[AU] Books and Bounty Posters
Chapter 1
The orange and red light of the setting sun trickled into the book shop as Dante added their latest stock to the shelves. Shadows drifted past the open window, stretching back into the depths of the store. His ears pricked at the sound of distant chatter though he could not make it out himself. For a moment thought someone was about to enter the store, but sighed in relief when they walked on.
The academy had just reopened their doors for the season, which meant students stocking up on reading material for their studies. While this time was a big source of income for him and Jac it was also... infuriating. Watching the pompous academics flaunt their status, purchasing rare texts to use as expensive paperweights. Months from now they would attempt to sell their books back in terrible condition. Idiots, the lot of them. Meanwhile here Dante was, surrounded by this wealth of knowledge yet he could not attend the school himself because they measured wealth in gold alone. Intelligence was hardly a requirement for education, all one really needed was to fall out of the womb into a pile of platinum. Classist pigs.
He rubbed at his face in an effort to calm himself, wincing as he pressed against his eye which was still black and bruised from a few days prior. He... couldn't recall how it happened. Probably some freak accident while he was sleeping. Probably.
He sighed to himself, the faintest of memories scratching at the back of his mind but he pushed it away and continued stocking shelves.
Alastor was on the run, he could hear the distant banks of hounds and their masters after him. He was still dressed in the washed out clothing from the work mines, shoeless, copperless, but he would rather throw himself off a cliff than go back. Anything but to go back. His injuries hurt badly, the bottom feet, still weeping blood from the last lashing he got on them, and his wrist that was certainly broken from his fall over the gates around the prison.
He thought this city would be a good place to hide, but things like him caused men to grab their swords and children to cry. He looked lie the demonic spawn of nightmares, no one cared to speak a word to him. But he had a defense, his only real defense. But he needed time to use it. He saw a bookstore ahead, the sign flipped to closed.
Perfect, no one ever read fucking books.
He ducked into an ally, stealing the face of a man as he walked by. He knew his scent would not change, and those dogs would be on his tail again soon. He looked at the back of the bookstore, and broke a back window, quickly climbing into the store and hiding in a supply closet. He panted heavily, unknowingly stealing the face of one of Dante's most ravenous bullies.
The sound of breaking glass startled Dante and he turned to look towards the back of the store, though not only was it bathed in darkness the sound was clearly muffled as though it came from deeper in the building. And considering that Jac was away on business for another few days he knew it could only be trouble.
He moved quietly towards the back of the store, listening carefully for any sounds. As he passed the edge of the checkout counter his hand fell reflexively to the ancient tome that sat atop it, the emerald, eye-like gem embedded in the cover seemingly staring back at him. He paused for a moment with the urge to grab it and bring it along, but that was nonsense right? What was he going to do, hit a burglar over the head with it? Surely that would do more damage to the book than an intruder.
Instead he reached under the counter for a dagger he kept there for safe keeping, his pulse hammering as he approached the door that led to the backroom. But as he reached for the doorknob he hands were shaking and he dropped the dagger which clattered against the floor. "Fuck," he said under his breath.
There was the sound of clamoring, there was blood on the handle and the broken glass lead to the door. Bloody footprints lead to the door as well. Something was heavily panting on the other side of the door.
Dante waited in silence a moment, just listening, and once the noises stopped he scooped up the dagger and pushed the door to the backroom open, taking in the shattered window and the bloody footprints. Which... caught him off guard. What kind of burglar robs a place when he's already injured? Or maybe the blood belongs to someone else?
He followed the footprints up to the door, clenching the handle tightly with the dagger at the ready. He wavered momentarily before attempting to throw the door open.
Alastor was leaning against the wall, sliding onto the ground. He was to tired to put up much of a fight, but grabbed his dagger weakly anyway. “Leave me the fuck alone.”
The voice from inside the closet was foreign at first, but as Dante's eyes adjusted to the limited light he recognized the face immediately and his fear shifted in a more angry direction.
"Jared? Fuck, seriously?" he said, exasperated. Sure normally upright with his gang Jared was something to be afraid of, but all alone huddled in his spare closet? Not so much. Was he drunk or something?
"The fuck are you... What'd you fucking break my window for?" he demanded. "Get out!"
“Look kid, just leave me alone I’ll be gone in a little bit. I don’t want to hurt you but I will if you make me.”, Alastor said in a warning tone. There was a few shards of glass he had pulled out of his arm laying between them.
"Kid? Fuck you are drunk aren't you?" Dante shook his head in disbelief. "How the hell did you manage to get banged up this bad?"
“Leave it to me to grab a bad face”, he mumbles to himself. “Got tangled in a fence.”, he said, his hand holding the dagger was shaking from exhaustion. Unable to keep steady.
Dante rubbed his face, groaning. He wasn't particularly interested in provoking a probably intoxicated Jared. Even injured as he was he could probably beat Dante's ass easily. And if he gave him a rough time he'd definantely be getting a return visit later with his grunts along for the ride.
"Okay. Sure. Whatever," he sighed, shaking his head in disgust. "But you're paying for that window."
“Do you have any bandages or anything? This is a store right?”, Alastor was still on high alert. He was terrified of being found out, or worse, sent back. But at the same time he was so exhausted even keeping his arm up was taxing, and he was getting woozy from bloodloss.
Dante rolled his eyes in frustration. "Yeah it's a store, a fucking book store. If you wanted bandages should've picked some place else," he said before shaking his head with a sigh. "But yeah, sure, we have some around," he said.
He turned to go find said bandages, beginning pulling the door to the closet closed but then pausing. "Don't go anywhere," he warned. "And don't touch anything."
Alastor was sure this guy was going to flip when he actually got a look at the room and saw all the blood. Alastor had tried to find bandages himself so it was a mess and bloody handprints where all over.
Dante made his way back to the front of the store, all the while grumbling to himself about how he got into this mess. Really he should just go fetch the guards and have Jared thrown out, it would serve him right. But he wasn't interested in dealing with the aftermath of such choices.
He grabbed the first aid kit and a lantern and made his way back to the supply closet, faltering as he opened the door and saw the full extent of the blood stains.
"Fuck, what--what the fuck kinda fence did you trip over?" he demanded. With an accident that resulted in this much blood Dante could only assume the guards were on their way here whether Dante had personally sent for them or not.
“A big o-“, Alastor was cut off by a massive crash of lightning as it started pouring rain outside. “A big one okay?”, he growled lowly. He could hardly keep his eyes open, and was clutching his waining consciousness with sheer will.
Dante's eye narrowed suspiciously but he didn't push the matter, convinced he wouldn't be getting any more satisfying answers.
"Drop the dagger," he demanded. "I'm not going to treat you with a knife in my face."
Alastor just lets his arm fall, the dagger clatters to the ground. Honestly he didn’t have the strength to keep a arm up to fight off the other. He was to tired, to weak, and to injured to do much at all. He despised how defenseless he was, even if he refused to drop his bravado.
Dante kicked the weapon aside, wearily moving to kneel in front of Jared, all the while expecting to get jumped by either him or one of his goons sneaking in.
"Okay, where's all this blood coming from?" he asked, looking him over for the source.
“Fucking everywhere. Got into a bad scrap.”, he said trying to piece together the piece of who’s face he had stolen. He assumed a local thug given how weary the store owner was.
Alsstor’s bare feet where bleeding, his wrist was purple, his arm was sliced to hell from the window, and he was bleeding under his shirt too. All while being in a dingy outfit that looked and smelled like it hadn’t been washed in years.
"Yeah that sounds a lot more plausible than the fence," Dante said in a tone that clearly conveyed his frustration but also that he accepted this excuse easily enough. "What happened to Reuben and Spencer? Didn't take you as dumb enough to cause trouble without them."
He reached out wearily towards the blood stains on his shirt, more concerned about the potential damage that lied beneath than the cuts to his feet and arm. "How bad is this one?" he asked.
“They ran off when the tides turned on us.”, he said, trying to slowly prod out the details of the face he took. “But I am not some spineless bastard who runs from a fight.”
“What can I say? I wasn’t expecting the cowards to pull swords in a hand to hand brawl.”
"Psh, yeah, sure you're not," Dante scoffed, clearly thinking otherwise. He'd never seen Jared put up a fight without someone there to back him up, spoiled rich ass. But maybe this would be a learning experience for him.
He grimaced to himself as he pushed Jared's shirt aside to inspect the injury, not at all happy about seeing more of Jared than he ever wanted to.
The wound was clearly some sort of slash, like a long spear of sword. But what was interesting was he had secondary wounds. One even looked like the flesh was decaying a little. Necrotic magic damage.
"Fuck," Dante breathed, going still as he took in the clearly magically-inflicted wounds. He poked at the decaying flesh lightly, morbidly intrigued but also at a loss for how to fix it other than... Jac had some ointments he had imbued with magical healing properties for emergencies, but no way was he going to pull that stuff out in front of Jared.
"Who the fuck did you piss off?" he asked again as he pulled out some rubbing alcohol and a rag to disinfect the injury.
Alastor sucked in a pained breath, even light touching to the wound was painful “I- Does it matter?”, he asked simply. Alastor was as quiet as he could be for the wound washing, but it all just hurt almost as bad as getting the damn things!
Dante was not sympathetic at all to Jared's pain, cleaning the wound despite his obvious discomfort.
"I'm not an idiot," he said as he pulled back to grab the bandages, stretching them out in order to wrap it fully around his torso. "Clearly you got into a fight with someone out of your league. There's only so many people that can do something like this and get away with it."
“Anyone can. No one does.”, Alastor said with a wince. He wondered if the other was enjoying inflicting additional pain on ‘Jared’. Leave it to him to grab a bad face the moment he gets out of that hellhole!
Dante faltered, unsettled by what Jared was saying. "The fuck are you talking about?" he snarled. Even with Jac's assistance he struggled for years, years, to grasp any magic in any meaningful way. And while Jared definitely fit the part of some pretentious noble born, Dante was familiar enough with him to know his immediate family didn't hold any such connections.
"You..." he started to say, realization then fear then intrigue then fear again flashing across his face. Somehow, if he was right, the idea of a potentially dangerous magic user bleeding out in his back room instead of Jared wasn't such an awful possibility. The possibilities gripped his interest tightly, but at the same time he feared for what this could mean. If this guy was on the up and up--unlikely given their current circumstances, but possible--Dante could be in a world of trouble if his own magic was discovered.
"You're... not Jared. Are you?" he said, holding his breath as he waited for an answer.
Alastor’s eyes narrowed, he pulled back his hand, running it through his hair. Damn. The jig was up already? Maybe light-headedness was really bad for his personal skills. This fucking human had him by the tail.
He sighed. “No. I’m not.”, he said simply. “It was just the first form I found while running away. And you’ll either kill me or turn me in so- there isn’t really a reason to lie further I suppose…”, he shrugs and changes into Dante instead. “I didn’t much like Jared’s form anyway.”
Dante scrambled back as 'Jared's' face shifted and stretched to take on his own features, the imposter's sureness that Dante would either kill him or turn him in put him on the alert. If this guy was planning to steal his face it only made sense to get rid of the original, right?
He grabbed at the nearby dagger, pointing it at the face stealer, his hands shaking and his breath heavy from fear. "Look, I... I don't want any trouble here. I don't have any reason to kill you or turn you in or whatever. So let's keep it that way, okay?"
Alastor watched the human scramble back, getting a little enjoyment out of it. Possibly the last of his life at this rate.
“Look kid. I just wanna wait out the storm and get the fuck out of this city at dawn.”
Dante considered for a minute, lowering the dagger slowly, still not completely sold on what this guy was telling him. "And how do I know you're not gonna turn on me the first chance you get? It's not like you've been all that truthful since you broke your way in here."
“You don’t know. You don’t know that me snapping my fingers will set everything on fire. You don’t know if I have powerful allies who would hunt you down if you hurt me. Nothing is set in s-st-stone….”, he says, struggling to stay awake.
Fear began to show on Dante's face, taking in this guy's words. He'd been worried enough about Jared's goons paying him a visit, who was to say what this guy had up his sleeve?
"Fine," he spat after a moment, defeated. "Whatever."
He slowly sunk back to his spot on the floor, pushing the dagger away somewhere behind him. He could see this guy was clearly having a hard time with the injuries he sustained, and his eyes lingered on the healing salve nestled in the med kit. Was he going to risk using it on a stranger that could turn him in? Was he going to risk letting him bleed out on his floor if he didn't?
"So... you're a magic user?" he asked, wanting to assess this guy a bit further before making a decision. "How'd you learn to do that?"
“Hm… technically I suppose. Depends on what you define magic as I suppose… I would say- I was born with it.”, he said. He didn’t want to scare the human, but he needed to ensure his own safety too.
“You seem eager about it. Don’t humans usually scream and run off around magic?”
As his new lookalike answered Dante began working on patching up his feet, uneasy about getting as up close and personal as he had been a moment ago. He dripped some more rubbing alcohol onto the cloth, pausing as he considered his question. Under normal conditions he might have done more to blend in, but nothing about this was normal.
"Yeah. Usually," he confirmed, though he found it odd the way this guy talked about 'humans'. Given that everyone in this city was human, as far as he knew, it felt like a weird distinction to make.
"So I take it you're... not human then?" he asked. "Not if you were born with magic. I've never heard of anyone like that before. At least not anyone who's concerned about going to jail over it."
Alastor was struggling to stay awake. But he clung to it. He couldn’t allow himself to fall asleep. Not now, it was to dangerous.
“Maybe it is better you don’t ask questions. Just forget you saw me and keep living on your life. It’s for the best,”
"Psh, yeah, right," Dante scoffed lightly as he applied the sanitized cloth to his lookalike's feet, likely causing them to burn. "It's not every day I run into someone with powers like this, I'm not just gonna let the chance go without asking about it."
He sat back on his heals to grab the roll of bandages. "Not that I can force you to answer or anything."
Alastor hissed in pain. “Ow! Owowowowo”, he whimpered. The lashes on his feet hurt the worst after running on them for so long. He knew he’d be hobbling for at least a week with as bad as they where.
“For gods’ sake. I’ll answer if you stop being so fucking rough!”
Dante winced in response to his obvious pain. "Oh, uh, sorry. The burn means it's working, but uh..." he trailed off, glancing to the salve again.
"I think I have something else..." he said, reaching for the jar and coating his fingers with it. Though he was still interested in getting these answers in exchange for a more painless form of treatment.
"So... how'd you really end up like this?" he asked, running a thumb over the sole of his foot and watching as the cuts began to close up.
“I got lashes on my feet from uh- lashing. Got stabbed by one of my chasers… I got… hit with an arrow. I tore it out but then the second one used some sort of- spell. I just heard loud bells and then everything hurt so badly…. But then I broke into the city through the broken wall in the south… I’ve been running ever since.”, he says.
Dante's eyebrows pulled together sympathetically, not unfamiliar with the sort of picture his lookalike described. And seeing his own face speak the words was unsettling in its own way.
He'd finished applying the salve to one of his feet and the cuts were beginning to close but it would take a few moments for the full affect to take hold.
"Here," he said, scooting closer to regain access to his chest. The bandages covering the mundane wounds were still there, but the decomposing flesh stared angrily back.
"It looks like some sort of necrotic magic," he said, gently applying some of the salve to the wound. His hand stilled for a moment, as it dawned on him he was looking at his own bare chest this time--not Jared's--or at least, what this guy must've thought Dante's chest looked like beneath his shirt.
His teeth clenched, staring more than he probably should have. He reached out tentatively to the flat expanse of a chest that was completely foreign to him and glanced up to see his own face looking back. He closed his eyes with a scowl and instead lowered his hand back to the magical wound, applying the ointment again but not quite as gently as before.
Alastor was very creeped out at this guy’s reaction. Then again, maybe he had some fancy tattoo or scar that Alastor had bot seen and had not been able to copy.
Alastor grabbed Dante’s hand. He was about to say something, but the last of his strength fell away like sand between his fingers. He didn’t get a word out, he just went limp. As he did, his stolen form broke.
Dante watched at what looked like him transformed back into Alastor. Real Alastor. A dark colored Tiefling with long hair complete with with wings and a tail. He had a odd golden tattoo covering the left part of his body that looked like a golden tree with very few leaves.He was just completely limp.
Dante looked up in annoyance and confusion as his doppleganger grabbed his hand, but then his grip slackened and the intruder fell limp and as his disguise fell away Dante gasped in shock. He'd never seen anyone like this before, this creature adorned with horns and wings and...
For a moment he just ogled over this transformation, some basic instinct to be afraid causing his adrenaline to spike but he did not move. What was that tattoo? Where did the tail come from? What was he? A demon? A devil?
"What are..." he started to ask when his eyes finally drifted back to his face to see that he was out cold.
Oh gods was he dead!?
"Fuck!" Dante breathed, quickly getting to his feat. Was healing magic bad for demons?? He couldn't recall reading anything about that in his studies, but it wasn't as if demons were well documented creatures. He reached for his neck, checking for a pulse. Did... did demons have pulses??
Alastor gave a light snore, breaking the panicked silence. As Dante touched him, the human would notice how really warm he felt. And yes, he did indeed have a pulse.
"O-okay..." Dante sighed in relief as it seemed this guy was still breathing, whatever he was. But he was oddly warm to the touch. Was that... some sort of demon thing? Or was he running a fever?
"Ugh... fuck," he sighed again, rubbing a hand over his own face and absentmindedly smearing some of the salve on his own cheek, reminding him of what he had been doing a moment ago. He set about patching him up as best he could, taking care of the lashes on his other foot and taking out some tweezers to remove the glass shards from his arm. Hopefully this guy didn't move too much in his sleep.
Alastor was the best little unconscious patient he could be.
In the distance, banging out be heard at the front door.
Dante finished bandaging him up when he heard someone at the front door, his blood running cold at the possibilities. Had a guard seen the busted window and come to investigate? There was still blood and glass everywhere, he didn't have time to cover it up. Let alone the unconscious demon lying in his closet. Fuck. Fuck!
