I am not the shield hero

Dante woke with the morning sun pouring into the room. He'd almost forgotten what it was like to sleep throughout the night. He didn't exactly have pleasant dreams, but no unpleasant dreams either. Dante expected to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, or be woken by Raphtalia's. Neither was the case.

He wasn't even sure what the cause of his good sleep was. Was it helping Raphtalia and Rifana, the good deed easing his mind? Was it the aftereffect of the shock of losing his arm?

Or was it the horror of seeing that demi-human child's skinned corpse? Was that enough to push his mind full circle?

Whatever the case, he had a lot of issues he should probably work out in his head.

Speaking of, he recalled the shield he got when he absorbed the child's body. It was another unpleasant thought, but one he couldn't ignore.

Savage Shield

(abilities locked) equip bonus: minor HP regeneration

equip effect: cannibalize

Dante had suspected what was happening in that dungeon, and now he was sure.

Forcing them to eat each other, then killing them? How could anyone become that deranged?

He'd seen some pretty messed up things in his time, but that was likely the worst. That shield wasn't something he particularly wanted to unlock, but the equip bonus was too good to ignore. Unfortunately, like his cigarettes from before, things used to reveal shields couldn't be retrieved. It seemed the entire body was required to reveal the Savage Shield, so…

I'm sorry I can't bury you now. I hope avenging your death with Idol's is enough.

As he went to get up, he found he was held down by something. Two somethings. Two small children, clinging to either side of him, sleeping. One had blonde hair while the other had blue.

They were also completely naked.

Well, this isn't ideal, but it's not unexpected either. That thought alone is also far from ideal.

He first shook Dio, who was attached to his right side, then shook JoJo on his left.

"Hey, you two. Time to wake up."

Dio awaked from her sleep, sitting up to rub her eyes. JoJo did the same, stretching out with a yawn. Dante was able to lean up on his arm.

"Mmm, morning, Master." Dio said, lazily opening her eyes.

"Morning." JoJo scratched the back of his head.

"Good morning." Dante gave his back a small twist, letting out a pop. Despite sleeping on the floor, he didn't feel sore at all. His defense probably helped with that.

He gave a good look at his transformed filolials. Dio's hair was fairly long, reaching halfway down her back. It seemed more wavy than spiky, though there were a few shorter parts near the top that seemed to spike out more. JoJo's seemed to stick out a bit in the front, tapering down. It was also somewhat long in the back, stopping just above his shoulders. If he had to describe it, it would take parts from both Jonathan and a younger Joseph Joestar.

If nothing else, their names somewhat matched their physical descriptions. Though, Dio seemed to have a somewhat more innocent expression than he was expecting, and JoJo less so.

"How did you two sleep last…" Before Dante could finish, both filolial children turned to face him fully. Their eyes began to tear up.

Wait. They're crying. Why are they—

"Master!" The both yelled, jumping at Dante and knocking him back to the ground. They clung to him as they cried into his shirt.

This is even further from ideal.

"What's—"

"I'm sorry, Master!" Dio cried out. "I'm sorry I didn't listen! You got hurt because of me! I'll never disobey you again!"

"Sorry, Master!" JoJo followed suit. "I should have been there! I could have helped! I'll never leave your side again!"

Dante lay there as they continued apologizing and crying on top of him. He was really touched they cared as much as they did, but he needed to set them straight. And he definitely needed them to not cling to him while naked.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." He said, giving Dio a pat on the back before moving on to JoJo. "This isn't either of your fault."

"But, Master…" The cried.

"Hush now." Dante wrapped his arm around both of them, his hand settling midway on JoJo's back. "I made the decision of who went where. I'm the one who decided we should go there. The fault is mine and mine alone."

They continued to look at him with pleading eyes, clearly not convinced.

"Alright, let me up a little." Dante removed his arm and pushed himself up. He turned to JoJo first, resting a hand on his shoulder. "JoJo, your job was to help Keel and lure out the guards. If not for that, we wouldn't have been able to move around in there at all. You did good."

He still had tears in his eyes, but he nodded all the same.

"Dio." He turned to the girl, cupping her face. "Our group had a more difficult task. Facing Idol was a risk, one that I didn't prepare us for properly. Despite that, we made it out alive. That's what's most important."

Dio grabbed hold of his hand. "But, you were hurt really bad."

