What are you?" he asked in turn. When she let him lean back, he saw a curious look in her exotic eyes. "I know most men that can't lift me, and I don't think I'm so fucked up that a woman can. Not an ordinary one."

She smirked faintly at his logic. "I'm an angel," she answered lowly.

When his eyebrows rose, she turned and walked out of the room. Dante could only look at the opened door, dumbstruck. All of the images he had of angels were blonde haired, blue eyed, halos and white wings. Chara was not that, not by a long shot. If anything she looked as if she could be sex and sin personified. Her long dark green hair looked almost black inside of the room, and her eyes looked as if they would burn him alive if she thought hard enough.

"Gage, no, Chara said not to go in there," the girl, Gabby, whispered from the hallway.

Dante frowned as he saw a boy quietly walk into the room. "You should listen to the girl," he said as the youth froze up.

"You're not him," the boy said with relief. "I had to make sure you weren't."

"I wasn't who?" Dante asked. He felt his eyes narrow when the boy ignored him and went to the door.

"It's okay Gabby, he's not Valen," the teenager said with a small smile.

The girl Dante woke up to walked into the room. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Who's Valen?" Dante asked.

Her brother smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Valen's eyes aren't that nice. He has evil eyes."

Dante wanted to scream. Not only had he been manhandled by a woman, but now two kids were talking about him as if he wasn't even in the room... and they said he was nice! He leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling. "Maybe I am in Hell," he whispered to himself.

"No, you're on Lagune Island," Gabby supplied. She walked over to the foot of the bed and carefully sat on it. "I'm Gabby, and this is my brother Gage," she said gesturing to the boy. "What's your name?"

"Dante," he answered. As he looked at the two siblings, he could easily tell that they weren't entirely human. Their eyes were too bright. He's only seen demons with eyes that color. He swallowed and frowned. His throat felt raw and dry. Plus he was starting to get tired again. He looked over to where the glass of water Chara left for him was and started to reach for it.

"Do you want me to get that for you?" Gage asked. Before Dante could answer, he was already putting the glass in a shaking hand. "Oh, and Valen's this really mean guy that came here before."

Dante let the boy help him, hating every second of it. But he knew that if he wanted any answers, he would have to get as much as he could from the boy and his sister. "What did he do?" Dante asked before taking a drink of water.

Gabby lowered her head slightly. "He killed a lot of people. Even our mom." She turned her eyes away from Dante. "I have to go fix dinner," she said before leaving.

Gage sighed as he put the glass back on the night stand. "Gabby's real sensitive about death," he said lowly. "And Valen's something we really try not to get into around her. She was forced to watch him kill a lot of his victims."

"How old are you two?" Dante had to ask.

Gage smiled slightly. He knew he looked older than what he really was, and his sister was just the opposite. "Gabby's ten, I'm thirteen. Valen and Chara came through here about four years ago."

"Chara?"

"Yeah. She and Valen were demon hunters together." Gage's eyes widened, almost as if he said something wrong. "You... you believe in demons, right?" he asked carefully.

A smirk crossed Dante's lips. "I'm half demon, kid. I think the human side is what stopped Chara though."

Gage nodded. "Yeah. You're like me and Gabby. Our Mom was a demon and Valen found out. Chara said that since she wasn't hurting anyone, we should have been left alone. But he wouldn't listen. He kidnapped Gabby... and killed Mom. Then anyone that came after him was killed too."

"How'd you get your sister back?"

"I fought Valen and gave up my place in Heaven," Chara said from the door. She looked at Gage as he quickly stood and backed away from Dante. "I thought I said he's to be left alone?" she asked the boy.

"Gabby was scared. She thought he came back," Gage tried to argue.

"And now that she knows he's not, there's no reason for you to be in here telling things that strangers shouldn't know." As Gage opened his mouth to argue, Chara folded her arms over her chest and gave him a level glare.

Gage lowered his head in defeat. There wasn't any winning with his guardian when she looked at him like that. With a sigh, he started for the door. "Alright. I'll go and check on her," he mumbled. "See ya Dante."

Dante looked at Chara. "You shouldn't be so upset with him," he said lowly.

"I'm not upset," she said lowly.

"You look like you are."

"While you look like you went though Hell."

"I did."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "What?" she asked in a whisper.

"It's a long story. But the short version was that I went to Hell to fight a demon, and got stuck. So, I had to go and find an exit. I'm guessing that the exit's on what used to be Mallet Island." Dante closed his eyes and let out a small sigh. "I don't even know how long I've been gone," he admitted. "My business is probably shot to shit, and there's no telling where Lagune Island is."

Chara leaned against the wall and looked at him. She had been suspicious, but now she knew the truth without a doubt. "You're Dante," she said with a shake of her head.