He quickly wiped the salve and blood from his own hands as best he could and left the closet, giving the unconscious demon a hesitant glance back before locking the door. He moved to the front of the shop cautiously, locking the door to the back room as well. He tried to keep to the shadows and size up who might be at the door by their silhouette alone.
From the silhouette it seemed like five figures. Two large figures on either side all about the same size and seemingly dressed the same based on their shadows. And one slightly smaller figure in the middle.
Five people standing at his front door after hours while he had a demon locked in his closet did not bode at all. Fuck. Fuck!
At a loss for what else to do Dante cautiously made his way to the front of the store, hoping he could convince them to leave. With shaky hands he opened the front door. "Can I help you?" he asked with a clearly unhappy expression.
As he opened the door, the four large figures where clearly crowns guards. But the insignias on their armor where not from this city. Nor did they match any religion Dante would be able to identify. The smaller figure was a feeble looking old man with a black turtle insignia on him. It too lacked any other identifiable features.
“Hello young man. We are looking for a fugitive. A monster. Fear not, we will catch it, but we need your help citizen. Have you seen anyone of note? Darker skin? Horns? Or someone using magic?”, the man asked.
Dante clenched his teeth, weighing his options. From the sound of it they hadn't deduced where the 'monster' or whatever had gone, and while Dante knew next to nothing about the situation he wasn't about to just hand over a fellow magic user to the authorities.
"Uh... no?" he said, trying to play dumb. "I've just been manning the shop all day. What's this about a monster?"
“I do not want to scare your decliate sensibilities. Just know this monster has killed several people and if you even suspect things are out of place you should alert your local crown guard at once.”, the older man said in a dismissive tone. He turned to got o the next shop.
As he did so, Dante notices a book in a holder on the man’s hip. It is dark purple colored and looks very similar to his tome. Instead of an eye, it has monstrous teeth along the edges it. The teeth are shut hiding all pages within it from view.
Dante gave a small nod, his thoughts elsewhere. Killed several people? This news definitely made him pause, but he had never been much a fan of the crowns guard.
"Uh, right, I'll uh... be sure to keep an eye out," he said, forcing himself to only close the door once they had turned to leave so as not to seem too eager to get away.
They moved on without issue.
Dante sighed in relief as the group moved on to the next house, slumping with his back to the door. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck that was real not great.
After a moment he quickly got to his feet and decided he needed to work on cleaning up the crime scene that was his back room in case anyone came looking around. He grabbed a mop and bucket as well as a large blanket he could use to cover up the broken window. After sweeping up the broken glass and securing the blanket into place as a makeshift tarp it was... presentable? At least for the time being.
Once the window was taken care of he slowly unlocked the closet door, peeking into the darkness cautiously.
Alastor was still asleep, the normally silent room only given life in the form of his soft, even breathing.
Dante watched for a moment, thought really he couldn't see much at all in the darkness. When it seemed the demon wasn't going to attempt to jump him or something he made his way into the room. The shelves and floor were covered in blood and he sighed to himself, shaking his head. If those guards had seen the window or insisted on coming in then no doubt he would be in a world of trouble right now.
The strong smell of the cleaner filled the tiny room as we worked on wiping the blood from the floorboards.
It was a little bit later when Alastor got up, Dante was still cleaning. He gave a tired groan, wincing in pain as he moved a little. He pulled his wings in closer like a blanket. “Hm..mm….”, he opened his eyes slowly.
Dante glanced to the demon when he heard him shift, keeping an eye on him as he continued to clean. From what he could see the salve had done wonders on his feet and arm, though... without his injuries that also made him more dangerous.
"Hey," he said casually as he wiped bloody fingerprints off a crate, watching the demon cautiously as he woke.
Alastor was still very much out of it. He gave a small groan. “Hello human….”, he grumbled. He was unaware his form had slipped until he saw his wing. “Fuck! Fuckfuckufck”, he tried to get up but failed and fell down with a crash.
"I have a name you--hey! Hey, easy, what's wrong!?" he asked, startled by the demons sudden panic.
He winces as he tried to steady himself. He tucked his wings in, stealing Dante’s face out of reflex and changing into him again. There was real fear in his eyes.
"Woah! Woah! Woah!" Dante said, dropping what he was doing and putting his hands up in a show of peace, stepping back from the demon that had just stolen his face again. His earlier fear of the demon taking care of him in order to take his place quickly resurfaced, and given that said demon was in significantly better health he was more apprehensive than before. "U-uh... what are you doing?"
“I was trying to get out of here.. but…. Between my wings being far to easy to spot and my feet being fucked- it didn’t go well…”, he admits.
"Oh, uh, no, I mean..." Dante said, lowering his hands when the demon apparently didn't have immediate plans to attack him. "Wait, are your feet still hurt? Are you... can you walk okay?"
“No…”, he admitted and sat down with a wince. “It hurts….”
Dante sighed with relief when the demon sat down again. "Okay, well... you'll have to rest a while then. I don't have anything stronger to give you," he said reluctantly. He grabbed the mop and moved to clean up the blood that had pooled where the demon had fallen unconscious.
"You uh... when you changed you were really hot. Is that normal?" he asked, trying to gauge if he did have a fever to worry about as well.
His face blushed a bit, he looked away quickly. “I uh- you-you clearly must have hit your head human to say such things human. I’m a monster.”
Dante's brow furrowed, his own choice of words going completely over his head. "What? I'm trying to ask if demons get fevers," he clarified. "You know, like, when your sick and you feel really hot? Or uh... you feel hot to other people at least, but everything else feels cold? Look, just, does anything hurt? Besides your feet?"
“I mean… uh- no? Or well- maybe?”, he shrugs. “I just know it doesn’t hurt as bad when I run through fire.”
The pucker between Dante's brow tightened. "You don't... Wait, you can run through fire?" he asked, eyes wide.
Alastor tried to get more comfortable, he was having a hard time concentrating. His form waivered, sometimes his wings started to appear, or his wings, or his tail. "Ow...I just... uh- yeah. Fire doesn't bother me much..."
"Uh... uh huh," Dante said as he watched the other guys form flicker between a demon and himself. "Uh, did you... was there something you needed my face for? If its uh... painful or hard or something you can, you know, stop?"
Alastor gave up the form. Going back to his true self. "Habit....", he mumbled softly.
Dante flinched slightly as his demon form reappeared, though he should've been expecting it.
"There uh... you should know some crownsguard came by looking for you a while ago. I guess they're going door to door asking around or something."
“Oh lucky me…”, he sighs tiredly. His stomach growls loudly as he shifted and tried to find a comfortable position to lay down. “Probably had the warden with them too. Fuck….”
"Is that the little guy?" Dante asked, gesturing with his hand to show how tall the person he'd spoken with had been. But his eyebrows furrowed as he took in the demon's obvious discomfort.
"Hey uh... wait here a minute, okay?" he asked as he started to move towards the door, looking back for confirmation that the demon wasn't going anywhere.
Alastor wasn’t really in a condition to do much even if he had the will to do so. He just looked at Dante, he did look rather weak and pathetic.
"Uh, right. Okay I'll be right back," he said, taking the mop bucket and lantern with him.
About ten minutes later when the door reopened Dante reappeared with an arm full of what looked to be a blanket but there were some other bits of cloth sticking out of it that didn't match. With his other hand he held the lantern and balanced a bowl between his arm and his side.
"Do uh... do demons eat oatmeal?" he asked as he dropped the blanket on the ground to pull the door closed. "I uh... probably should've asked that first."
He gave a tired smile. “Oh? Don’t have any spare babies for me to snack on?”, he jokes as he grabs the blanket and drags it closer to himself, wrapping it around him.
"Uh... sorry, fresh out?" Dante said with a shaky, uncertain smile. He set the bowl on the ground beside him.
As Alastor pulled the blanket closer the other pieces of fabric turned out to be an old button up shirt and casual pants. They looked to be too big for Dante, likely they belonged to someone else.
"I uh... I dont know if these with work with your uh... you know, tail and wings and stuff," he said. "But the clothes you have now stink."
“Well to be fair I’ve had them for almost four years.”, he aaid as he took the bowl and started eating immediately. “Hell. Some people are straight up just in pants. I’m considered lucky to have a shirt…”, he said between bites.
Dante's eyebrows furrowed in response to this bit of information. "What kind of some people? Do demons not like shirts?" he asked as he sat on the floor not far from him.
He gave a laugh. “No but orcs tend to hate them.”, he says as he continues to eat. All to soon the bowl was empty.
"Are there uh... orcs where you're from?" he asked, not really following. Then he spotted the empty bowl. "Oh, did you want more?"
“Yes please. I’m from beyond the city walls…”, he says. He snuggles into the blanket.
"Uh, hold on," Dante said, eagerly taking the bowl and hurrying off to fill it. When he returned he had not just another helping of oatmeal but some apples in hand.
"So like, you're not from one of the nine layers of hell?" he asked as he settled on the floor again, handing over the food.
He took one of the apple, he laughed. “No. I’m a half-fiend. My mother is a human or uh- was a human.”, he eats it whole. “Demons and devils fight it out in the rings. I am not interested in that crap.”
His tail curls and uncurls contently.
Dante's eyes widen in surprise, his lips twitching as the demon--err, half fiends--ate the apple in one bite.
"Huh, I think I read about that somewhere. Human and fiend offspring," he said, thinking aloud. "Have you uh... been to hell before? The way you talk about it sounds like you have."
“Sometimes. In my dreams. It is- strange.”, he said as he starts eating another apple. “Not a fun place. I like this place better- sometimes..”, he says between bites.
Dante was immediately significantly less impressed. "I mean, doesn't everyone dream of hell sometimes? How can you be so sure you were actually there?" he asks skeptically.
“I get half a fiend somewhere…”, he finishes the second apple. “Because injuries I get there I wake up with. The world is far more magical than humans like to believe…”
Dante eyes widened at this information, but as the topic shifted to humans and their ignorance towards magic he deflated.
"Yeah, I'll say," he sighed, but then he perked up again as a new thought crossed his mind. "You uh... you can call me Dante. You know, instead of just 'human'. Is there something you'd like me to call you?"
“I uh- you can call me Alastor. Dante. Thank you for helping me…”, he started eating the oatmeal. “So that Jared guy bullies you then?”
Dante gave a small smile when Alastor thanked him, but it quickly fell as the topic shifted. He shrugged as his eyes drifted elsewhere.
"You make it sound like we're kids or something. But yeah, he's an ass. Just one of many here," Dante sighed. As he turned his head his black eye stuck out against the shadows cast by the lantern.
“Want me to string him by his intestines on the outer wall? I hear it’s excellent decor this time of year”, he chuckled and ate his oatmeal. His tail was wagging back and forth as he enjoyed a real solid meal for the first time in far to long.
The corners of Dante's mouth turned up just ever so slightly, not quite a smile but clearly not entirely horrified by the possibility. He just stared at Alastor for a while with this uncomfortable expression. He should say something. And the something he should say should be along the lines of 'no thanks' or 'are you insane'. But somehow, horrifically, he was having a very difficult time outright refuting the offer.
"Is this why you're wanted for murder?" he asked instead. "Because you make these kinda offers to people?"
“No. Because I ate a whole orphanage.”, he says and starts eating another apple. He was not oblivious to Dante’s almost excitement about his offer either.
"You did not!" Dante protested with a nervous laugh. And then it started to dawn on him that maybe he really shouldn't assume to know the demon that broke into his house a few hours ago all that well.
"... right?" he asked, only slightly less confident.
Alastor laughed. “Of course not. Silly human…”, he looked at his bowl and ate, much more quiet now.
"Just uh... just checking," he said with a small laugh. He was quiet for a moment as Alastor ate, but his curiosity burned.
"So uh... what is the reason they're looking for you?" he asked. "Or, y'know... do they not really have a reason?" he offered, personally familiar with the latter possibility.
“Hmm… well… this is a world meant for humans. The time for equality for all races ended a long time ago. I was sent to a working prison. When they weren’t taking stuff from us for spells we where worked to the bone….”, he sighs.
"They... what?" Dante scowled in response, clearly frustrated by this information. "What would they need... nobody uses magic here, not unless they're at the top of the top or something. I don't... what did they take from you?"
“Royals do. Armies do. The world outside of the human cities does. In the wilds.”, he says
"They do?" Dante asked, his eyes wide. "What's... what's it like in the wilds? You know, without... there aren't humans there, right?"
“Just crazy ones. But the world is so far beyond the walls. The more wild and exotic creatures I’m sure you’ve only read about. Gnolls, Elves, Werewolves, an endless arrangement.”
"What's so crazy about the ones that go?" he asked, somewhat defensively.
“Hm… they usually are just really weird. Then again, they tried making a magic-using human community. A big place in the mountains where magic is welcome and encouraged. Even has a school.”, he says as he finishes the rest of his food.
Dante's mouth fell open. A community of people that use magic!? And with a school!? That was too good to be...
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. It was too good to be true. There was no way this could be real. Alastor had to be lying to him, Dante was sure there was no other option. Maybe he wanted something from him, maybe he just wanted to mess with him. But Dante wasn't about to let himself get his hopes up again.
"Yeah, sure there is," he said dejectedly.
“A few years ago there was a purge. Anything half human was sent to prisons and work camps. I met many of them. The ones who fled made the place. It exists. But the nobles pretend it doesn’t.”, he said with a shrug. “Humanity has tried to stomp out magic from the world. But- it is as much a part of it as the air…”
Dante glanced back up at Alastor cautiously, debating whether he believed this or not. "Is that... where you're headed?" he asked. "Or uh... where were you planning to go?"
“Even magic using humans don’t like… creature like me. But I guess when you look like a walking nightmare can’t really…blame them…”, he sets the bowl down.
This seemed to infuriate Dante for some reason. "That's ridiculous! I mean, you've got all these people that were forced out of the human cities, they make some new 'magic friendly' city, and they're still gonna be picky about who gets to stay there? The fuck?"
“It’s life.”, he shrugs. “I mean- I’m lucky some religious zealot hasn’t skinned me alive yet.”
"I... I guess..." Dante said, at a loss for what else to say. Even if he knew what it was like to be hated and ostracized he didn't know what it was like to stick out to the degree Alastor did.
"So where are you going to go then?"
“Not sure… I hoped to just keep stealing faces until I found somewhere to settle down… but… clearly the city isn’t for me…”, he says
Dante sighed, rubbing his face in an effort to keep awake. Between finding Alastor, dealing with the crownsguard, and cleaning up all the blood he had had a more eventful night than per usual.
"Well, you can stay here for a bit at least," he said as he pushed himself up to his feet. "Is there uh... anything you need?"
“No. You have done a lot for me.”, he lays down with the blanket, using his tail to pick up the bowl and handing it back to Dante
Dante's eyes lit up as Alastor moved the bowl with his tail, fascinated by his control and mobility. "Yeah. Sure."
As he neared the door he hesitated. "Hey uh... I'm gonna lock this, okay? So uh... if any crownsguard come back you don't have to worry about them finding you?" And also so Dante didn't have to worry about him rooting through the shop while he was asleep, but Alastor didn't need to know that.
“Sure. Not like I can go far Anyways.” He yawns and curled up on the blanket entirely
Dante nodded, making his way out. "Okay. Goodnight Alastor."
“Good night Dante”, he says as he watches the human walk out.
Dante locked the door to the closet as he said he would, giving the back room and the shop one last look over before heading to bed for the night.
-------------------------------------------
Admittedly after the events of the previous day Dante may have slept in. And even once waking and getting ready it took a bit of time to remember he had a half-fiend sleeping in the back room. Cause, y'know... that's just not usually part of his morning routine.
After quickly getting dressed he immediately hurried downstairs to check on Alastor, wondering for a moment if he'd actually dreamt up the whole mess until he saw the blanket covering the broken window from the day before.
He unlocked the closet door and peeked inside. "Hey. Alastor. You up?" he asked quietly.
“FOR FUCK SAKE HUMAN!! Do you want me to piss in a corner!?”, he hissed. He was standing up, and had been pacing for a long time holding it in. But he was really trying to figure out which corner to desecrate at this rate.
"AAH! Uh... sorry?" Dante winced. "Here, there's uh... there's a bathroom upstairs if you can walk," he said, letting the door fall open. "Or I can get you a chamber pot or something?"
“I’m fine. I heal quick.”, he said as he walked out. He was wearing the new clothes. “Just uh- upstair is just a bathroom or more directions?”
"Uh, yeah it's... uh..." he paused, realizing Alastor was going to have to enter the front portion of the shop to go upstairs, which was very well illuminated with large, open windows.
"Can you uh... look like me first?" he asked, his hand on the doorknob to the front of the store.
He snapped his fingers and turned into Dante. He rushes upstairs in pure desperation. Coming back down shortly after looking much more relieved.
"Okay then it's--ooor yeah, that works," Dante said to himself as he watched uh... himself? race up the stairs. Note to self, put a chamber pot in the closet.
While Alastor was busy relieving himself Dante set about opening the store for the day, unlocking the front door and flipping the sign to open. Business didn't generally pick up until later in the day, but they could really use whatever money they could bring in.
His eyebrows rose as Alastor reappeared. "You look like you're doing better," he observed.
Alastor thought for a moment, he made his hair longer and got rid of Dante’s black eye and scar, rearranging a few piercings. Looking more like a relative to Dante.
“Yes well- I had to pee for hours”, he says
"Hey I gave you a chance to ask for a chamber pot didn't I?" Dante shrugged, while looking both amused and a bit guilty.
He looked over Alastor's face, noting the differences between his own. "Oh, uh... didn't know you could do that," he said simply. "How uh... how much can you change a face?"
“As much as I need to…”, he said with a yawn. He cracked his arms and leaned his head back to crack his neck too. It was still better than how he’d slept previously.
Alastor took the time to look around the store in the daytime.