Dante nodded. "I was. It hurt a lot. But still, I'd rather it be me than…" His eyes widened. They trailed down her face and to her chest. A large, diagonal scar went from her left collarbone all the way down to the right side of her abdomen. "Dio, your chest…"

Dio looked down at herself. "It's okay. It doesn't hurt." Dante placed a hand on the scar, earning a wince from the girl. "Much…" She muttered.

Dante wrapped her in a one-armed hug. "I'm so sorry."

"But, Master. You lost your arm!" Dio yelled, returning the hug.

"I did what I had to so we'd all survive. That's all." Dante continued to hold her until she stopped crying.

"Oh my~. Am I interrupting?" Sadeena called from the doorway, changed into her demi-human form. Dante didn't even hear it open.

The filolials turned to look up at her. Dante let go of Dio. "Just talking about yesterday. I think we're good now, yeah?" He asked the pair.

Tears still fresh in their eyes, they each gave him a short nod.

"Good." Dante made to stand, but Sadeena was already next to him, pulling him up. "Thanks. I'll need to get used to this." He said, giving his missing limb a glance.

"Of course~." Sadeena gave him a meaningful look. "Is now a good time?"

Dante looked her in the eye. He did say they would speak about what happened next in the morning, and here it was. "Yeah." He gave Dio a quick pat on the head. "You two go say hello to the kids, and introduce yourselves properly. I'm sure they'll be surprised to see you." He said, gesturing to the door.

Before they could take a single step, Sadeena held out her hand. "Dante, aren't you forgetting something?"

He cocked his head to the side. "What do you…oh, crap, right." He dropped a pair of shirts from his shield. Like the others, they had no blood on them, though there was only one more like that. The rest had quite a bit, but at least they wouldn't smell. He transferred them from the corpses they were on and into the item drops, like they probably should have been all along. Though, perhaps that was the shield being considerate. Now, whenever he opened his monster drops, he had to look at their mostly naked bodies. At least he left their undergarments on them.

"Put those on and don't transform with them." He said to the two kids. "We can get you some transforming clothes later."

"Okay!" They both said in unison. The tunics reached down just below their knees. They quickly ran out of the room.

Dante laughed at their display. Glad they changed their moods so quick. Kids.

"So, how are they?" Dante asked.

"They're managing." Sadeena sat down on the unused bed. "I used the remover to get rid of their deactivated slave seals. It helped a little. Lord Reichnott's doctor looked them over and found no permanent injuries. A few good nights' rests and a few good meals from you and they should be good physically. Emotionally…they'll need a little time. How about you?"

Dante rubbed the missing limb. "I think my cooking career will suffer greatly."

Sadeena gave him a smile. "You seem to be in good spirits~."

"I suppose so." He was partially deflecting from the thought of missing an arm, but it wasn't necessarily permanent. There were alchemists in this world, so there was hope.

"What happens now?" Sadeena patted a space on the bed.

Dante joined her on her left. "That's entirely up to you."

"Hmm? What do you mean~?"

"I assume you'll want to take Raphtalia, Rifana, and Keel, right? I can get by with Dio and JoJo. We can split the coins from Idol's."

"Oh? But I thought, for finding Raphtalia, we would all travel together? Are you going back on your word~?" Sadeena asked playfully.

It was apparent to Dante that she didn't know what was going on in that dungeon. He changed to the shield he got last night. "This is called the 'Savage Shield'. I got it from absorbing a skinned demi-human corpse from that dungeon. The special effect it has is called 'cannibalize'. I'm not always sure why certain things unlock shields, or why they have the powers they do, but I think it's pretty obvious what Idol was doing down there, and what those girls witnessed."

Sadeena winced at his words and he continued. "First, they lost their homes and families to the waves. Then, they lost what was left because of the knights and slavers. They were tortured and forced to witness such a thing and, if Raphtalia's words were any indication, Rifana was going to be next."

"All the more reason to travel with you and make them stronger." Sadeena looked him in the eye. "I believe you said you'd make it so no one could take them away again."

"That's…I…" Dante was flabbergasted. "Sadeena! We're going to be fighting monsters! We're going to be fighting the waves! Hell, we'll probably end up fighting people, too!" He seemed to be trying his best to shoot himself in the foot.

Sadeena shook her head. "But, if I take the kids and run away, will that help them? Will that heal them? You once mentioned that Raphtalia became strong by working with that man, Naofumi, right?"

