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Childhood memories are always fuzzy and unclear. You haven’t been a child in over thirty years, so the memories of a life of ignorance have all but disappeared. The few things that you did remember had nothing to do with a loving family, and everything to do with how it all ended. It seemed like such a long time ago that you lived in Redgrave with your family. You were an only child, the product of a union between the half-demon Lucian, and a human woman named Leona. It was on your fourth birthday that your parents met the acquaintance of a woman named Eva, and her twin sons, Vergil and Dante. Eva and your parents decided that due to the lineage of devil blood running through you and the twins, that it would be best for all of you to meet. The twins were a year older than you, but somehow, you all became fast friends. More so with the elder twin, Vergil, because of your shared love for reading. There was a certain charm about Vergil that you were more comfortable with than the rowdy and rambunctious Dante. The two of you were close friends, as the best friend position was taken by Dante, until your parents had been forced to relocate to another town. Looking back now, the distance wasn’t much more than ten miles, but for a child, that was a staggering amount to travel. So the two of you kept a promise: that should either one of you find yourself alone, the other would be there for support. Letters were exchanged frequently once you moved away, though neither of you could convey much when you two had limited vocabulary. And then, when you were seven, the town you lived in was attacked by swarms of demons intent on hunting down Sparda’s followers. Your grandfather had been a confidant to Sparda a long time ago, and your family paid the price. Mundus sent his underlings after your family, and suddenly, you were forced to run. And run you did. As fast as your little feet could go, you ran from the collapsing house with nothing but the money your mother had given you, a small knife, the clothes on your back, and a letter with Vergil’s address on it. When you reached Redgrave out of pure luck that nobody had tried to harm you, you were met with chaos. It seemed that the attack on your family had been an omen foretelling the inevitable attack on Sparda’s Family. As a child, you were unnoticed by the demons scurrying around, easily slipping pass towards the few locations Vergil and his family could be found. Your first stop was to the Sparda family’s estate, sticking close to the shadows to avoid being seen by the demons. When you saw your friend’s home ablaze and on the verge of collapsing, you feared the worst, though you dared not venture inside with the demons surrounding the residence. Instead, your little feet carried you down the street towards the small creek cave that you and the twins found so many years ago. Once by the tree line into the forest, you got down on your hands and knees to crawl around the bushes, not wanting to draw any attention to yourself as you made way towards the hideout. You could hear the demons speaking amongst themselves as you crept past. “Did you hear? Sparda’s whore and spawn are dead.” “Are you sure?” “Of course I’m sure! A few went after the little vermin, and I got to kill the bitch.” “They got the other family, too.” “There’s no one left. We killed everyone important to that traitor.” “You think we can get away with some extra blood shed?” “Sure. Let me just call the others back.” A monstrous growl echoed through the forest, as you ducked behind a tree just in time for something to rush past towards the town. There was some muttering before the monstrous voices faded away. “This is my chance.” You whispered to yourself, hastily crawling the last dozen or so yards towards the creek, slipping and tumbling into the water with a loud splash. The water wasn’t deep, so you picked yourself back up and slowly stumbled forwards in the dark until you came to a small cave by the creek, mostly covered in shadow save to the sliver of moonlight that hit the entrance. You could hear a gasp and a clank of something metallic. Freezing in place, you stuttered out a hesitant, “Vergil?” There was a pause before hesitant blue eyes peered up at you through the darkness. “Y/N?” Relieved, you ran forward and feel to your knees, throwing your small arms around your best friend. “Vergil! You’re alive!” The older boy tensed in your arms before giving out a soft sniffle and hugged you back. He was clad in a pair of blue pajamas and barefoot, as if he’d been forced to run from his bed. “Y/N, you’re here. Why are you-?” “The demons came. Dad said that it was Mundus who sent them, and Mommy told me to run. I thought that your Mommy could help, but..” You trailed off with a broken sob and hugged your friend harder. “Your house was burning. I wanted to find you.” “Did you see Mom? Or Dante?” Vergil questioned mournfully, arms holding you tightly. You could only shake your head silently as you allowed yourself to cry. In your arms, Vergil shook violently as he tried to contain his sobs. You didn’t know it at the time, but Vergil had been scared that nobody would go looking for him. It would be many years later that he would confess his true feelings about that night.

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Much of the years after the age of seven were spent in isolation or on the run. Vergil wasn’t able to hide his demonic heritage as well as you or Dante could, so he always seemed to attract the presence of demons. Everywhere the two of you turned, you were forced to fight for your survival. While Vergil had the legendary Yamato, you had naught but the dagger that your father left you. Still, a weapon was a weapon, even if it was a human weapon. The necessity of fighting for not only your life, but for Vergil’s life, forced you to learn how to kill quickly, quietly, and brutally. There were instances of peace when supporters of Sparda took you in, but that peace never lasted long enough because the demons always came. —— Run. You bolted from the cover of darkness to follow Vergil through the forest, being careful not to trip on any tree roots as the two of you ran from the burning house behind you. For the past eight years, you and Vergil had been forced to move from location to location until you were both taken in by an old couple who claimed to have been some of Sparda’s supporters. Though you and Vergil had been distrusting of the old couple, you both had decided to stay because the house seemed to repel demons. The wards had been effective until Vergil turned sixteen, buying the two of you nearly two years of peace. But peace only lasted so long. You thought, sticking close to Vergil as you broke through the tree line. The demons had come the moment that Vergil turned sixteen and truly awakened his demonic powers. The scent of demon had been strong enough to leak past the wards that the old couple, who you had learned were actually worshippers of Sparda, had set up. And two humans were no match against the onslaught of demons. You didn’t watch where you were running and ended up tripping on the ledge of a sidewalk, sending you tumbling clumsily to the floor with a silent cry. Having made no noise when you’d fallen, you could only watch helplessly as Vergil continued on ahead of you without turning to look back. You could scream, as that would bring every demon to you. So, taking care not to make noise, you clambered to your feet with a wince. The pain shooting up your left leg told you that you’d sprained it, and you groaned at how inconvenient it was, hobbling to duck behind a structure to assess the damage. Remember, Y/N. If we get separated, you have to find a way to hide or fight back, okay? I’ll always find a way back to help you. You remembered Vergil’s advice and huddled in a dark corner, drawing out your dagger and holding it at the ready. It was difficult for two teens to be running around without parents or caretakers, but you and Vergil had one another, and that was better than nothing. In your childhood, you’d had a small child’s crush on Dante because of his overly cheerful and devil may care attitude, something that you had admired and thought cool. Now, you understood that being cheerful and daring wasn’t all that important in the grand scheme of things. It was a charming quality, sure. But you had to be able to keep your head when fighting for your life. And slowly, your crush on Dante had turned to focus on his twin. Vergil was sweet in his cool and awkward way. He didn’t really get social cues very well as he’d always had his head in a book, most usually the copy of William Blake’s work that he’d received when you were still children. Sometimes you were frustrated when he didn’t understand why you felt a certain way when he said something hurtful. You’re too heavy. Was one such hurtful phrase that he’d uttered upon watching you practice katas with a bokken. Vergil’s bluntness was endearing at times, but when he’d said that, you had been practicing for hours upon hours in order to impress him. What he had meant as “you’re thinking too hard” had sounded like “you’re fat” to your young ears. And naturally, you’d started to tear up, stomping away to your room so that he didn’t have to see you cry. Vergil didn’t get to see you cry, but he and the old couple sure as hell heard it. The elder son of Sparda wasn’t known for caring about whether he hurt someone’s feelings or not, but you were the exception. You were a friend who stuck stubbornly by his side through the hell that was being hunted by demons. You had never picked up a weapon before, never even deemed to harm a bug, but you had picked up a weapon in defense of him. To Vergil, you were all that was left of his collapsing world. He believed his brother dead, and that his mother abandoned him, but you… you’d stayed. It was because you were so special that Vergil could never stand the sight of you crying. And when he heard the sobs coming from your room that day, he’d felt his heart drop into his stomach and his chest tighten. The young teen had probably paled considerably at the thought of having been the cause of your tears, and he found that he hated it. He loathed it. Never again did he want you in tears because of him. When you’d calmed down enough to leave your room for dinner that night, you were so silent at the table that Vergil was beside himself with grief. You were normally smiles and chatter while around him, so to see you so silent was a shock that forced Vergil’s hand. After dinner had finished, Vergil had not given you a chance to escape back into your room, gripping your hand to gently tug you into his room where he’d brought you into his arms and apologized over and over again. He didn’t know what he was apologizing for. He didn’t know what he did wrong. But he knew that he was sorry for causing you to cry. That night, you fell asleep by Vergil’s side as he lulled you to sleep with poems from William Blake, a hand softly caressing your hair. That night, you were sure that you had fallen in love with Vergil. And you had planned to tell him when he turned sixteen. So much for that idea. You thought grimly, still huddled in the shadows. It’s like the world doesn’t want me to confess. A loud guttural howl cut through the silence of the night. A hunting call. All around, you heard answer cries. You froze in your corner, grip tightening on the hilt of the dagger. That sounded way too close. You all but screamed in your head. Almost apprehensively, you lifted your head to peer forward only to see a pale face peering at you from the wall across from where you sat. Your stomach dropped as you shivered in fear, willing yourself to get up as the Death Scissor slowly extracted itself from the wall, giggling as it snipped its giant shears. Run! Move! Your leg twitched as you scrambled to your feet, flinching just the slightest when you remembered your sprained ankle. And in that brief moment where your attention was taken off of the demon, the Death Scissor screeched and flew forward, its shears gleaming in the moonlight ready to take your head. Thankfully, training with Vergil conditioned a reflex to duck during sudden attacks. Shink! You could hear the shears close above you, and suddenly your once long hair fell to the ground around you, cut short by the demon’s shears. With an unsteady start, you kicked forward to sprint out of the alleyway, the adrenaline masking the pain shooting through your leg. Any other day and you would have fought the Death Scissor with your dagger, but