The bookshop was not particularly large, but the shelves were filled to the brim with a wide variety of book in a wide variety of languages. Anything from survival to history to cooking. Though the book on display were pretty lacking when it came to magical topics. The mid morning light lit the front of the store and some townspeople could be seen passing by and glancing inside.
"Looking for anything in particular?" Dante asked, watching as Alastor wondered about the store.
“Not really.”, he finishes looking around and comes back to the counter, settle down with a yawn on the stool.
Dante grinned as Alastor explored and then returned to sit by the counter, still mystified that he was actually there. "That spell looks like it's holding up better than yesterday," he commented.
“Yes well. When not bleeding out I find concentration easier”, he says as he pokes at a few books that where pulled for student pre-orders.
“There is a lot of textbooks, do you supply the school? I passed one when running. Has a griffin statue in the courtyard.”
"Oh, I didn't think about having to concentrate on it. That makes sense," he said, then glanced to the stack of books Alastor indicated.
"Yeah, unfortunately," Dante groaned. "The academy here is real 'prestigious', which is just their fancy way of saying rich fuckers only. So most everyone that goes there is real full of themselves, and it's a real pain helping then out," he said. "But we likely wont see any till later once classes end for the day."
"Hey, did you want any breakfast? I think we have some sausage links if you uh... do fiends prefer meat?" he asked awkwardly
He flipped open a book on potions. “Hm? Uh- I am not picky. Considering getting one full meal a day was considered a special day.”, he gave a playful smile.
“Still no babies to eat?”
"Stop that! If I tell you the sausages are made from babies would that make them taste better?" Dante laughed as he made his way around the counter to another door that led behind the store.
"Watch the shop for a minute, would ya?" he asked casually. "Just yell for me if anyone wants to buy something."
Alastor gave a coy, amused look. “Perhaps! Being me your best sacrifices and appease me demonic desiressssssss”, he said in. A very over the top voice.
"Heh, I'll see what I can find," he grinned a little too eagerly as he disappeared through the back door. "Don't touch anything while I'm gone."
The shop went quiet aside from the ticking of a clock somewhere in the shop and the clatter of metal pans coming from the back. Sitting behind the counter Alastor could see a pile of books pressed against the wall, or rather the remains of books, where several pages and covers had been burned away. There was also a small basket of odd looking devices akin to a junk drawer nestled in a cubby on this side of the counter hidden from view. Beside it were some sheathed nailed into the counter that held 2 daggers in place, one empty sheath where a third would have been. And one cubby over sat a thick, ancient looking book with worn, yellowing, crinkled pages though the cover was hidden from view at this angle.
"Can I at least touch the stool. And the flooorrrrrrr?", he said slyly as Dante left. "I'm such a rebel."
Alastor touched all the books while Dante was gone, mostly out of amusement, but he did eventually find the very ancient looking book. The moment he saw it he jumped back from it. "A tome!?"
When he touched the charred books some blackened bits fell off in his hand, coating his palm in soot.
Alastor's exclamation caught Dante's attention while he was cooking, but he couldn't make out the words through the wall. "Hey! You good?" he yelled back.
Alastor glared at the tome. "Yes.....", he said wearily.
Dante seemed satisfied with this answer and didn't call out again or return to the front of the store. The tome also did not respond and continued, the weathered leather cover and emerald eye-like gem coming into view upon closer inspection.
Alastor growled at it. "Tomes are never good. Bad. Very bad.", he poked the eye. "Do you know the Warden's beast tome?"
The tome did not respond in any meaningful way when Alastor spoke to it and poked it.
"So then... who's tome are you?.... hm... evil books....", he stepped back from the tome. He'd been scarred enough by the Warden's tome.
After a few more minutes of Alastor's staring contest with the tome Dante reappeared with two plates in his hands.
"How's unborn chicken babies sound? Also hope you like hot sauce," he said as he placed the plate of sausage links, eggs, and grits in front of Alastor with an inaccurate, crudely drawn pentagram of sauce on the eggs. Dante's plate was similar and he grabbed the stool beside him.
"What were you yelling about before?" he asked as he took a forkful of grits. "Did someone come in?"
Alastor found it highly amusing and used his fork to write. I am pleased in infernal in the grits.
“No one. So uh- where do you get the books here?”
"Uh, I don't get them myself. My uh... the other guy who lives here, Jac, he goes on trips from time to time to bring in new stock. He's out on one now."
Dante glanced down at Alastor's plate, his eyebrows rising as he recognized the language. "[Infernal] Good," he grinned.
“Did your tome teach you that language?”, he asks as he eats. “I guess that explains why you are different from other humans.”
Dante took a bite of breakfast, speaking around a mouthful of food as he answered. "No, I--" he started to say, but then something dawned on him. "How do you know about that?"
Alastor pointed at the tome. “It is like the one the Warden has. His had more… teeth. He can summon huge monsters out of it. Cast fireballs. Raise the dead… he is…. Terrifying.”
Dante's brow furrowed as Alastor explained. "Yeah, I... one of the guys that came to the door last night had a book like that," Dante shared as he pulled the tome out from under the counter.
"But I can't do anything like that. I can't even read it. I learned Infernal myself cause the script looked similar but... I haven't gotten very far at all in translating it," he explained, flipping the tome open to a random page littered with characters similar to Infernal but not quite the same. "Can you read it?"
“Those look like… uh-I have seen something like this before. Or at least… this…”, he points to a large symbol on the page. “Before humans made these big cities, they use to live in smaller towns across the land. Most of them are abandoned. But- there was a temple with this symbol. So maybe- this is a very very old book?”
Dante pulled out a notebook from under the counter, jotting down what Alastor had said, drawing the symbol.
"Yeah, its ancient. At least as far as I know," he said, flipping through the pages. "Anything else look familiar?" As the pages fell open one after another there was one near the front of the book that was in readable Infernal, the word 'pact' standing out amongst the rest, but it was quickly covered by a new page.
Alastor looked for a while. “No. Not really. Sorry…”, he says as he finishes breakfast. “Just that first one.”
"Hey, that's fine. I'll take what I can get," he said, flipping the notebook closed and stashing it away. "I've been working on it for a few years and, well, it hasn't been easy. I thought I'd made a breakthrough just the other days but--"
The tiny bell above the door chimed as someone entered the shop, though they weren't clearly visible with the bookcases between the counter and the entrance. Dante quickly moved the tome beneath the counter again and out of sight.
Alastor perked up, ducking under the counter too out of reflex. “I’m not hereeeee”, he whispers
Dante gave a small nod to indicate that he heard Alastor, deciding that him staying hidden was probably for the best. After all many of their regular customers knew him to some degree and he'd likely have a difficult time convincing them he'd had a twin all these years. He made his way to the front of the store in a more hospitable gesture than usual, though really it was just in an effort to keep distance between the customer and the wanted fiend hiding behind the counter.
"Hey, can I help you with--oh," Dante said, his customer service voice deflating once he apparently recognized whoever had entered the store. "What do you want?"
"So that's how it's gonna be, huh? You're just gonna play dumb, freak?" came another voice, hushed and hostile.
"... yeah? Cause I don't know what the fuck you're talking about?" Dante protested.
Alastor was curious, he snuck around the store. He was- after all, rather good at it. He got closer, peaking around the corner.
As Alastor approaches the voices are easier to make out but he's not close enough to see either of them.
"You can't be serious, have you seen yourself? You're really gonna look at me with that black eye and act like nothing happened?" the other man argued.
"What're you--?" Dante said, his voice sounding uncertain. "--the fuck does my face have to do with you?"
"Oh man, I knew you were a weak ass bitch Bethell, but I didn't think I could hit you hard enough to actually make you lose your memory," said the other guy, followed by the sound of boots walking against the floorboards and something knocking into one of the nearby bookshelves.
"But you better catch up quick for you own good freak, cause if you fess up about what you did to Spencer I'll give ya another black eye to match."
Alastor narrowed his eyes. He ties his hair back and walks around the corner. “Dante! Oh! There you are! Who are you friends?”, he grinned ear to ear. He had slipped one of the daggers from the counter j to his back pocket.
Both Dante and this other guy turned to Alastor as he approached, Dante's previously defensive expression becoming more fearful as Alastor entered the picture, while his aggressor's anger did not falter. Dante's back was to one of the bookshelves, a few of the books having slipped an inch of two out as he had backed into it. The other guy was a good few inches taller than him, and clearly more built. He wore a jacket similar to the one Jared had been wearing the day before when Alastor had snatched his face.
"The fuck are you?" he asked, glancing from Dante to this other guy, clearly noticing the obvious resemblance.
Dante, on his part, didn't say anything and instead just looked at Alastor with a nervous expression.
“Hello! I’m Desmond! I’m visiting my cousin Dante for a few weeks. I was really excited to see the book store. Are you a student here for books?”, he said with a smile.
The other guy's eye's narrowed, seeming to size up this 'Desmond'. "A cousin?" he repeated, turning to Dante. "Since when do you have a cousin?"
"You don't fucking know me," Dante spat in response, shifting towards Alastor so he was no longer stuck between Reuben and the bookshelf.
Reuben glared at 'Desmond', sizing him up. "You some kinda fucked up witch too?"
“Oh no! I’ll just stab your eyes out.”, he said, with a flick of the wrist the dagger appeared in his hand. He smiled, winking.
“You wouldn’t be here to bully Dante would you?”, he questioned.
Reuben's eyes widened, clearly not expecting this, and took a step back. Dante's brow tightened, confused by Reuben's response, until he too noticed the dagger in Alastor's hand and flinched slightly.
Reuben held his hands up defensively. "Hey I aint he bully here, alright," he protested, glaring at Dante. "I didn't put anyone in the hospital."
"The fuck are you talking about?" Dante hissed.
"Would you drop the act, freak? I was there! You said some demonic shit and the next second Spencer was out cold. I'm not fucking stupid," he snarled.
Dante was speechless, clearly not at all familiar with what Reuben was saying, his mouth parted in shock or confusion or both.
Alastor tilted his head, flipping the dagger and catching it in his hand. “Excuse you. Being smart enough to know several languages doesn’t mean someone uses magic. My father studies demonics for the Laluna royal court in the south. Are all you northerners so uncultured?”
“[Idiots (Infernal)]”, he says
Dante glanced to Alastor momentarily then back to Reuben. "Y-yeah, haven't you learned anything from that rich ass school of yours," he argued.
Reuben scowled at the both of them, clearly weighing his options. "Fuckin... fine! Whatever!" he spat, backing up towards the door. "But you better watch your back Bethell," he hissed before making his exit, slamming the door loudly and causing the little bell above it to dance as he stormed off.
Once he was out of sight Dante sighed deeply, rubbing his face. "Aaaah... fuck."
“He seems fun huh cousin?”, he turned around and chuckles a little. “Wanna explain what that was then? Seems you have a fanclub.”
"Tsk, yeah, real fun," he scoffed. "They're just some of Jared's lackeys. But... I wasn't messing around, I have no fucking clue what he was talking about."
He sighed, trying to think. "There was uh... a few days ago they came by the shop and torched some of our stock, some real valuable books, but... I dont really remember much. I just... figured I passed out from the smoke, or something," he said, then scowled. "But I guess Reuben wailing on me makes more sense."
Alastor shrugged a bit, he had no idea what was going on either. But for now the threat had passed and he was content enough. "So what do you do all day? Sit and uh- sit?", he leaned on one of the bookshelves.
"What, you bored?" he grumbled defensively. But he wasn't correcting him either.
"I mean.... a little bit....", he continued to toss the dagger up and down. "But sounds like they really wanna get you.", he stops at the window and looks at himself in the reflection. He unbuttoned the top buttons of the shirt and ruffled up his hair a bit. "Damn I do look good in this form"
"Yeah, well, that's pretty normal for them," Dante grumbled.
He watched idly as Alastor moved to one of the windows, his eyes widening as his lookalike proceeded to unbutton his shirt as people outside passed by. "Can you not?" he said, an embarrassed blush tinting his pale cheeks. "You still look like me, y'know."
"I mean- not really. My hair is longer and we don't have the same piercings or like- I don't have the scar on my cheek.", he winked at a girl who walked by, she blushed and walked off quickly.
"Not a ladies man Dante?"
Dante glared at Alastor's reflection in the window, his eyes falling back to his bare chest. He'd come to terms with his body a long time ago but seeing this, seeing someone else walking around with his face and an unapologetically flat chest, stung in ways he hadn't expected.
"No," he said, folding his arms in an effort to shield his own chest. Not that it wasnt firmly bound, just that he felt oddly exposed for some reason despite Alastor being the one doing the undressing. "Not really my thing."
"How do you change like that?" he blurted out without really thinking about it. "Is it uh... a fiend thing?"
"Uh, oh you mean my forms?", he blew kisses at a man who was passing by as he walked back to the counter. "I've always been able to do it. I uh- do have a limit on how many times a day I can change. But I have heard of magic that changes one's form. Probably one of those towns in the wilds?"
Dante seemed to deflate at this information. Some town in the wilds wasn't exactly a trip to the grocery store. Likely he'd never see such a place himself. And even if he did there was mo guarantee he'd get what he wanted. After all Alastor had changed to look like him but his body had retained its masculine characteristics, would Dante be cursed to keep his body and only swap out faces at best as well?
He followed Alastor back to the counter where his unfinished breakfast sat, likely having gone cold. He wasn't really in the mood to finish it.
"Hey, thanks for the help by the way," he said as he sat back on his stool, pushing the plate aside.
Alastor eyed the place. "Can uh- I have that?", he asked with a bit to much eagerness. "So if you aren't into girls are you into men?"
"Huh? Oh, sure," he said, sliding the plate in Alastor's direction.
He flinched in response to Alastor's second question, scowling to himself but not able to meet his eyes. "I'm not into anyone," he said, which... wasn't really a truthful statement but he figured the details didn't matter much. He couldn't picture himself with anyone, not really. He already struggled enough as it was just making friends, anything more seemed out of the question. Not to mention that he didn't want to get close to someone only for them to treat him completely differently once they found out what was in his pants.
Alastor snatched the plate and started to eat. “Hm? Oh I see! You just haven’t encountered what you’re looking for. For me, I’m not deterred by such trivial details like ladies and gentlemen.”, he says between bites.
Dante glanced at him curiously for a moment before his face fell into a more neutral expression. "So I take it your not one of those sex demons that's just looking to make babies or something?" he asked as he toyed with a pencil that had been left on the counter, though it seemed more of a rhetorical question. "Or do you have some special magic to get around that with men?"
“Hm? Oh. Uh- no. I’m not from the lineage of incubus or Sucubis.”, he said with a shrug. “Get around what with men? You mean… uh… my… dick?”, he tilted his head. “I can just- change that stuff?”, he ran a hand through his hair. It grew much longer and he changed the chest to be very large. Almost cartoonishly so. “To change this stuff just takes more… concentration? Finess? I don’t know how to describe it.”, he continued to eat.
Dante's brow tightened in confusion, having been expecting some kinda curse that forced men to give birth and not something so simple as Alastor changing his own body. "That's uh... not what I--ugh! Fucking stop!" Dante complained, covering his eyes to spare himself from looking at a feminized clone of himself. Here he'd thought Alastor walking around with his face and a flat chest was bad, but this was a real nightmare.
“I mean your jawbone isn’t so bad. You could pass as a girl”, he shrugs and changes back to his altered look. He goes back to eating. “I use to not be so good at forming features like boobs. It just came with lots of practice.”
Dante grit his teeth. "The fuck would I want to pass as a girl? And why would you bother trying to learn something like that? It's not like boobs are useful for anything," he argued, oddly passionate about the conversation.
“Because women are seen as weak and can easily manipulate men. Most authorities are men so- using feminine wilds and all that.”, he said as he ate. “I don’t see an issue with it either way.”, he yawns a bit.
"Isn't that degrading?" he argued. "I mean, the way some men talk to women... how do you stand it?"
“I literally spent the last few years having my blood harvested and digging in a tunnel endlessly from before the sun rose to well after it fell. I don’t actually care about that shit. “, he says.
This shut Dante up pretty quick. What was there to say to that? What did his own frustrations with his body matter when there were people suffering so much worse?
He clenched his teeth and looked elsewhere, at a loss for what else to say. He had the impulse to ask if his shape changing ever bothered him, ever felt too foreign to walk around in, but he assumed the answer was going to be the same. It wasn't like Alastor had been given many options after all.
Alastor just kept eating away. Not noticing the abrupt conversation murder that just occurred, or maybe, just accepted it.
He finished all the food once more. “Do you get bored here? Just… sitting? Looking at… books?”
Dante considered for a moment. "No? I mean what alternative is there? I'm not really all that interested in people, and with books you get to learn about other places or things that happened years ago even if you can't see it for yourself. So... yeah, no, not really," he said, but even as he made his case he wasn't all that enthusiastic. He'd thought Alastor was like him, some ostracized magic user caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, but clearly they had more differences than he realized. But that was hardly new for him, he was used to no one understanding him.
“Hmm…”, he leaned back on the stood. “So you mentioned this Jac guy. Does he go beyond the wall to get these books?”
"Yeah, sometimes," Dante said. "Why?"
“Curious if he knows more about the villages out in the wilds,” he says honestly.
"I'm not sure," Dante said. "I mean, he tells me about his trips sometimes, but they're usually pretty tame as far as I know. I would think the villages in the wilds would be pretty noteworthy."
“Ah. So he just goes between the walled cities…”, he sounded disappointed.
"Probably," Dante agreed. "Why?"
“I have to go somewhere but I’m not thrilled at the idea of living in the wild like a animal…I was just wondering if he had experience with those places.”, he says.
"Oh," Dante nodded, understanding his line of inquiry now. "I mean, we can always ask when he gets back in a few days. Unless you uh... wanted to try to find out more now. Somehow."
“I don’t have a lot of options…”, he admits.
"Well... if you don't want to wait the only other option that comes to mind is the academy," Dante suggested. "They have an expansive library from what I hear, wouldn't be surprised if they have maps of the wilds in there. But I've never been inside the place myself, and if you got caught sneaking in it could be bad. Not to mention the uh, you know, whole wanted fugitive thing and face stealing magic."
