Fanfic

The light shimmering in the air seemed to make everything and everyone freeze. Laughter, bickering and chatter alike stopped as though a silencing spell had been cast on the population of the Mystic Peak students. A group of laughing girls, once joking about a male student, now looked up sharply, fear and apprehension in their eyes as they clutched their books.

A male Swordsman sitting alone and polishing his Broadsword looked up at the sky as well, muttering to himself.

All around, everyone held their breath, as though waiting for something to happen... then the shimmering passed as quickly as it had appeared and the air stabilized, as clear as they blue sky over them.

Safe... for now. Nervous chatter started up again as the students continued on their way, either to rest, train or to class.

Leonair had fallen. Would their force fields fail and their school end up like that as well? It was only a matter of time.
____________________________________________________________________

"Something strange is going on in that school." Jade declared, lifting up fingers to quote the statement. "At least that's what they're saying in the papers and all that." The young 18 year old was sitting on one of the many benches in Mystic Peak Square, her dark blue blazer thrown beside her because it was warm, Sodium Gauntlets sitting on top of the thick fabric. She kicked her legs back and forth, looking very much like a kid instead.

"Well, wouldn't the paparazzi be surprised if they found out about us." Alyssa, a female Archer said absently from next to her, skimming through her Economy textbook. "I mean, the Sacred Financial Group (SFG) are trying their very best to hide whatever fighting skills they're teaching us here from our parents and the outside world... but some reporters are just nosy. They don't know what they're getting themselves into."

"Come on... the whole world knows about Leonair." Jade rolled her eyes. "Mr. Fujiwara labeled it as a freak accident and compensated the grieving parents, but the whole world knows the dimensional rift opened up there after.... okay, let's not talk about it."

Lyssa was quiet. After what happened that morning, everyone seemed to bring up the whole Leonair incident again. Almost as if they were preparing themselves to face a sudden death. The students from the different schools or campus actually, were quite close to each other, each priding themselves on becoming a warrior with their own skills and the ability to defend themselves from the corrupted zombies and demons out there. It was a close knit society, one that the SFG had founded, giving the future leaders of Asia a chance to free their continent from quarantine.

They had lost a lot of friends that night. Lyssa remembered him, the Sowrdsman with blue-green eyes that looked almost violet in the dark and his broadsword that he always carried around. He was gone now. At least his body hadn't been corrupted.

Zack.

"Jade. Lyssa." a voice said, and they looked up to see Miyako grinning at them. Jade's mouth fell open. "Miyako!! What are YOU doing here? It's usually me that sneaks out to YOUR campus at Sacred Gate!"

"I wanted a change." Miyako shrugged. "How are your studies going?"

"Copped Business class..." Jade said offhandedly. "Geez... one minute in there and I'd just fall asleep. I'd rather train than study."

The Shaman sighed and set down her Bamboo Staff before sitting, Lyssa shifting aside to make space for her. "You, my friend, are going to be so dead when graduation day comes. Which is, by the way... only around the corner."

Jade winced. "Please don't remind me. At least I'm not staying in dorms... I got my own house." A grin appeared on her face.

"That's because Jengkol is a high-level Swordsman and you got lucky he made friends with you and accepted you into his party." Lyssa said, shooting her a look. "Or you'd still be sitting in dorm right now. In a room. With me."

"Oops... sorry, sorry." Jade raised both hands in placation. She knew from the look Lyssa gave her that she was still harboring a grudge for leaving her dorm-mate to sleep alone.

Miyako gave a laugh, then cocked her head as she noticed someone approaching. "Hey, looks like I'm outta here. Here comes the Swordsman."

Lyssa looked up, then sighed. "I'll leave you two lovebirds to train. Come on, Shaman. Let's go to the cafe off campus to get some coffee."

"Lovebirds?!" Jade looked outraged as her girl-friends beat a hasty exit. "What do you... hey! Get back here!"

"Let's go, Archer.... bye bye, you violet female!' Miyako teased as she walked off, waving her staff at her. Jade just stared in open mouthed resentment as Jengkol walked up behind her curiously, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Whassup?"

"None of your business." Jade snapped, then leaned down and put on her blazer and Sodium Gauntlets. "It's a girl thing."

"Anything to do with that blush on your face?" Jengkol snickered.

"Shut it. Right now."