it’s loud screech had been answered by other demons. If you stayed in that alley, you would have been swarmed. Running was all you could do. Vergil! I need to find Vergil! You thought desperately. Your dagger wouldn’t be able to do much against a horde of demons, but the Yamato would have no problem. I need to get to the Yamato. I need to get to Vergil. To where I belong. But you should have known better than to run in a straight line with your back turned to the enemy. One moment you were sprinting as fast as your demon blood allowed, and the next, you stumbled, forced to a standstill as your legs refused to move. Confused and wide-eyed, you glanced down and noticed that something was protruding out from your stomach. Your feet weren’t touching the floor. A swell of panic cut through you like the scissors in your stomach as you coughed, spitting crimson blood. “No.” You gurgled, the blood spewing from your lips as you tried to pull yourself off the scissors. “I-I can’t-” You didn’t get the chance to finish your sentence as the Death Scissor yanked its weapon to the side, throwing your skewered body to the floor. All you could do was flip yourself onto your back and try to drag yourself away as the Death Scissor giggled and hovered forward. The demon had severed your spine, so you couldn’t run. I’m going to die. The gravity of the situation hit you. Your demon blood would heal your injury, but you had no way of defending yourself. “Vergil.” You whimpered, tears rolling down your cheeks. “H-help.” Nobody answered you cries for help, and you could only close your eyes in resignation as the shears descended. I love you. “Y/N!” Your eyes snapped open as bright blue flames lit up the night sky. The Death Scissor above you screeched in pain at the multitude of slashes on its mask before dissolving into ash. With whatever strength you had left, you turned your head to stare as a demon with bright blue scales cut down the rest of the demons swarming the area. It was terrifyingly beautiful the way the demon moved. Before long, all that was left were you and the blue demon, and you watched with barely open eyes as it stalked towards you. It was familiar as it was beautiful, though your mind could barely grasp how it was familiar. Instead, you were tired and growing cold. If I’m to die by the hands of such a beautiful demon. It wouldn’t be so bad. You thought, staring in awe. The thought immediately disappeared when the demon seemed to dissolve in blue flames, its form dropping away to reveal your best friend. His normally stoic facade had started to crumble the more he stared at you. “Vergil.” You smiled the best you could, “You came back for me.” Frustrated and devastated sapphire eyes would not meet yours as he assessed the damage done to you. Idly, you could see his jaw clench as he swooped down to gather your body into his arms. “I… would move mountains to return to you.” “I know.” You whispered, resting your head against Vergil’s chest as he walked on. “I was too late.” His grip on you tightened as he growled in frustration. “No you weren’t.” You reasoned, struggling to keep your eyes open. “You made it just in time.” “If I were stronger, this wouldn’t have happened.” There it was, that desire for power. “You can’t protect me from everything, Vergil.” Slowly, but surely, you could feel the wounds on your body knitting itself back together. “I can. And I will.” Your friend snapped back stubbornly, pausing to look down at your battered form. “You’re all I have left. I won’t let them take you away from me.” Your eyes lifted to stare into his, and you could see the pain and sorrow at being reminded of that horrible night eight years ago. You could understand, then, why Vergil wanted to become so strong. He loved you. And to protect the one he loves, he had ventured to gain power. Because without power, he could not hope to protect anyone. “I love you, Vergil.” You confessed, staring up at him with as much love and understanding on your face that you could muster, hoping that he understood you, too. Frigid features seemed to soften and a rare smile appeared on his lips, “And I love you, Y/N.” When he kept walking, all you could think about was how much you wanted to kiss him, but your wounds still hurt too much. Instead, you stared up at him, committing his features to memory. His strong jaw and sharp nose. His cheekbones and the arch of his eyebrows. His beautiful white hair and sapphire blue eyes. Your head was against his chest, so enchanted by the sound of his strong heart as you observed him, that you didn’t notice Vergil had started to smile as he stopped once more to stare down at you. He spoke, but all you could feel with the rumble through his chest as he spoke, not catching any of his words. “Huh?” A dumbfounded expressed formed on your face as you asked Vergil to repeat himself. “Marry me, Y/N.” It was a statement, which from Vergil, was a request in his usual blunt manner. “Wha? But! You just turned sixteen today!” If you could squawk in horror, you probably would have. Not that you were opposed to the idea of marrying Vergil. You just confessed your feelings to each other not even moments prior. “And who the heck is going to marry two teens? We only acknowledged each other’s feelings tonight!” “We don’t need someone to officiate our union. For me, you have always been and will always be the woman I love.” A teasing grin replaced the smile and a mischievous glint lit up blue eyes. “Why, Y/N? Don’t tell me that you’re shy?” Vergil hadn’t been this teasing to you in such a long time that you became flustered. “Wha-I-How? Argh! FINE! I’ll marry you!” Vergil grinned victoriously. “And wipe that smug grin off your stupid face! We are not speaking further about this until I’m fully healed, have had a relaxing bath, and gotten a peaceful night’s rest!” “No clothes while you sleep beside me? How brave.” “Shut your stupid face, Vergil!” You cried out, face growing more red by the second. “But you love this stupid face.” …You really did.

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It seemed almost fitting that you and Vergil would return to Red Grave City after nine years on the run. Vergil still had trouble hiding his demonic presence, but that hardly mattered when the two of you were strong enough to fight back the dwindling demonic forces on Earth. Yes, it seemed a miracle that as the years passed, you both noticed that less and less demons appeared where you traveled. And maybe that was what prompted Vergil into returning to Red Grave City after so long. “It’s changed so much,” You marveled, lightly jogging so that you could catch up with your boyfriend. “It’s like they’ve forgotten what happened all those years ago.” “Hm. They can try to move on, but the scars still exist if they look for it.” Vergil grumbled, a cold look overtaking his features as he thought back to that night of terror so long ago. “Vergil?” You asked your boyfriend as you walked side by side, your left hand held in his right to bring him back to the present. It was a nice change that the two of you traveled under the sun’s light, having grown tired of traveling in the dark. “I understand that you’d want to come back, but why now?” The demonic forces hunting you had dwindled for nearly a year now, so why did Vergil wait for so long? Vergil’s hand tightened in reassurance as he tilted his head to look at you with a warm smile on his face. It always brought butterflies to your stomach when Vergil gave you that rare smile of his. It was like a drug… his smile, the way he looked at you, his entire being… and you were addicted, you would never be able to get enough. “Patience, my love. You will see in a moment.” His love… a flush rose to your cheeks as you fought to stay patient. Even after a year of being called that, you could hardly believe that Vergil had cast aside his pursuit of power to embrace such a human emotion as love. I hope that this will mark the beginning of something better for Vergil. You’d once read that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and had immediately deemed that Vergil’s character would fall for that seduction of power all too easily. I have to hope. You thought grimly, though you allowed yourself indulge in a selfish desire to cling to Vergil’s arm. Your action roused a curious look from your love, but when you merely responded by resting your head against his bicep, he merely left you be, content in indulging your rare demands for intimacy. Not that you didn’t like being near Vergil, of course. You just preferred not to demand too much of him when it came to affection. Your boyfriend was the type to act on his own stubborn beliefs, and any action to coax him out of those high walls built around his heart? He wouldn’t ever admit it, but he’d probably retreat as fast as he could if you pushed too much. But being back in the place where both of your old lives ended? The two of you needed all the comfort you could give each other. Red Grave had changed a bit since you last saw the city. While there were still remnants of the old architecture from your childhood, you noticed that there were more and more high rises being built. When you and Vergil were young, you noticed that not many knew of Red Grave. As large as it was, the community was well knit and friendly. Outsiders were welcome, but the town was so unremarkable that barely any businesses had blossomed. Now, all you could see were people and businesses. Vergil led you past all the busy streets to a quiet neighborhood on the other side of the city from where his home once was. Like most of the houses on the outskirts of Red Grave, the houses were a decent size with old architecture. The home that you stopped in front of looked to have been a recently remodeled Victorian styled house. As you marveled at the beautiful home, Vergil unlatched the gate and held it open for you. “Do you like it?” “It’s beautiful.” You gasped, unable to stop staring at the intricate details on the gate as you walked through. “Who does it belong to?” There was a faint jingle before Vergil held up a keychain for you to hold. “This house is yours, Y/N.” You nearly dropped the key in surprise, your eyes widening in alarm as you glanced from the key back to Vergil. “What! What do you mean it’s mine?” The smile didn’t leave Vergil’s face as he gestured towards the front door. “Well, we can’t enter without you, my love.” With bated breath, you stepped forward with the key in hand, inserting it into the lock and twisting the knob. Swinging the door open, you expected an empty house, but were surprised when the interior seemed completely decorated. “I- Wha… Vergil!” You screamed in surprise, spinning around to face him, only to find that the front door was closed, and that your beloved was knelt on one knee with a katana held out to you with both hands. “‘Love and harmony combine, and round our souls entwine.’” Vergil recited as he tilted his head to gaze into your eyes. “It is not enough to simply be by your side, Y/N. We could walk the Earth and live for a thousand years in each other’s company, and I would still find that time lacking. Had you not been by my side all those years ago, I fear that my path would have been much more difficult. You are all that I have left in this world that left me without a family, and I would like to spend the rest of my life, and beyond, with you. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” You were shocked into silence at the proposal, having just turned seventeen a few weeks ago. You’d thought that Vergil had been joking when he suggested that you two should get married. But as much as the idea of marrying Vergil while you were so young felt strange due to social norms, it somehow felt right that you would be tied to Vergil. “Vergil… Are you sure about this? About marrying me?” You needed to be sure that this wasn’t just Vergil being stubborn again. “There will never be anyone else, Y/N. It has, and will always, be you. Since our days as children, I’ve loved you. And I want this place to be our home.” There was a resolute gleam in his eyes as he sculpted his face into one of utter seriousness. “I would not dream of marrying another woman.” You took a deep breath to calm your racing heart. Could you do this? Could you commit yourself to Vergil in such a way?… Yes, you easily could. There was no question how much you adored Vergil, and there was no question that Vergil would do anything to keep you happy. A shy smile came to your face as you nodded, “Yes… Yes, I’d be beyond happy to be your wife.” The serious face slowly melted to one of a relieved smile as Vergil slowly stood to take your face in between his hands, staring at you fondly before sweeping in to press a gentle kiss to your lips. “You have no idea how happy I am, Y/N.” Vergil pulled back to whisper before practically diving back in to press another kiss to your lips. “I can imagine.” You laughed in joy, surprised that it was Vergil initiating the contact for once. “You’re not usually this affectionate.” That statement made Vergil pause with a pondering frown on his face. “I’ve slacked in my duties, then, if you are unaware of how much I love you.” “That’s not it! I know you love me!” You insisted, worried that Vergil took your words to mean something else. “Hm…” Vergil pressed another kiss to your lips as he guided you backwards to pin you against a wall. Then slowly, your fiancé trailed teasing kisses up from your lips to your ear where he gently nipped with a growl, “Then I’ll show you how much you mean to me, my beautiful wife.” “Ha…” you gasped, flushing red at how he growled huskily into your ear. “Already using that title, huh-ah!” A shocked moan left your lips when Vergil dipped his head to teasingly kiss and suck on the skin just below your ear. “Yes,” Vergil nipped at the skin as he pulled you flush against his body, one arm draped around your waist, and the other reached up to caress your hair. “We’ve been officiated already. You could say that this is our honeymoon, and the house and katana my wedding gifts to you.” “H-how did you manage-mm that?” You gasped, trying to focus through Vergil’s attention. “I knew someone who pulled some strings.” Was all you received in answer from your husband. Just when you couldn’t take the teasing anymore, Vergil brought his lips back up to your ear and whispered, “Let us move to the bedroom, Y/N. I have much to make up for.”