“I think I should not test my luck. I’m one mess up away from going back to that hell on earth….”, he frowns
"Yeah," Dante sighed with a small, solemn nod. "Well, at least it shouldn't be too hard to keep a low profile here for a few days then."
“Alright then”, he said.
- - -
As the days passed, Alastor was on his beat behavior. At night he went and slept in the supply closet and during the day he was fed and answered Dante’s endless questions about magic and things beyond the walls.
Dante was more than happy with their current arrangement, giving a demon room and board in exchange for magical secrets. He wasn't used to having anyone other than Jac around, and despite Alastor's more flirtatious tendencies he made for good company. And Dante definitely felt safer with him around after he scared off Reuben.
However with two mouths to feed that meant they had gone through most of their food rather quickly.
"Hey, I'm gonna head out and pick up some groceries," Dante told Alastor. "Watch the shoo while I'm gone. Also you want anything?"
“Yes! I will protect the books and stab any thieves”, he took out a dagger and stabbed the air dramatically. “And will stop greeting customers with ‘hello fellow human’ “
Dante slowly reached out to the hand with the dagger and lowered it. "Okay, but maybe try to avoid stabbing people? You've made it this far without getting into trouble, no need to risk it now. And yeah drop the 'human' thing, even I think it sounds creepy," he said as he shrugged on a cloak.
"I wont be long, probably nobody will even come in while I'm out," he assured him.
“Okay”, Alastor said. One thing about the book store is that nothing happened here. But- another was nothing happened here.
Once satisfied with Alastor's instructions Dante left the shop and made his way to the market. The shop did not see much activity at all aside from the occasional window shopper, which was super boring.
About half an hour after Dante's departure the bell above the door finally jingled. However instead of someone looking to acquire books it seemed an older man with his arms filled with books had entered the shop.
"Dante? Oh Dante, I'm home!" the man called out from the front if the store, settling his stack of books down on the floor.
Alastor was so bored he was counting the floor planks of the shop when the bell rang.
He missed the part about the man holding books and when he came around the corner just say a man with lot of books on the floor. He frowns.
“Uh- excuse me sir. Please do not put our stock on the floor.”
As Alastor rounded the corner he came face to face with a man who appeared to be pushing fifty give or take, hair that was once a dusty brown fading away into a light silver in his beard and receding hair line. Laugh lines were etched firmly into the corners of his mouth and forehead, and despite his age he seemed to have a bounce to his step.
He laughed merely at Alastor's request. "Oh Dante, you're such a kidder. Always so strict," he chuckled as he pulled Alastor into a hug. "The floorboards aren't going to hurt these books, they're much too hardy for that ho ho."
Alastor was caught off guard by being grabbed, letting out a startled hiss when he was grabbed. “Hey! Sir! Please do not. I am not Dante!”, he said quickly. And awkwardly.
"Hmm?" Jac pulled back to look at Alastor, squinting. "Oh, are you changing your name again? It's been some time since... oh nevermind, what have you picked out for yourself this time?" he asked, his joliness not wavering.
As he pulled back Alastor's ponytail rested in his hand. "Growing your hair out again I see, was I really gone that long?"
Alastor narrowed his eyes a little. Did- did this guy know already? Alastor’s eyes desperately searched over Jac’s body for a black turtle symbol.
He took a few steps back. “I uh- name is Desmond sir. I’m Dante’s cousin from the south…”
In response to this Jac's jovial mood immediately fell away. "That's not funny Dant--" he began to say, looking surprisingly patronizing, but then his gaze hardened suspiciously. After a moment of looking him over Jac smiled again, but it was not nearly so warm as before and his tone was rather cold.
"Oh. Well it is a pleasure to meet you Desmond," he said. "I would very much like to purchase these books here, could you help me with that?" he asked, patting the pile.
“Uh…. Yeah…. Sure… I can… do thatttt”, he ran back to the counter and pulled out the log with prices of the books.
“Which ones did you get sir?”, he asked, thankful to have some distance between them. The coldness of the tone was missed as he was just so relieved to move this along.
"Oh, there was A Guide to Wild Mushrooms by Lawrence Locke... The History of Hemridge 2nd edition..." he rattled off as he made his way closer to the counter. "But there was also a volume of Odd Creatures and Misfits at the top of that shelf over there," he said, pointing near the front of the store. "Would you be able to reach that for me? I'm afraid my back just isnt what it used to be."
Alastor was flipping through the large log book and writing down prices. “I uh- oh. Sure sir…”, he moved from behind the counter and went to the bookself looking for the volume. “You seem a bit old for a student. Are you a professor or something?”
"Or something," Jac agreed casually, sliding up to the counter and pulling one of the hidden daggers there from its sheath.
Alaator looked at him. “Sir. We do not sell daggers here. Please put it back. Theft will not be tolerated at this bookshop.”, he warns.
Jac's friendly demeanor instantly faded away. "You've got a lot of nerve telling me not to steal from my own store young man," he said, holding the dagger as if he were going to throw it. "Now where's Dante?"
Alastor leaned on the bookstore. “Hmm. No. The owner of this shop won’t be back for three more days. And I am not about to be scammed by some guy off the street.”
He walks closer. “You seem a bit old to be one of my cousin’s bullies but, anything is possible for humans I guess.”, he say unamused.
“Don’t draw a dagger unless you intend to use it.”, he said with narrowed eyes.
As Alastor stepped closer Jac did not hesitate to throw the dagger, though he missed any off the more vital parts of his chest and it instead sunk into his shoulder.
"Don't talk like you know him! Where is he!?" Jac insisted, clearly becoming more panicked.
Alastor hissed in pain as the dagger ripped into his shoulder. “You should not have done that human”, he growled and ripped it out of his shoulder.
He ran forward, closing the distance between them and stabbed Jac right back with a dagger to the chest.
Jac grunted in pain as Alastor stabbed him. He slumped against the counter, barely managing to stay up, and patted around blindly on the surface for some sort of weapon. His hand closed around something and attempted to stab Alastor in the back with it. Apparently he had grabbed a fork, the prongs digging into Alastor's flesh.
The bell about the front door chimed then, signaling someone else had entered the store. "Hey, I'm back, I got--WHAT THE FUCK!?" Dante's familiar voice shouted from the front of the store, followed by the sound of likely groceries clattering again the floor and hurried footsteps.
“Ow! Forks are for eating you savage!”, he says as he pulls back his hand, now bleeding.
“Dante this guy fucking stabbed me with a fork! And a dagger! But somehow the fork feels more offensive.”
"D... Dante?" Jac winced, gritting his teeth.
"Get off of him!" Dante shouted, pulling Alastor back by his shoulder, thankfully the one that didnt have a huge gash in it. Dante's face was white as a sheet, his hands trembling as he hesitantly reached towards the dagger embedded in Jac's abdomen. "J-jac I..."
"Hey. Hey, hey, hey. None of that," Jac chided him lightly, slapping a hand weekly against his cheek. "I've had worse. But you uh... you know this guy?" he asked, glancing between the two Dantes, or Dante and Desmond as the other preferred.
“Oh? So this is Jac? Hello!”, he says as he hops up onto the counter and looks down at the two. “You should have lead with that.”, he defends.
“But I did technically make sure no one stole from the store or caused trouble. Per your instructions Dante.”
"Fascinating... did you make him?" Jac asked Dante, assuming Alastor was some sort of simple minded clone conjured with magic. "Marvelous work, never seen anything like it."
Dante was still in too much of a panic to answer either of them, running off to fetch the med kit instead. "Dont kill each other! Please!" he yelled after he was already gone.
“Oh please. Dante could never sculpt such a flawless, sensual creature such as myself.”, he flips his hair. “At any rate. Hell! I am Desmond- or well- I guess Alastor is my real name but I’ve been using Desmond as my name.”
He leans on his arm. “Dante it wasn’t a vital mark. I know humans are fragile like we talked about!”, he calls back.
Jac slumps to the floor in front of the counter, wincing as he gets comfortable.
"Alastor? Desmond? Which... do you prefer?" he asked, a hint of his previous smile returning though he was clearly still in pain. "And how... Who are you really? Dante doesn't have any family."
“Well. I wasn’t named when I was a kid so- I just sort or collect names.”, he tilted his head to one side. “I picked Alastor because it sounded fancy, like someone of importance.”
"Oh... that's nice," Jac said noncommittally, looking as though he might fall asleep.
Dante returned then, bursting through the back room door like the building was on fire. He quickly knelt beside Jac, fishing the jar of healing salve from the box, before remembering the dagger was still embedded in his side. He stared at it awkwardly, afraid to pull it out.
"Hmm? Oh, let me just..." Jac said, pulling the dagger out himself which resulted in a fresh stream of blood running down his side.
"Jac!? Fuck--" Dante said, though it wasn't clear if he was angered or distressed or both. Probably both. He worked on applying the cream to the wound, all the while looking like he was going to throw up.
“I got stabbed too. And technically first”, Alastor says as he just sits on the counter and watched. “Should we drag him into the back so people don’t see- uh- this?”, he gesture to the whole scene.
"You what!?" Dante asked in astonishment, turning to Alastor and taking in the bloodstain on his shoulder for the first time.
"Your friend here... erk... has a point," Jac said and he struggled to push himself to his feet. "Be a lad and flip the closed sign would you?" he asked Alastor.
"Gods. Fuckin. Dammit," Dante grumbled to himself as he tried to help Jac into the back room.
Alastor shrugged and walked to the front of the store and locked the door. He turned the sign and walked back. Alastor followed after them.
“I thought my days of being stabbed where over.”
Dante led Jac not to the backroom Alastor has been staying in but instead the one with the small kitchen. He helped Jac into a seat and reached for the healing salve but Jac just batted his hand away.
"There's no need for that son, I can handle it myself. Hardly the first time ho ho," he said as he worked on closing up his own wounds.
"Ugh... fine," Dante sighed, rubbing his face and turning to Alastor as he entered. "Okay, what happened to you?"
“Jac stabbed me.”, Alastor says. “So I stabbed him back and then I stabbed him back but he also stabbed me with a fork!”, Alastor pointed at his bleeding shoulder.
"Ugh..." Dante groaned, reaching to grab some of the healing salve. "Alright, let me see," he said with a frustrated expression and his fingers covered in the cream.
“I don’t need that stuff. It’ll heal on it’s own.”, he says. “I just want it made clear he stabbed first.”
Dante rolled his eyes, scraping the cream off his fingers and back into the jar. "Why did you stab a guy that looked like me anyway?" he asked Jac.
"Well, he was very obviously not you," he said simply. "Said he was a cousin of yours, which is obviously not true. So, who is he?"
Dante's eyes widened nervously, glancing to Alastor, debating. "He's uh... well, he's like me."
"Yes, I see that," Jac said simply.
"What? No, I mean he uh... got mixed up with the wrong people, y'know?" Dante tried to explain.
Alastor rolls his eyes, and changes into Jac. “Does this make you feel better human?”, he asks Jac.
Dante flinched as Alastor changed shape again, his eyes darting to Jac.
But Jac did not seem at all perturbed by this, his eyes wide with a delighted smile. "Ho ho! My, that is quite the trick! Are you some sort of doppelganger?" he asked.
“No”, he says. “I’m a bit spicer than a basic shapeshifter.”, he leans against the wall with his arms crossed. “Settling in a human city wasn’t really the plan but Dante let me stay here and hide.”
"Hmm, I see. How very generous of you Dante," Jac said with a smile as he turned to Dante, his tone a mixture of amusement and sarcasm. Dante, on his part, looked annoyed and a bit guilty.
"So what is your plan then?" Jac asked Alastor.
“Wait for my wings to heal and then probably- uh…. Hm…. Run? Go beyond the walls maybe?”, he shrugs. He had gotten comfortable here, and forgot about what next. He was enjoying his peace.
"Wing!? My, my, my, you've certainly made a special friend here haven't you?" Jac said to Dante, though his teasing tone was beginning to become more obviously wary.
Dante winced. "Look uh... do you know anywhere he might be able to uh... you know, go? Outside the walls?"
Jac looked between the two of them, considering. "That's no so easy to answer my boy. The wilds are vast. I've not seen much of it myself. What's more, it's difficult to recommend a place when I do not even know what sort of creature I am speaking with, ho ho, no offence," he said to Alastor.
Alastor drops Jac’s form slowly until he was just standing there. “A rather… recognizable one I’m afraid…”
"Oh! Oh my..." Jac gasped as Alastor's true form was revealed, clearly uncomfortable. "That... I do see how this could cause some trouble for you. Dante, could I speak with you alone for a moment?"
Dante's brow tightened, clearly not expecting this and looking a little unsure. "Uh... yeah, okay. Alastor could you uh... wait up front? Maybe uh... grab my face first," he suggested, not wanting his fiendish form to be on display with all the open windows.
Alastor frowned. He looked away, changing back into the altered Dante form. “Okay…”, he said. He almost forgot he was a monster.
He followed when they left, but tripped over a box and clattered over some items. “Ow! Fuckfuck”
Dante was too distracted by what Jac could want to talk to him about to notice Alastor's slip up, but Jac kept his eyes firmly on the door even once Alastor was out of sight. "Alright boy, come here," Jac instructed.
"Uh, okay--" said awkwardly as he walked closer to where Jac say, but then was startled as Jac grabbed his face and pulled him down to eye level. "--what!? Hey!"
Jac did not seem at all perturbed by this, inspecting his eyes. "What has that demon done to you? Did he charm you or something? And what happened here?" he asked as he prodded at Dante's still bruised eye.
"Ow! Nothing! Let go!" Dante protested, standing back up. "What's... why are you acting like this?"
Jac sighed, rubbing his face in the same manner Dante often did when he was distressed. "Son, look, I know you've been interested in the occult for some time, but... can we not agree that bringing a demon home is just a wee bit... just, just a smidge dangerous?"
"He's not dangerous!" Dante protested. "He's been here a few days and he... he's really helped me out a lot."
Alastor listened quietly. He frowned at Jac’s words. But he wasn’t wrong. He stepped away from the door. The pain in his hand and shoulder where nothing compared to the pain he felt in his chest.
"Yes, for now maybe. But can you be so sure this will last?" Jac asked, dropping his voice. "On my way into town I ran into some guards asking about this monster that escaped. They say he's killed some people. I think you're little friend in there might be him."
"Yeah, I know, but--"
"You KNOW!?"
"Of course I know, I'm not stupid! And since when do you believe what the crownsguard say? You took me in didn't you?"
"Yes but that was different. Dante, please, be sensible about this," Jac urged, dropping his voice so low it was difficult to make out everything. "Does he know that you're... has he tried to... has he hurt you?"
"No," Dante all but snarled, not so much as an answer and more so as an abrupt end to that line of questioning. "No, we are NOT having this conversation. How can you be so... I thought you..."
"Dante, I'm sorry, but this... you don't know him. He could be dangerous."
"I could've been dangerous."
"You were a child, it's not the same."
"Oh, so if you found me now you'd just leave me to die, is that it?"
"Dante, you know that's not what I--"
"Then what?" Dante protested, and the room went quiet.
Alastor stepped away from the door and walked to the front of the store. He sat on the stool and leaned on the counter. He watched the human passing by. He felt his eyes water and he rubbed it away.
What did he expect? How else could this have ended? Jac was perfectly right to not like him.
Jac and Dante's 'discussion' didn't last much longer as Dante exited the back room, slamming the door loudly. He gripped his forehead tightly, squeezing his temples as he paced in frustration. How could Jac say those sorts of things? How could he think Dante was stupid enough to let someone actually dangerous stay at their house? How could he take one look at Alastor and suddenly be afraid of him? How could he ask him if Alastor had--
He took a deep breath and groaned loudly, too furious to even bother noticing Alastor at the counter.
Alastor rubbed his eyes again when he heard the door shut. He just grabbed a random book and opened it, pretending to read.
Dante continued to fume for a few moments longer, pacing around the store until he happened to look up and spotted Alastor at the counter. He faltered for a moment before walking over and pressing his hands against the countertop, leaning his weight on his arms.
"Sorry," he grumbled. "I... I didn't think he'd be like that."
“I uh- it’s… you already helped me. I should leave anyways. You know- because I am uh-“, he rubbed his face. “I don’t belong with humans…”
Dante held his tongue, because while he'd grown used to having Alastor around he wasn't so sure he was wrong. After all Alastor had been pretty bored stuck in the shop the last few days, and even if he hadn't been Dante knew what it was like to feel like an outsider amongst humans even as one himself. He could only imagine what it was like for someone like Alastor who always had to hide.
"What are you going to do then?" he asked, not hiding his disappointment.
“Just… over the wall… it was wrong of me to… i… just…”, he rubbed his face, hiding in his arms and tried not to cry.
"Hey. Hey, no," Dante said quietly. "It's okay, we'll... we'll figure something else out, okay?" he said, though honestly he was at a loss as to how to help.
“I don’t know where to go. I’m not made for living in the elements like a beast. I don’t even know of a place for creatures like me. What the hell else is suppose to happen?…”, he says
"Then just... stay here then," Dante said. "Jac will come around, he's just... he's just scared, but once he knows you..."
Alastor rubbed his cheek. “And what? Just borrow your face forever? Live in the closer forever?….”, he asks.
"I... I don't know," he said. "I mean, you can use them as long as you want them, but I... y'know, I get if that's not enough."
“I don’t know…”, he rubs his cheek. “I- what about you? Are you going to spend tour life here in this shop?”
"Uh... maybe? I... can't say I ever really thought about it that way," he admitted.
He rubs his face. “Your tome is a thing to be careful of… it… will get what it wants or find another. I hears stories about the Warden’s book…”, he says. “You seem to eager yo know more to stay here.”
He noticed a dark shape at the door. It looked familiar. Ruben.
Dante's eyes widen as Alastor mentions the tome. "I uh... I never considered that there was anything to learn about it that I couldn't find in another book. But if there are others... and if there is magic out in the wilds..."
