7 The Place Where Devils Cry

Beatrice tried to recall the only time she met him. She had wondered countless times if he was real.

Since she found the person from the clues left behind by him, Beatrice was sure that the dream was real; Ursus

It was hazy at first but the memories came to her as if the mist surrounding her mind suddenly lifted on its own and revealed the secrets hidden underneath for the first time.

...

She was in the middle of her hysterical performance when Ursus placed his glowing hand on her head. In that instant she even forgot the threat of death looming above her.

"I am sorry, I don't have much time. It isn't easy interfering with the mortal world from the divine realm which is why I used this method to forcefully calm you down." Ursus said while looking at her with a gaze full of pity.

There was not an ounce of condescension in his attitude given the difference between their respective standings that is Beatrice being only human while he was a divine being free from the chains of the mortal plane. His unwavering smile warmed her troubled heart and made her feel so comfortable that even her nightmares did not seem so terrifying anymore.

Beatrice forced herself to calm down and under his influence she assumed her graceful bearing once again or at least she tried to do so. She reined in her loud and heavy breath and coughed slightly before speaking in a small voice that felt timid despite her attempt to appear dauntless in the face of the unknown.

"I am fine now."

"Then we can start our discussion." Ursus nodded in approval as if appreciating how easily she had come to terms with her situation.

"You must be itching to ask some questions. You can ask those first so we can continue with the main discussion." continued Ursus as he remained unmoving. He could have been mistaken for an angel statues that littered the streets in some cities had his lips not continued to move when he talked.

"Who are you? How can you be here?...in my dream...I mean. It is a dream...right?" Beatrice asked as various different possibilities rose up in her mind.

She could be hallucinating because her nightmares had always been full of torture and death. But this was completely different; far too different from what she was used to. Maybe it was some new kind of demon who wanted to break her by giving her hope of escape. Yet she couldn't bring herself to believe that the demons were capable of such trickery.

From what she had seen, they were a savage bunch who reveled in pleasure sought from the atrocities they committed towards the weak. But the person in front of her looked far too sincere to be a demon.

Thankfully, the person didn't give her too much time to ponder on her line of thoughts.

"We have been called many things in the past by humans of different eras; gods, deities, aliens, monsters...some foolish humans referred to us as the Bird race as well….Heh. Well in this era of faith we are called Angels. That's the answer to your first question."

Beatrice scoffed at his words. She was a cynical woman; always had been. Believing the stranger just because he said so; she wasn't that naive but just when she tried to retort with some insults the man released a burst of light with him at the epicenter of the explosion of light.

Her words got caught in her mouth as she barely stopped herself from eating through her tongue. The flash of light disappeared but not entirely. Some of it stayed...and took the shape of wings behind the man's back.

He looked just like the angels she had read about; only more noble and more awe-inspiring than her imaginations. Her hands rose and covered her mouth in shock.

"It' true...ANGELS ARE REAL..." Beatrice looked like she had lost her reason as she muttered inaudibly; her feelings completely evident on her beautiful face.

With heightened excitement and anticipation, Beatrice waited for his next reveal. She would feel extremely depressed if the answer to her second question turned out to be in the negative.

Contrary to her fear, the second one wasn't a dud at all; and the surprise it brought was an even bigger bomb than the first one.

It made her tremble all over like she had been put in a shaker...just not in excitement...and especially not in the way she had expected.

"As for your second question, this feels real...because it is. I have frozen your dreamscape to let you know about the threat looming over your head. If nothing changes, then just after that child's birth both of you will die a terrible death at the hands of your enemy. As for whom your enemy is, I will tell you after I receive the answer to a question that I have wanted to ask you since the moment I first felt your existence." Ursus pointed towards her bulging belly as he delivered the bombshell that broke through the last of her willpower.

"All right, that's enough for a conversation starter...I think." Ursus understood her shock and gave her some time to process what he had said to her. But her condition seemed to be reverting back to her earlier hysteria so he tried to keep her talking.