"Jeez... alright. Always the violent one...." Jengkol mockingly sighed, then grew serious. "I think it's time to get serious with training. You saw what happened this morning?"

"Yeah... the force fields protecting out campus wavered." Jade replied uneasily. "i'm doing good, though... but I took a rest this week."

"Still, that's not enough. I'll round up the rest of the party." Jengkol lifted his fist. "Meet you at the field, Brawler."

"Yeah." She touched fists with him. "I'll be at the library side, fighting Jr. Bruisers."

He nodded. "I'll come as fast as I can. Hold on." He grasped his Broadsword that was slung across his back and held it out, closing his eyes and focusing his Qi.

"Tranquility."

A glowing sphere of light appeared around him and Jade, a shield against attacks and a boost to their physical defense. With a smile, the two parted ways, Jengkol heading into the building to search for the rest of his party, Jade heading to the field to train.
____________________________________________________________________

Mr Fujiwara drummed his fingers on the windowsill, looking out at the student population from his window. "The graduation ceremony is this weekend." He stated without turning. In front of his table stood four of the faculty heads; Brawler, Shaman, Archery and Swordman. The Head of Archery stepped forwards, hair tied up in a ponytail, her blue eyes troubled behind her glasses.

"Sir... one of the force field terminals wavered this morning. It's bad enough that the papers are trying to hack into the Group's database, and they already suspect that we're turning the students into a military group... what will happen if the parents find out?"

The chairman of the SFG turned from the window to face his subordinates. "We will just have to hope that nothing happens. I'm aware of those that are trying to glean the truth, but for now, we just have to lay low. We can't let anyone find out what we're doing, or our plans won't go as directed."

"The students are doing reasonably well." The Head of Brawlers, a strudy man with exposed biceps stated. "Training is their utmost importance, and no one has pulled out of the school yet."

"Only to your faculty, Mr Jaccob." The Head of Shaman chuckled quietly, rubbing his stubble. "Might I remind you that your faculty students cause the most trouble in all the campuses?"

"Arashi!" Jaccob veinpopped as he whirled around to face his rival and good friend, jaw agape in an anime style. "How could you say that?!"

"It's true..." Arashi sent more stabbing words as he looked aside, holding his chin. "At least our students are outstanding in their studies, able to balance training and studying well....."

Musume looked at her colleague, the quiet and reserved Head of Swordsmanship, Vincent. "They're at it again." she said in exasperation while the two Heads bickered. "Can't you stop them?"

"...." Vincent just watched with a deadpan expression.

Mr Fujiwara resisted the urge to roll his eyes and facepalm at the childishness of the Heads of Brawling and Shamanism. It was true that the two faculties were rivals, for the Brawlers considered the Shamans cowards for not using their strength, while the Shamans considered the Brawlers foolish and themselves intelligent by using their Qi energy instead.

He coughed. "Musume-san? Might I trouble you for a bit?"

The Head of Archery heard his soft quietly and turned, ignoring the fight going on. "Yes, sir?"

"I need you to help me with the Graduation event." Mr Fujiwara requested. "In case of an emergency, assemble a defense guard of the strongest students or any student willing to fight. We need the Brawlers as the main firepower to tank, Swordsmen to lure and the rest for support."

"Yes, sir." Musume's glasses gleamed as she pushed them up the bridge of her nose. "I'll take care of it."

"Oh, and Musume?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Make me an emergency speech, will you?" Mr Fujiwara looked abashed. "In case something goes wrong and I have to explain everything to the parents."

"No problem." She smiled at him and left. He took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh before looking over at his Head of Swordsmanship. "Vincent."

The man nodded. A split second later, a sword crashed down between the two bickering Heads, creating a loud boom that made some students look up in surprise and a huge dent in the floor.

Both Jaccob and Arashi paled.

Mr Fujiwara smiled. "You can both fix my floor now."
___________________________________________________________________

"Cover me."

"I got your back."

Jengkol and Danny took positions on either side of Jade, covering her from any attacks coming her way. The female Brawler closed her eyes and concentrated on her flow of Qi energy. An aura circle appeared around her feet, her hair floating slightly with the force of her aura. "Regeneration."

Her word was barely more than a whisper, but her party heard it and immediately moved closer to protect her while she self-healed her wounds and refreshed her energy. It would leave her feeling refreshed and energetic, but the side effects would come later, leaving her feeling sore all over. It would usually be healed by a Potion from the Nurse, so she didn't care.