"Ugh, I don't know," he sighed, rubbing his face. "I've... it's been a long time since I was out of the city. I don't know anything about... well, anything, out there."
“Are you going to put up humans like that?”, he pointed out the window.
Dante glanced outside, flinching as he saw not just Reuben but another familiar looking man he was speaking with that Dante couldn't place by name. He watched as they continually looked over the building while talking, and Dante could only assume they were plotting something.
"Uuuuugh, Fucking...," Dante groaned loudly, glowering at the figures on the other side of the glass. He didn't have time for this. These imbecilic. These lowlifes.
"[Infernal] Fuck off," he growled to himself, an odd shadow passing over his face that could have easily been a trick of the light to anyone who wasn't familiar with a Cause Fear spell. Outside the window Rueben shuttered for a moment, looking around, but was otherwise completely oblivious and continued chatting with the other man.
Alastor looked out the window, he got up but the outline of a crownsguard walking by made him duck quickly behind the counter. “Fuck… this sucks…”
Dante's glowering ceased as the crownsguard came into view, momentarily distracted. "Man, what are they still looking for?" he muttered, frusterated. "I mean, it's been days right? How do they know the guy they're after is even still in the city."
“No clue… but- I guess the mere oddity of a tiefling in town has their panties in a twist…”, he peeks up from behind the counter.
Dante's nose wrinkled at the comment about 'panties in a twist' but he didn't say anything. "I mean, they can't look forever right? What if you did just keep my face? You seemed pretty happy with it the other day," Dante noted, recalling how Alastor was openly ogling at himself in the window.
“Yeah but- it’s…. Is it wrong to just be myself and not feel like I have to hide behind someone else’s face?”
Dante just stared at Alastor for a moment, the bindings around his chest feeling oddly tight.
"No," he agreed. "It's not."
“Maybe I should just go into the wilds. Choices here around humans are limited,”, he says
"I... I guess," Dante conceded, feeling as though they were talking in circles. The wilds didn't exactly sound like a great option, but did Alastor have any?
The hours crept on, and nothing interesting happened. Alastor stood in the stock room. "Is it even okay for... me to sleep here tonight?". he frowns.
"Yeah. It's fine. Really," Dante said assuredly, from his tone likely still frustrated from his argument with Jac.
He looked down at the keys in his hand, turning them over uncomfortably. "Do you... want the door locked?" he asked, as opposed to a few days prior when he simply told Alastor he would be locking it.
"It doesn't really matter.", he laid down on the blanket. "But I'm sure it would make Jac feel better about having a demon around...", he mutters.
Dante glared at the keys in his hand before pocketing them. "Just do me a favor and don't eat any babies," he said as he made his way to the door, opting not to lock it. If Alastor decided to leave in the middle of the night with a dagger and some of their gold then oh fucking well.
"Night Al," he said.
"Good night Dante"
- - -
It was a quiet night. But did not stay so for long. There was a loud banging on the door as a distant bell cried out into the night. Outside of the store were burst of red and orange as a fire tore across the district. Alastor was awoke by the sound, coughing as he realized the air was thick with smoke as the front of the store was already on fire.
"Dante?", he said as he got up confused. Outside the sound of screams was shouting as panic spread quickly.
Dante tossed and turned in bed, sweat staining his sheets, until he jolted awake to the sound of screaming and the bright light of fire dancing in his window. He coughed violently, his eyes burning and the upstairs had begun to fill with smoke.
"Fu-uck..." he wheezed, falling out of bed and stumbling towards the door.
Alastor used the blanket to hide himself as he called through the now burning store. "DANTEEEEE IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE AND IT ISN'T JUST MEEEE"
Dante's head was spinning as he staggered through the upstairs hallway, having already inhaled a fair bit of smoke in his sleep. He could hear Alastor shouting from downstairs but it felt miles away.
"Alast--!" he tried to yell back, but was cut off by a coughing fit and fell to the floor, each desperate breath only pulling more and more smoke into his lungs.
Jac stumbled out of his own room, coughing as well but managing to stay on his feet, his face red and sweating with a cloak draped over his shoulders to help protect against the heat. "DANTE!" he yelled when he spotted him on the floor coughing up a lung.
Alastor heard the broken call of Dante. He walked forward, he called out as a beam came down and smashed into a bookshelf and sent him sprawling to the ground. He hissed in pain, as he held his bleeding face. His vision was shifting back and forth. Luckily, he managed to cling to Dante's form for concentration.
Jac managed to stager towards Dante, kneeling beside him and covering him with the cloak to help block out the smoke. After a moment he seemed to be able to catch his breath momentarily and with Jac's help was able to get back to his feet. The floor beneath them shook as one of the support beams fell with a loud CRASH! but the two of them managed to keep their footing as they rushed to the staircase.
"AL-cough-ALASTOR!" Dante called out, his eyes darting around the store but unable to spot him.
This time, he could hear them much clearer. "I'm downstairs! Come on the whole place is up in fucking flames!", he called out to them as he staggered to find a exit. He was resistant to flames, but it didn't mean they didn't hurt.
The staircase was falling apart, the wood going weak from the flames. As Dante took a step one of the floorboards collapsed beneath him, but he managed to jump out of the way and down to the lower steps. Jac, however, was not nearly so lucky as the steps he was on also gave way and the staircase collapsed beneath him.
"JAC!!" Dante cried out, and was relieved to hear Jac's ragged coughing after the impact. Though the building clearly did not like such a heavy weight being thrown against it's foundation, as a loud ominous creak sounded through the store.
"Who knew a bookstore was so flammable", Alastor said as he ran over to Dante and Jac. He helped them as best he could.
Between Dante and Alastor, despite their deplorable upper body strength, they somehow managed to get Jac to his feet. As they scrambled to get out of the collapsing building Alastor's arm bumped into Dante's chest, which was surprisingly squishy? But Dante was in too much of a panic to notice or think about it himself.
The group made a hasty exit as the roof above them threatened to come down on them, the cool night air greeting them as they burst into the open street.
It was hysterics and danger until the dawn. When the fires where finally out, the entire block of homes and stores where in smolders. The entire bookstore was gone, as well as a few others around it.
"Good people!", came a voice. Many turned to see the older man with his turtle symbol on his outfit. He was in full ceremonial robes. "You have been victimized by the demonic beast that we warned about. This horrible fire was started by it! Will you let it continue to unleash such horrors upon your lives?", there was a lot of muttering.
Alastor looks at Dante, "I didn't do this...."
Dante was shaking with rage as the zealot addressed the crowd, already coming to the conclusion on his own that this wasn't Alastor's doing. He'd seen enough of this behavior before to know better.
"Those mother fuckers..." he hissed.
"I need to get our of here", he whispers to Dante.
Dante grit his teeth, glancing around the crowd. If they could find shelter of some kind he might be able to give Alastor a head start. He'd used Invisibility on himself a few times before, somehow, but he'd never tried casting it on someone else before. And he couldn't very well do it out in the open like this.
"Don't run, it'll draw attention," he whispered back. "Let's just... back up slowly, okay?"
He gave a small nod, taking one careful step back and then another. "This is bad...", he whispered as the Warden continued on for his hateful message. Every passing moment the people seemed to grow more angry and the monster who caused this.
"Yeah, I've seen this before..." he admitted, glaring at the townspeople for falling for this garbage. He slowly backed up alongside Alastor. "If we can find some place out of the way I can give you something to help. Maybe."
“I’m sorry about the shop Dante…”, he says quietly
"Dont apologize for something you didn't do," he hissed, his frustration seeping through.
It took some time before they were able to separate from the crowd, and with so much of the block destroyed there wasnt a building readily available to duck behind. Dante pulled the cloak Jac had draped over him closer to cover himself as they searched for somewhere to hide.
“I can’t tell if they started this, or it was a horrible accident and they jumped on the chance…”, he whispers to Dante.
"They started it," Dante snarled, though he didn't have any concrete proof to go off of and only his own suspicions. "If they didn't then they'd be more worried about whoever did cause this, right? How would they know they don't have a real arsonist to worry about?"
Eventually they found a small shack that had somehow managed to remain standing during the fire and Dante pulled Alastor inside. "I've uh... I've only used this on myself before, but it should make it so nobody can see you. It only lasts about an hour so make it count," he explained as he began moving his hands in a familiar pattern.
Alastor grabbed Dante’s hand as he realized some eyes where looking around. “It will look bad for you if your cousin runs off after the fire. I will leave but it’s best if I spread out my departure…”, he looked away as the Warden looked right at their group. Staring for a long moment before looking elsewhere.
Dante looked up at Alastor in disbelief as he grabbed his hand, preventing him from performing the spell. "Oh fucking well," he hissed. "It's not like you've been here that long, hell you could've died in the--"
Dante stopped abruptly when Alastor turned away, glancing over to see the Warden starting at them. He glowered back until the Warden looked elsewhere.
He rubbed his face, trying to compose himself. "Look... what do you want to do? A minute ago I thought you wanted out, but now...?"
“I was going to. But that was before-“, he paused as he realized above them clouds formed. And rain started falling on them all.
Down the street walked a women dressed in a long, gorgeous robe. The symbol of the kingdom covered her robe. She was tall, slender, and very beautiful with strange purple eyes. She carried a staff with a hand large lizard made of opal at the end that was glowing. Her name was Ginora, the personal mage of the King himself. One of the few people able to openly perform magic.
Dante glanced up as the rain started to fall, pulling the hood of Jac's cloak over his head. Between the sound of the rain and the hood blocking his view he failed to notice the woman making their way down the street.
Alastor took off his blanket and tossed it over Dante. “Maybe we can find and overhang to hide under”, he says
Dante's eyebrows knitted together, confused why Alastor was throwing a blanket at him when he already had a cloak. "Keep it, I'm fine with this," he said, trying to give the blanket back. "But yeah, let's see what we can find."
“Your chest is showing.”, he grumbled to Dante as lead them to a small overhang of a blacksmith shop. “We should lay low until the dawn…”
"My--" Dante started to say before several emotions ranging from shock to fear to outrage flashed across his face. Alastor knew. How many other people knew? Had Reuben seen? Or Jared? He didn't want to think about what sort of horrible things they might do with this information if they had. But also why the fuck did this have to matter at all!? People were dead, injured, homeless, but making sure he was 'decent' was somehow more important? It shouldn't fucking matter. Even though he knew, from his fears just a moment ago, that it did.
Dante pulled the cloak more tightly around himself, a deep crease forming between his brows. He silently followed Alastor, refusing to look at him.
Once reaching the blacksmith's shop he pressed his back to the storefront and slid down to the ground, sitting so that his folded arms rested on his knees, gripping the edges of the cloak in his fists to keep him chest hidden from view. He felt sick.
Alastor settled down beside Dante. He watched in the distance as the fire was put out. Several blocks where smoldering as the rain came down and put out the remaining flames. He knew humans where crazy, but where they so horrible they might do this to their own people?
"I uh- is there... anything I can do? I-I know I can't do much but....", he says.
Dante's scowl deepened as Alastor spoke up, though he just stared out into the rain without really looking at anything. "I don't need your pity," he said, sitting back so his folded arms were no longer resting upon his knees and were instead more firmly pressed against his chest beneath the cloak.
"Don't you have enough to worry about? I can deal with my own shit," he muttered. Now that he knew that Alastor knew, Dante's was looking at the aftermath of the fire through a new lense. Alastor should be running for his life but instead he was sitting on his ass next to Dante asking what he could do when Dante at least had a town he could live in, Dante at least had some semblance of family, Dante at least could survive here and wasn't immediately at risk of being arrested or worse. Alastor was the one with nowhere to go, Alastor was the one who's life was on the line. Did he think Dante was so delicate, so incompetent, that the wanted fiend needed to push his own issues aside to make room for this?
'It will look bad for you...'
'I was going to. But that was before-'
'Your chest is showing.'
{I'm not some fucking damsel in distress!} he thought to himself, not realizing he had projected the thought into Alastor's head as well.
“I mean… yeah but… I thought we where starting to be friends…”, he frowns. And Dante’s mind lashed out at him, he flinched as if he’d been struck.
“That’s not it at all. I don’t care about that shit Dante…”
Dante glanced to Alastor defensively, his grip on the cloak tightening. But he turned to Alastor with obvious confusion as he continued speak.
"Uh... what... what's not it?" he asked, not understanding what shit he was referring to.
“I don’t think you’re a damsel in distress.”, he clarifies. He scratches his own head a bit.
Dante's eyes widened uneasily. "How did you..." he started to ask, but then decided he didn't really care that much how Alastor knew. Maybe it was obvious what Dante was thinking. Maybe it was written all over his face.
He sighed, slipping one of his shaky hands out of the cloak to rub his face, the other still holding the cloak tightly closed.
"Sure you don't," he sighed with a defeated look. "Look, you can tell yourself that, but... can you really say I'm the same person to you that I was yesterday?" he asked with a defensive scowl.
"I didn't want you to know. I don't want you looking at me like I'm weak or pathetic or emotional or... just... whatever," he sighed, pulling the cloak more tightly around himself again.
“No, I don’t see you as any different. You’re still Dante to me. I think maybe you put to much stock into that stuff.”, he tells Dante.
Dante glanced to Alastor, his brow still tight but his eyes weren't as angry as before. If anything they were more afraid. He was afraid to believe what Alastor was saying, afraid to get his hopes up that nothing had changed. Because eventually little things would start to leak through, little slip ups and reminders that they weren't build the same. Well, in addition to the obvious fiendish differences between them.
"I don't think you get it," Dante said eventually. After all, Alastor had said himself that he didn't care about the way he was treated when disguising as a woman. So how could he possibly understand Dante's desire to be seen as anything else?
"Don't tell anyone," he blurted out hastily as soon as the thought crossed his mind, not sure Alastor would inherently know that this was such a closely guarded secret of his.
“Is it like a secret?”, he asks as he keeps looking around. The rain was stopping now and the people where trying to collect their dead and some had even started combing through the wreckage of their destroyed homes.
Dante gave Alastor an incredulous look, dumbfounded by how nonchalant he was about it. "Yeah, if it wasn't I wouldn't be..."
He clenched his teeth, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Look, I get that you don't know much about human cities, but me... looking like this, acting like this, going by this name... it would be really dangerous for me if anyone found out. Jac's the only one that knows, and I got lucky with him. Some days I'm surprised he didn't thrown me out on the street."
"I appreciate you telling me but, you don't owe me a explanation either... I owe you a lot. Maybe even as much as my life... and I.. won't betray your secret", he says to the other. "That also explains... the strange look you gave me when you saw me... uh.. you know what- it doesn't matter.", he looks back at where the bookstore once stood.
"You and Jac can rebuild right?"
Dante just stared at Alastor for a while, at a loss for what to say. He'd never expected this level of acceptance from anyone, and part of him still felt somewhat weary. The fact that Alastor wasn't pushing for answers helped.
"Thanks, I... I don't... wait, what... what look?" he asked, not sure what Alastor was talking about.
Dante glanced at the remains of the bookstore down the street and gave a heavy sigh. "I uh... don't really know. Books are expensive, so our stock burning up is a big hit. Jac has some ties he's reached out to before for help, but I don't know if he'll be able to cover this. But... we'll figure it out," he assured him.
“Well. Between the fire and the rain I don’t know how much survived but.. maybe some did and that will be a start for you guys. Did you guys have a savings anywhere? Like a lockbox with gold? We should retrieve that immediately if so. Scavengers are sure to come around while people are still hysterical…”
"Huh?" Dante said, his mind clearly elsewhere. "Oh. Yeah, that's... that's a good idea," he agreed, pushing himself up to his feet. He took care to hold the cloak around him closed, but his posture was not nearly so defensive as it had been.
“We should be careful”, he whispers as he walks back toward the shop. He was careful, and it was almost unnerving how good he was at creeping around. No one even glanced in his direction.
"Why?" Dante whispered back as they discretely made their way back to where the shop once stood. "It's my house, or uh... was. And it's not like we are the only people doing this."
“Yeah but do you want to draw attention right now?”, he asks a bit harshly as they get back to the store. The fire was out, charred paper litters the whole area. Due to how much was on fire there was several thick inches of ash covering everything. However, there where also quite a few miscellaneous items scattered about. Alastor kneels down to brush away some ash but it kicks up i to his eyes. “Ow!”, he hisses softly and rubs his eyes.
The counter still stands. And Dante can see the edge of his book. It seems to be sitting on top of a box. The cash box! How very strange…
Dante moved slowly through the remains of the shop, struggling to make sense of what had happened. He'd lived here, worked here, grown up here, and suddenly in the blink of an eye it was gone. He hesitantly reached out to familiar walls, familiar bookshelves, that left charred remains on his hands and a hole in his chest.
Alastor's small outburst grabbed his attention, pulling him from his thoughts and reminding him that they were here for a reason. He made his way around to the counter, which was surprisingly in tact. What was more surprising was not only the presence of the cash box, but the ancient tome sitting atop it. Not only had he never imagined the brittle, weathered old book would stand a chance against the fire he also couldn't recall leaving it atop the cash box...
Dante cautiously inspected them both, wondering how they had ended up here and if this was, somehow, some sort of trick.
As he reaches for the tome, a gust of wind kicked up. Ash scattered around and the cover opened, the wind flipping through some pages. A previously unintelligible page now had new writing. It was a faded red color on the bottom of the page. ‘A Gift’ is all it said, despite being in the same language as the rest of the book, this phrase suddenly was understood.
Dante could only stare at the tome, completely dumbfounded. A gift. A gift. He could read it, plain as day. How? Why now? What did this mean?
With his mind racing he scooped up the box and book, looking around for anything else that might have survived, hoping for a backpack or one of--
"Fuck," Dante hissed to himself, recalling Jac's magical tinker toys he worked on from time to time. He needed to make sure that either the few he kept around the house had gone up in flames, or they took them with. If some scavenger happened across any and discovered what it was that could be a real problem.
