24.

Doubled Delusion

Reyna walked away from Mundus. She had to get away from him: his face, his eyes, his presence, his physique. Especially his physique. Reyna needed room to breathe. She could feel his eyes on her as she made her way to her dresser and opened the middle drawer.

"Reyna," Mundus said. He was behind her.

She didn't turn around, digging for her pajamas. Choosing between the blue ones or the orange ones was a very tough decision.

His clawed hand came into view. He grabbed her wrist and turned her around to face him.

"Reyna," he repeated. "I returned because of you."

She shook her head, signaling her confusion but mostly because she didn't want to hear what he was going to say.

His other hand caressed her cheek. "Do not falter in remembering that."

"Mundus, please. I already said..." She couldn't finish her sentence.

His hands released her. "Of course."

His warmth evaporated from her skin. Reyna looked up at him. Why was she in such a hurry to leave her room anyway? It's not like she had anywhere else to go. It was either hide in someone else's room or go downstairs and face Dante and the others.

Dante.

"I'm going to get my clothes and go downstairs with everybody else. Are you going to stay here?" she asked him.

His face betrayed his disappointment. "I do not desire to descend among them. Shall you remain there for the duration of the day?"

The floor caught her eyes. "Yes."

Mundus' hands were on her cheeks again. He pulled her up to him and kissed her. Reyna forgot where she was for a moment, the familiarity of his lips drawing her entire focus. Her hands went up to touch his. She removed them and pulled away. Her movements were slow. Each inch that furthered her away from him gave view to his hurt expression.

His smile was sad. "Such does not surprise me."

Reyna looked at him. "What are you doing? Why are you staying here? It's not like you to be so calm."

Mundus sighed. "I have already answered such inquiries, Reyna. I am here because of you."

~*~*~

The couch wasn't that uncomfortable, but Reyna still couldn't believe how Verden had tolerated sleeping on it for a month. She also couldn't believe how easily Verden had allowed Mundus to stay. She had expected him to put up more of a fight, to even force his brother out the door, but he just gave in.

Reyna sighed. She had blurted out they were brothers in front of Mundus. That was something she should have left for Verden to say, should he choose to do so. It wasn't like he was proud of his family.

She bit her lip only to draw her lips together. She was starting to pick up that habit again.

"I believe it to be...sexy." Mundus' voice entered her mind.

Reyna rolled her eyes at the memory, but there was a smile on her lips. Back when he was still in her body, he had seen her bite her lip when she was talking to him through a mirror. Mundus had called her nervous tick sexy.

She sighed again and turned to lie on her side, reminding herself she could have been sharing a bed with Anna and Diorela or Jean, but no. She had to let her pride get in the way and turn down their offers.

Dante wants me to sleep on the couch? Fine. I will. That way next time I'll send him here too.

She had seen the frigidness in his eyes. Or at least she would the few times he actually looked at her. She sighed and flipped onto her stomach. Her arm dangled down and brushed her day clothes she had dropped next to the couch.

Reyna stared at the intact flower heaped on top of her jeans. She grabbed it and brought it up to her eyes. Light—from where she hadn't figured out yet—shone through the windows enough to illuminate the room for her to see it. Its curled petals were perfect, arching the orange streaks into the blossom's flat, purple tips.

 The more she gazed at it, the stronger the memory of Mundus' bow entered her head. He had bowed at her. He had begged for her forgiveness. He was on his knees. His desperation had exposed him to vulnerability. 

Reyna remembered how stunned she was. How the feel of his arms around her, his head on her stomach, felt alien. All she could think was the countless people those hands had killed. All she could see was her ruined home, yet when she had kneeled next to him, his face shattered it, and all she saw was Mundus.

She sighed, bringing her arm down and letting it hang over the couch again. She kept a firm grip on the flower though. All she had to do was eat it, and she would have unimaginable power. She would live almost forever. With him.

Her lips burned with his earlier kiss.

But if I eat it...

She would lose her humanity.

I'd no longer be human. I wouldn't be me. I wouldn't be part of the world I lost. I wouldn't be part of Diorela and Jean and Anna. I wouldn't be part of Michael and Abran. I wouldn't be part of...Dante.

Everything they had gone through would've been for nothing. All her nights of whining and crying to him about what they lost would now be lies. His comforts would have been in vain. Their after–sparing conversations about earth might as well have been fabrications.

Reyna sighed as something dawned on her.

All along I was the one complaining to him, and he was the one telling me it was okay. He lost loved ones and friends too. He had seen the initial takeover of the demons when they were being controlled by Ram. He saw the destruction firsthand. He saw it all, and here I was complaining to him. Dante just smiled at me and told me not to worry.

Her hands balled into fists. A sweet smell filled her nostrils and she realized she had squeezed the flower. Reyna opened her hand to see its smashed petals reconstruct themselves.

I'm such a fucking idiot.

Reyna sprang up to her feet, tripping on the blanket that had tangled around her legs. She dropped the flower in an attempt to catch her balance. When she freed her legs, she crept past the hallway that held the sleeping teens, but when she reached the stairs, she took them two at a time.