Besides, she was tough.

"Damn!" Bara flinched and dropped her Bow, going down on one knee when a Slasher threw a dagger at her from God knows where.

"Bara!" Danny saw the female Archer go down and raised his sword. "There's Slashers about!"

Jade's eyes snapped open and the aura around her disappeared as she slid into her fighting stance. "Help her. I'm alright now."

He nodded and left her side to fight off the incoming Slashers. Bara was already Regenerating, healing herself and her injuries to support the major tankers of her group. Jade whirled around and delivered an energy focused uppercut to one that Jengkol was fighting. "Raging Dragon Riser!"
____________________________________________________________________

Only the smartest, strongest, fittest students were recruited to these institutions. Yet beneath its quiet façade of learning and academia, an unsettling truth began to surface. These were no ordinary schools. Their infrastructures, rising menacingly above all others, were strange and alien in design, as if echoing an ominous, inescapable fate.
____________________________________________________________________

"Cyclone Slash!" Jengkol's broadsword created an energy wave that took out most of the corrupted.
____________________________________________________________________

Soon, rumors began to spread about the alarming activities conducted within the four campuses. Students, they said, were being trained in cryptic, deadly forms of combat beyond the understanding of even the military’s most accomplished intelligence agencies; they were studying forbidden scrolls and texts believed to hold incomprehensible, supernatural power— power to create as well as destroy; and being taught the use of weapons exiled long ago for their genocidal role in the Ancient Wars.
____________________________________________________________________

Lyssa laughed with Miyako as the two students lounged in a cafe, sipping chilled coffee and chatting.
____________________________________________________________________

A dimensional riff some attribute to the meteor storm had opened the gates to a demonic realm, poisoning the living and possessing the dead.

Only the four schools proved immune to this paranormal plague. Force shields were believed to protect the boundaries of the four schools and its students, keeping them safe within the schools’ borders.

The shields, however, were beginning to show signs of weakness. There were reports of creatures infiltrating school grounds and of students being taken almost daily, never to be seen again.

It was only a matter of time...
____________________________________________________________________

A disgruntled Jaccob lifted heavy slabs of stone back into the crater caused by Vincent's immense power to be resealed into smoothness by the Qi energy Arashi was using to fix the damage done.
____________________________________________________________________

Today, everything is calm and peaceful at the three schools, even as they wonder which of them is next.

When will their time come? How long will their shields hold?
____________________________________________________________________

Mr Fujiwara sat staring at nothing, his fingers linked together, a crease of worry between his brows. If something were to happen while the parents were around...... He seriously hoped that the students were ready, and willing to stand together as one.

It was important.. for the their future and the future of the school.
____________________________________________________________________

For now, the students continue their studies.

Waiting.

Training.

Praying...

RAN ONLINE 1-SHOTS

RAN Online fanfic (short one shot)
-------------------------------------------------

(10/12/2008)

Sometimes she forgot she was a girl. Oh yeah. But there were some instances that she was forcefully reminded that she was a girl, and those instances came in embarrassing and humiliating forms.
Jade (Jade008/Brawler) could only thank GOD it was 4 am in the morning, and...... no, she couldn't thank God for this one.... it was raining.


Scowling, she glared at the Swordsman fully clad in armor standing next to her. "Give it back.
"

Jengkol grinned an infuriating grin, eying the bare skin of her arms and shoulders. "I dropped it somewhere back there, I think.
"

"Well, I don't care!! Give my damn coat back!!!" Jade turned an interesting shade of red as she crossed her arms over her pink bra and ran for the campus building, taking shelter under the shade. "This is so embarrassing...."

"Oh, it happens... trust me..." Jengkol gave a loud roar of laughter and went off to get her shirt. Jade sniffled. How the hell she dropped her own shirt, she didn't know. But not many were around at that place where she was so she was grateful for it. The poor female brawler now stood shivering on the porch in her Preparatory Shoes, Preparatory Skirt, her bra and her Heavy Gauntlet on her right arm, her left hand clad in a Glove for defense rather than attack.


"I swear I'm going to Heavy Punch somebody...." she muttered, making a mental note to ask Miyako (Miyako08/Shaman), her Shaman friend at the Sacred Gate campus if anything like this happened before. She often sneaked out of her Mystic Peak campus to visit her friend, and it really exasperated the Shaman to no end. But then again, Brawlers were known for their notorious behavior and uncanny knack for breaking the rules and getting into fights.