He rubs his eyes painfully “My eyes hurt….”
Dante winced sympathetically at Alastor's pain, digging around for any remains of the med kit that might contain some other healing trinket of some sort. But while checking Jac's usual hiding places all he finds are charred remains. Oh well, at least he won't have to worry about anyone else finding these things.
"Hey, sorry I can't find anything for that," he said. "Maybe we can find some water somewhere. And uh... some bandages..." he said, glancing down at where he held his cloak closed to ensure he was still covered.
“I’ll get over it”, he says as he keeps rubbing his eyes. “We need to find everything of value here. Because by tomorrow it will all be picked over I’m sure…”, he gets up. “I’m going to poke around some other burned shops myself while they are empty.”
"That's... yeah, okay. I'll meet back up with you in a bit," Dante said. He dug around through the collapsed shop some more, finding a variety of useful and... not so useful things. Why did Jac have an alms box? Well, he managed to find a backpack to carry all his findings at least, along with a backpack Jac had likely brought along on his trip containing a variety of basic essentials that they would surely need.
He stumbled out of the wreckage with two backpacks slung over his shoulders and the alms box under his arm, though he was strongly considering tossing it as he didn't have a use for it.
Alastor came back, with much less than Dante. He did find more rations, a rope, and most importantly, a healers kit! “Well looks like you found a bit of stuff.”
Dante dropped the bags on the ground as soon as Alastor came back into view, the weight of them both far too much for him to carry alone. He shrugged as he worked on catching his breath. "Yeah, but uh... not sure how... how useful it all is," he said, kicking the alms box lightly with his foot.
"Here, you can take some of this stuff," he said as he emptied out one of the backpacks for Alastor to use, leaving the spare waterskin for him as well.
Alastor accepts the items and adds what he had to them. “Are you going to relocate in the city?”
Dante's brow furrowed, his mouth parted as though he were going to answer but for some time he remained silent. "I... look, I'm still trying to... this has been a lot, okay? I don't know what I'm going to do. This doesn't happen every day," he said, the reality of the situation staring to wear on him more the more time he had to contemplate it.
"I guess uh... I guess it's up to Jac, whatever he wants to do. But I..." he scowled at nothing in particular, his lip curling. {I can't stay here. Can I? Just waiting around for the next angry mob? Those fuckers...}
“I understand Dante. I know what it’s like to made choices on the fly and not knowing if you have a safe landing. I know how scary it is. And I’m sorry this happened to you. But, these things need to at least be considered because life doesn’t stop..”, he slung the bag over his shoulder.
He paused, and looked back at Dante for a moment. “I uh- angry mob? What angry mob?”
Dante continued to glower at the ground as Alastor spoke. He wasn't wrong, he knew that, but he just... didn't have any answers. He didn't know what...
Alastor's question about the angry mob grabbed Dante's attention though, and he turned to Alastor in surprise which quickly turned to suspicion. "I... I didn't say anything about... can you read minds or something?" he hissed quietly, glancing around for anyone who might be listening in.
“Uh- no? It was- more like… you spoke into my mind?”, Alastor said, putting his hands up quickly. “I uh- it- it really wasn’t me.”, he added.
"I... what?" Dante said, more to himself than anything else. It wasn't... the most unlikely thing, honestly, as he had somehow inexplicably gained the ability to cast a few spells in the past, but it had been some time since anything like that had manifested.
He glared intently at Alastor, thinking very... loudly? {Is it working? Say something, like... uh... 'I eat babies',} he instructed wanting some kind of external proof that Alastor had gotten the message. Then again Alastor said that kinda stuff all the time, but it would still be weird if he just happened to say that now for no reason right?
“I am not saying that where anyone can hear me.”, Alastor said deadpanned. He looked back to where they left Jac. There seemed to be others gathering in that area now too.
Dante's eyes widened. "But you... so... huh, yeah, that's... okay," he said to himself, rubbing his face with a shaky smile. Why was all this crazy stuff happening now?
He followed Alastor, surprised to see that a crowd was forming. But maybe there were a lot of other townspeople who needed to be treated for their injuries.
Ginora and some other guards had started arriving. There was a horse drawn cart with blankets, some food and a few barrels of water. They where distributing aid to people, it seems Jac was just seated right next to it.
“Citizens! Our great and humble lord has offered temporary housing in the eastern royal stables. It will keep you dry and we will move the animals out. This tragedy will not shake our city! In the name of our glorious Lord and Lady.”, she continued on spreading good words. She was very charismatic.
Dante's shoulder's seemed to slump with relief when Ginora shared that some sort of living arrangements could be made, at least while they tried to figure out a long term solution. He spotted Jac and decided to make his way over and tell him what remained of the shop.
Alastor noticed the Black Tortious was poking through a shop with his long staff. The elderly man picked something up from the rubble and pockets it.
As Alastor turned to tell Dante he noticed the other had gone to Jac. Alastor quickly followed.
As Dante approached Jac he watched as his expression went from wide eyed and smiling to closed off and suspicious, which he... wasn't really sure what to make of.
"Hey, uh... how are you doing?" Dante asked, eyeing the makeshift splint fastened to Jac's arm.
"Oh ho, I'm quiet alright my boy..." Jac said, clearly attempting to but on a more cheerful facade though from the redness of his eyes he had clearly been struggling. "Wherever have you been? I was looking all over for you."
"Uh... sorry," Dante said, feeling genuinely guilty. "I just... I got caught up with stuff with Alastor and we were uh... trying to find anything that made it through the fire."
At the mention of Alastor Jac's eyes grew cold, glancing to him in an appraising manner. "I see..."
Dante's own eyes narrowed, not accustomed to Jac behaving this way. "What's that supposed to mean?" he challenged. But Jac didn't seem to pay him any mind and continued staring at Alastor.
Alastor gave a wave of his hand at the other. “Yeah we found some food and water. A few other odds and ends. But most of it is gone. Dante found a box so maybe there is stuff in it to help you guys move.”
"I mean I found two boxes. Why do you even have this?" Dante asked, holding up the alms box.
Surprisingly this seemed to be enough to grab Jac's attention away from scrutinizing Alastor. "Oh!" he exclaimed happily, reaching out for the box as Dante handed it over. "It's from my travels when I was much younger. There was a temple I stayed at for a week, they were very kind to let me stay with them to wait out a storm."
Dante's eyebrows furrowed. "And they just... gave you their donation box?" he asked with a hint of suspicion.
"Something like that," Jac agreed, turning it over and inspecting it.
“So you stole from a temple that let you stay?”, Alastor gave a laugh. “Not even I’ve done that before.”
"Yeah Jac, what the hell?" Dante said, not so much outraged but clearly uncomfortable with the idea.
Jac merely shrugged in response. "You do what you have to do survive. Surely you can sympathize with that," Jac said, casting Alastor a knowing glance.
Which only made Dante more uncomfortable. "The fuck are you getting at?"
"Oh nothing, pay me no mind," Jac sighed nonchalantly.
“I swam from an island. Ran through a forest. Got caught. Got whipped. Escaped before they shipped me back on a boat. Ran. Scaled the wall. Ended up here. You know- I actually didn’t steal from a temple during that whole time.”, Alastor said.
“If you have something to say then say it.”, Alastor crossed his arms and looked at Jac. “My only crime is living.”
Jac seemed visibly shaken by Alastor's display. For once it didn't seem he had anything to say, and he looked away like a scorned child.
Dante, meanwhile, was staring intently at Alastor, wide eyed. {You won't say 'I eat babies' in public but this is fine!? Keep your voice down.} But then he turned to Jac. "So uh... I take it the three of us are staying at the stables for now then? Or do you uh... have any friends you wanted to check in on?" Dante asked, making a point to advertise that he intended to lump Alastor in with their plans. At least as long as he was planning to stick around.
“You know Da-“, Alastor was about to say but was cut off by a female voice.
“And what of you young men?”, Ginora’s voice came directly behind them. Alastor froze in place. The strange looking women smiled at them warmly, she set a hand on Alastor’s shoulder.
“I’m sure many people would be very grateful for the help of such strapping young men at the stables. But it seems your packed to leave.”, she said.
Alastor was to shocked to speak.
Dante looked from Ginora to Alastor awkwardly, not sure what the other wanted to do.
"We were uh... just talking about that. Hadn't decided yet," he admitted.
"You know, you may be able to make some coin from aid funds. Our illustrious Lord and Lady have allotted money to help those in need of aid", she says.
Dante glanced to Jac. Sure they had their emergency fund but that would only last so long. If they wanted to have any semblance of a house again they would need real income somehow.
"Uh... okay? How do we do that?"
“Well. The stables are being cleaned but we still have problems like the mice and other vermin.”, she says. “So killing them or driving them out would be a bit help.”
Dante looked to Alastor with a raised eyebrow in question. When Ginora had approached them in need of 'strapping young men' Dante had assumed they were in need of people to do some heavy lifting, and as much as he would love to assist in such matters the thought was laughable. But getting rid of some mice couldn't be that difficult could it?
"I uh... I think we can manage that. Right?" he asked Alastor, not wanting to rope him in to something without permission.
Alastor nodded, not looking at the women as she let him go. “Excellent. You better head off ahead then”, she says and gives them directions.
"Okay. Hey, thanks for the work," he said to Ginora as they parted ways.
He glanced to Alastor in concern. {Hey, you okay?} He asked, not used to him being this quiet. He hadn't said a word since Ginora approached them.
“She just walked up behind me. I had no idea she was there. No one ever sneaks up on me.”, he whispered back as he starts heading toward the stables as directed.
"Uh... huh," Dante said simply, not really thinking much of Ginora taking him by surprise. "I was uh... thinking you knew her somehow. But if that's all it was..." he explained quietly.
“I’m surprised you’re not looking at her more. She’s performing magic in public and everyone is praising her. I don’t get it…”, he said as they got to the stables. It was a very large area with 12 stalls.
Dante scowled at the ground as they walked. "Yeah, she's great, real talented," he muttered sarcastically before groaning and rubbing his face. "I just..." he started to say before glancing around wearily for anyone that might be listening.
{I'm not gonna throw myself at nobles. They can just use magic as much as they like, just... flaunt it, do whatever, everyone loves it. But if anyone else uses magic they're burned at the stake. It's bullshit. So yeah, I don't like them,} he thought to Alastor before sighing and speaking aloud. "Ginora is... fine. From what I've heard she does a lot of good. And yeah, the people love her. But it's still bullshit."
As they approached the barn Dante wavered, glancing down to where he still held his cloak tightly shut. Grabbing rats wasn't actually a one-handed job, but if someone came by while they were working...
"Hey, you said you found a med kit right?" he asked Alastor. "Did it uh... have any bandages in it?"
“That is weird… I assumed cities where more of a all or nothing sort of thing.”, he says. “Oh uh- yeah there are bandages in the medical kit.”, he says. He called into the stables, but no one replied. There was just the distant sound of scurrying.
“Looks like it’s just us on this rat patrol…”
"Great, can I borrow it?" Dante asked, holding out a hand for it, intending to bind his chest in one of the stalls before they got down to business. "And uh... make sure nobody comes by?"
“Yeah.”, he offers up one use of bandages from the kit. “I will stay by the door.”
"Thanks," he said, accepting the bandages. Dante turned to face the wall as he undressed but didn't bother to cover himself otherwise. He generally took great care to expose as little of himself as possible for obvious reasons, but Alastor already knew so he didn't much see the point in caring beyond that. And he didn't want to waste time trying to keep himself covered or end up doing a sloppy job as a result. As he worked and his back was plainly visible Alastor would've seen a large, discolored patch of skin that was likely a burn that had long-since healed.
He wrapped himself quickly, having no trouble as he'd done it hundreds of times before. While he was well accustomed to the tightness of the wrapping it felt a bit odd not being able to breath quite so fully after running around without it for... how long had it been? A few hours? Regardless, despite restriction, with his chest bound again he felt he could breath more easily.
"Okay, you got any experience dealing with rats?" he asked the moment his shirt was back over his head, eager to move on and get down to business. His face was tinged red from embarrassment, but it didn't show in his expression.
Alastor was a good boy and kept to himself and his eyes outside. “Not really but I assume I can just stab them or something right?”, he said. “Or we can find like… thirty cats right?”
"They're tiny and fast, you really think you can catch them all? You that good with a dagger?" Dante asked, pulling the dagger he'd found from his pocked, thinking that the weapon itself was about the size of a rat. "The cats would be nice, if we had any."
“I found a rapier from a store.”, he pulled it out. It was a bit rusted bit it would do. “I think the long blade will help. Do you have anything to help?”
"Oh. Nice," Dante said, surprised by such a good find. "I didn't find anything like that. I got a crowbar I could... hit them with, I guess? Or I found some food if we wanted to lure them out, but probably better not to waste it. I'll stick with the dagger for now."
“How many rats could there be?”, he stabbed the air. “Should go stall by stall or split up?”
"Uh... I mean they're just rats, right?" Dante shrugged, confident in their ability to handle themselves. "If we try to search each stall together we'll probably just get in each others way. I can take the left side if you take the right."
“Alright.”, he says and enters the first stall. A rat jumps out at him and with a swift slash of his blade it is dead.
Dante checks the stall across from Alastor, but finds that it's empty. He shrugs to himself and moves on to the next one.
Inside he found three rats, and acting quickly he was able to get the jump on two of them. The last one however put up a real fight, biting into his palm.
"Ow! Fuck," he hissed, going to stab it but missing as it jumped out of the way and bit into his finger. With the rat still attached to his hand he grabbed the dagger with his offhand and managed to impale it on the second attempt.
He gave the stall a cursory once over before exiting, shaking his now bloody hand in pain.
Alastor peeked into the stall. “You doing okay in here?”, he looks at the rats. “Wow three at once? Impressive.”
Dante rolled his eyes, feeling patronized. He hissed as he wiped the blood from his rat bites off on his pants. "You finished on your side?"
“Yeah the second one had more rats”, he points to a bite on his leg. “But I made it alright. Ready to move to the next one up?”, he asks.
"Yeah uh... hopefully they're not all hiding in the back," Dante said, wondering if their numbers would only go up from there. He continued on to the next stall.
Alastor continued down the line, able to sneak up on them, the rats where no march for his swift movements and quick stabs.
Ahead was a loud squeak. Alastor noticed a rat in the isle
Dante sighed at the sight of the rat that hadn't decided to hide in one of the stalls, muttering something in Infernal under his breath. But nothing happened.
Alastor looked confused for a moment. He reached forward and stabbed it quickly.
There was a loud hiss as five rat surrounded them. And one very large rat appeared!
"Oh fuck," Dante muttered, running up to stab one of the small rats, his dagger cleanly cutting it in half.
“Be impressed later we’re surrounded. Look at the size of that big one!”, he says.
The three remaining rats rush the boys. One gets a bite on Dante, one gets a bite on Alastor and the third misses a bite on Alastor.
The large rat watches them with piercings beady eyes.
Dante hissed in pain as one of the rats bit into his shin, focused on the little buggers and not paying much attention to anything else. When Alastor pointed out the giant rat glaring at them from the back of the stalls he flinched.
"What the fuck kind of rat is that!?" he exclaimed, completely missing the rat he had been about to stab.
“I have no idea!”, he stabbed the rat in front of him.
The remaining rats scrambled wildly. One bit Alastor’s ankle, one missed biting Dante and the large Rat ran forward. It missed Alastor’s leg by less then an inch! “AHHH FUCK FUCK FUCK”
"AAAAH!" Dante yelled as the giant rat lunged at them, immediately shifting his attention and stabbing the big on in the side instead.
The large gave a scream and turned to attack Dante. Alastor turned and stabbed it in the back when it turned away. The rats at his heels bit at him but missed.
One rat, so emboldened by the death of it’s leader but Dante’s heel and latched onto it for dear life!
Dante's eyes went wide as the giant rat turned on him, but watched instead as Alastor killed it while it's back was turned. He stared in horror as the monster rat collapsed at his feet.
"Uh... wow, that was--FUCK!" he hissed as something pierced the back of his foot. He muttered something in Infernal, something about 'revenge', and the little rat burst into flames.
The lose of blood was starting to make Dante woozy, but he wasn't about to give the remaining rats an opening. He lunged for one with is dagger, impaling it and killing it immediately.
Alastor swiftly killed the last. “That was more then I expected”, he pants a bit from it all.
Dante heaved a sigh, wiping the sweat from his face and inadvertently smearing blood in it's place. "Was uh... was that it?" he asked, casually glancing to the remaining stalls that they had yet to investigate.
Alastor carefully looked around. “Yeah I think so”,
Dante nodded, slumping against a nearby wall and sliding to sit on the floor. "Great..." he sighed, grimacing as he picked at the charred remains of the rat at his heel, removing the teeth still embedded in his flesh.
Alastor sat down, he was not as injured thanks to the sword he found. “I hope they muck the stalls”, he made a face at a pile of horse poop in the stall.
Dante snorted. "They fucking better," he said with some amusement. "If they don't I'd rather just sleep in the streets."
"You're pretty good with that sword," he said. "That one monster rat was crazy. What are these things eating?"
“I’d assume horse-feed. Warm nests with hay. It isn’t a bad life for a rodent”, he says with a shrug as he cleans off the sword.
"I guess..." Dante sighed, dropping the conversation. The stable was oddly still without the scurrying of rodents though and he felt a weird need to fill it.
"So uh... you planning to stay the night?" he asked awkwardly. When Alastor said he was planning stick around to not rouse suspicion for him Dante wasn't sure if he was talking in hours or days or weeks. "Have you thought about what you want to do?"
“Yeah I think so. I think maybe a week or so should be good for people to accept some might leave town. So I’d take my leave then”, he says as he closes his eyes. “It smells gross in here… but I’ve been in worse I suppose.”
Dante sighed with a nod. A week. Good. He could work with that. After the absolutely nightmare that had been the last... few hours? Was that really all? Well, after getting in a fight with Jac, the fire, running around within his chest bound, rooting through the remains of his house, after all that shit he didn't really want to be alone. So he'd gladly take a week.
