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“Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.”
Romeo, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The small little village had only one remotely remarkable feature. On the outskirts of town, stood a tall, towering, cedar tree which had been there was centuries. The villagers saw it as something special, where any and all ceremonies ought to occur. As time had passed, religions changed along with beliefs, the tree now stood rarely disturbed. Yet he sensed a disturbance of a kind, demons were running amok and it was only a matter of time before they disturbed the villagers.
That was why Sparda had journeyed to the town, hoping to deal with the demons before they caused any harm. So as he walked through the town that night, marveling at the houses and the trees and the roads with their lights, he was still gland he could see the stars and the moon. The tree he was headed for was in the forest, though it stood out amongst the other trees, he would need what light he could. Not that it mattered much, he supposed, being a demon his eyesight was better than that of a humans.
By the time he entered the forest, he could already sense the demons at the tree. There was a fair amount of them, though he noticed that a few were disappearing. He shrugged it off the simply being the demons fighting amongst themselves as demons do. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, demons fought for power and rank all the time, causing some to die. It was nothing to worry about, it only made dealing with them easier, as there would be less of them.
He continued on his way, paying no mind to how the demons got less and less as he got closer. No, he chose to focus on the one strongest demon, which by his guess sat at the top of the tree. It was nothing he couldn’t handle, but it was still stronger than most. The trees in this forest were, for the most part tall, having been around for decades. Still the tree was headed for was much taller and much older. Their bark was stripped away in some places, in other it was burned, showing signs of a forest fire at some point in the past. Yet he paid it all very little mind.
Now in front of him was the tree, tall enough to scrape into the sky. He could sense the demon at the top, but he noticed there none at the bottom. There were demons on the way up, though, but they were being killed by someone. Was someone else here? He couldn’t sense a demon that was taking them out, so it must have been a human. But why? What human would try to fight demons, and do so well? A hunter, perhaps? Maybe…
The next thing he noticed after that was the markings that surrounded the tree. There was what he could barely recognize as a corpse, though the demons had picked it apart to the point it no longer resembled a human at all. Clearly some fool had summoned some demons only for them to turn on him. With a shrug Sparda continued on, beginning to climb up the tree. Someone had been here, as there were holes in the tree, the size of a human’s knife. He of course, just changed to his demon form, far enough away from humans that he didn’t worry about being seen. He could just fly up this way.
There was, of course, the issue of the human who was killing the demons, but he could deal with that later. As long as the human didn’t try to take on the demon at the top of the tree, they would probably be fine, as the rest of these demons were almost comically weak.
As he reached the part of the tree where there were demons, though they were being killed by a human, he heard what had to be that human yell out, “Aw! Is that all you’ve got?”
The human woman whom he had met a month before, with her blonde hair up in a pony tail much the same as the night they’d met, was standing on branch, having just plunged a knife into the side of an Empusa. She yanked it out, giving it nary a thought before shooting it was her pistol. That had been the last demon at this part of the tree, though more awaited up.
Sensing his presence, or perhaps merely hearing the beat of his wings, she spun around, aiming her pistol at him. Instead of pulling the trigger, though, she studied him for just a moment before recognition flashed in her eyes. She lowered the gun, a wry smile on her face.
“You know,” She said, “You’re lucky I remember you, Sparda, or else I would have shot you. Again.” There was mirth in her voice, it was clear she meant little by that statement than just stating a fact.
“I must be, Lady Eva…” He surveyed the carnage, or what was left of it. Most of the demons had disappeared by then, seeing that she had since killed them. Even the Empusa she had just dealt with was gone. “You have been making rather good work of these demons.”
“Yeah, someone in town spotted them.” She explained, resting a hand, which still had a knife in it, on her hip. “I took the job to make sure no one would get hurt.”
She placed her pistol back inside her coat, replacing it with a knife. She plunged one into the bark of the tree and began her climb once more. He followed her up, slowly, the only sound her knives in wood and his beating wings. She glanced at him for a moment before asking, “What about you?”
“Me?”
“Why are you here?”
Sparda smiled, or at least the best he could given his demonic form, “The same reason as you, more or less.”
“I see…” With that said, Eva turned her focus back to climbing, well aware that the demon beside her was watching her every movement. There was something about her, something that made him just want to watch. He had felt it when they first met as well, after she had used her shotgun to put a bullet in his head. Then when he saw her stab that Empusa, shooting it without hesitation… There was something he found undeniably interesting about her.
Perhaps it was merely how she fought… But he’d seen humans fight before, never had he felt such feelings from seeing them before. It was something about Lady Eva, if only he could figure out what… It could have been her strength, she was taking down demons easily and without any fear. But even that didn’t seem to be the answer.
“Ugh,” She groaned to his right, causing him to look over to her. Before he could ask what was wrong, she continued, “How much more of this tree is there to climb?”
It occurred to him that she was human, so no matter her strength, she would tire far sooner than he would, and she had been doing all the work. They were close now, though, to the demon at the top, though he worried that she would not be able to handle it, given it was far stronger than the demons she‘d faced lower in the tree.
“We are close, but Milady you must be careful.” He answered to her, sparing a look to her.
“And why’s that?”
