You Will Be Reborn

[Simon]

Following the events of As Long as You Interest Me and Concept of the Hollow Man

Dante found his senses temporarily overwhelmed with the absolute light that replaced his spirit realm. As he relented his hand used to shield his eyes from the sudden shift into brightness, the devil hunter found himself in a familiar site: the expanse of the Nexus, before the Fountain. A cascade of four streams from a spout in the raised bowl fell away into the pool below it, in an endless display of classical fanciness. So, the fountain did change shapes...

Something seemed strange, however. The virulent haze that covered the Nexus, for one- no, it was just his fogged vision. Yet it, and the gradient of shadow creeping at the edges of his sight, struck more as supernatural for Dante. This was where he had been brought into the Omniverse, yes, but it did not feel like he was there. It bore the sensation of an out-of-body experience, except the half-blood's extremities were still very much attached to him.

"Guess I just have to wait a little longer, then." The voice surrounded him, but not physically- a resounding in Dante's head, as he had gotten accustomed to prior with the Hollow's nuisances. "It's not like I'm going anywhere. Eventually, we'll meet again. One way or another."

But next time, I'll be ready.


The Son of Sparda directed his focus forward, leaning forth as if he intended to break through some invisible barrier. A moment passed, and several more followed it, and only after that did Dante tear away the shroud cloaking his existence. Fully materializing, the mercenary lost his balance, stumbling forward several steps before he fell to his hands and knees at the base of the fountain.

Any evidence of the torture he had been put through in the past week had ceased to exist. Not a single trace of a wound remained, not a spot of blood outside of the man's body. The clothes coating his body in black and red were fresh and whole, as if they were made flawlessly moments before. Dragging himself to the stone lip of the pool, Dante saw that even his skin showed a brighter color than when had first come here. His silvery hair, too, showed only a slight trussing from its apparent groomed state due to his tripping over himself. Perhaps most importantly were the comforting heft of the guns at his belt and the blade at his back- a sensation the hunter had come to miss throughout his ordeal upon Teucer's island.

There existed a certain surreal nature to changing into a fresh set of clothes after going through a devastating experience. Something about looking so restored on the outside, as if whatever you had gone through had never even happened - and yet, you could remember that it did, however vividly. Dante had learned that it was important to remember the situations fate forced him through, however injuring; if such memories brought trauma, then to forget would be to deny they ever happened, that you changed as a result.

Dante plucked himself from the ground, stand up straight after having spent so long in physical anguish. He inhaled the light mist from the fountain's spray, exhaling a deep breath after a couple of seconds. As if he would have a hard time forgetting his own darkness, animated within him. Still, Dante had some more pressing things to be concerned over at the moment.

It looked more and more like the Pale Moors were going to be his home for the next few days.