His nose wrinkled in disgust as Alastor pointed out the smell, previously too caught up in his own pain to notice. "Y'know, I heard there's spells that can make things smell different. I never look into them much but uh... they're there. I guess if we're lucky Ginora knows how to do it."
“Oh I suppose so.”, he relaxed a bit. He half opened his eyes. “She seems to have a lot of magical power, it is pretty impressive.”, he says. “So… what magic do you have? You made that rat explode with fire…”
Dante gave a half hearted shrug. He didn't really care for talking up the nobles. Yeah they were powerful, with a legacy like that it couldn't be all that hard. But he was a bit surprised when Alastor asked about his own magic, since that wasn't a conversation he was used to having.
"Uh... yeah, that's... new," he admitted, rubbing his eyes. "A few years ago I picked up Invisibility, and I could make people afraid of me just by looking at them, but I've never had uh... more powerful magic. Nothing that could hurt anyone."
{And I guess this is new too. Whatever this is,} he thought to Alastor. "What uh... you use magic right? Is it just uh... just your faces thing or... can you do other stuff?"
“Well… I guess that makes sense. It isn’t quite like you can just practice down in the town square.”, he gave a tired yawn.
“I uh- don’t remember when I could do it. As far back as I can remember… I’ve done it. But.. that doesn’t say much… I often don’t try to think of my past.”, he said.
Dante nodded in response. "So then... you've never had other abilities pop up? It's always... it's always just been the shape changing and nothing else?"
“Yeah… I mean. I can fly too but I don’t really get to use it much.”, he says.
"Oh. So the uh... wings aren't just for show then?" Dante said, not really asking as Alastor had already made the answer clear. "What's uh... what's it like to fly?"
"Yeah I can fly with them. I don't get to often. Flying is cool, I can sort of zoom around the city. Flying is... sort of like walking? Like, when you walk you can sort of have your legs do their thing? I don't have to think about flying every time I move a wing, it comes as natural as running.", he says,
Dante considered this for a moment, contemplating what it must be like to fly but also under what conditions Alastor was ever able to make the most of it. Certainly not in front of a town full of magic-fearing humans.
"Well, when uh... when you decide to go, I can turn you invisible and you can just... fly out, I guess," he said. "Seems like a pretty full proof plan to me."
“Can you make other things invisible!?”, he asked quickly and shocked. Now going invisible was a cool ability he wished he had.
"Well uh... in theory," he admitted. "I've only ever used it on myself before, but it does turn everything I'm carrying invisible with me. It's a bit... difficult though, I can only do it once a day. So I don't like to use it carelessly in case uh... y'know, something happens. But we could practice sometime if you want, y'know, to make sure it works ahead of time."
"By that logic you have to carry me and no offense but we both lack the upper body strength for any such occasion.", he says.
"No duh I can't carry you," Dante grumbled. "But I... think I should be able to use it on you anyway. I was uh... that's what I was about to do before, when we snuck away from the crowd and I thought you wanted to leave today. I... it should work, I've read that this type of spell can be cast on other people, I've just... never had a reason to use it that way before."
"It is something to be considered at the very least. It's clear I can't stick around here forever, as fun as it is no offense."
Dante's eyes widened at Alastor's claim that sticking around had been 'fun'. He wasn't used to anyone considering him fun to be around, everyone he knew either gave him a wide berth or... had their own sort of fun that unfortunately involved Dante. But he... no, Alastor didn't mean that. He was just saying that because what else do you say to the person who let you stay in their house while they were hiding from the crownsguard. He wasn't going to kid himself into thinking Alastor actually liked him at all.
"Well, yeah, I... yeah, I can't blame you," he sighed quietly, suddenly oddly crestfallen and averting his gaze. He seemed to fold in on himself, his knees bent and folded arms resting atop them, his fingers digging tightly into his shirt sleeve. "I... I don't know if I can stay here either, really," he admitted.
“Oh? Why is that? I mean… sure it’s sad about the store but can’t you guys just get another house?”, he asks. “I mean- you guys are human and you have a great advantage over me in that aspect alone.”
Dante's teeth clenched, quiet for a moment as he contemplated what to say. This wasn't exactly something he talked about often, or at all, and while he was hesitant it... would be nice to get it out there. And Alastor already knew his most dangerous secrets so really what difference did a little context about his past make?
"This uh... this isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened. Well uh, to me, I mean," he admitted. "I uh... I didn't grow up in this city, there was another human town I lived in before but it wasn't all that different. I don't... I was kind of young so I don't remember everything leading up to it, but I know my parents were accused of using magic and the townspeople caused a big uproar. An angry mob stormed out house in the middle of the night, and I watched them kill my parents and burn the place to the ground," he explained, eerily calm as this was something he had had plenty of time to come to terms with.
But his neutral expression quickly turned to a sneer. "So I'm not all that interested in staying some place that tries to burn all their problems away."
"Well... maybe talk to Jac and go over the wall with me?", he suggests. "I- can't promise what is out there. The world is so big, it seems no matter how far you walk, you never see the end. But- I want to get as far away from the Black Tortise as I can. I don't care where. South, as far as the sea goes. Or maybe to the far east to the golden sands...."
"I... He..." Dante struggled awkwardly in response to Alastor's suggestion to speak to Jac, looking exceptionally uncomfortable. Over the years Jac had shared quite a few cautionary tails about demons and their... 'relationships' with women. Dante had always hated them, knowing full well why Jac insisted on sharing such stories. He assumed it was in an effort to dissuade him from researching infernal types of magic, but he also knew his... body was not something Jac could easily overlook. He loathed these conversations, these reminders that he was stuck in a body and was capable of... producing life, and a type of body that was lusted after so heavily. He felt disgusting. He didn't really want to have a repeat of his earlier conversation with Jac, didn't really want to hear these warning fables again with Alastor as a main character.
"I'll figure something out," he sighed eventually.
Alastor looked at his hand, feeling foolish. Obviously Dante didn't want to leave with him. He told himself he was okay being alone, but he hated it. He hated it so much it was maddening. And he found someone he didn't hate but... what now? He'd go alone. Maybe he could try to find others like him? Surely... the one he met was not how they all act right?
He was swept away in his own thoughts.
Dante glanced to Alastor, uncomfortable by the silence that had grown between them and eager to fill it with something. "I uh... I'm sorry about how he treated you. I should've warned you that... Well... He's just sort of... overprotective. Of me. B-because I..." he tried to explain but cut himself off and rubbed his face with a groan, not wanting to finish.
Alastor listened but it did not ease the fears of loneliness that crept into his mine. He was about to say something when the sound of the front door opening could be heard.
There where several voices, it seems the people who where suppose to stay here had arrived. A few stables hands started to remove rats and clean out stalls.
Dante flinched when the door opened, clearly too caught up in his own little world to notice.
"Here let's... we should get out of here," he said as he got to his feet, noticing that while the wounds still ached the rest had done him good and it didn't hurt so much to stand.
He followed. “Yeah”, he agreed.
Dante moved through the group of people that were standing near the entrance, allowing them to deal with the dead bodies of the rats. He looked around for Ginora, interested in getting paid for their work.
The well dressed women was not to hard to spot. She was riding through the street on a very nice looking white horse. It was covered in hand crafted leather armor that had the symbol of the kingdom on it.
She spotted the boys and brought her horse to a stop. “Ah! There you are. Where you able to clear out the stable?”
Dante's eyes narrowed at the blatant display of power and money that came from not just Ginora herself but her mount. But he tried to move past his annoyance as she was paying them after all.
"Yeah we took care of the rats," he confirmed.
“Very good.”, she said and handed them each three gold pieces after she got off her horse.
“And of course you are welcome to find shelter in the stables until more proper accommodations can be made.”, she says and heads into the barn.
As she does so, Alastor bumps into her, pretending to slip in the mud. “Oh! I uh- sorry”, he says. “The rain made it all slippery…”, he says with a frown.
She just gives him a smile. “It is okay.”, she walks off.
Alastor waits for her to be gone to show what he had. Her coin purse. It was rather full too. “I thought a mage would be more self aware.”
"Thanks," Dante said simply, accepting the gold and eager to move on now that their work was done.
"Huh?" he said, not having been paying attention as Alastor produced his prize. At which point Dante's eyes grew wide.
"You--what the fuck!?" he hissed quietly, glancing to Ginora's retreating figure and back to Alastor. "Do you know how much trouble we could get in if they find out?"
“That’s the thing. They don’t find out.”, he pockets most of the contents, leaving a few pieces and drops it on the ground.
“And now if someone else grabs it, it isn’t our issue.”, he walks away quickly. “We should find Jac”
Dante was speechless as Alastor pocketed the money and dropped the nearly empty coin purse on the road. "Wh--how--I--what!?" he said as he turned to catch up with him. "How can you be so... we have money. What if she'd caught you? Are you that eager to get thrown behind bars again!?" he asked, stunned by his rash behavior.
“Look Dante. I’m not eager to be spanked again by daddy justice but I am still trying to make a living. Jac doesn’t like me, I know that. And unlike you who had him and that box from the shop, I have no money. And as much as I hate it, money is how the world works.”, he paused as he shuffled through his pocket.
He pulled out a ring. “Oh- this is unexpected… wonder why this was in the coin pouch..?”
Dante was still at a lose of what to say to this. Like Alastor had pointed out it wasn't as if he'd had to consider such issues himself before. "I... guess. It just seems risky is all," he said, but not really having much alternative to offer either. It wasn't like him and Jac had much money of their own to offer him when he left.
His eyes widened as Alastor produced a ring he had not had a moment ago. "Yeah that's... can I see it?" he asked, trying to inspect it further. He noticed a rune carved into the jewel, but it took him a moment to place it.
"That's uh... there's something in the stone itself that looks familiar. I think--oh, it's... it's a spell. It fires missiles that lock in on someone. But... I'm not sure how strong this one is," he explained. "I could uh... if I could look at it longer I could tell you more. But it might be dangerous to keep. It's uh... it's a lot more obvious where it came from than some coins," he said. Jac could probably tell them more about it, but he wasn't eager to explain where they'd gotten the ring either.
“Sounds cool. Maybe keep them as an emergency item?”, he suggested. “As for the coins, I will count them later..”, he says as he paused. Up the street was walking a group of people. All heading to the stable with what little food and blankets they had.
Dante's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, no I..." he started to protest as he stared at the ring, this powerful magical device sitting in his hand. It would... be irresponsible to just toss it like the coin purse, right? And it wasn't like they could just return it... But he could get caught with it, what then? Did it even matter if we wasn't staying here anyway? Alastor was stocking up for the journey ahead, maybe he should be doing the same.
He pocketed the ring as he spotted some people moving to the stables with some limited supplies. "I uh... I'm not sure about spending the night there," he admitted. "In such a small place, with so many people... if there were any slip ups..." he trailed off nervously. Between his bindings, Alastor's true form, and the magic they both possessed that seemed like too many secrets to try to keep with dozens of 'roommates'.
“Well. We have the funding to actually get some rooms at an inn. Hell. Some damn nice ones at that. Oh the mere thought of a hot bath is almost orgasmic”, he groans loudly. “Okay well- I’m gonna do that.”, he laughs a bit. “Get a room at an inn I mean.”
He looks at the stables. It would be packed. “You and Jac could get one too I’d wager.”
"Ugh, what?" Dante cringed at Alastor's choice of words. "But uh... yeah, that's probably best..." he agreed, seeming to get lost in thought momentarily.
"Here, let's go to the inn first and grab rooms. We're probably not the only ones with this idea and we better get some before they're all gone. I'll fill Jac in later."
“So where is the nearest one?”, he asks
"Uh..." he paused for a moment, getting his bearings. "Here, this way," he said, leading the way.
The nearest inn is the Blackboar Inn. The door was made of black oak and the symbol of a drunk boar on the doors. A two story building with darker colored stone making it stick around from the area around it.
"Well... there's no line heading out the door. That's a good sign," Dante commented as they made their way inside.
As they entered the heavy smell of fresh oven roasted meat and bread filled the air. The lingering scent of booze was not lost either. The interior was covered in adornments and trophies. Bear skin rugs, mounted animal heads, and everything made from fine stained wood. A massive pair of battle axes and a shield hung behind the bar.
Also behind the bar was a large half-orc female. Her long black, curly hair was tied back. She was also very ripped. Her shirt hardly held her her rippling muscular form under it. She had a broken tusk and bright grey eyes.
The patrons where littered about, games of cards and dice where going on. No one was to rowdy.
Dante looked around as they entered, taking in the customers exchanging coin and cards. The scent of hot food immediately hit him and he realized he abruptly realized how hungry he was.
"Hey uh... you up for grabbing food since we're here?" he asked Alastor as they made their way to the half-orc working at the bar.
“Yes. Please. I can smell the delicious meat from here”, he said excitedly.
The half-orc looked at them. “Aye. Good ‘ag boys. How can I ‘elp ya?”
"Hey, uh... we want to get some rooms? And something to eat?" Dante said, sounding a bit awkward and out of place. It wasn't like he had a reason to stay at a tavern very often.
She gives a hearty chuckle. She was very tall, towering over them both. “Are ya far fro’ m home little ones?”
“Oh uh- no. Not really. Can we get a two of the biggest plates you offer and two rooms?”, he says.
“Eight ‘ilver.”, she says.
Alastor just hands over a gold piece. “And water.”
Dante reach for his pocket, pausing momentarily as he watched Alastor hand over a gold piece. Was he... paying for his room too? He shouldn't do that, not when he was so desperate for money he was resorting to stealing. Was it because he knew Dante was... no. No, probably he just didn't have change. They'd been paid in gold after all.
He gave the half orc a gold coin as well. "I'll uh... I'll pay for mine separate," he explained. "And just water for me too."
She takes the gold and hands over two keys “Food and Drink will take a moment.”, she hands them each six silver back
Alastor sits on a stool, taking the key
Dante accepted his key as well, taking the stool next to Alastor and sighing with relief. "I'm uh... surprised there aren't more people here," he said, rubbing his face and glancing around at the occupants of the tavern. He eyed some of the groups playing cards, trying to gauge just for his own amusement who was winning.
"At least we have a place to stay for the night," he sighed.
“ ‘eople around here ain’t to friendly tah half-breeds like me.”, she said as she walked to the back to get their food ordered.
“Lovely.”, Alastor says sarcastically.
Dante sighed, not at all surprised by what the Half-Orc had said. This city was far from friendly to outcasts.
"Well uh... at least we're not staying long, right?" he said, trying to lighten the mood. "We should uh... make some sort of plan where we want to head when we leave. Maybe try to stock up on supplies."
"Are you planning to relocate or go past the walls?", Alastor questions
Dante's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I uh... I thought you ask if I wanted to... go with you," he said, his face turning a bit red as he started to doubt if he'd heard correctly. It hadn't occurred to him that he hadn't given Alastor a straight answer when he mentioned the possibility, Dante had already decided for himself that he wanted to leave and thought he had made it obvious enough.
He smiled more. "I did ask. But you didn't know if you wanted to. If you wanted to take the plunge and run over the walls and see what lies beyond.", he said.
The half-orc puts two plates plates of meat and potatoes down for them. "Beyond the walls is very dangerous small ones."
"Oh," Dante said simply, his confusion easing away. "Well yeah, I..." he started to answer but trailed off uncertainly. In truth he didn't know anything at all about what lied beyond the city, aside from the little Alastor had shared. What if it was no better than here? At least he was familiar with life here.
His eyes widened when the Half Orc returned, his attention entirely on her and not the food she'd just brought them. Which was quite the feat. "You've been there? What's it like?" he asked.
“It is where my mum’ was from. I was told stories. And visited her before…”, she trailed off. “Anyways. Most of beyond the walls is lawless land being fought over by beasts and monsters.”
“Exciting.”, Alastor says as he starts eating
A tiny pucker formed between Dante's eyes. It wasn't difficult to imagine why the Half Orc might have gone quiet.
"What uh... what sort of monsters?" Dante asked, as he grabbed a fork to eat but kept his eyes on her, clearly very interested in what she had to share.
“Every kind of monster you can imagine.”, Alastor said. “From Worgs to dragons… even some things that…. Humans only tell stories of.”, said a voice from behind.
Alastor looked behind them to see a tired looking man. Alastor looked closely at him. But after a moment thought his odd feeling was nothing.
“Seems people like to stay in the walls.”, Alastor said.
The man got himself another tankard of house ale.
Dante glanced to the man that had spoken, noticing how Alastor seemed to look him over intently and searched as well for anything out of the ordinary. For just a moment he caught a glimpse of something, their human facade flickering just a moment and revealing some sort of dragon like creature.
Dante flinched for a moment, eyes wide, and glanced to Alastor. {I uh... I think they're a dragonborn? But I've never seen one before, they're... not how I imagined.}
"You've been out there then?" he asked the man. He slid the Half Orc that had been serving them an extra silver, appreciating the little information she'd given them.
“Oh yeah?”, Alastor asked, looking up from his plate. “I mean…”, Alastor looked back at the man again. He watched him walk back and sit alone at a table.
“Should we go talk to him?”, Alastor asked as they guy seemed yo not hear Dante.
"Maybe? It uh.. it would be nice to have a destination in mind," he said as he worked on his own food, glancing to the man again. "Or uh... know about whatever's nearby at least. I don't really know much about anything outside the city."
“Well. It’s clear he isn’t from around here.”, he takes a few more bites. “And worse case he tells us to leave right?”, he points out.
"Yeah, I guess so..." Dante agreed, taking on a thoughtful expression as he chewed. {I was able to see through his magic somehow, whatever he's using to look human. But you've been disguising yourself like me for days and I never noticed anything like this. Is that... do you need to worry about someone seeing through you too?} he asked, wondering if it could be dangerous to have Alastor wandering around out in the open even if he did look human for the most part.
“Hm.. I don’t knows I’ve never had anyone see through it before”, he says quietly as he continued to eat. “But I think anyone who.. might would… be special themselves right?”