It was when she reached the second floor that she heard the voices. They were coming from her room. She already had her Magika essence suppressed—she always did—but she pushed it down a bit more and edged to her room door. She almost walked through it, realizing it wasn't closed.

Reyna scuttled away from the doorway and leaned on the wall. She had seen who was inside: Mundus and Ayame. The demon's presence was vivid in her mind. His Magika mapped out his body with threads of green, blue, and red. Her closeness to him meant she could see detailed facial expressions and at the moment he appeared confused.  

Ayame was the only one she could not sense. Unless she was Verden, there was no way she was going to be able to tell what she was doing. Reyna could, however, hear what they were saying.

"You have to tell me," Ayame said. "Verden won't."

"I do not understand—"

"Yes, you do," she interrupted him with a firm voice Reyna hadn't heard her use. "Verden won't tell me so you have to."

Reyna saw his face soften. "Ayame." 

"Names. My name is something everyone always knows. Even Reyna and Dante seemed to know of it. They asked me once if the name Mundus meant anything. Your name."

He straightened from his sitting position and looked down at the still seated Spirit on Reyna's bed.

"Ayame," he said, "what does your memory reveal to you?"

"Verden."

Her answer seemed to anger him.

Reyna heard the ruffle of Ayame's clothes and the creak of the bed as she stood. "I remember always being with Verden. I like being around him. I like helping him in protecting those he cares about. I like protecting him because I care for him."

 Mundus' sigh was mixed with a low growl.

"Why would that make you angry?"

Reyna held her breath as she waited for him to answer. This is too private. I shouldn't be hearing this. Her feet made no intention to move, however.

"There is no need for you to concern yourself with such," Mundus spoke.

"Is it because of the book? Was it yours?" Ayame said with excitement in her speech.

"The book?"

Reyna saw realization cross his face and from Ayame's happy tone she figured she did as well.

"Yes. Sakuya's Collection. I've never read it. I can't read the language it's written in. Only speak it. Can you tell me the story it has? I only know about the names. I never thought..."

Mundus remained silent. He was staring in the direction Reyna assumed Ayame was standing in. "Why do you speak to me in the English dialect? Is Demonic unknown to you?"

"I," Ayame stuttered, making Reyna think she was blushing. "Yes, I know Demonic. English was the first language Verden taught me, so I like to talk to him in English. It's just you look like him, and it just...came from instinct."

Something crossed Mundus' face Reyna couldn't decipher.

"I can account the tale to you should you truly desire it," he said.

"Yes! Please," she spoke in a tone that suggested she was smiling. 

He stepped closer to her and grasped her hand. "I shall account it in the Demonic dialect. Maintain this, though. What I shall convey is as you have named it: a story. The fact our names appear in its telling is coincidence."

"Tereema kasseh," she whispered.

"I don't think this is good for you."

Reyna turned to the third voice that had whispered.

"Dante," she said.

Even in the dark, she could see he appeared tired, but it didn't seem physically.

"I was just coming up here because I wanted to..." Reyna stopped talking when she noticed each word she said was irritating him.

Only the inaudible sound of Mundus' Demonic words could be heard.

"I'm pretty sure I know why." Dante's voice was low.

The way he stared at her made her feel like all the pain he ever felt because of her had simultaneously dropped from the sky. Reyna's chest caved in, and her breath caught in her throat. If she moved, she knew she would fall.

"Right. I'm gonna go back to bed," Dante said and walked away.

His departure snapped Reyna into movement. She chased after him. "Dante, wait. I—"

That was the second door he had closed on her face.

~*~*~

When Dante woke up, it took a second for him to feel devastated again. He combed his hair back with his fingers as he stared at the ceiling. It was all over now. Mundus had showed up with the perfect exclamation of love: a literal live–with–me–forever.

He sighed as he brought his hand down. It hit something warm and fleshy that groaned. Dante turned to see a curled up Reyna sleeping next to him.  

When did she sneak in?

She stirred to wrap the blanket around her tighter, dragging it off Dante.

I should wake her up by kicking her off the bed.

He instead caressed her exposed shoulder with the tips of his fingers, gazing at her relaxed face. Next time he was going to tie her to the couch.

A streak of anger curled within him. He pulled his hand away from her and settled back to staring at the ceiling. What was she doing here anyway? Last night he found her trying to sneak back into her room with Mundus, yet she wakes up here? Why does she do these things that confuse and hurt him? Wasn't it enough? Did she enjoy tempting and teasing him all the time?

He really should just kick her off of the bed.

Her breathing was comforting despite the icy thoughts he held towards her. It reminded him of the times he would wake up in the middle of the night to find her there. Her soft body would be cuddled in his. Other times he'd see the curvy outline of her back and hips as she slept on her side. Those were the time he'd pretend, just for a moment, that she was truly his.

As the initial months being in Auronmar's castle passed, he knew all those times they shared a bed, sexually or not, it was to satisfy something within them both. Dante could still remember the first time they laid together.

It was after their first training session. He had gone to her room so she could heal his wounds; his shower hadn't helped in soothing his injuries or soreness. When Reyna let him in, he knew she had been crying. It wasn't anything new, and, like all the times before, he reached out to comfort her.