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What could you have done better?What could you have said?What could you have done?…to fix the past so that all of this destruction had never happened? You asked yourself these questions far too many times after you and Vergil had gotten married. As his wife, you should have noticed him slowly getting colder, slowly getting more ruthless as the days past. And then, all at once, Vergil had abandoned you in search for more power. At first, you tried to chase after him, but with how the Yamato could open portals, you were left in the dust. Smartphones hadn’t existed during those times, and even if they did, you were sure that Vergil would have ignored all your messages. Just like he had ignored all your pleas to stop his hunt for power. ——— “Vergil,” you called out to your husband from the kitchen as you saw that he was making his way out the door. “Vergil, couldn’t you stay? I haven’t seen you in weeks.” I miss you. “You know as well as I do that I can’t, Y/N. I have to get stronger.” Your husband’s usually calm voice held a touch of frustration, and his body tensed when you went to wrap your arms around his waist, hoping that your words would reach him. “Power isn’t everything, Vergil. You can’t keep chasing after your father’s phantom. It’s too much to aim to be as strong as Sparda.” You pressed your forehead to the middle of his back, the fabric of his blue coat soft to the touch. “It’s okay to be human. It’s okay to embrace your humanity.” “My humanity is what makes me weak. And it makes you weak, as well.” Vergil snarled, extracting himself from your embrace as he directed a glare at you. Distraught, you leveled your own stubborn glare at your husband of two years. “Our humanity makes us weak? Our humanity is our love for one another. The happiness we share in each other’s presence. If emotions like that are considered a weakness, then what is my love to you? What am I to you that you could just toss me aside?” “A burden.” Vergil hissed before stepping out the door, leaving you on the verge of tears and broken hearted in the home you shared. ———- A month later the news network broadcasted the summoning of Temen Ni Gru, and you knew that you were about to lose Vergil permanently. Still, you hoped that you could bring him back to his senses, packing some supplies and the Totsuka as you set out to bring your wayward love home. “Stupid jerk,” You growled, slicing through another demon as you made your way through the city and towards the ancient tower looming over everything. “I’m a fucking burden, huh? Well I’ll show you a fucking burden when I find you and beat the shit out of you for causing some much trouble!” Did he think that his actions were without consequences? So many people were dead because of all the demons roaming the city streets, and he was going to preach to you that you were a burden? You’d be damned if you just laid down and took Vergil’s bullshit. “DO YOU HEAR ME VERGIL? I’M COMING FOR YOUR PRETTY ASS! AND YOU’RE GOING TO FUCKING APOLOGIZE FOR MAKING ME CRY!” You snarled, shouting into the night sky as you made mince meat out of the lesser demons. “Well isn’t this a sight for sore eyes. I didn’t even know you were alive, Y/N.” A laid back, but suave voice called out from atop a raised road. Your eyes left the sight of the carnage around you to look up for the voice’s source. The first thing that stuck out was the crimson colored coat draped over the man before you noticed that he looked a lot like your husband. On the man’s shoulder rest a familiar sword, and you couldn’t help the affectionate smile to come to your face. “Dante. I didn’t know you were alive, either. How have you been?” “Been pretty bangin, all things considered. Got my own business now, so I think I’m doing fine.” Dante’s devil-may-care attitude was a breath of fresh air compared to the utter shit show that you’d been through in the recent years. “How about you? I see you got yourself a fancy sword and a… son of a bitch, is that a ring on your finger? You’re married?” You winced a little and moved to hide your left hand from view, “Yeah… Got married like two years ago. The katana was a wedding gift.” Dante gave a low whistle and dropped from the high platform to see you better, though he still had Rebellion out and ready just in case. “So does hubby know that you’re out here killing demons?” At that you grumbled and glared at Temen Ni Gru, “No, hubby certainly doesn’t know I’m here. Hubby doesn’t even know I came to drag him back home.” “Wait, wait, wait. Vergil? You’re married to Vergil? How the hell did you end up marrying Vergil!?” Dante looked like he was about to have a heart attack, and from the smell of pizza on him, you honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if your brother-in-law dropped dead in that moment. “Despite his… power hungry tendencies as of late, Vergil and I were in love… or I was in love with him, at least.” You grumbled out an explanation the best you could for the meanwhile. “It’s a long story, but when you two lost your mother, I also lost my family. So Vergil and I just stuck together for years, and well… the heart wants what it wants, ya know?” Dante nodded solemnly, looking like he understood that you just couldn’t disobey what your heart tells you. “Yeah, I get that. But what I don’t understand is how he could have gone so wrong with you by his side.” “I don’t know, Dante. He got it in his head that power was what he needed to protect those who mattered to him, but… I think he’s lost sight of what he wanted.” There was a bitter smile on your lips as you started to journey forward with Dante in tow. “It’s a quality that you both share, being so stubborn, but his stubbornness drove a rift between us. Last month, he told me that I was just a burden to him. And now, I’m here to prove to him that my love for him is absolute. That no matter what he does, I’ll always be there to drag him back home.” “Well,” Dante smirked as he brought you in for a one armed hug, messing with your hair fondly, “Sounds like a plan. Let’s go stop your douchebag husband, Little Sis.” “Little Sis?” You echoed, brows drawn together in confusion. “Duh! You married my brother, so that makes you my little sis.” Dante explained, easily scaling the broken roads ahead of you, “Try to keep up, Y/N.” —— Several hours later, at the top of Temen Ni Gru You grit your teeth as you sprinted up the last of the way to the top of Temen Ni Gru. You and Dante had been separated while fighting a horde of demons, and you had no doubt that your brother in law had made it to the top first. Sprinting out of the entrance, you realized with some surprise that it had started raining heavily, though it did nothing to hide the fact that just across the platform, Vergil and Dante were locked into combat, the younger brother’s fist skewered onto the Yamato. “Jeebus cheese pizzas, the both of you are the worst. Why the hell did I marry into this family in the first place?” You complained vocally, throwing your voice so that both brothers could hear. Vergil’s eyes met yours briefly before his attention was taken up by Dante grabbing the Yamato and throwing him away. Just as the elder twin was about to retaliate, a voice cut through the air. “Wait!” Vergil paused in drawing the Yamato as a bald man with a heavy scar on his face appeared beside him. “We should leave. For the moment, we have all that we need.” A growl cut through the air, and you were surprised to find that it was you who had let loose such a feral sound. “Who the hell is that, Vergil? Is that man the reason why you left home? Huh?” The demand came naturally when you were tired and emotionally in turmoil. “Has he manipulated you? Vergil!” “Wife.” The title was said so coldly that you winced, though you kept your eyes on your husband. “Your humanity has done you a diservice. I chose this of my own will. No one can manipulate me, and I’m insulted that you could think it.” “She is your wife, Vergil?” The man sneered at you with a creepy curiosity. “She is naught but a burden now. A remnant of a time spent in naive content.” Vergil dismissed, turning in place to leave you at the top of Temmen Ni Gru. “You’re just going to throw me away?” You demanded to know, disbelieving that Vergil would just abandon you after all the years you spent together. “We promised to love one another! That we would always be by each other’s side! I refuse to believe that everything was a lie!” Vergil paused in his steps, but he didn’t turn back to look at you. “You better start, then, Y/N. Because I don’t need you anymore.” “Come home, Vergil!” You pleaded, taking a step forward, “Come home, and we’ll try to work something out. You don’t have to do this!” There was silence, and then the sound of a sword being loosened, and you had to quickly unsheathe Totsuka to block the Yamato as it descended to cleave you in two. Vergil struck again and you parried, familiar with the way that Vergil fought, though you lacked the speed needed to battle on par with him. Exhausted from the initial climb to the apex, you attempted to gain some distance by backing away. An awful squelch pierced the air, and you found yourself staring down as the Yamato pierced your abdomen. “I have no home.” Vergil hissed before violently yanking the Yamato back and flicking it clear of your blood. Though the wound would heal, you were struck with horror as you watched Vergil jump off the ledge. When he dropped, you did as well. When Vergil had proposed to you, you had hoped that he would cast aside his lust for power. …Nothing dies like hope. ——— The blow from the Yamato didn’t kill you, but it had left a scar where other injuries had not. At Dante’s behest, you retreated from Temen Ni Gru to let Dante handle Vergil, making your way back to the address that Dante had given you. During that span of time, you lamented at what had been lost between you and Vergil, but you couldn’t bring yourself to throw away your wedding ring. By dawn, Temen Ni Gru had started to crumble, sealing the demon world away once more. By dawn, when Dante and Lady returned, you were also gone, leaving only a note of farewell on the desk.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Hey, Y/N. I know it hasn’t been that long since I called you, but I wanted to make sure that you were doing okay. Since your voicemail isn’t hasn’t overflowed with my messages, I’m going to assume that you’ve been listening to these messages, and just haven’t decided to respond. Listen, just in case you didn’t hear it in all my other messages… My asshole of a brother made the hugest mistake when he threw you aside. And if you ever need anything… you know where to find me… just… call back to at least let me know you’re alive, alright? I’m worried.”
