Quiver's legs had never moved as fast. Her heart had never thumped as hard. Dante's stomach had never fluttered in such a way. His hands waited to feel her within his embrace once more. Arthur and Lurisa jogged behind the both of them. The clouds burst with rain down the streets. Hailing down all of a sudden. Most people ran into shelter or into their homes. But not Dante and Quiver. They could see each other as they ran, without even knowing where the other was they were bound to meet. Dante lifted his arm to grab Quiver's.
A grip like no other squeezed his hand. His bones were crushing under the pressure. Dante started to kneel to withdraw some of the pain. A hairy hand was against his.
The Patriarch. Tall, forceful, even as a sasquatch he still held demeanour and determined eyes. His hair was onyx and he was taller than Dante's sasquatch form. And…he had a moustache. "Little Dante. This is how you thank me for saving you all those years ago. We told you, we don't get betrayed. We kill conspirators, not traitors." Dante's hand was fractured at this point, he was hardly holding on. "Imagine, all this, for a clan who used to hunt us down." Quiver gasped at the comment. The Patriarch smiled slyly, "Oh, you didn't tell him?"
"I knew!" Dante shouted from a mixture of pain and courage. "I always knew. But I didn't care!"
"How are they holding this many secrets from each other?" Lurisa begged. Does nobody else except Arthur see the common sense here! Arthur just shrugged. A glimpse of him wanted the patriarch to ruin their love story. He was jealous that Bill went for a nap and that Samara said she's not coddling the two for the trip, so unless they were actually doing things the chosen party should she wouldn't get involved.
"Matters not," the Patriarch crushed Dante's hand, splintering the bone. Dante roared. Hair exerted from his skin, the sharpness of his nose and jaw widened out. Dante bursted himself into the Patriarch. He forced a gap between them. Arthur wanted to intervene, even though he hated Dante but his body was shaking. He was a coward.
Lurisa weaved her hand, the Patriarch stopped. Horror. He felt undiluted fear. Above him, the rain had frozen in place. This mage…I feel like I've seen her before, he thought.
Dante snarled, "No! This is between me and him, Lurisa. I'd rather die than have you win this fight for me. Please."
A second later and the rain began to pour upon the Patriarch again. "So, you'll still stick to the codes when it suits, hm? Know that I don't want to do this, Dante. I just have to."
Leaving only a blur behind, the Patriarch moved in on Dante who was only recuperating, he smacked his jaw and flung his leg to Dante's ribs sending him flying. He stood over Dante. Lurisa went to intervene again but Arthur held her arm, then he nodded to the left. Quiver sprinted in. She unsheathed a dagger than had a holographic image on it, she sliced the air just cutting off a hair off the sasquatch. Before he could even react, she flipped over him and slashed his back. She held herself steady holding the dagger backhanded across her body.
"Quiver. Leave," Dante asked.
"This isn't just about you, Dant. This is about us," a nostalgic smile appeared as she remembered their newly found memories. Above Quiver, a cloud of images appeared physically. Her memories began to actually show to everyone. The memories were of Dante falling, him giving her the poem, hugging, literally everything that had happened in the past day.
"What even is this?" Arthur asked.
Lurisa was in genuine disbelief. Years of serving as a mages' apprentice, reading hundreds of books and listening to thousands of stories, she had never heard of anything like this happening. In the cloud, it was their first meeting, then Dante turning to a sasquatch and so on. It went on far longer than it should have been. Who thought it was an important memory to watch Dante staring at a tree for over a minute. Even the Patriarch didn't move. He didn't know if it was distasteful to continue the fight while this was happening.
Quiver helped Dante up with all her might, "Let's do this. Together."
Arthur rolled his eyes so hard, he didn't know if they'd return from the back of his head.
Dante threw a punch, then an uppercut. Quiver slashed from behind. The Patriarch had dodged all of it. As Quiver flicked her blade, the Patriarch caught in mid swing. He held it, his skin wasn't even cut from holding the blade. Pity crossed his face and he struck Quiver against her lean shoulder. She smacked against the hard cobblestone. If she had been hit in the skull, it would have killed her. It seemed the Patriarch didn't wish for her death. Dante roared violently, sending a flurry of blows at a speed he never knew was possible. He was parrying most of them away but Dante finally got one to break the barrier. He rocked the Patriarch with a box to the chin and rattled his jaw, then his neck. Dante threw his whole arm, hitting the Patriarch with the inside of his elbow and tossing him to the ground. Clasping his two hands together, he formed a giant fist and began to wail on him. Hearing the bones crush and blood spill was satisfying the rage. A small hand intervened between his fists and the Patriarch, "Dante," she held his face of surprise, "this isn't you."
"How would she even know! You've known him for one day! He could be a damn psychopath," Arthur's sanity was beginning to crack.
Dante stopped. His hands bloodied, his senses returned. He stood away from the Patriarch. Quiver hugged his torso and then he shortened back to his regular tall handsome self. "I don't know what happened."
The Patriarch began to rise. Dante prepped his fists to which the Patriarch dismissed, "Don't bother. Seeing her protect you, reminded me of my wife, bless her soul. Love. It's a damn powerful and addictive drug. The best and worst of them."
"If he's about to say it's all okay now, I'll lose it," Lurisa said to Arthur.
"I can't take you back Dante. So, today I killed you. You hear me," he smirked slightly. "It's all okay now. Be happy, together." He wiped his mustache and leapt away.
As he jumped tremendously, he might as well have flew, Arthur ran after his trajectory screaming, "Seriously? You're just going to let the two of them live happily ever after? Really? It's like they have plot armour!"
Dante and Quiver held each other, she wept, "I was afraid I'd lose you."
"I can never lose if I have you," he kissed her forehead.
Bill arrived, not seeing any of the action. Dante ran to him and Quiver followed. "Bill!" He gave him a manly hug. "Thanks for all your help."
"Oh, by the splinter of origin, he's forgetting I exist because I'm beside you now," Lurisa said to Arthur. "I could have ended the fight instantly."
"Bill. Me and Quiver want a quiet life. And I'm afraid your journey will hold more danger than I want." Gruffly he tugged at his own chest, like pulling a string to start up his heart, "I–I can't let my wife be in danger."
"WIFE? You weren't even boyfriend and girlfriend!" Arthur shouted to the divine above.
"When did you get married?" Bill asked, flabbergasted that one of his best friends didn't tell him beforehand.
"Just after the fight, I asked her to marry me. So, physically we're not married. But spiritually." He gripped Quiver's hand and his lips curved to one side.
Bill genuinely smiled for their love, "What now then?"
"I don't know what's ahead of us. But whatever it is. We'll face it together," he winked at Quiver.
"Together," she whispered as she held his hand to her heart.
The two held hands and before turning Quiver chuckled, "Thanks for everything Bill. This wouldn't have been possible without you." And then they danced away in the rain together.
Tears streamed down Bill's cheeks, "I'll miss them."
"What just happened!" Arthur and Lurisa shouted together but it felt as if the world was deaf to them just for today.