Tiki took shelter underneath some shade from the partially destroyed roof of the palace. Down below, Terna lowered her head in front of Luna and Yuno, in reaction to Tiki's harsh words.
"Terna you know that Tiki is-", Yuno was interrupted.
"Yes! A step closer to becoming a song!" Terna laughed.
"A what?" Luna asked.
"For Tiki to admit it, I'm absolutely improving! One day, I too can be added to a legendary song that passes through the ages!"
"You're sure excited about some....interesting comments from her.", Yuno backed away.
"This is exactly what I wish for Yuno. If I become a song that everyone can remember and be motivated in the future, just something they can look up to, I'll be the happiest ever! And any positivity from those who have experienced legends is more than welcomed!"
"I feel like this is specific to Tiki, but...whatever floats your boat I guess?" Yuno passed through the destroyed gates, "I'm gonna go take a position. You guys can sort yourselves out and get ready."
Terna turned to Luna, "Luna, what do ya say? Wanna pair up while I enchant you?!"
Luna nodded, "Our collaborative effort should raise a challenge for our target."
"Cool! Let's hide and get ready!"
While the final two went to prepare for their ambush against Dante, he himself landed on the central plaza of Dirunon, his landing echoing a signal of readiness to his friends to the palace above. He quickly began making his way up, avoiding pausing to take in the destruction of his surroundings, knowing full well where to head and that stopping to gaze at the destruction would only take precious time away from whatever he had left. He dashed quickly towards the front of the one area he knew he would never be able to avert his eyes from no matter how hard he tried. A hollow and empty black garden with a destroyed fountain and burned flora were before him, and a small river of spring water formed under the fountain's cracks. Around him the benches he once hopped on alongside the few people close to him barely held on their own weight from the support the fire had taken away. His eyes slowly moving up to the little spring water's river flow, he gazed upon the building closest to it. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. A half-destroyed house with its characteristics burned away by the flames and time. But to him, it was surely something with looking at.
"Gone..." he muttered to himself.
It was almost as if he could see the projection of his images and memories right before him, playing the scene of a time much better than the one he was at. He forced himself to look away as he kept dashing through the debris, further inside the city. He quickly came to a fork in the main road where he knew exactly where both ends would lead. Right through the park and Viola's restaurant, direct road to the royal place in front of the military grounds in the garden. Left, the road to more uninterrupted nature, that would gradually get thicker, before ending up where the one who gave him everything she ever had and wanted to give more than even her life rested. He pondered for a moment in front of the two roads, before finally deciding to make his move. Left towards the temple. He passed to what he thought would be the same flower-thick path, only to be met by the devastating endless black that took the flowers' life away. With nothing to look back into but make his way to the same place, he fought his first powerful being. More destroyed than he remembered leaving it behind like, he did not know why he chose that way. Something just kept drawing him more and more near that one place. He entered through the single wooden pole that was left from the gates. Going forward every single building inside was reduced to ashes but the sturdiest one, being the main one at the center that still upheld some form of material to show. He made his way above it all to go to a small shrine he knew was built directly behind it, hoping to still find it standing. What he instead came across, was a familiar face that he hoped would never leave to see him this way.
"Hmm?" Anya slowly turned around, "Hm!" she jolted at the sight of Dante.
Dante dropped down from the wreck, "Anya...what are you doing here?"
Anya didn't say a word rather than slowly move out of the way, slowly revealing what she was gazing upon. The shrine he thought would still be standing was indeed wrecked, but no reaction came out of him, had he gotten used to expecting the worse? However, as he slowly moved forward, he started realizing more and more why he was there. Despite scrambling his memories as hard as he could, he couldn't understand why he was seeing what he was seeing. A plaque from of random origin was pinned behind a bump of dirt in the ground. And on it were the letters that forced him to hold his breath. The plaque wrote but two words in a messy manner. "Cecilia Elisia". He stood before the grave not realizing how it got to where it was. He could then feel the sweat rolling down his face, almost as if he had gotten sick to the core. Anya slowly approached behind him, still keeping him at a distance.
"Dante? Are you...alright?" Anya softly asked.
"Did you...know about this? Not the city, I now know about that too. But...this?"
"No. I stumbled upon it. The temple was the first thing I could think of visiting. You know...it was our place."
"She didn't deserve to die by the way. Despite everything I've been through...only now do I realize what I would have truly had in store had it not been for her."
"You cannot deny that Cecilia always went hard on you though. Dante, I'm going to be honest, when you weren't serious you were always...sad. You know that she wasn't perfect, but that she tried her best."
"I was never sad. I was just expelling weaknesses. As something with this 'curse' should do."
"You cannot deny the obvious for long, you know." Anya tried to approach Dante.
Dante backed away, "I never did ask you that question I always wanted. Why did you approach me? Then and now, that is. And why did you stay after realizing what was behind it all?"