Jade wasn't afraid of getting expelled. The main firepower of the school rested in the Brawlers and Swordsmen, so they needed her, like it or not. Her right hand flexed as she glared at a staring Archer... Ryuzen, if she got his name right.... and the gleaming iron of her Gauntlet forming into a fist made him continue on his journey inside the building nervously.


"I got it!" Jengkol's voice pulled her back to earth and she turned, relieved to see him holding out her Preparatory Coat. "Thank god!" Grabbing it, Jade slid it over her head and smoothed down the material, hiding the embarrassed blush she got on her face again.


She could only deduce that the backlash from his Cyclone Slash sword attack KOed her on the spot, making her lose her defense based article of clothing.


"Right, so how many Street Junkies do we have left to kill?" Jengkol asked, hand on the hilt of a giant broadsword strapped to his back.


Jade hesitated. Her mission said she had to eliminate at least 22, and the level of a Street Junkie was way higher that her... which was why she kept getting injured so easily. The rapid healing called Regeneration that she learned healed her wounds in no time, but it left her feeling sore all over. She was already killed 13 with his help... but she couldn't take any more.


"You know what? I'm going back to the dorm...." Jade waved a hand tiredly. "You can stay here and train..... I've been around the main campus since midnight.
"

"Yeah well.... I'm heading to bed too..." Jengkol scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Don't get lost around campus and head back to your own faculty." He grinned. "No going to Sacred Gate or to a Shaman/Swordsman/Archer area.
"

"Oh shut up. I don't wander into any other combat faculties except my own." Jade snapped, then turned, lifting a hand as she walked off.
"Party again tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, see ya." Jengkol hesitated a bit, concentrating for a while as he cast a Tranquility skill to shield her as she made her journey back.
"Night!"

"Night!" Jade called back, a glowing orb of light making an orbit around her. Ugh.... she was really tired and sore.... looks like she would have to crash for now and skip morning classes tomorrow....

"Go Brawlers..." she murmured to herself with a grin when she reached her room and crashed down on the bed, kicking off her shoes, but not bothering to remove the Heavy Gauntlet from her right arm though it was made out of heavy iron. "You don't mess with us, heh........"

Sweet dreams, violent female.
XD

Uh, Really Random...

A/N: Yes... really random. This is what comes out of my brain at 3:50 am in the morning.

And for that matter... I'm still not sleepy.

3 December 2008: I know the ending sucks, but I kinda lost my feel for this, sorry.....
____________________________________________________________________

"You should not have opened the box, Dante." Jade said from behind him, her voice sounding weak and sick. "You should NOT have opened it... it's like a Pandora's box...."

Dante didn't listen to her, his breathing erratic and his hand curled into a fist. Anger rode off him in waves; it was almost stifling to be in the same room with him. "Fuck humans..." he growled, turning to smash his fist into the wall. "Fuck humans! Ungrateful bastards-!"

"There is a chance, Dante." Jade cut him off. "There's still a chance for Vergil, I know it..." She regained her composure and stared down at her hands. "After all, I'm still alive, aren't I?"

Dante turned to her in disbelief. "You still forgive those scientists.. after what they did to you?!"

Jade didn't reply, her emerald eyes looking haunted. She knew. Yes, she knew and understood how he felt, but it wasn't going to change anything. "What's done is done... we can't change what happened, alright..?" Five years ago, she had been captured by human scientists, ironically. The people she had worked so hard to protect had captured her and run sickening tests on her.

Five years ago, Vergil had been found, unconscious and malnourished. Since the fall of Mundus, he had been trapped in Hell, but managed to find a way out, after a long time. Having been found by the wrong people, he had been a test subject, an experiment to find out what he really was.

It was escaping from a nightmare into a worse one. Throughout his time in the underground lab, he was in a light coma from the trauma his body had suffered, and he moaned and called out in his sleep. Two names stood out, but one was repeated more than the other. Dante... and Jade.

Half-demon by Vergil's blood, Jade was found when he gave away her cover. By letting him loose one night, he had stumbled half-consiously to where she was, only by locating her scent. Jade had fought off the soilders the best that she could, even going as far as to Devil Trigger, but she could not bring herself to kill them, and was taken into captivity along with Vergil.