"I told you that," he said opening one eye to glare at her.

"No, I mean you're Dante, the Devil that everyone fears." She smiled and walked over to him. "You're the son of Sparda."

"Yeah, I'm a legend," he said sarcastically. "Do you want my autograph now?"

"Not really," Chara said leaning close to him. "You don't impress me, I've killed more demons than you," she whispered into his ear.

Suddenly Dante was sitting up straight again and Chara was pulling the pillows from behind his back. "So why would who I am make any difference then?"

Chara eased him back down and sighed. "There are a lot of demons that feel the way your father felt. That the humans should be left out of any wars between Heaven and Hell. Most of them live here. I thought to find out some information on Mundus four years ago, and Valen came with me. I made friends with Giga, Gage and Gabby's mother. She was very good at hiding that she was a demon. But I knew. I think Valen knew too. We found out that you destroyed Mallet Island a month before we got here, and Valen lost his temper. He felt that we, as angels, had been robbed. It was our mission to kill demons, no one else's. So he turned on the village. Giga was the first casualty. Gabby's sanity was the second. And I had brought him here. When I asked the Heavens for help, it was denied because he was killing demons. It didn't matter that they hadn't harmed anyone else. So I made a choice. Help Valen kill innocents, or send him back to Heaven on his ass, with no chance to ever go back myself."

"You don't want another demon hunter to prey on the village," Dante said quietly. He looked into her saddened eyes and suddenly saw it. A flash of light that made him want to scream in terror, and hold her close to worship her. He closed his eyes and turned his head away from her. "As soon as I'm able, I'll head back to New York," he said lowly.

Chara looked at his profile for a long moment. He was strong, there was no doubt of that. And there was a chance that he would be able to help her in protecting Lagune. Her eyes then narrowed as she thought about the destroyed Mallet Island. The villagers here couldn't afford new homes, and she had a sinking feeling that Dante would demolish everything before all was said and done. "Good." She turned away from Dante and went back over to the small pile of sheets she had been folding. As she picked up a pale yellow sheet, she frowned. With Mundus being sealed away, the portal to Hell on Mallet Island had been sealed. But if Dante was able to come through that same portal, there was no telling what could have followed him. "And in the morning, we'll start working on getting you back on your feet," she said almost as an after thought.

Dante looked at her. She had her back to him and was simply folding laundry, but he could tell she was disturbed by something. "What? Are you that anxious to get rid of me?"

She turned to him slightly. As their eyes met, she gave him the same smirk he was infamous for. "No," she said slowly. When he frowned at her, she went back to her sheet. "You're going to help clean up the mess you probably made."

In the Heavens, two men sat in a large garden. The pair looked to be as similar as twins, but were as different as night and day. "So, has there been any word?" the white-haired man asked. He looked at his counter-part and tilted his head to the side.

A deep chuckle escaped the pale gothic figure. "Would you believe that the one that we're looking for, was once in your grasp?" he asked. When a golden eyebrow arched, he leaned back in his chair. "My soldiers report that the Heretic is on the island of Lagune." He ignored the growl that escaped his brother. "I can also tell you that its powers are still dormant. So you can move in and kill it without too much of a fight." Eyes the color of ice locked with those the color of sapphires. "Unless you're still scared of her," he taunted.

The blonde's eyes narrowed as he curled his hand into a fist. "I have never been afraid of her," he spat. "The only reason why she won was because Ariel pulled me back."

"That's not how I remember it Valen."

"Then how do you remember it Athos?"

The demon lord tilted his head to the side. "I remember seeing her sword running through you. As well as an almost frightening amount of your blood cover the ground before Ariel intervened and gave her Michael's judgement." He smiled as the growl that escaped Valen became louder.

"You may believe that it happened like that, but know that I would have stayed and finished the fight," Valen said quickly. His eyes narrowed as the raven-haired man scoffed and waved off what he had said. "Let's move on. I have some information for you as well," he said.

A dark eyebrow rose. "Really? I hate being kept in the dark," he said leaning forward. When Valen looked at him, he smiled. "Humor me," he said carelessly.

"I know where you can send your Hunters." Valen stood and walked over to a near rose bush. He looked at one of the pure white roses and gently fingered its petals. "As the Fates would have it, he's on Lagune as well. It seems that the portal he escaped through went to Mallet Island, and she was there to rescue him."

Athos smiled as he put his leather-clad legs up on the table. "So our most hated adversaries are together on a little abomination of an island." He looked at Valen as he slowly nodded his head. "And the Heretic that can bring peace to all three worlds is more than likely under their protection." Again, Valen nodded and Athos felt his smile grow. "This is going to be fun," he said just before vanishing in the light breeze that passed. Valen continued to pet the rose. "Yes, fun indeed," he whispered to himself.