"Because I quickly realized what was behind it all. We all think of something of ourselves, but the way others think of it will always be different. I, for one, knew that aside from the monstrous power behind it all and the serious, poker-faced, child soldier, it was...well, you. And to be completely honest, I can see you still."
"'Child soldier'. I was dragged into this but refused to get out of it when I had multiple chances to do so...wonder why. And another thing to wonder about is exactly what you saw and see now. I promise you, there's way more to it down below. And, of course, not in a good way. How many people relied on me and how many more I betrayed? My sister was nearly killed for being around me. My Silver Lances were completely wiped out and my home was destroyed out of my impotence."
"Hardly an impotence. Yuno told us some of the important details while leaving very key ones out. Of course, he did it to let us help you, but he really wouldn't give up anything critical. We know how Kagh manipulated the Silver Lance's trust and how he killed them. Not you. And as far as reliance goes, that's on everyone else. I mean, for crying out loud, you essentially let the Ministry of Defense and one of the most universally feared and powerful military forces in the world to a 12-year-old child. That's on them. I'm by no means underestimating your skills, Cecilia trained you, but to lead on something like this you lacked mandatory experience."
"Still, for Kagh to be right only to be wiped off a decade after..." Dante scoffed, "Ironic. His experience led him to ruin everything, run away and then become some form of Sentinel. I'd also be lying that, looking back, I didn't enjoy slaughtering him and his son in Eterna city. Morals would always look down on revenge to cloud how absolutely fantastic it feels to accomplish it. Riko turned my brother against him so I turned his insides out and Kagh turned my own men against me, killing them all at one grand explosion by the marina, so I killed him in one slash and nothing more. Well, "me", Mellistar did my "dirty work" but I can't understand why he was so riled up compared to me and why I hardly haven't heard from him in a long while. Perhaps he's gone? Beats me."
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Anya paused, "You're kind of...out of it? Those aren't exactly "Dante" words you know."
Dante sighed, "Anya, do yourself a favor and don't bullshit yourself with my mental state deteriorating due to my abilities. Well...partially. I'm sick of standing upright to this shit and acting as if the moral high ground is something that I must always stand on to prove something to someone out there. I took revenge and I enjoyed it. It's natural. Eye for an eye doesn't make the world go blind, it just makes it a better place by removing the one who made the first aggression. Granted, a murderer such as myself doesn't have much to say on the matter, since life-taking is trivialized in the world we live in. Wars and mindless aggression left and right demand sacrifice, and those above wish for it. If I were to brag momentarily, the only thing I do right compared to other morons throughout the pages of legends is that I aim for the root and head of the problem. Those standing in my way are just obstacles."
"You...are right. Partially. I can understand exactly how you feel since I could count my uprising against my dad as my revenge, but nowhere near as it is close to yours. But I realized something very quickly that day. The more time I spend seeking that revenge, it ate away at me. I mean, it's what everyone would tell you, but it's honestly true. I'm just glad it was over now. I can't imagine what others who spend years on it must feel like." Anya exhaled.
"They feel like shit, obviously. Someone goes ahead and kills your entire family, destroys your hometown and degrades you by locking things you rightfully own away. Come on, you're gonna tell me to let go? Piss off. You say that it will eat you away, while the only thing ignoring it would do is the same, while letting it go would only continue the cycle, as they who did it will do it to someone else again. I'm just the guy who puts an end to the cycle. That's what they feared and looked down upon "vengeance" is. A means to an end. But in the end, I'll be afraid to put an end to it...because I don't know what will be after it. What sacrifices it will take."
"You know, you could just let us help you to it...that way you can carry us with you."
"No way. That is my business. And you'll not interfere."
"And exactly what is that business? Do you even know what that vengeance is for? I mean, Kagh and Riko are dead...and everyone in your family is-", Anya corrected herself before even speaking out the word, "Missing."
"I guess I'm going for the head." Dante shrugged, "Both Makaro and Kikaro will get their asses kicked from me. They're supposedly the ones behind it all, no? Those who give the orders are to be pronounced dead by their last scream."
"I would say you're doing crazy talk but...given it's you..." Anya shrugged.
"Everyone keeps slapping the same thing into my head.' Strongest being across every world that can easily end worlds by just looking at them', or something along those lines. By proxy, Makaro and Kikaro are just some half assed ants compared to that, no?"
"And we can help you along the way. I know that you can easily take them on and kill them both in one fell swoop, but that doesn't mean you have to force yourself to do so."
"So what? Drag you down with me? My big sister left us when she was just 10 and my other siblings are dead because I brought it upon them and, if you heard about her, Viola was corrupted after saving my sister from said corruption and probably ended up dying as well. And Cecilia...that one I just didn't bother to do passively." Dante seemed to lower his voice.
"What do you mean passively? She died on that day, no?"
"She did...by me. I found Cecilia bleeding in the corner of the palace walls. I...killed her. I was the one who forced her underground." Dante looked at his mothers' grave.
Anya lowered her ears and tail at the hearing of the truth behind the critical information that Yuno tried to seal away from her.