"I'm not Naofumi." He said, bitterly. "He was a good man who was tainted by this world. I was tainted long before coming here. I'm not a good man, despite what you may think."

"And yet, you bought Keel, you gave me hope, and you risked your life to save Raphtalia and Rifana." He laid her hand on his back. "You think that doesn't make you a good man?"

"How do you know I didn't do that for selfish reasons? Do you know what I stand to gain from defeating the waves?" Dante couldn't help but keep shooting himself in one of his remaining limbs. "I get a wish granted. I can bring Mary back…" And he said more than he meant to.

"Oh~. You can bring the woman you love back to life?" Sadeena gave him a smile. It didn't have any malice in it; it was sincere.

"What, no!" Dante waved his hand in front of his face. "No, no, it wasn't like that. I…" He already went this far, he might as well explain it better. "No, I did love her, but not romantically. She was my whole world. And…I'd give almost anything to see her again."

"So, you'll return to your world once the waves are done?" She asked.

Dante shook his head. "I said I didn't regret being who I was in my world, and I meant it. My wish is to bring back all that I lost, make sure their lives will be peaceful, and then never be in their lives again. This world here? This is where I belong."

Naofumi may have only looked for the worst in people during most of his time in this world, but that filth was still very present. This was certainly the world he deserved to live in.

"They died because the people who wanted me dead went through them. Those people may be gone, but others will come into existence if I go back."

"Because of what you do." Sadeena stated. "You said you always had a choice, right? Why not choose to be different?"

Dante let his hand fall into his lap. "I did try that. I tried to go straight. It worked, for a little while." He looked Sadeena in the eye. "But what I did before…I was good at it. It gave me purpose. Made me feel like I was living. But, I see now that they'll never be safe if I continue like that. If I go back, I know I'd go back to doing what I was before, and they'd be in danger again. But here? With this shield? I have no choice but to change who I am." He gave a sarcastic smirk. "Can't exactly go around threatening and drowning people with one arm, now can I?"

"I think you'll find a way~." She gave him a playful push. "In any case, I still think it's best if we all travel and fight together."

"But why?" Dante pressed on, his feet already riddled with holes and moving up his legs. "Why do you think being around me is a good idea?"

"Because you're the Shield Hero, and the Shield Hero protects." She said simply.

"But—"

"Dante." She pulled him close to her, her arm resting on his opposite shoulder. "I want to ask you a few questions."

"Okay…?"

"When you learned Raphtalia and Rifana were stuck in that man's dungeon, was the smart thing to do go and rescue them, even though you knew he was strong?"

"Well…no, but I considered leaving them there. That can't possibly—"

"And yet, you decided to save them. When the difference in power between Idol and us was so obvious, instead of trying to run, you risked your life for a chance to kill him. Was that evil?"

"I…" Dante had to pause for a moment. "Even if I got away, I would end up hunted down."

"I think you could have made it. You still had JoJo, and you could have just forced Keel to work for you. But, I don't think you would have done that to him. Now here you sit, missing an arm." Dante turned away, but Sadeena pulled his head to face her. "What could telling me your so-called selfish wish possibly gain you?"

Dante said nothing, letting his silence answer for him.

"You told me these things because you felt guilt. You saved the girls because you wanted to do good. I may not know as much about the cardinal weapons as you, but it seems to me that the Shield chose the right man to be a hero."

Dante wanted to protest. He wanted to tell her she was wrong. That he was a vile man who killed people for a living. She must have known that's what he thought of himself, but she seemed to completely disagree.

"Just because you have selfish thoughts, it doesn't make you a bad person. From what I've seen of your actions, you have plenty in you to do good. You've more than earned my trust. That's why I want to keep working with you."

Dante couldn't help it. A few tears fell down his face. "Damn teen hormones." He muttered.

Sadeena wiped the tears from his face with a smile. "I don't think that's what it is~." He knew she was right, but neither one needed him to say it aloud.

He didn't realize how much he wanted to hear those words before. For someone else to know what kind of person he was, and still think he had goodness. Deep inside, he knew he could do good, but it wasn't always apparent. He could be kind and funny, especially so with his family, but everyone else was always a potential mark. Or a potential danger. Someone that he could kill.

"Alright." He said, sounding more confident. "I guess we'll continue working together."