All kinds of experiments were performed on the half-demon hybrids. They wanted to see if other blood could be fused with theirs, and Jade was forced to endure pain, forced to watch countless animals die, innocent orphans be killed from the heartless breeding experiments. She was raped, again and again, the same things happening to Vergil.

It wasn't long till their funds ran out, and they decided to be rid of Jade, just because she was making little progress than Vergil was. And to kill her, they stunned her, then tossed her into a waste pool laced with chemicals and blood from the dead test subjects before she could recover. The pool would be flushed later on to rid it of it's "trash". When she did recover, she Devil Triggered to save herself, and something happened.

It could be the chemicals, it could have been the results of being injected with so many types of fused blood, human, demons and animals, but a tail grew in place of her legs, gills appearing on the side of her neck. Her eyes turned a dead greyish red, claws appeared, and so did the webs between her fingers and on her ears. The scientists were delighted at it and fished her out, keeping her in a large, round tank for the rest of the days to come. They considered throwing Vergil in the waste pool as well, but some of their colleagues protested, claiming that more tests should be run on him first.

Jade was their prize. They dressed her up, put her on show as a freak of nature, collecting money to run their cruel tests on more demons. It wasn't one day when the "Mermaid Princess", fake pearls adorning her head in a tiara, twisted in her hair, around her wrists and tail was being shown off as usual in a freak circus, that she saw a flash of silver hair.

It was then she knew who had returned from Fortuna. She called for him, unseen tears in her eyes as she swam agitatedly around, crying out for him to save her, though she knew he couldn't hear her. But Dante had noticed, and he had walked slowly up to her tank, staring at her as though mesmerized. He placed a hand on the glass questioningly, and she pressed hers to his in vain, pleading with him through her eyes. He didn't understand at first, she could see it, but the more he stared at her, the more he regconized her, and she saw ice blue eyes widen in regconition. "Jade?!" He had exclaimed and she had nodded before someone in charge came to lead Dante away.

It was clear that Vergil's twin had been regconized, and eager for a fresher subject, the scientists wanted him.

They wanted Dante, and it was Dante they got.

The devil hunter stormed into their lab with unleashed fury a few days after gaining information of what had been done, no doubt from the Underworld itself. Everyone was destroyed, not a building was left standing, as he brought Jade and Vergil out. Jade was well enough to walk after going out of her Devil Trigger, but it was clear that she had lost her Devil Form forever. She was human out of the water, and was healing rapidly, but Vergil was still in a traumatized state.

Dante dropped onto the sofa next to her and pulled her close, burying his head in her hair. "I'm sorry I didn't come home earlier... Yamato was with Nero in Fortuna and I was so stupid to think I could find my brother there if I stayed long enough.."

"It's not your fault." Jade pointed out gently. "No one knew he would bust his way out of Hell alone. Well, it was predictable, but..." She fell silent, then spoke again in a cheery voice to cheer him up. "Why don't we bring him to the sea? You know... get out and breathe in the fresh air once in a while, enjoy the peaceful enviroment... swim for a bit..."

Dante gave her a faint smile.
____________________________________________________________________

Vergil stared at nothing in particular as Dante coaxed him out of the car. The cool sea breeze blew softly on them, ruffling his hair back as the cry of seagulls reached his ears. It was peaceful here, truly peaceful, and he found the nightmares that were haunting him flee his mind for once, leaving him free. He sat down in the sand and stared out at the open air, watching the sea crash against the beach in gentle waves.

"Hey, Jade! You be careful up there!" Dante's warning voice made him turn and he watched Jade scramble up a large outcropping of rock while Dante surveyed her lithe body.

Clad in a bikini and a shirt, Jade stuck her tongue out at him and waved. "I'm a big girl, Dante! I can handle myself!"

"Still, you better be careful or....."

Their gay voices lightened up Vergil's heart greatly, and a tiny smile crossed his features. He had worried for Jade immensely when she was in the lab with him... and worried for Dante too, should his younger brother be caught as well, but they were free now. Mundus was gone, the lab and scientists were gone, they were free from the suffering and pain and could live happily.

