He ran.

Despite the fact that he was close to losing consciousness, he ran.

Despite the painful stinging of his back, and the burning pain in his legs, he ran.

Despite the howling winds and blistering cold, he ran.

Even if he wanted to disobey his sister's final command, the 9-year-old boy knew that he was in no condition to help his sister punish those who destroyed his family and that his absence would allow his sister the chance to successfully fight off their pursuers before they could be reunited again.

But while fear and a healthy dose of self-loathing fuelled his efforts to keep moving, it was overshadowed by an all-consuming emotion that the black-haired boy had never before experienced until this evening.

Hatred.

Hatred for those responsible for setting his village on fire.

Hatred for those who struck his father down as he attempted to defend his family from those who cared nothing for the lives of the screaming inhabitants of his burning village.

Hatred for the monsters who killed his brother as he stood valiantly over the mutilated body of their father.

And perhaps the most important of all, hatred for the winged creature that had plunged a sword of white fire directly into the swollen stomach of his pregnant mother as she told her remaining children to flee.

It was only him and his elder sister, who at the age of 15 bore a strong resemblance to their now deceased mother, who managed to escape the all-consuming fires of their home's funeral pyre. And for a brief moment, it looked like they would be able to escape the misfortune of their fallen family and survive the nightmarish events of the winter night.

But unfortunately, that was not to be as the destroyers of their home had been tasked with the purpose of eliminating all members of their village, which meant that the pair of fleeing siblings were soon overtaken by the relentless pursuers.

Knowing that both of them would perish if they attempted to fight their way to freedom, and aware that her little brother was in no condition to fight even if he possessed the same level of training she had, the black haired girl did the only thing she could think of that would allow them the chance to avenge their fallen friends and family.

Using her more develop gifts to temporarily stall her cross wearing pursuers, the determined girl turned to her wide-eyed younger brother with a look of determination.

"Promise me, little brother. Promise that you'll run as fast as you can, and never look back".

Giving a reluctant nod to his sister, for as good as she was he doubted that in her exhausted condition she could stand against 10 opponents by herself, he felt himself being engulfed in a brief, but fierce hug, and before he knew it, he was flying through the air well away from the developing battle.

As he fled through the darkened snow-covered forest, the cold threatening to envelop him in a blanket of eternal darkness, Dante Inumbro swore he would one day avenge the fate of his family, by killing the ones who had not only performed the task of slaughtering his loved ones, but also the ones responsible for ordering this winter massacre.

...

Authors Note: Title means Forsaken Son in Latin.

Apologies for rewriting this story, but was looking over it the other day, and decided that it could improve upon not only with its grammar, but also its story elements and the general personality of the player.

Stating right now that I'm borrowing a lot of supernatural material that I use from other sources (i.e. Supernatural and maybe Lucifer :P) while the powers...I admit I had the idea for the longest time, and didn't realize there was already a sacred gear that does more or less the same thing of what I envisioned.

Not going to go with the cliché story genre of having the OC overpowered to the point where he can effortlessly take out a Maou or a 12 winged Angel with Ease. Instead, while he is powerful in his own right, and increases in strength after being turned into a Devil, he will only be able to increase his power the old fashioned way...heavy training.

Of course, this doesn't make him less of a threat to various opponents because raw power can be countered with cunning and improvisation, which can be just as brutal as blasting everything in sight with demonic energy.

While I haven't quite decided on the structures of the harems/single pairings, since some of them may be killed off, or simply express a temporary interest before they decide not to pursue a relationship with someone else, here is the basic idea of the direction I'm thinking.

Issei: Asia, Koneko, Ravel, Xenovia, Irina.
OC: Akeno, Kuroka, Serafall,

Anyways...Reviews are appreciated since not only does it allow me to see that my story is being well received, but helps me to improve it as it goes along.