"I'm glad to hear that~." She said back to him. "Though, if we're going to do that, I feel like I should be honest with you, too."

"What do you mean?" When had she been dishonest with him? Despite her playful attitude, she seemed to give him any information he needed. Sure, she looked into Beloukas, but that wasn't something unexpected.

"Well…I had planned on manipulating you from the start~." She said, her tone just as playful as always.

"How's that?" Dante was thoroughly confused now.

"When I met you, and you told me some of the things you knew, I thought I could use you to get back Raphtalia and the kids and then leave you. Maybe have you strengthen us for a while, maybe convince you to use your influence with demi-humans to set up a new home for us in Shieldfreeden. And, well…"

Sadeena grabbed his arm and pulled it into her. She nestled it between her breasts, with his hand just above her loincloth. A fierce blush formed on Dante's face.

"Maybe I'd…convince you to keep us safe forever~."

"What are…" Dante started, but then he realized what was going on.

The signal!

Sadeena nodded, reading his thoughts. "Outside the mansion, close to the forest. I sensed two, but there's likely much more. I think they're taking measure of us before they observe more closely. I assume you know who it is that's out there. This may be the last time we can talk freely about many things."

"Right." Dante agreed. They were most likely Q'ten Lo shadows. "We should—" Sadeena trailed her fingers up and down his captured arm, making him stutter.

Sadeena laughed as she continued her stroking. "That was the reason I chose this as the signal. Though you are a hero, you're still a young man, if in body and not in mind. If nothing else, I could always use my body to convince you to help us how I thought best. I admit, when you told me how you were going to be framed, I did feel some guilt. But, when I saw what happened in my village, I vowed to do anything to protect what I had left." She looked him in the eye, placing her right hand on his cheek. "You've said and done more than enough to earn my trust. I'm telling you this in the hope you'll know you weren't wrong to place your trust in me."

The blush had spread across his ears by this point. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. And his arousal. "You know, I just assumed this was your normal personality. Maybe not quite this far, but most of it was about what I expected."

Sadeena smiled at him. "That was the plan. You knew about me, how I acted, so I played into it. I hope you aren't too upset by this~."

Dante shook his head. "The opposite, I'm really impressed. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were serious right now." Sadeena pulled his head closer to hers, her other hand letting go of his arm to cup his face. "Sadeena…?"

"Who said I was still acting~?" She brought his lips to hers. Dante's eyes widened before he closed them. Sadeena ran her fingers through his hair as she kissed him. Dante's mind raced as he gripped the bedsheet with his hand.

When she pulled back, Dante took in a sharp breath. He opened his eyes to see her face, a light, almost invisible dusting of pink on her cheeks. "I thought…you wanted a man who could outdrink you?"

"Oh~." Sadeena held a hand to her cheek. "Is that what you thought~? Maybe you remembered wrong from your books~?"

Dante laughed as he shook his head. "Yeah, I don't think so."

Sadeena placed a hand on his thigh, eliciting a slight moan from him. "Well, your shield gives you a lot of different abilities. Maybe one of those will let you drink more~?" She asked, letting her hand slide down his leg.

Dante's breath hitched. "I-I suppose enough poison resistance will d-do that…"

"Then there's no problem~." She slid closer to him on the bed, their hips touching. "I hope I didn't make you too uncomfortable. I felt I had a good read on your physical reactions, but not really your emotional ones."

"No, I'm fine." He said, his blush barely receding after all of that. "I just…never thought this type of love was for me."

"Oh my~" She playfully held both hands to her face as she turned away. "Does this mean I'll be your first~?"

"Ah, well, not my first time, but my first romantic love." He did have urges, after all. In that long ago life, he always had money to spend on that sort of thing. Even after the more active part of his career, he could still take care of it himself. After all, love had its own danger. "In my line of work, I never really tried pursuing love. It can make you stupid."

"True, but it can also make life worth living."

Yeah, that was the thing, wasn't it? Eddy would have agreed with her. That's why he got out of the game, but Dante didn't. At least, not fully.

Eddy was always much smarter than me. I listened to him about a lot of things, but never this. No, that's not right. I did listen, I just thought my way of doing it worked for me.

But, right now, he needed to not be stupid.

"We can put a pin in this for now." He shook his emotional thoughts out. "The most pressing thing at the moment are the Q'ten Lo shadows."