 Guilt gnawed at your gut for making Dante worry so much. Your brother in law had left over a hundred messages in the last month alone, each one with the same tone of worry, but all without the same wording. It was nice to know that Dante was as unique as ever, despite what happened almost half a year ago. You couldn’t describe the feeling that you got once the portal to the Underworld was closed. It was like all your warmth was suddenly cut off, as if you’d been tossed out into the cold because your home was gone. And then you knew. Somehow you knew that Vergil had left you for the Underworld. And like that, you knew that you couldn’t stay with Dante… and you couldn’t return home. There was so much sadness and resentment in you, that it was exhausting. So, you’d taken whatever supplies you needed and left. It didn’t matter where you went, you just wanted to be away from places that reminded you of Vergil. It was time to yourself. Time to reflect. And time spent trying to repair the harm that had been done to your heart. The wound that Vergil had given you had healed, much like the rest, but had left a scar for some reason. It was an ugly wound that marred the otherwise flawless skin on your abdomen, but some days, you didn’t hate it. During your reflections, you thought and thought about why Vergil would have done what he did. And after three months, it’d clicked. Vergil always had some resentment towards Eva for not going to look for him during the night of the fire, so he must have looked to Sparda for strength in a time that the both of you had to do anything to survive. Sparda, who was the legendary dark knight that had sealed Mundus away and saved humankind centuries ago… was a full-blooded demon. And if Vergil believed that his father was strong because of his demon blood, then he would think that his humanity was the weakest part of him. And then… when you’d almost died two years ago… Vergil had activated his Devil Trigger. That one demonic power that had tipped the scales of power… And suddenly, Vergil started to truly believe that his humanity made him weak. There was a saying that if a person believed enough in something, they will start to see it as truth. Then, maybe Vergil believed it too much. The more you started to understand your husband’s path, the more you started to understand yourself. For Vergil, demonic powers made him strong. That was the truth that Vergil believed. But what about you? You’d never fought to tell Vergil that there had to be a balance to power. Because, at the time… what did you believe? While you had demon blood within you, you’d never used it outside of healing yourself. You knew practically nothing about who you were. You didn’t even know what kind of demon your grandmother was. So, you started to dig for information about your family. The information about the humans in your family was public knowledge. But you needed the information on your demonic history. In order to find information about your demonic heritage, you went to places that no human should go. You frequently visited the dens of demons, and have once or twice, found yourself on the borders between Hell and Earth. Your family had been Sparda’s lieutenants centuries ago, and your grandmother, a fabled knight. She’d cut down much of Mundus’s lackeys during Sparda’s rebellion. An archangel, the legends liked to call her, but you knew better than that. Perhaps her devil form looked like an angel, but angels had never existed. If they did, then they’d stayed out of whatever conflict came. You were about to descend into a dark cavern to explore the buried ruins underneath when Dante had called and left you a message. Now, glancing down at the phone in hand, you hesitantly flickered your eyes from the cavern’s mouth to the flip phone in your hand. If you ventured down, you didn’t know when you would be back to the surface or even if you’d be back. A sigh left your lips and you mashed the buttons on the phone to scroll through the contacts. Once you found a certain pizza-lover’s name, you hit dial before you could take back your decision. The phone rang once, twice… “Y/N!” Dante’s voice practically screamed through the phone, making you pull the phone away from your ear in shock. “Where are you?” “I’m in some forest north of Fortuna… There’s a cavern here with demonic ruins inside.” You explained, stepping back from the cavern entrance to get a better signal. “Why the hell are you exploring demonic ruins, Y/N?” Dante groaned from the other line. “Do you know how dangerous those places are? Do you know how worried you’re making me?” A sheepish grin appeared on your face as your eyes glanced up to take in the bright blue sky. “I think I have an idea by the hundreds of messages you’ve left me.” “And it took you long enough to call me back!” Dante growled, losing the playful tone that you have always been used to. “Stay where you are. I’m coming to meet up with you.” You frowned and shook your head, “That’s not necessary, Dante. I know what I’m doing. I’ve gotten better over the past half year, I’ll be fine.” “Y/N.” You paused in your reassurances when Dante said your name in a firm tone. “Please. For my own conscience, can you please wait for me?” Silence fell between you for a few moments, and the only thing you could hear in the forest were the chirping birds. “…You know that you don’t have to feel responsible for me, right?” You breathed a gentle sigh, voice sounding meek. “I don’t, Y/N. It’s not that I don’t trust you to get things done. I’m just…” There was a heavy pause before Dante continued, “I’m just sick of losing everyone I love, okay? I can’t lose you.” “You won’t lose me, Dante.” You reassured gently, now shrugging off your pack to make camp. “I’ll wait for you, okay? So stop brooding. I like it better when you smile.” 
“Careful now, Y/N. Or I’ll think you’re flirting with me.”
 Rolling your eyes, you grinned, “Oh shut up and get your ass over here.” 
“Aye aye.”