She healed him as they talked, and Dante recalled the words she had said that made him kiss her: I wish I had something to remind me I'm human.

After that night, they had come to an understanding: they were going to be there for each other whether emotional or physical. And it worked. He had Reyna, and she could have him. It had been complicatedly simple.

Then, they moved in with Verden and he saw the change in her. She softened. Her smiles were frequent as was her laughter. Reyna looked at him with brighter, warmer eyes, and it immersed him with happiness.

The first time Reyna refused one of his kisses surprised him more than it hurt him. He wasn't sure if she was signaling their truce had come to an end, but then Dante saw she would still come to him with her smiles. That was when he started to believe.

Her blushes and stuttering were uncommon to him, but they increased each time she'd speak to him. Her eyes darted everywhere except his face and when he'd finally catch her sight, she'd flush and look away. Sometimes a shy smile would grace her lips. When he finally decided to try and kiss her again, she had kissed back.

Dante couldn't hold the grin that visited his lips as he recalled her arms around his neck and back. She had leaned into him and he felt, for the first time ever since arriving there in the demon world, she genuinely wanted him. But then she walked away. Again.   

Dante sighed and closed his eyes. He turned to his side and opened them. Reyna's sleeping face greeted him.

He sighed again.

It wasn't too late to kick her off his bed.

The only reason I'm not doing it is because I don't want a blue sword in my stomach, he thought and got out of bed.

He crossed the room to one of his drawers and put on a white shirt. After brushing his teeth, he checked on Reyna to see her still asleep. He shook his head and went to his closed door. His hand froze on the doorknob when he heard Mundus' voice.

"It was upon her insistence," he said, anger ever present in his tone.

"That's not what I meant, Mundus," Verden snapped. "What possessed you to think even talking to her would be a good idea? We both know what happened between you two."

"I convinced her our names and existence were a coincidence and did not hold any truth in the story itself."

"That's not why I'm angry. The fact that you're playing with Reyna's emotions is what's making me furious. I saw the flower this morning. Unlike you, I care about Reyna."

Dante grinned both at the thought of Verden scolding Mundus and at the fact that he was doing the same thing he had warned Reyna not to do last night.

He opened his room door and stepped out into the hallway. The demon princes halted their conversation as he passed by them. Mundus greeted him with a glare while Verden smiled at him.

"Woke up a little late today, Dante," Verden said.

He shrugged. "Yeah."

"Was Reyna there with you last night? She wasn't in the couch this morning."

Mundus' eyes narrowed, and Dante caught on to what Verden was doing. He smiled.

"Yeah," Dante said and stretched with exaggeration. "She snuck into my room last night. She's still asleep."

He left them with a smirk on his lips. It wavered halfway down the stairs and disappeared by the time he reached the hallway.

"No! This one said don't touch this one's hair!"

Dante heard Lina's squeaks coming from Diorela and Anna's shared room. As he passed by, he saw her sitting between Anna and Diorela. The two girls had Lina's long locks divided in half between the two. Combs, ribbons, clips, and other hair accessories littered the floor. Standing in the corner of the room, away from the three, was Ayame.

 "Why not? You're letting them play with it," she said. The look of longing in her face seemed close to tears.

"Adorable Human and Adorable Human's friend don't pull this one's hair." Lina scowled at her.

Ayame danced on her feet. Apparently she couldn't leave her corner for some reason. "I said I was sorry. Come on. Please."

Dante couldn't help but chuckle at the delightful scene. His laughter caught the attention of everyone in the room and smiles were shot at him from everyone save Diorela. There was a sadness that flashed in her eyes and a desire to tell him something appeared on her face.

He gave them all a short wave of greeting and continued his way to the living room where Michael and Abran were talking in rapid Spanish. They sat on the couch where Reyna was supposed to have slept. On one of the arms was a folded blanket underneath her gathered clothes. Jean's doing, he was sure.

When Dante neared the two guys he noticed the flower topping Reyna's jeans. He grunted and shoved it into one of the pockets.

"You know we feel you, man, right?" Michael said.

"Yeah." Abran smiled.

Dante looked down at them. "What?"

"We're not dumb. We know the look of unrequited love on a man's face. We don't know the details, but we know it has something to do with that other demon and that flower too apparently." Michael nodded towards Reyna's clothes.

Abran nodded as well, giving Dante the impression they had agreed beforehand about talking to him of this. He couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, well what can you do?" Dante sighed as he sat next to them.

Abran turned to Michael waiting for a translation. After it was provided for him, he faced Dante again.

"Reyna es linda y agradable pero un poco putilla," he told him.

Dante looked at Michael for an explanation. The teen's eyes widened. "Uh," he said. "I don't know if you wanna know what he said."

He laughed. Dante didn't know why, but he just had to laugh. 

*********************

Author's Note: The side picture is called "Dante, Shark Killer." Please ogle it. The song on the side reminds me of Dante, and it seemed to go with his POV. If you're interested in hearing it, the lyrics are in the video so you can follow along. :D

Dedicated to Erza1998 and her tea of doom and death.