"Of course." She agreed, ceasing her antics, though still remaining close. "How much do you know about that country?"

"I know the most important bits. The Heavenly Emperor is in control. Their warriors are skilled and powerful, they have weapons that are effective against heroes, and they have something to block hero powers entirely. The shadows observing Raphtalia are making sure she doesn't pose a threat to the emperor. So, the most important thing we can do is not look threatening to them. Similar to the plans with the church."

Sadeena nodded along with his explanation. "I didn't know about the weapons, but the rest is right." That old womanizer must have gone back there after Sadeena had left. "And do you know how to do that?" She prompted.

Dante gave her a smirk. "Don't have her wear the clothing of the emperor, and don't have a child with her. I think I can manage that."

"Good." Sadeena gave him a smile. "Also, you will put a slave seal on her, as well and Rifana and myself." That got Dante to pause. "Also, I expect you to use that level lowering power you mentioned."

"Not that I don't agree with you, because I completely do, but are you sure you're okay with—"

"Dante." She held her hand to his face again. "I told you, I trust you."

"Right. Sorry." Having this sort of trust from someone outside his family, and for it to be completely genuine, was a bit strange for him. That thought, however, prompted him to look at his status. He pulled up his stats, and…"Wow."

"What?" She asked.

"I'm seeing the increase from my trust method."

Humming, she fixed her vision on a point in the room. "Oh my~."

"Yeah." While he wouldn't call the increase 'significant', it looked like a small percent increase for all his stats, probably XP gains too. That meant, the more powerful he became, the more this method would boost him.

Her reaction was also a bit of an eye-opener for him. Despite his efforts, if she was only now seeing the increase, then he didn't fully trust her before. Well, he did hide away a gold coin when he gave her the rest of his stuff. Still, that was before. Now, they both knew where they stood with each other.

A gentle cough from the doorway grabbed their attention. "Am I interrupting something?" Fiadia stood there, her eyes slightly averted.

"No, of course not." Dante said. "We were just having a chat. Come in."

Fiadia stayed where she was. She seemed to be purposefully looking away from them.

"What is it?" Dante asked.

"Ah, Dante." Sadeena grabbed his attention. When he looked at her, she had a light blush and gestured behind herself. Dante looked over and down, seeing his hand firmly planted on her soft, wide—

He instantly threw his hand into the air. God damn teen hormones! How long was that there?!

Fiadia cleared her throat. "I wanted to inform you that breakfast was ready, if you wished to join us."

"Y-Yes, that would be great. I mean, we would like to join you." Dante's words fumbled out of his mouth. He stood from the bed and swept is arm before Sadeena. "Shall we?"

"Of course~." She said, standing and taking his arm in hers. Fiadia led them out of the room and down the hall. Dante kept a light blush on his face the whole time.

This was so much easier when I thought she was just being flirty.

"I'm glad to see you are well, Sir Shield Hero." Fiadia said over her shoulder. "When I saw your injury…"

"Ah, yeah." He gave a light shrug. "It'll be a pain going forward, but I'm sure there's at least one alchemist who can grow an arm." He was pretty sure Rat was capable of doing something like that. She was more interested in modifying monsters, but he was confident she knew something about homunculi, even if it wasn't her specialty.

"It's good to see your spirits raised." She nodded at his words.

It may take a while, but he'd be fine with one arm for now.

A funny thought popped into his head. He gave Sadeena a subtle wink before speaking. "I'm sure you're feeling a bit silly right now, though."

"I'm sorry?" Fiadia looked back at him.

"For not taking that hug when you had the chance." Dante said matter-of-factly. "With only one arm, I can't give a proper one now."

Fiadia nearly tripped over herself at his words. "S-Sir Shield Hero! You shouldn't say such things, especially when you are with another woman!"

"She's right, Dante." He looked over at Sadeena. The woman had a knowing grin on her face. "I'm sure you can make her feel appreciated with one arm just fine."

This time, Fiadia did trip, landing face first on the ground.

Dante stopped in his tracks, halting Sadeena with him. "Are you—"

"I'm fine!" She hastily pushed herself off the ground with her good arm and stood again.

"Sorry, sorry." Dante said soothingly. "I just wanted to tease you a little. Seeing your reaction yesterday, I thought I'd have a little fun.

"Really, now." Fiadia shook her head. "Teasing an old woman like me?"