 The phone hung up with a click, and you pocketed the phone, making sure to keep the volume on just in case Dante called you again. Then, turning to walk towards the center of the forest clearing, you unsheathed Totsuka and held the blade at the ready, preparing to practice your katas. About thirty minutes later, you concentrated to draw on your demonic powers, channeling it through your body as you completed an overhead strike. There was a flash of bright white light, and where you once stood, a tall demon, looking like a Hell Knight with white leathery wings stood instead. Another bright flash of light, and you stood where the demon once was. A grin came to your face as you began your katas once more. “Again.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

(18 Years After the Temen Ni Gru Incident) (*Clink clink clink clink clink clink SNAP) There was a lazy grin on your face as you loaded the bullets into your six shooter before twirling it on your finger. You had been cleaning your weapons from your last gig, making sure to take care of the weapons gifted to you nearly twenty years ago. The shop was closed for the moment, though not because the utility bill hadn’t been paid. The bills were paid as soon as you brought in your pay from the last hunt. No. Devil May Cry was closed because Dante, Lady, and Trish were all out on another gig in some city far and isolated. Holstering the revolver, you lazily unsheathed the katana resting on Dante’s desk, tilting the blade to and fro to catch the lighting. Unlike the revolver, the katana in your hand, Totsuka, was special in that it was forged specifically to kill demons… and that it was a gift from your husband, who has been missing for more than a decade now. Nodding your head at the absence of damage to the katana’s edge, you made to sheathe the sword until the front door was suddenly kicked in. Acting on reflex, you kicked off from the desk to perch yourself on the stair railing above you, by your side, you held Totsuka at the ready. “Woah! Sis! It’s just me!” a familiar jovial voice shouted from the threshold, and that’s when you noticed the flash of white hair and red coat. Dante strolled into the your shared home with his hands up in a placating manner, a lazy grin on his face. “On edge, huh? Did you just get back from a gig?” You couldn’t fight the grimace on your face as you lazily dropped from the second floor railing, landing as gracefully as you could on your bare feet. “It was supposed to be a simple investigation. Turned into a demon hunt. You know how it is.” Dante cast his eyes to the supplies on his desk as he shut the front door with a loud band. “And it got messy?” he gestured towards your wet hair and the fact that you were only clad in a new pair of jeans and crop top. “I got bathed in demon guts.” You scoffed, grabbing the sheathe from the desk and twirling to sheathe the blade behind your back due to the length of the blade. Dante shook his head when he saw you going through the same practiced motions from memory. The same motions that Dante remembered his brother doing so many years ago. “So… you didn’t tell me about your son.” At that statement, you paused in cleaning off the desk, furrowing your brows and tilting your head to the side in confusion, wet strands of hair falling to frame your face. “Son? I never had a son, Dante.” “Come on, Y/N! You’re telling me that you guys were together for nearly ten years, and you two didn’t do a little something something?” Dante wagged his eyebrows at you suggestively, making you blush a healthy pink from embarrassment. “First of all, we were kids for a majority of those ten years, Dante. And well… gah!” you groaned in frustration, throwing your hands up in exasperation. “Why the heck am I even talking to you about this!” Dante gently mused your hair with a teasing smirk. “Calm down, calm down. I understand, Y/N.” You merely raised a brow at him, waiting for the punchline. “I understand that you two definitely had hot steamy sex multiple times.” “DANTE!” You roared, throwing a punch his way despite the flaming red on your face. “So it is true!” Dante laughed, playfully dodging your jabs. “I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS WITH MY BROTHER IN LAW OF ALL THINGS!” You cried indignantly when you couldn’t catch Dante, proceeding to flop down onto the floor with a huff. “So no kid, huh?” Dante pressed, standing above you with smile that seemed just the bit sad for you. You closed your eyes and gave a heavy sigh, lifting your hands up to rub your face in exhaustion. “No. I wanted a family with him, I really did, but we were only teens, Dante. We spent most of our childhood fighting to survive. People like us… it was difficult justifying having a family when you didn’t know how to take care of one. When we got married, Vergil and I discussed having a kid or two, but decided to put it off for when we had a more stable life, you know? But as the months passed, Vergil started to get colder and colder. Seeking more and more power. And then… one day, he just left for several weeks on end. No phone call, no note. Nothing to tell me where he was or what he was doing. His disappearances became more and more common, and then I pushed the thought of having a family when he told me that I was just a burden. A month or so after that, I saw the news about Temen Ni Gru… and you know the rest.” “Damn it.” Dante swore, scratching the back of his head as he muttered, “If I see Vergil, again, I’m doing more than just hitting him. But, shit! The kid’s not mine, either!” At Dante’s muttering, you rose to sit, narrowing your eyes at the mention of a ‘kid.’ “Dante… what the hell happened in Fortuna?” “I…” The younger son of Sparda looked uncomfortable standing before you. His normally cheerful blue eyes seemed to dull a little with whatever news he had for you. “When we were in Fortuna, we found out that some weird religious cult was behind all of the wacko stuff happening there. The entire town worshipped my old man and the guys up top wanted power or something.” Dante took a seat on the floor in front of you in order to keep himself from pacing, his eyes shifted restlessly. “When I was there, I met a kid named Nero. No last name. No family. He had a few friends, but that was it. But what got me, was that Nero looks just like me and Vergil. White hair, blue eyes, handsome face… and get this, he had a blue demon arm.” “Nero, huh? Are you completely sure he’s not your kid?” You prodded, wanting to make sure that Dante hadn’t accidentally spawned a child before you jumped to conclusions. “Well… the Yamato was drawn to him.” Dante reasoned with a grimace when your eyes suddenly went wide with puzzlement. Your brother in law sighed, suddenly looking very tired as he forced himself to look you in the eyes. “It’s a long story, but the gist is that the Yamato was found broken in Fortuna. Something happened and it was fixed. And since it was drawn to Nero, he has it now.” “So, Nero has the Yamato…” You mused, pondering through the implications, “Doesn’t the Yamato react to anyone with Sparda’s blood?” “And anyone deemed close enough to wield it, but that’s an entirely moot point because Nero’s not my son!” Dante insisted, starting to pout: a look that was oddly cute on him. “And how would you know that? Sparda’s genes are strong, and you’re part of a pair of identical twins. Did you manage to get a paternity test on such short notice?” There was a lilt to your tone as you teased Dante. “No… but ah… you know how bad I am with women. They all either want to kill me or eat me. So I’ve never…” The famous demon hunter had turned a flattering shade of pink, looking beyond uncomfortable in his confession. “Oh.” You had no words. “…yeah.” “So you couldn’t have had a kid because you’re still a virgin.” Suddenly, it made sense why Dante never seemed to have much of a social life outside his gigs. “Now why do you have to say it like that?” Dante whined pathetically, a pout on his lips. “It’s not for lack of trying!” Despite the teasing, you suddenly fell quiet, somber as you thought over the only other logical explanation glaring you in the face. You didn’t want to believe that Vergil had been unfaithful to you, but your heart clenched at the implications. The questions came like a flood, and you couldn’t stop from thinking them. How long had he been unfaithful to you? Your lips flattened to a line. Was that the reason for his detached and cold behavior towards you? Your gaze grew distant and unfocused. When did it start? Your breath hitched. Was this why he wanted to leave so badly? Your stomach dropped. Was it all a lie? You began to pale. …was it you? Your eyes started to burn. You didn’t want to think. You wanted to remember the days of warmth spent in Vergil’s embrace. Of the quiet moments between you spent reading. Or even of the moments when Vergil would cook for you or when he’d clean the house while you were away doing groceries. Mundane days spent in comfort and contentment. Instead, the warmth drained from the memories, and you were left to remember the subtle shift in Vergil’s demeanor. Long periods of cold facade and an empty home when he’d leave the house for weeks without a word to you. How the cold gnawed at your aching chest when all you wanted for Vergil to do was to come home and stay. You’d thought that it had only been the temptation of power that drove him away. But to entertain the idea that he had gone to Fortuna and had a child with another woman, your heart almost stopped when you realized that may have been the second half of the truth all along. Against your will, your mind concocted images of Vergil laying with another woman, and you wanted to vomit. I was home… waiting for him to come back to me. Hoping that he’d get over what was plaguing him and return to normal. Was she prettier than me? Did he find her laugh beautiful? Was she dainty and talented? Was she better? Or was I simply not enough? There was a sudden touch to your shoulder, startling you out of the melancholic daze, and you found that your head had been gently tilted up so that Dante could look at you, his other hand still cupping your chin. “It wasn’t you, Y/N. She wasn’t prettier or stronger than you. She’ll never be better than you. So don’t go thinking all that bullshit again, okay?” Your brother in law had a way with knowing exactly what you thought and felt… he also had a way with knowing what to do when you started to doubt yourself. “Whatever Vergil and that woman did? That’s on them. You didn’t drive my dumbass of a brother away.” You started to speak, but could only choke on your words, the tears spilling over as you tried not to sob. Why couldn’t I have fallen in love with you? You wanted to ask this, but it felt unfair to the both of you. There was no doubt