His eyes returned to Jade, who had reached the top of the rock and was pulling off her shirt, tossing it to Dante. She stretched, paused, then leaped and made a dive into the sea, her legs transforming into a gleaming tail in mid-air before she disappeared under with a splash. Ten minutes passed and she didn't surface, and all of a sudden she burst out of the water in a spetacular backward arc, the droplets of water shining in the sunlight.

Jade looked free, free and beautiful with complete freedom to swim and leap and dive whenever she wanted. Her Devil Trigger form had been altered, but to Vergil, this mermaid form suited her the most. It was beautiful to him, although humans considered it frightening.

"Enjoying the view, are we, bro?" Dante's grinning visage appeared in his line of sight and he scowled, unhappy at having being disturbed. Without an invitation, his brother sat down beside him, watching Jade as well.

"You know, when I first found you, I wanted to know what they did to Jade and you." Dante shook his head ruefully. "Then I found out that I didn't want to know at all. I saw those tapes, Vergil. I saw them, and it made me sick. I think I wanted to just go out and kill every human in sight, but.... Jade reminded me that there are good humans out there, like Lady.. and Enzo, though he seriously needs a lipo suction."

He chuckled and leaned back, sighing. "When are you going to start talking, Verge? I've been doing the talking for a month now, and you're still not responding. C'mon... say something to me. Heck, even a bitch-slap would be welcome. Anything to tell me you're still in there, bro."

If Vergil was listening, he made no sign of it, his ice-blue eyes trained on the sea, staring out at nothing. Jade was swimming below the surface and hadn't risen since her last leap.

"It really isn't fair because you left alone all those years and I had to take care of her, since the last incident in Temen-Ni-Gru.. and talking about that, I'm glad Lady hasn't dropped by since. I'd hate to listen to her bitching about me owing her cash......."

Dante's insistent chatter was starting to grind on his ears a bit and Vergil gave a small, unnoticable twitch.

"... And I'm guilty to Jade too, leaving her for a few years alone with Lady. It wasn't really my fault, though. I'd say it's yours, because you were the cause of my amnesia......."

There was a splash and Jade's head appeared from under the water as she took a deep breath and pushed her wet hair and water out of her eyes. The sight almost made Vergil smile again.

"... But I find that over the years of your absence, I may have fallen in love with our little Jade baby-"

"Shut up."

"Yeah, I know I- what...?" Dante stopped mid-sentence and turned to look disbelievingly at Vergil. "Did you just... speak?"

Identical eyes turned to look at him and Vergil scowled. "I said shut up. You talk too much as always. What I needed was rest, both mentally and physically, and your ranting did not help one bit with my condition. So could you just shut that pie-hole you call a mouth for once, and let me heal in peace?!"

Dante stared at his brother in shock. After the long silence, hearing so many words come from his brother was something to be celebrated, a miracle to shout about. "Jade!!!" Before her knew it, he was up and running to where Jade drifted lazily with the tide. "Jade, he spoke! Vergil just spoke! And he cursed me!!!!! He cursed me, you hear? It's a miracle!"

Vergil fought the urge to facepalm and roll his eyes as his younger twin went about screaming and shouting, dragging Jade out of the water. It wasn't long before he was pulled into a tight bear hug by said man, with Jade watching sheepishly.

Again, said man ended up bitch-slapped just because he had requested it earlier.

"I'm not mentally ill, if that's what you're thinking." Vergil explained later on. "True, I'm still traumatized by what happened, but I'm healing nicely.. if you'd just give me some peace and quiet. It isn't easy to close your eyes and heal when someone keeps yapping in your ear all day long, though it does provide a good distraction from the nightmares."

"You cocky bastard..." Dante finally said after closing his gaping jaw. "You never once responded to me! I was so..."

Worried. The word hung in the air in silence for a while without him having to say it. Then, whithout warning, Jade leaned over and enveloped Vergil in a hug, hiding her face in his neck. the Blue Devil looked surprised and slightly awkward, looking up rapidly at Dante for help before hesitantly putting his arms around her to pat her back.

Dante snickered.

Jade was silent for the first few minutes, the cool drops of her tears falling on his warm skin, before she lifted her head and smiled at him, her eyes brimming with tears, but clear. "I'm so glad... Welcome back, Vergil."

And before he knew it, she was kissing him.

Dante was laughing when Jade broke away, red-faced before escaping to the water again, calling for them to join her. A slow smile broke across Vergil's face as he got up and followed her and his brother.

He was home at last.... and his nightmares were over....