Dante chuckled. "If it makes you feel better, it helped alleviate my mood from missing an arm."

She gave him a deadpan look, clearly not believing him. To be fair, he had apparently been fondling Sadeena's ass and hadn't even been aware of it, which she saw, so his mood was already pretty alleviated.

"As you say, Sir Shield Hero." She said, continuing to lead them down the hall.

Dante and Sadeena shared a laugh. God, it's like I'm back in high school with Eddy. I've missed the ribbing we'd give each other. Maybe that's why I acted like I did with Motoyasu. His personality is pretty similar to Eddy's from high school, minus the woman worship.

He continued his pace, but his face became more solemn.

…I really do miss him. I must, if I was looking at Motoyasu of all people as a surrogate.

They finally reached the dining area. The food was already spread out on the table. Reichnott sat at the head, his expression a tad exasperated. It was understandable, seeing as two small children were digging into the food with fervor.

JoJo and Dio sat on one side of the table, with the three demi-human kids sitting on the other. The kids looked at the filolials with a bit of concern, likely wondering where the food was actually going.

As they went in, Fiadia went to sit near Reichnott. Sadeena moved to the spot next to Raphtalia and Dante saw his spot next to Dio.

Before he could move around the table, Rifana had gotten up and run up to him.

"Mister Shield Hero!" She said, her hands shaking in front of her chest in excitement.

"Good morning, Rifana. You're looking better." Dante said. Both she and Raphtalia were wearing plain dresses, possibly bought from some of the denizens of Reichnott's lands. With better lighting, he could see her face had a couple scars on it, both across her left cheek. He hoped her other wounds would fade, but he wasn't confident. Didn't Naofumi once mention Raphtalia's scars? He couldn't quite remember what he said.

"Uh, Mister Shield Hero?" Her voice had lost some of its enthusiasm. She knitted her fingers together in front of her.

"Is something wrong?" Dante asked her.

She seemed to gain some resolve as she looked back up at him. "Will you marry me?"

"Oh my~"

Dante blankly smiled at the girl.

Ah. That's right. She wanted to marry the Shield Hero, didn't she? I feel like I should have remembered that, but I've had more pressing matters on my mind.

~The Wrong Hero~

After sidestepping her question, they enjoyed their breakfast in relative peace. Reichnott tried to ask a few things about the letters Dante had written. Fiadia must have told him a few things. He merely waved him off, but was able to give him a subtle message: 'not out loud'.

After breakfast, he had a small meeting with the lord. The only thing he told him was to watch out for the church, which he was already cautious of. And, as far as Reichnott and the demi-humans there were concerned, the Shield Hero and his party were never there. With that, Dante took out the letters and burned them in the fireplace, making sure they were completely burned to ash. They were a last resort type of thing anyway, and if some shadows got ahold of them, it could be really bad.

Once they were finished, Reichnott offered them a cloth-covered carriage to take with them. It was in decent condition, nothing noteworthy enough to arouse suspicion. Reichnott tried to refuse payment, but Dante was quite insistent. They settled on one of the lesser gems Dante took from Idol's holdings.

They loaded into the carriage, with Dante sitting at the front to steer, though it wasn't really needed. Dio and JoJo played a quick game to decide who would pull the carriage first, with JoJo being the winner. Dio pouted as she sat next to Dante.

Bidding Reichnott and Fiadia farewell, they set out for the capital. The next part of the plan was simple: raise their levels, don't piss off the Q'ten Lo shadows, and don't look too strong for the church shadows. Given his missing arm, the last part wouldn't be too difficult.

The thought of the church and his arm brought what Idol said to mind. He mentioned a god giving him a vision. Was that another action those behind the waves would take, was it the ravings of a madman, or, god forbid, was Medea a thing? Perhaps it was some fourth option. His knowledge had been getting less accurate as time went on. Who knew what the truth would be? Only time would tell.

Still, they had a long road ahead of them.

Author's Notes:

I'd like to think of this as the ending of the first arc. Don't worry, I don't plan on slowing down yet, but it felt like a decent transition. If I had to name this arc, maybe something like "Exploring the Wrong World". I don't know, the whole arc thing came to me a couple days ago, just roll with it, it don't even matter.

Dante's negative thoughts will be toned down going on. Like he said, he had issues to work out, and Sadeena helped out with that. Pretty greatly, all things considered, wink wink, nudge nudge.