“The demon at the top is far stronger than the one’s you’ve faced on the way up here.”
“Is that supposed to scare me, Bug-boy?” Bug-boy? Was she referring to him? And should she not be more wary of the demon that lurks above them?
“Bug- bug-boy?” He spats incredulously, his wings missing a beat, causing him to fall ever so slightly.
“Yeah,” Lady Eva snorts, “Cause you look like a bug,”
“I do not!”
“Yes, you do.” With that last word, she returned her focus to climbing. Soon enough, she removes her knives from the tree, hefting herself onto a branch. Even up here, the branches were sturdy enough to hold her weight.
In front of them was the demon who had Sparda the most worried, at the very least for the sake of Lady Eva. He appeared as a mass of shadows, from which wings of wood and leaves protruded. His hands were clawed with splinters, and in place of an armor looked like leaves, though Sparda was certain they were harder than that.
Next to Sparda, Lady Eva readied her gun, preparing to shoot the demon before them. Though that demon payed her little mind. No, he was more fixated on Sparda, opening his mouth to speak, showing a smirk of wooden teeth, pointed to more resemble fangs. “Well… If it isn’t the legendary Dark Knight, Sparda…”
Lady Eva peered up to Sparda, a curious look on her face, “You know this guy, Bug-boy?” She seemed to have taken a liking to calling him that, much to his dismay. Yet despite that, he still knew he should answer her question.
“Oh, not particularly, Lady Eva,” Sparda responded, not particularly phased, merely pulling out his sword, ready to fight the demon, “Many demons are familiar with who I am.” Leaving no more room for discussion, he launched himself at the demon bringing his sword down.
With an indignant huff, if only because Sparda began fighting before she could, Lady Eva traded her pistol out for her shotgun, choosing to support Sparda from farther behind. As the two demons clashed, she tried to find an opening to shoot the other, not wanted to hit Sparda by accident. Though she knew he could take it, as he had taken a bullet from her shotgun before, she still did not want to have to apologize for that again.
So here and there, when there was an opening, Lady Eva shot at the demon they were fighting. Though she failed to pay attention to how many shells were in her shotgun. So when the demon was knocked close to her, she had every intention to shoot him. But when she pulled the trigger nothing happened.
With a curse Lady Eva attempted to move out of the way, only to be knocked down when the demon swung his hand at her. Sparda, seeing what had happened, knocked the demon away from Lady Eva, reaching an arm out to catch her.
“Are you falling for me yet, Milady?" He chuckled, though Lady Eva seemed to think that this was hardly the time for jokes, as she swatted his arm as hard as she could. Afterward she shook her hand, her attempt at inflicting pain on him backfiring.
With Lady Eva safely in his grasp, Sparda turned to the demon, readying his sword in his other hand. The demon, of course, chose that time to gloat, “Hah! Your love of humans will be the end of you, Sparda!” But while he was gloating, he failed to notice Lady Eva reloading her shotgun, aiming it even with his head. In a matter of moments, the demon lay dead, slumped across a tree branch.
“Oh my,” Sparda chuckled, “Very well done, Milady, though perhaps you should have reloaded your shotgun sooner.”
“Oh, shut up, Bug-boy. It worked out fine, didn’t it?” Lady Eva swatted at his arm, as if demanding to be put down. Sparda chose to ignore it, instead deciding to carry her down the tree, for it would much easier and it was clear she was tired.
“You nearly were knocked out of the tree,” He pointed out as they began their descent.
“I would have been fine.” Lady Eva huffed, crossing her arms. Sparda chuckled, taking joy in seeing her like this. There was something about it he just adored, despite having only met her twice now.
“Of course you would have been,”
“Is that sarcasm?” Lady Eva shook her head, “Anyway, what was with that title that demon was calling you? Legendary Dark Knight?” He heard her mutter about how it sounded familiar, as though she’d heard it before.
“Oh, that? That’s just some title I gained, at some point.”
“Still, I’m certain I’ve heard it before…” She was in thought for quite a while, leaving Sparda in silence. When they reached the bottom and he sat her down on the ground. Her face was contorted in concertation. Despite that she did not seem to be able to figure out whatever it was she was trying to.
"Ah, I'll figure it out later." With that statement, she turned around and set off away, most likely heading home. Yet something inside him didn’t quite want to see her go. Though nearly every fiber of his being begged for him to ask her not to leave, he stood still, silent. He watched as she disappeared from view, before his mind even dared to think.
“Perhaps I should visit her later…”
^^^
Bang bang!
Eva had been back from her job as a waitress at a nearby diner for all of twenty minutes before she heard knocking at her door. She was still tired from her job the night before, which had caused her to have to travel all the way out to a small village several miles from where she lived. Begrudgingly, she got up to make her way to the door of her apartment.
Opening it, she was met with a sight she never would have expected. Before her was Sparda, who was now in his human form, contrary to when she had seen him last night. “What- what are you doing here?”
“I just thought I’d pay you a visit,” He explained as she let him in. She felt sorely underdressed with him around. While she invited him to sit down, she had no way of knowing that this would hardly be the last she’d see of him.
In fact, she’d be seeing him an awful lot more, from here on out.