"Yeah that makes sense..." Dante agreed. {So probably it's only the nobles and those guys that were looking for you that we have to worry about...} He wondered if Ginora knew. She couldn't, right? Otherwise she obviously would've confronted them, not offered them jobs. Maybe they just got lucky that someone so powerful hadn't seen through his magic.
"You ready?" Dante asked once he'd finished eating.
“Yeah”, he finished his drink. “Let’s go see what he has to say.”
Dante got up for his seat and made his way over to the dragonborn's table. "Uh... hey. You seem to know a lot about the other side of the wall. Can we uh... ask you some questions?" he asked.
The man looks up. His eyes drifting from Dante to Alastor, and looking at Alsastor for a long moment before looking back at Dante.
“Depends what you want to know.”, he says before going back to his drink.
Dante eyes narrowed as the dragonborn stared intently at Alastor. He could only hope he hadn't figured it out. At least as far as Dante could tell he didn't seem to respond in any way to indicate that he had. No flinching or fear, no yelling about a demon.
"We were uh... thinking of leaving the city," he explained. "Could you tell us anything about the area around here? Or uh... if there are any noteworthy places nearby?"
“Beyond the wall is mostly forest. Rich in beasts and other creatures. Beyond that are hills, mountain, and on the west is swamp.”, he says. “It is much safer for you here in the city.”
Dante nodded, seeming a little disappointed by this answer. But then again perhaps it was too much to hope that there would be some village of magical creatures just a few miles away.
At the mention of the city being safer he looked both annoyed and uncertain. "What makes you say that?" he asked. Had this guy not heard about the fires? Then again it wasn't as if that sort of thing was an every day occurrence. Was he being too rash, volunteering to fight monsters and who knows what else?
“The city has help, people come when things happen. It had it’s flaws, but it has civility. Beyond the wall is wild. There is not always someone to help. It is life and death outside,”, he says.
Dante was silent for a moment. He hadn't really considered what all he might be giving up in an effort to find something better. Was he better off staying here? Did he stand a chance against whatever was on the other side of the wall? Did Alastor?
"I... I see," he said after a moment, lost in thought. He glanced to Alastor. {Was there... anything you wanted to ask?}
"Where is the next town?", Alastor asked.
"Four days walk, it's a elven village. They tend to be really stuck up- but these are wood elves so... they tend to me more... love for everyone. Hug a tree types.", the man says back. As he takes a drink, the boys can see the symbol of a pike tattooed on his hand.
This seemed to grab Dante's attention. Four days... that wasn't so bad. Definitely better than no knowing at all. {That sounds like a good place,} he thought to Alastor, feeling more optimistic.
"Is there uh... a reason you came to this city instead?" he asked, glancing to the pike tattoo. But it held little meaning to him. "I mean this place it's all that uh... friendly. To some people."
"Just passing through. Trying to get to the coast and across the ocean.", he said. "Trust me, I'm not to keen to be here...."
"Alright well... good luck to you. Uh... be safe," he said, assuming this guy already had some idea what sort of city he was in. He was tempted to point out that he'd get in all the more trouble if he was caught using magic, but likely the cover the spell gave him was better than walking around as a dragonborn anyway.
Alastor gave a nod. “Well, maybe we should retire for the night Dante. Are you going yo go find Jac?”
Dante nodded, the events of the day clearly weighing on him. "Yeah, I uh... I should go find him. I guess I'll see you in the morning then," he said, but then a thought seemed to cross his mind.
{Can you uh... look like me even when I'm not around? Like uh... do you need me to come to your room in the morning so you can put my face on?"}
Alastor got up, just giving a nod and heads up to his room. “I’ll see you later Dante. I think our rooms are next to each other.”
Dante wasn't sure how to interpret that, if Alastor's not was a 'yes he could change without him' or 'yes he needed him to stop by'. Or even completely unrelated.
"Uh... yeah, sounds good. I'll uh... stop by your room in the morning then?" he offered before they parted ways.
----------------
An hour or so after Dante had left to speak with Jac the sound footsteps could be heard outside Alastor's door, quick and loud like someone walking with purpose or frustration in their step. The door next to his slammed shut.
Alastor curiously peeked out. He crept out and knocked on the door. “Dante? You back?”
The footsteps continued inside the room until Alastor spoke, at which point a faint "fuck" could be heard which was quickly followed by a much louder "yeah".
The door opened, revealing a very annoyed looking Dante who appeared to be alone. "Hey. What?" he asked, the frustration clear in his voice but it also seemed somewhat restrained, clearly not directed at Alastor.
“I uh- did…. Jac want to sleep with the ponies then?…”, he asked.
Dante gave a frustrated groan, rubbing his face. "Yeah, he--" he started to say, but then glanced around the hallway uncomfortably. "You uh... maybe you could come in. For a minute," he said, but once the words were out he made an odd expression. They way his eyes narrowed he looked a bit guarded and accusatory, as though he were anticipating Alastor saying something he did not want to hear.
“Sure.”, Alastor said with a shrug and walked into the room. He closed it behind him. “Did he know more about the ring?”
Dante backed away from the door, continuing his pacing as he gave Alastor room to enter. He glanced back as Alastor closed the door, seemingly distracted by the motion momentarily.
"Huh? Oh, uh, no. I didn't show it to him," he said, rubbing his face. "It uh... slipped my mind. And he'd probably freak out anyway so... that works out I guess."
Alastor stretched out cracking his shoulders. “So uh- then… what’s up? You seem disturbed.”
"Ugh, he's just so--!" Dante stared to say, continuing to stalk around the room. He rubbed his face again, pressing firmly against his brow, taking deep breaths. He couldn't be shouting this kind of stuff, the walls at this inn weren't exactly thick.
"He won't share a room with me," he said in a hushed tone after a moment, his anger still evident. "He won't share a room with me, and he says it's a waste of money to get one, but 'it's okay'--" Dante added in a mockingly pleasant, venomous tone. "--because he 'understands' and sleeping in the stables is not place for a young l--"
He cut himself off suddenly, scowling at nothing, his face red. "Look it's... it's nothing. I get it. I know that. I just..."
“Hm… I don’t get what his deal is but maybe he’d just over protective?”, he says with a shrug.
“Did you tell him you wanna go beyond the wall?”
Dante turned to Alastor, his eyebrows turning up in a look of confusion rather than anger. He couldn't believe Alastor really didn't understand, in fact he was somewhat hesitant to bring it up at all in case Jac's feelings would rub off onto him.
"I don't want protecting, I'm not... To him I'm never going to be anything more than..." he trailed off occasionally, seeming to have a difficult time with certain words.
He sighed deeply. "No, I didn't tell him. I uh... I was thinking about it, but I was just so fed up when he... if he thinks I'm too 'delicate' to spend a night in a stable I can't imagine what he'd say about this. And if he knew I was going with you he'd..." he trailed off, folding his arms tightly. "I just didn't want to hear it anymore. I didn't want to be reminded that I'm... I didn't want to deal with it. So I left."
“Is this the whole… because you’re a girl thing?”, he asks bluntly. Admittedly he was having a hard time figuring out what Dante was trying to say. What was gender, what was parental bullshit?
The crease between Dante's brow deepened. He didn't respond right away, just continuing to glower elsewhere. "Yeah," he said after a moment, turning to glare pointedly at Alastor. "And don't call me that."
“You say to the guy who looks like a devil’s lovechild.”, Alastor chuckled. “Don’t worry. I mean… magic can chance me. Maybe there is something that can be found for you?”
Dante's drifted from Alastor's face, a face that currently looked so much like his own, to his chest. Which while outwardly at the moment appeared to be the same Dante knew better. Could he possibly find such magic for himself?
"I... I don't know," he said, hopeful for a moment but then it seemed to deflate. "I've... I've managed this long. It's not as hard for me to uh... to blend in as you, or that Dragonborn guy we talked to. I just... I wish Jac wouldn't look at me like he does, like I'm pathetic or breakable or... whatever. But I don't think magic can fix that."
“I don’t know if the magic exists but… getting out of the town… into areas where you can practice openly..”, he leans back a bit. “Who knows what’s out there.”
Dante sighed again, though it was less loaded than before and seemingly more relaxed or relieved. "That would be nice all on it's own. Being able to use magic without having to hide..."
He turned back to Alastor. "Look I... I want to go. I... obviously I have enough reasons to go. And uh... I don't know, I was thinking about what you said the other day. If I was just going to stay in this hell hole my whole... err, sorry, should I not say that sort of thing?" he asked, a tiny smile tugging at the edge of his mouth as he realized maybe 'hell' wasn't a good phrase to use when talking to a fiend.
Alastor laughs a bit, “I don’t mind the phrase. It isn’t something I let myself be bothered with.”, he says.
Dante gave a small, quiet laugh through his nose. "Anyway uh... the point is there really isn't much for me here. So... y'know, as long as you're okay with me going I'd uh... like to go with you," he said. He didn't really see how Alastor could want to bring him with now that he knew. Dante was so used to how people like him were treated he assumed Alastor would think less of him now, think he wasn't strong enough or brave enough or whatever. Not to mention Alastor could fly if he was travelling alone. Probably Dante would just hold him back.
“Yeah. I’m sure we could get into all sorts of trouble together.”, he chuckles a bit. “And I went through the rest of that bag. 10 gp, 30 silver and 5 copper…”
Dante gave a small smile in response. A tiny voice in the back of his mind reminded him that if Jac was right about all his demonic horror stories then Dante would never live it down, if he lived at all. But Alastor had been nice to him and... he liked that he didn't seem to see him any differently. He wanted to be around someone where he could be himself for once.
"That's not a bad start," Dante nodded. "I'll have to give Jac most of the money from the cash box when I leave, but I figured I'd hold on to it for now since it would be safer in a locked inn room than in the stables," he explained.
“How much are you going to leave yourself with?”, he asks. “We may want to consider getting real supplies.”
"I'm uh... I'm not sure yet," he said. "I wouldn't want to take more than 10g from his savings. I'll probably have to figure that out when I talk to him about leaving. Maybe uh... we can take up some more work around town in the meantime. Probably people need help clearly out the uh... whatever's left of their houses and rebuilding."
"Have you uh... done this sort of thing before? Was there any supplies you had in mind? I found a few days worth of rations, if it is a four day trip we should have enough. We could use an extra bedroll though..."
“Hm… no… not really. I escaped from the offshore prison and just ran… and then… beyond that.. never had a chance for much planning.”, he explains.
"Well uh... let's stop by the marketplace tomorrow then. See what we can find," Dante suggested. He rubbed his face and his eyes drooped, thoroughly exhausted from the day. With all that had happened it felt more like a week.
“Sounds good.”, he gets up and heads to the door. “We will see what the dawn brings. It has been a… very long night…”, he says.
"I'll say," Dante sighed. "Night Al. Don't uh... don't forget to lock your door," he said, since it wasn't his job to lock Alastor's door anymore.
“I won’t”, he said with a chuckle and left Dante to his peace for the night.
Dante was out immediately once Alastor had left, only taking the time to rip his bindings off before falling into bed.
As he slept. It was all darkness, a strange dream of being in a void.
Until words appeared, slowly appearing as if they where being written. ‘A Gift’, glowing like fire as it was written into the void.
Dante's usual resting bitch face tightened as he slept, confused by this dream. A gift? He tried to move towards the message.
The words shifted slowly. Rearranging the shapes of the letters a few times. As if spelling something in a language Dante didn’t understand.
It stopped to form a symbol on one of the pages within his tome.
Dante watched as the words shifted and took on a new shape, something familiar but... in the dream he struggled to place it. Something... something he'd seen in the tome maybe?
The shape changed into a word 'Go'
"Go where?" Dante tried to ask, only growing more confused.
The letters fade, and he is left with darkness once more. When he awakens, it is the next dawn.
Dante groaned as he woke, struggling to remember the dream he'd had. Something about the tome? He riffled through his bag for the ancient text, flipping through the pages, trying to piece it together.
As he opens it, the first few pages are able to be read. "Go", was readable at the top, and it detailed new things he could do!
"What..." Dante breathed, looking over the page. Devil's sight? Armor of Shadows? Comprehend Languages? What was this? He read over the details of the page again and again, rattled but at the same time... enthralled.
Eventually he realized he needed to get ready, the new pages of the book replaying in his mind as he did so. Without putting much thought into it at all he found himself outside Alastor's door. "Hey Alastor, you up?" he asked, knocking lightly.
Alastor yawned and opened the door, he still had Dante's face. "Hm....? Yeah....", he yawned once more.
Dante's eyebrows rose, surprised to see Alastor already had his face. "Oh uh... good, you're uh... dressed. Or whatever," he said. "Did you uh... need more sleep? I can come back later," he offered.
“If I could I’d sleep 14 hours a day…”, he chuckles a little to himself. “Did you sleep well?”
"Uh, yeah..." Dante trailed off, considering where to start. "But uh... I had some kind of weird dream. I saw that uh... that symbol in the tome that you pointed out before? And when I woke up I could read more of it, like magic I hadn't used before... I... I don't know why this is happening now all of a sudden," he explained. Was hanging around a fiend like Alastor somehow helping him unlock the secrets of his ancient book? Was there something bigger going on?
“Well… you used magic with the rats right? And… you’re using your brain talk thing a lot. Maybe you’re unlocking more magical power?”, he suggests.
"You uh... you think so?" Dante asked, looking hopeful at the thought. "I didn't think about it like that. I just figured that uh... you know, magic had to be learned or taught or whatever. Not like something that just... happens if you practice enough." The edges of his mouth turned up with excitement.
"What that how it worked for you? I mean you change yourself a lot, so... did you get better at it overtime?"
“I got.. better at it? But that’s about it…”, he says as he grabs his bag and slings it over his shoulder.
“At least over time I got better.”
"Huh... well anyway, I guess we should head to the store and see what we can find," he said. "And uh, see if there's anything expensive we need. Maybe get an idea how many jobs we need to take before we can head out."
“Good thinking.”, he said. They collected their stuff and checked out without issue. However, the moment they stepped outside they could see several crownsguards walking door to door. Along side the strange man in the black turtle robes. Alastor’s face turned to panic immediately.
Dante's eyes widened as they stepped outside, not expecting the swarm of crownsguard in the streets. Fuck.
{Don't panic,} he thought to Alastor, his fear plain to see. {You didn't do anything. You look like me. We're just two random guys not involved at all. Let's just... slowly get out of here.} He grabbed Alastor's sleeve and coaxed him along, not wanting to run the risk of accidentally getting separated.
Alastor walked quickly, he didn’t say anything but panic covered his face. He gripped onto Dante, looking up and realizing the street was completely blocked by crowsguards.
Alastor turned to find another way and realized they where surrounded. Guards in all directions.
Dante grit his teeth, positive he couldn't just pull Alastor past a guard when he looked like this. Even disguised as Dante he looked far too suspicious. But there didn't appear to be a single street a guard wasn't investigating.
"Oh hey, I uh... think I left something at the tavern," he said in case anyone had been paying attention to them. {Let's get some cover and I can try turning you invisible. Sound good?}
“Yeah let’s get back inside.”, he says quickly.
Dante attempted to guide Alastor back to the tavern at a reasonable pace, glancing around to see if anyone was looking too closely at them. Would one of them notice if he left the building again alone? Oh well, he could worry about that later.
A guard watched them for a moment, but it seemed nothing came of it as that got back inside without issue.
Dante breathed a small sigh of relief as they managed to return to the tavern safely before making his way upstairs. Even if the guards were outside he didn't want to risk one of them sticking their head in as he was casting a spell, or any potential early risers in the tavern from catching them either.
{You good with this?} he asked as they made their way back to their rooms. {It takes a lot out of me, I uh... wont be able to do it again today. So if something else happens later... we will need to figure something else out. But we need to get you out of here and... this seems like the safest option.}
“I don’t know what they are looking for.”, he says quietly. “But it makes me want to get out of town all the more.”, he peeks out a window. He can’t see turtle-man, but he can see the crownguards still.
"Maybe we leave today then," he suggested, the ring Alastor had picked of Ginora burning a hole in his pocket. "While you're invisible you could just fly over the wall. I could catch up with you later, maybe try to buy whatever I can first." He moved his hands as he spoke, the pattern seemingly related to the spell he was planning to use.
"Ok so I can only hold it for an hour at max, and if you try to hurt anyone or use magic it will fade. So uh... don't do that," he warned.
“I hope this works”, he says quietly. He was very worried. He kept looking out the window in concern. Where they tracking him!? Was this random!?
Dante took a deep breath, stepping up to Alastor. With his finger he drew some sort of invisible sigil on the front of his chest, concentrating on making sure it was facing the right direction as Dante was used to drawing it on his own.
"(Infernal) Disappear," he muttered, his eyes widening as Alastor vanished before his eyes. He gently poked against his invisible form, his mouth stretched wide in a nervous laugh.
"Ha, it worked!" he said excitedly, momentarily distracted from the urgency of the situation.
Alastor didn’t think it worked, he didn’t feel different. He walked around a little “How long will this last?”
"An hour at more," Dante told him, looking around the room awkwardly in an attempt to face him when he spoke. But he couldn't be sure exactly where Alastor was. "And like I said you can't try to hurt anyone. I mean, uh... not that you would but just... if something comes up it will break the spell."
"Are you uh... gonna fly out of here and I'll meet up with you later? Or are you sticking by me?" he asked to the empty room.
“I’ll fly off and meet you outside the city in the east okay?”, he suggests.
"Yeah uh... okay," he said, his attention somewhat divided as he concentrated on maintaining the spell. "Good luck," he said as he made his way out of the room at an appropriate pace and headed outside.
Dante can hear foot steps fade away as Alastor makes his escape. No, it’s up to Dante to find his own way out.
Dante did his best to look inconspicuous, doing his best to pick a street that headed towards the stable Jac had decided to spend the night in while also avoiding any guards that looked exceptionally confrontational. Or any that could be magic users.