that Dante would have married you in a heartbeat had you not married his brother, but even though Vergil was gone, you couldn’t use Dante so cruelly. Dante wrapped an arm around your shoulders and pulled you into a loving embrace, his arms holding you firmly as he cooed, “Come on, Y/N… it’s okay to cry.” Your once unmoving arms quickly reached up to clutch at your partner in crime as you let loose a loud harrowing sob. “I-I’m so m-mad!” “I know you are.” “B-But I’m so sad, t-too!” “It’s a lot to take in.” “H-how could he?” You cried, hiding your face on Dante’s shoulder. “He told me that I was all he’d ever want!” “I don’t know, Y/N.” You could feel Dante’s chest rumble and his hand brushing comforting circles on your back. “I-I don’t want the Totsuka.” You hiccuped, remember the katana and what it had meant when Vergil gifted it to you on your wedding day. Dante sighed, his eyes no doubt shifting to stare at the forsaken katana on the table. “I don’t think you mean that, Y/N.” “I-I do!” “I really don’t think you do.” No, you really couldn’t part with it. “…but it hurts to look at it.” “It was a gift from Vergil, Y/N. And I think you and I both know that you still love the bastard.” Dante tried to reassure you, his voice a soothing whisper. “Besides… I think Vergil really did love you, Y/N. He fought Mundus’s control to leave those gifts for you, remember?” You hand reached up to gently caress the sapphire pendant around your neck at the mention of all the gifts that Nelo Angelo had left you. “How could I not? It had been a shock to the both of us.” “You know that Vergil’s always been a semi-functional walking mess, Y/N. And I think those gifts were his way of trying to make up for what he did.” “Are you saying that I should forgive him?” You questioned, voice a timid whisper. “I’m saying that whatever happened between him and that woman… must have been nothing in comparison to what he felt for you. If you forgive him, the mess that he is, then that’s on you.” A half-hearted laugh left your lips as you moved to pull away. “He’s our mess, though.” “Yeah,” the demon hunter mused quietly, his eyes doing a once over to see if you were really fine. “He’s left you a mess, but… do you want to meet him? The kid, I mean.” A shy smile grew on your lips, “Yeah. I think I’d like to.” A smirk rose from your brother in law, “Good. I think Nero could do with a motherly figure in his life.” “I don’t think that I’d be very good at that.” “Y/N.” The seriousness on Dante’s face made you pause, “You’d be a great mother.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The gifts started arriving to your Red Grave City residence nearly three years after Vergil disappeared into the Underworld. You’d returned to your home after Dante had convinced you to take a break to find a single rose on your bed pillow. It was a beautiful, unassuming rose with all the thorns carefully cut off, though your gaze found interest in the royal blue ribbon tied to its stem.At the time, you’d darted out of the room to seek out Dante, who was busy taking a sip of water from a clean glass. “Dante? You didn’t… leave anything in my room, right?”“Hm?” Dante hummed, slowly swallowing the mouthful of water, “Uh, no. I actually didn’t know you decided to have a home in Red Grave.”“Well, while I love the house, I didn’t pick it. Ver-” your breathe hitched as you darted out of the room, “Vergil!”“Wait! Y/N!” Dante called after you, following close behind in worry. “What about Vergil?”“This!” you answered as you made the last few steps towards the bed, picking up rose and gingerly touching the ribbon. “The color seemed familiar, and Vergil’s the only one besides you and I who know about this house.”“So you think he’s out of Hell?” Dante guessed, tipping his head to the side in question.“Either that… or someone’s playing a very cruel joke on me.” You whispered, gingerly clutching the rose to your chest. “And maybe I’m being naive or purposefully dense, but I don’t want to think that someone could be so cruel.”“I hate to break it to you, Y/N. But if Vergil’s back, I think he needs to stay away for a while.” Dante’s ocean blue eyes glanced down to stare at your abdomen. “Even if you still love him, what he did to you was just wrong. If you love someone, you don’t hurt them.”“Vergil is…” you wanted to give an excuse for you husband’s behavior, but found that the words felt bitter on your tongue. Resigned, you gave a heavy sigh and sat back on the bed. “You’re right. I can’t keep making up excuses for his actions. And I have to hold him accountable for his actions.”“So… what are you going to do? Are you going to go look for whoever left you that rose?”You shook your head, though held the rose to you possessively, “No… If they wanted to talk to me, then they have to come here and wait for me. Maybe I won’t move on from loving Vergil, but I’m not just going to sit here and wait.”True to your word, you’d moved on with life, taking up several demon hunting jobs alongside Dante to varying degrees of success. When Vergil… or your admirer didn’t show their face, you’d simply pushed the gift to the back of your mind, hoping that it was just a one time thing.In hindsight, you should have known better.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A year after the first gift, you’d returned home to find another gift waiting for you. This time, it was a neatly wrapped box placed upon your bedroom vanity. It was an unassuming thing, the size of a small pot, but wrapped in tasteful silver parchment with a royal blue bow as decoration.At the time, you’d glanced at Dante in suspicion since he’d been the one to escort you home, but your brother in law had merely shrugged, “It wasn’t from me, I swear!”Puzzled, you’d continued to stare at the present until Dante asked, “So… are you going to open it?”Dante seemed to have been bursting with excitement for you, though you didn’t share his enthusiasm. “It’s a strange package on my vanity, Dante. What if it’s booby trapped?”The younger twin snorted in amusement, “You said ‘booby,’’’You weren’t impressed and you made it known. “Dante… please? Don’t you find this a little strange?”“We hunt demons for a living, Y/N. Our whole life is considered strange.” Dante scoffed before pouting when you settled a stern gaze on him. “Oh, fine. My keen devil ears don’t hear any mechanic inside, so it’s not a bomb. As for a demon trap… well,” he quickly summoned Rebellion, “If something happens, I’ll take care of it. Now come on! I wanna see what’s inside.”Apprehensively, you picked the delicate package up, hoping that it wouldn’t explode. It was heavier than expected, though still light enough where you could comfortably toss it in your hand. You could hear Dante shift in anxiousness as you pulled on the ribbon holding the bow together, tossing it back onto your vanity before peeling away the layer of silver paper. The box underneath the paper was equally as unassuming with its matte black coloring and cloth. It was almost like it was… when you flipped the lip open, you gasped in surprise at the sapphire necklace nestled in the box.“Holy shit.” Dante whistled lowly.“Umhnnn.” You agreed, speechless at the size of the main jewel and of the diamonds decorating the sides.“You have a rich admirer.”“…” Y/N.exe has stopped working“Y/N?”“Yahuh?”“I think it’s from the same person that left you the rose.”“… Me, too.”You needed better security in your home.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~After the last gift, you’d sat down with Dante to figure out who or what kept breaking into your home to leave gifts. It was impossible to try and figure out who or what they were as all the detective work in the world didn’t make a difference when your admirer left no trace of themselves. With no clue on narrowing down a person, Dante suggested looking at the dates that the two gifts appeared.You were always gone on jobs when it was your birthday, so you’d never put two and two together. That the gifts always seemed to appear after your birthdays.Against Dante’s wishes, you’d resolved to confront your admirer, making sure to have Lady drag him off on a mission so that your brother in law wouldn’t suddenly appear on your doorstep. Still, Dante couldn’t help but worry, making you promise to call him every day so that he could check up on you.So, you did what you had to.For a whole year, you prepped for your twenty-fifth birthday, knowing that the truth might be a disappointment… might be a mistake.But you were going to risk it.You simply had to know.Eleven months seemed to fly by so quickly, and then it was a month before your birthday. True to your word, you’d taken a break from your work, opting to stay in Red Grave City and wait.“Yeah… I’m doing fine, Dante… no… still no sign of anything.” You muttered the answers as you stared outside your bedroom window, watching the rain pour down and lightning crackle in the sky. “I’m starting to get a bit on edge from the waiting, though.”Your birthday was a few minutes away, but you were tired and weary, having psyched yourself out the entire day.“I think you should get some shut eye, Y/N. I get that Mr. Mystery might pop in and stuff, but you should dead on your feet.” From the other end of the line, you could hear Dante firing off Ebony and Ivory, not even bothering to give the fight much of his attention. “Sleep with Tostsuka beside you, okay? Just in case…”“Just in case I get pounced on in my sleep?”“Don’t even joke about that, Y/N.” Dante growled, not wanting to think about such a situation.“…sorry.” You apologized, bashfully lowering your head even though you knew that Dante couldn’t see it.“…I just want you to be safe, Y/N. So, please… just… exercise some caution.” Dante pleaded, and you could hear the desperation in his tone.“Okay. I won’t do anything reckless.”“Good. I better hang up now. Gotta practice what I preach and all that.” Dante laughed before whispering affectionately, “Happy Birthday, Y/N. I’ll see you soon.”The line hung up before you could reply, though you still smiled and whispered to yourself, crawling into bed. “Be safe, you dingus.” Eyes getting heavier, you used the last of your energy to switch the bedside lamp off before falling asleep, bringing a peaceful darkness with the calming sounds of a thunderstorm.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patter patter pat pat patter
It was well into the night, and the rain still pelted the world outside the safety of your lonely home, when a figure seemed to materialize into your bedroom out of nowhere. There was silence in the room aside from the rain and thunder. There was no light except for the flashes of lightning from the storm. And for the longest while, the figure simply stood at the center of your room, watching your peacefully dreaming face as if enchanted.