"And even then...I don't know where the grave before me came to be."
Behind him, Dante heard a soft sigh as he did not even bother to turn his head, knowing full well who it was and being obviously irritated and annoyed by their presence. Magi pulled her hands off the ground and away from her weapon, slowly approaching Dante without the slightest bit of hostility.
"You...you buried her yourself, Dante," Magi said.
Anya turned and looked at Dante, "Wait, what?"
"And how do you know that?" Dante angrily said.
"I...I was watching, with Gladeon. After his fight that fatally injured Cecilia he completely changed, breaking out of his controlled state. I've never seen him like that. He was afraid to approach, not the powerful being named Dante, but a simple, broken kid. It was hours that you were just...moving. Nothing else."
Dante grabbed his sword, "You know...back at the lab, I did not let you live. I beat the shit out of you and hoped to leave you for dead, just like you sick shits did to Cecilia. To be honest, I dunno why I didn't. And to be even more honest, I thought that your piss-drunk, completely mush brain would realize that it wasn't a blessing, but an obvious warning. And now..." Dante lifts the seethe above his head, "I'll show exactly what you've all been afraid of for so long. Because I knew this all along...I just couldn't remember."
Dante tightened the grip on the sword's handle, as Anya backed away in fear and Magi prepared to fight. As a red flash appeared above his head, Dante drew his sword, discharging the red lighting around him and tearing the ground around him apart. The echo of the sword being drawn was heard all the way to the palace, signifying the beginning of the fight, with everyone moving to the sounds calling. Now standing before them was not their friend, but the momentary biggest threat they would ever have the displeasure of facing. Dante threw away the seethe, it disappearing into the ether and stood with an over-the-shoulder look before Anya and Magi.
"Hmm.", Dante snapped his fingers, dispelling lighting energy from them, "Exactly what they were all afraid of me for. Me.", he turned around to face Anya and Magi, pointing his giant sword at them, "And now that it ain't suppressed anymore, I'd like to see you struggle."
Anya revved up her chainsaw blade, "Big guy, please...calm down a little." she fearfully looked at Dante.
"So the mighty have fallen, huh?" Dante scoffed, "After all that was heard and all that was said, you side against me to make my closure procrastinate itself? Seriously, do you think you will do a thing? Just some dumb dog with a fancy lumberjack tool."
"You have to realize that we care for you like you do for us! You're just like that moron, Enemy! Your actions speak against your words! I know you care! And unlike her...god dammit, I love you, Dante! You're like a family and that ain't changing! You're like a little brother to me!" Anya poured her heart out.
Dante seemed to relax his rage, lowering his sword as the opposing side did the same. The expression on his face seemed saddened at hearing those words.
"I can't...say otherwise. To say I wouldn't view you the same way...that's why..." Dante exhaled, "I see you as my big brother."
"Watch it!" Magi yelled at the top of her lungs.
Dante instantly dashed towards Anya, finding a clear opening since she had lowered her guard. He took a swing, only to be barely blocked by Magi, who was knocked out of stance, while Anya was sent flying backwards from being at the front of the collision.
"God...damn!" Magi grunted, "This is so bad...I'm overcharged and he's still-!" she recovered.
"When will you realize to heed warnings not given by you?!" Dante walked up to Magi, "Just-", he smacked Magi's blade, her blocking the hit, "back-" he got blocked again, "off!"
"Ghk!" Magi gasped in her struggle.
The last hit from Dante's sword against Magi send her sword flying right next to Anya, who had recovered, only to watch in terror of her friend's abilities. Dante then pinned his own sword to the ground, using his elbow to bash Magi in the stomach, forcing her onto her knees. He swiped his knuckles across her face, jumping to the side and widening his stance and sending Magi into a daze.
"Checkmate.", Dante tightened his fist.
Gatherings a powerful surge of energy around his fist, he thrust forward with an expert technique, landing the punch directly on Magi's face and dispelling along with it, all that energy. A brief pause came to the air around them, before the energy blasted off all at once, sending Magi flying high up in the air and throwing bricks and dust around away, forming a massive cloud of smog in the air around them. The ground torn apart shook as the terror had risen up to an all-new high. Dante then simply picked up his sword, dusted it off and moved towards Anya. Anya then grabbed both Magi's sword and her chainsaw sword, pushing her fear away and taking a stance against him.
"I just showcased to you one of the best scenarios you could come across. You deadass won't run away?", Dante looked at Anya while holding his sword in front of him with one hand and pushing the end of the edge's flat side with the other, constantly discharging red lighting from it.
"I'm facing Dante right now. Not a monster. So shall we get this training session going?" Anya completely turned it around, smugging at Dante.
"Seriously?" Dante took a weird look at Anya, "Whatever. I'll knock you out like the other one. Well...kind of." he rolled his eyes, preparing to take everyone on.
Clouds of rain seemed to be forming on the horizon, as the real fight was about to come crashing down on every single one of them. It was no joke and it was not a game. This time, they were facing a true force of absolute destruction.