"I want you to know that you can trust me completely and I expect you to answer my question as truthfully as I have answered yours." Ursus' tone became somber as soon as he said this.

"O…..OK", said Beatrice who was barely keeping her mind together.

"Is that child from Demonic General Sparda's bloodline?"

Beatrice who had been staring at the ground in shock until that moment...came back to her senses and looked at him with weariness and distrust. Her eyes were manic but there was clarity in them as if the adrenaline rush from her survival instinct had suppressed her depression and mania for a while.

She raised her guard immediately knowing that Angels and Demons were supposedly each other's nemesis. With careful but cautious movements, she retreated a few steps away from Ursus...as if such an effort could save her from an Angel; a being who was more than capable of breaking into her dreams.

"Looking at you acting like this, it must be true." A sigh escaped Ursus' mouth.

"Don't worry the threat to you is definitely not from me or my kind. Sparda may have been a demon but we have long since thought of him as a righteous person. If anything, we are highly indebted to him for shielding this world from his own kind and their destructive tendencies. In fact, that is the very reason why I tried to contact you from the Divine realm even though it is not easy at all...even for me."

For some reason Beatrice put down her guard against him.

Maybe it was because of Ursus' words or due to the strange kinship she felt when she found out that Ursus was as respectful towards Sparda as she was. She could feel his appreciation for Sparda from the way he spoke about him.

Ursus continued with his explanation once he saw that Beatrice had calmed down enough and was willing to listen to him again.

"The child you are giving birth to has inherited Sparda's bloodline and the powers and the abilities hidden in his bloodline have manifested inside you. You have been unconsciously tapping into the endless geyser of his demonic power. Being human, you are unable to control it and the demonic power slips past your body once you are unconscious or asleep which leads to the creation of a channel to the world beyond the mortal plane. Hence the reason why I was able to sense you; and I am sure your enemies did as well.

As for the prophecy, it is the way Sparda's bloodline is trying to save its descendant. It has tried to warn you...countless times...by showing you the end. But you mistook the future it showed you for nightmares."

...

Beatrice could still clearly recall her condition when she found out the truth from Ursus. The tremors in her voice, the huge sticky globule of fear stuck in her throat, the helplessness that made her body tremble and dashed her hopes for the future, and the inevitable fate that caused madness to shroud her soul; she remembered it all so clearly that she was willing to do anything to never experience something like that ever again.

It was possible that she might have descended into madness becoming a demon herself had Ursus not presented her with a solution to her predicament.

...

"Since I was able to find you, the demons will come knocking soon. You need to prepare...and prepare like your life depends on it...because the enemy you are about to face is the Underworld King Mundus; the one foe even Sparda had difficulty defeating."

While Beatrice was trembling with fright, she was at least able to understand her predicament. The King himself was coming after herself and her son. She was mortified to find that while she had accepted her current situation, she still had no solution to prevent that horrific ending.

Looking at her shivering absent mindedly, Ursus consoled her as he said, "Don't be afraid. Since I have appeared before you, I definitely have a way to help you escape the foredained calamity."

Hope began to glimmer in Beatrice's terrified eyes.

"There is a certain rumor in the Divine realm that I have confirmed after my arrival here. Apparently, Sparda had twin sons, one of whom you have met already. He is called Vergil and is the older of the two. The younger one has just thrown him off into the abyss of hell to die in an attempt to stop him from opening the gates of the underworld. He is the righteous one among the two. Go find him and ask him to protect you until after you give birth. Only he might be able to help you."

Ursus paused as if he was having difficulty speaking to her as if there was some barrier that was preventing him from interfering with the dream world.

"My time here is limited. You are about to wake up. Remember to find Dante at the place where devils cry."

Saying this Ursus vanished in a flash of light. Beatrice tried to shield her eyes from the glare by putting her hand in front of her eyes but the light escaped past her outstretched hands and stung her vision.

...

When her vision had returned she had found herself in the familiar darkness of her room and THAT was the last of what she could still recall.