Ba-BoOM
A particularly loud crack of thunder bellowed outside, and you jolted in your sleep, eyes opening in annoyance as you turned to your side, wanting to settle back into the peaceful darkness. When you turned, however, your eyes met the dark form stood in the middle of your room, and you froze. Holy shit.Hidden under Vergil’s pillow, your hand gripped the handle of your blade just in case the figure moved to harm. But minutes passed, and the figure had yet to make any movements, just standing there and, despite the fact that the helm betrayed nothing about them, you could tell that it was staring at you.“W-who-?”You weren’t given a chance to finish the question when the figure moved forward, as if awakened by your voice. It was fast despite the clanking of its armor, and before you could even sit up, it was knelt at the side of your bed, its hands reaching forward to present a gift, this time the size of a shoe box, but still wrapped in tasteful wrapping paper and a blue ribbon.“You’re the one leaving the gifts for me?” The question was out of your lips without so much as a stutter.The figure… the man, did not so much as utter a reply, only continuing to stare and offer the gift, patiently waiting. Strange as it was, you allowed a moment of weakness to shine through, gingerly taking the gift and unwrapping it in front of your… admirer.Inside the box was a beautifully crafted six-shooter with silver roses decorating the black and white aesthetic of the revolver. You gasped in awe as you pulled the weapon out, admiring the black barrel and ivory grip. The metal was light, but seemingly dense, as you’d never seen such a metal before.“A silver rose made of Gilgamesh metal.” The voice coming from the armored man sounded hollow, as if they weren’t really there with you.Reaching out a hand, you tried to grasp the man’s helm, only for it to pass right through his form. “You’re not… really here?”“I do not have to be to leave gifts.” The man’s helm snapped to the side, as if listening to something, before he stood with a subtle nod. “This will be the last. I have been found out.”The mysterious figure turned to walk away and into the darkness, but you found yourself leaping out of bed to stand in front of the man, stopping him as questions tumbled from your mouth. “Who are you? Why did you give me a gun? And what do you mean that this will be the last!”The man stood and stared at your confused expression before reaching out as if to touch your hair. “My will may not be mine for much longer. To keep you safe, I must never come back. I am one that is lost. One whose name was written over. The silver rose… a promise made long ago, and a symbol of hope. I can’t be here to protect you, but I can give you a tool to protect yourself with. Y/N… One day soon, I hope that I can fixe what wrong I’ve done.”A shocked tear rolled down your check. You knew this man.“Vergil?”And before your eyes, the man’s figure started to disappear in wisps.Transparent fingers reached out to attempt a caress, and your love was only able to utter one more thing before he disappeared from your life again. “Happy Birthday, Y/N.”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“I need eight fireballs to Jonny’s group, Y/N.” Shei announced, plopping the worn serving tray down onto the bar top. “And your boyfriend said to get yourself a drink. He’s paying.”“Eight fireballs, on the way.” You confirmed, pulling out eight shot glasses and filling them up. “And for the last time, Tony’s my brother-in-law, not my boyfriend.” You corrected with a frown at your coworker.Although you’d gotten stronger the more you went out on demon hunting gigs with Dante, it didn’t prove to be a skill that allowed for an agreeable living situation. Normal demon hunting gigs paid decently, but with the pay being split between two people, it wasn’t enough, especially when Dante wouldn’t accept payment. Dante couldn’t hold a normal day-to-day job, so you’d resolved to be the responsible one and got a job at Bobby’s Cellar. It was Dante’s usual haunt where he’d go by Tony Redgrave and get mercenary work, but the people knew you just as well. Which led you to your current predicament.Shei raised her hands in a sign of surrender… or was it a shrug… either way, she winked and stuck her tongue out, “C’mon, Y/N, you mean you’ve never thought about leaving your absent husband for his hot brother? You know he has a thing for you.”Your face didn’t change a single bit as you responded, sliding the full tray over to Shei. “My husband is missing, not absent.” Lies. “And I’ve never thought about dating Tony. Not that there’s anything wrong with him, it’s just that I don’t want to use him… do you get what I mean?”Your coworker leveled a serious stare at you as she took the tray of drinks. “It’s not considered using him if you both like each other.”Watching as Shei walked away with a sway in her hips, you sighed, muttering to yourself. “But I don’t like him like that.”“There’s nothing wrong with moving on.” A cool voice startled you, eyes darting immediately up and to the left where the newcomer sat at the bar, his arms folded on the counter as he leaned towards you.The man was peculiar in the way he looked, sporting a green suit of all things and wrapped in enough bandages where only his startling blue eyes showed. Quirking an eyebrow at him, you spoke before thinking. “A newcomer… Well then, welcome to Bobby’s Cellar. Are you here for a job, a drink, or information?”“Hmmm let’s start with information, my dear. Do you know every single person that enters this establishment?” the man’s sharp blue eyes seemed to pierce through you ominously, as if he were threatening you to tell the truth. You wanted to scoff, knowing that you could probably take the guy in a fight if you had to. Something was off about him… something demonic, but it wasn’t strong enough for you to raise the alarm with Dante.“Depends.” You drawled, making a gin and tonic and sliding it towards the man in bandages, “I know everyone who has established themselves, whether they be an information broker, mercenary, or just someone who needs a drink every now and then. That’s on the house, by the way.”If the man’s face was uncovered, you had no doubt that his brows would be raised in interest if the slight lilt to his smooth voice was anything to go by. “Establish themselves? How does one do that?” He lifted the glass to his lips and took a sip after nodding his head in thanks.A grimace appeared on you face at the mention of the initiation ceremony that went on in Bobby’s Cellar. Setting a glass down, you raised a sluggish hand to point towards the rowdiest table located at the back of the bar where Dante and Jonny’s group sat. “You talk to Tony and Jonny… and they issue a challenge. If you do well enough, you get invited into their little group of misfits. Once that happens, you’ll get a better shot at the better sources of info and jobs.”The man finished off the drink before getting up, giving you an appraising stare. “Thank you…”“Y/N.” You supplied, not really seeing the harm in giving him your name.“Thank you, Y/N. I’m Gilver. It was a pleasure speaking with you.” The man was already across the room by the time you’d managed to process his name.“Gilver…” you muttered, staring after the mysterious newcomer with narrowed eyes. He held a katana in his left hand, and from the back he looked too familiar. “Gilver… why does that sound so familiar?”Gilver... G-I-L-V-E-R....G-I-L.... V-E-R... V-E-R-G-I-LYour face seemed to scrunch up at the anagram, eyes still staring at Gilver’s back. “That is the shittiest pseudonym ever.” You commented, hardly impressed with the revelation that you’d just made.Naturally, your heart jumped to the conclusion that your husband was back, and that he hadn’t been taken by an evil force like you’d concluded when the armored figure stopped visiting... but your mind and instinct urged you not to assume... to observe and withhold judgement until all the facts were taken into account. The height and stature of the mysterious newcomer was right, as was his choice of weapon and the color of his eyes... but the more you observed Gilver interact with Dante and Jonny’s group, the more you began to realize that Gilver was not your husband, but was something demonic in nature.Taking up Dante’s previous offer to make a drink for yourself, you pour a glass of whiskey and took a large gulp, face set in a grimace as you resumed your work. You didn’t like it when someone tried to screw with you... more so when it came to Vergil.“Y/N?” Shei pulled you from your thoughts with a heavy sigh, “They’re at it again... Doing that stupid initiation ceremony on the new guy.”From across the bar, you could see both Dante and Gilver looking at you expectantly, one with a shit-eating smirk, and the other with a curious glint in his eyes. A bemused expression appeared on your face as you looked away, shaking your head in amusement from what was bound to happen. “I hope the new guy can hold his liquor.” Which, if you were right, and Gilver was a fake Vergil... would mean that he’d be a woeful lightweight.“The guy looks tough... I think he’ll give Tony a run for his money.” Shei laughed before winking, “New guy’s been watching you though. You gonna tap that?”You gave a short laugh as you shook your head, setting a bottle of pure absinthe on the tray with two shot glasses. “What is with you and my love life, Shei?”“Unless you wanna head back to my place, someone’s gotta make sure you get laid, Y/N.” Your coworker winked flirtatiously at you and turned to do her job.You howled in laughter, “My god, Shei!”She turned to briefly blow you a kiss, “You know you want me!”“Just go do you’re job!”And oh boy did Shei do her job. Calling one round after another in an odd display of competition, she served both Dante and Gilver their round of shots, the two men sitting across from one another as they drank. After three shots, Dante didn’t look much different than he would drinking a beer. Gilver, on the other hand, looked close to being drunk. It was subtle, but you noticed the way he had to sit a little straighter to prevent from slouching.Another three rounds later, Dante was starting to grin in a daze, though was by all means not drunk. Gilver though... was probably about to collapse in an unconscious heap. You’d long since clocked out for the night to keep watch over the initiation ceremony, knowing that Jonny and his boys often mugged the newcomer if they passed out. 
Thump
You winced when Gilver fell forward, slumped unconscious on top of the table. Gilver was definitely a clone of Vergil, you confirmed, strolling over to the table and stopping Jonny’s men from robbing the unconscious man blind. “I’ll take it from here, boys. Your drinks are already paid, so there’s no reason to rob the guy now.”“Y/N... what are you doing?” Dante asked, getting up from his seat when you knelt by Gilver’s side to prop him up. The man’s katana was already strapped to your back, though not before your were able to observe that it was a cheap imitation of the Yamato.“Getting this mess to a safe place.” You announced, bracing yourself as you lifted the unconscious man into your arms, your demon strength being put to good use as you strolled out of the bar. “Don’t wait up!”Years ago, Dante would have never let you run off with a stranger. But now that he knew you were capable of defending yourself against any threat, he trusted you to keep yourself safe. Though to his credit, you wondered if Dante only let you leave with Gilver in your arms because he thought it was funny that you would be carrying the man like a bride. You admit the image would have amused you.Gilver didn’t stir the entire time trip down the street to an admittedly nice hotel. He didn’t stir when you’d rented a room for the night while earning strange looks from the hotel staff and snide remarks from the hotel’s other clients. He didn’t so much as make a peep when you’d dumped him onto the bed, positioning him so that he didn’t choke on his own vomit.Gilver did stir when you’d taken his shoes off, but he didn’t wake. He didn’t make much noise when you’d tossed his katana onto the bed with him either.“If you’re anything like Vergil, you’ll wake only when you’re ready to.” You muttered before picking up the hotel’s phone, calling in an order of tea and cake. Your husband was a heavy sleeper when he was passed out from exhaustion. Nothing would be able to wake him up... except maybe violence, but you didn’t want to pick a fight in a hotel.The tea and cake arrived not long after you settled into the hotel room’s couch.Leaning back after having your fill, you closed your eyes, fully intending to nap as you waited for Gilver to wake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a faint clinking sound from the table, alerting you to the sudden presence on the couch and rousing you from your nap. Opening your eyes, you noticed that a green suit jacket was thrown over your form, and that Gilver sat opposite of you on the couch, his piercing blue eyes staring at you in curiosity.“How are you feeling?” You asked, moving to sit up from your reclined position, trying to act as casual as possible.“Are you always this trusting?” Gilver shot back, his expression hidden behind the bandages although you could see the mirth within his eyes.“I don’t trust you.” He still hadn’t answered your question. Gilver shrugged, his eyes not turning away from you. “And yet you took care of me. I assumed that you had already grasped my identity.”You scoffed at his statement, meeting his eyes, accusing. “Did you think that I was foolish enough not to recognize an anagram of my own husband’s name? Who are you, Gilver? Because you are certainly not Vergil.”At your demand, Gilver hummed in amusement before leaning forward, closing the distance between your two faces in an act of intimidation. He snatched your hands and slowly raised them, placing them on either side of his bandaged face. “Are you so sure, my dearest?” It was a dare as he kept his blue eyes locked with yours.You hesitated, your hands trembling the slightest as Gilver held them in place. It was an act of intimidation on Gilver’s part, but you needed to know if you were correct in assuming that it was not Vergil sitting before you. Your hands moved to trace the outline of Gilver’s jaw before grasping the bandages and pulling. The bandages fell in a cascade of white as they unraveled to reveal a face so familiar that a sob managed to escape you. Gilver was almost identical to your husband, but upon revealing his face, you noticed that his eyes seemed to flit between crimson red and sapphire blue. An illusion to hide the true color of his eyes.You could help yourself as your hand rose to cup his face in the palm of your hand, caressing his cheek with your thumb. And like Vergil, Gilver was unable to resist letting out a hum of content. “You were created to look exactly like Vergil.”Gilver’s eyes remained closed. “Yes.”“So that you can be used against me.” You realized, drawing your hands away from the man before you.“Hm... not just you. Dante as well.” Gilver confirmed, opening his crimson eyes to stare at your face below his. “And why not? I am, as you said, identical to Vergil. Why not let me be the husband that you want?”“You’re not him.”“But I can be.”“You’re only saying that to better serve your master.” You grit your teeth at the thought of replacing Vergil with this... puppet.“Smart girl.” Gilver grinned at how you didn’t give in to emotional weakness. “Mundus created me to weaken Dante... and to seduce you. Don’t you miss Vergil? Don’t you want him back?”“Of course I miss him.” You growled, shoving Gilver away and standing up so that you could assert your presence over him, “And I could never replace him.”“You wouldn’t know the difference if you allowed me, Y/N.” Gilver called out to you as you stormed past him to the door.You froze by the door, a question nagging you from the back of your brain. When you turned to look at Gilver, he was already standing in front of you, probably hoping to stop you from leaving. “If you are like Vergil, then let me ask you this, Gilver. Are you content with just being this? A puppet for Mundus to control?”“I was created by Mundus for the express purpose of hurting you and Dante, I’m not a person.” Gilver replied blandly, idly playing with a strand of your hair.“... but do you want to be?” You asked, eyes searching his own before stepping out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After that night, Gilver became a near constant presence at Bobby’s Cellar. Every night you worked, you would find Gilver seated at the bar, sometimes teasing you, sometimes attempting to seduce you. Most of the time, however, you found that he worked to earn the trust of the cellar patrons, buying drinks for people or even bringing in new jobs. You knew that he was up to no good, but left the fun to Dante, going along for the ride.Rather gradually, you noticed that Gilver was slowly acting less and less like Vergil, adopting a rather playful persona towards you, but a cruel and cold demeanor towards others. He also stopped offering to replace Vergil, and instead started to suggest that you leave Vergil to be with him. Perhaps what you’d said that first night had made him think a little.Though... perhaps not enough because he still seemed intent on continuing to follow whatever Mundus’s plan was.Still... despite yourself, you’d started to consider Gilver a friend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Upon Dante’s suggestion, you’d taken a break from working at Bobby’s Cellar and retreated to your home in Redgrave City just for a week. He’d insisted that you deserved a break after working so hard to keep up with the rent and utilities at Devil May Cry. But you’d noticed the ever growing presence of demons because of Gilver, and you knew that whatever peaceful time you had with Gilver’s teasing friendship, was about to come to an end.It was a clear night when Gilver appeared in your kitchen, bandages unraveled and torn, and blood seeping through the green suit his wore. His katana was gone as he stumbled and gasped out your name in pain. “Y-Y/N!’Dropping the knife that you’d been using to cut vegetables for dinner, you practically flew across the room to kneel by Gilver’s side. You’d recognize the wounds on Gilver’s body anywhere... “You picked a fight with Dante...”Gilver gave a hollow, bitter laugh as his body lost the energy to prop himself up, collapsing into your arms. “And lost...”“I... I need to get a first aid kit.” You muttered, eyes wide at the number of wounds you needed to patch up. “You’ll be fine once I’m done with you. I just...” You made a move to leave, but Gilver’s hand quickly shot up to stop you. “No... it’s too late for that... just... stay... please. Look at me, Y/N.”Your eyes started to burn just from looking at the number of open wounds, but you allowed your eyes to rise, meeting Gilver’s crimson red as he smirked weakly. “You’re going to die if I don’t do something, Gilver.”“I’m going to die whether you do something or not, Y/N. Just... stay by my side. That’s all I’m asking.” You could only nod, speechless that you were going to lose a friend. You bit your lip as you tried not to cry, just giving in and holding Gilver to you, resting his head against your shoulder as the light started to leave his eyes.“Hey, Y/N? Look at me for a moment.” Your burning eyes rose to meet his crimson ones despite the tears nearly blocking your view. “I should have listened to you.”“You still can! Let me help you!” You snapped, the tears finally falling free.“Heh. No thanks.” Gilver gasped out, raising a hand to wipe the tears away. “It’s not a bad way to go... In the arms of a beautiful woman.”“Now’s not the time to be flirting with me!” You growled, moving to sit up so that you could move Gilver, panicking when his body began to slowly turn to ash.“It’s always a good time to flirt with the woman you love.” Your breathing hitched when Gilver used last of his strength to lean up, pressing a gentle kiss to your lips and pulling away with an uncharacteristic smile. “When you see Vergil, let him know that he’s so lucky that you love him. Or I would have swept you off your feet. Goodbye, Y/N-”“Goodbye, Gilver.” You sobbed, managing to get the words out before he burst into ashes dissolving and disappearing. No trace of his existence. Not even of the blood that previous stained your clothes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The bed beneath you seemed to swallow you in its comforting embrace as you lay in the darkness of your bedroom in Devil May Cry. The electricity, gas, water, phone, and internet were out again. Try as you might to keep up with the payments, having picked up a job outside of hunting down demons, it proved futile when you were the only one bringing in money. Dante tried his best to provide for the both of you, but he more often than not refused the payments from his clients. Your brother-in-law had a heart of gold, but sometimes he was a bit much.You’d just sent a payment to Morrison for the gas and water, so hopefully the two of you should be able to have a nice shower and home cooked meal for once. You only made a few thousand a month from your job as a secretary, so a majority of it went to certain necessary utilities, rent, and groceries. The rest went into your personal savings in the hopes that you would be able to spend on family in the future. And by family, you meant a possible grandchild from Nero and Kyrie. You’d long given up on having your own child when Vergil decided to stay in the Underworld.You could hear the sound of the front doors opening downstairs, though you ignored the noise and turned onto your side to stare at the picture of your husband resting on your bedside table. It was a profile shot of him reading in a library that you had secretly taken. Though now that you thought about it, Vergil probably had noticed and wanted to humor you. A faint smile grew on your face as you thought back to the days before he had been so consumed with gaining power. Despite his betrayal, you missed him. You tried not to think about him most days, but thinking or not thinking, your heart hurt regardless. All you wanted was for Vergil to come back to you.All you had left of your husband were memories so old that you struggled at times to remember them clearly, pictures, Totsuka, the Silver Rose, your wedding ring, and Nero, who was stuck in a coma in Fortuna because some asshole chopped off his arm to take the Yamato. You’d gotten off the phone with Kyrie a while ago, with no new regarding Nero’s condition. And that was why you were in bed, brooding. Your son was in the hospital and your boss hadn’t allowed you to take the week off to visit Nero in Fortuna.“Should probably quit that job soon.” You muttered, thinking about how much of an asshole your boss was.The lights flashed on as the power suddenly kicked in, and you gave out a high whine of protest, ducking your head under the covers. “IT BURNS!”Evidently, you were loud enough for Dante and Morrison to hear you from downstairs, as your brother-in-law called up the stairs, “Y/N! Come down and say hi!”The phone was ringing incessantly in the background, and it was driving you nuts. “I’LL COME DOWN AFTER YOU PICK UP THAT DAMNED PHONE!”You could only grumble when the two men laughed at your expense. The phone stopped ringing a few moments later, and you kept your word, sliding out of bed to put on the pair of jeans you’d discarded on your desk chair, some boots, and a long cardigan to cover up your camisole. You didn’t want to go down half naked, you had some pride that you needed to keep. Happy with your appearance, you finally found it within your to head down the stairs, where Morrison no doubt had a job for you and Dante.“Huh. I guess I was too slow.” You muttered, taking in the sight of the room below. “Did Morrison leave already?” The question was aimed at Dante, though your eyes traveled to observe the stranger in black standing in the foyer.“Yeah, he went to find Lady and Trish. V here,” Dante gestured to the stranger with a nod of his head, “said that we’ll have to stop a powerful demon from resurrecting.”The stranger, V, had yet to turn and look at you, so you quickly made your way down the stairs to stand by Dante, turning to get a good look at your new client. The first words that came to you head at seeing V were ‘frail’ and ‘mysterious,’ though something within you seemed drawn to him. That strange feeling kept telling you to hold him, to never let him go, and it cause your brows to furrow, troubled. “V, huh?”V angled his head to look at you with green eyes as he gave a brief smirk, “You can call me that, yes. And you must be the fabled Y/N that I’ve heard about as well. A pleasure.”Raising a brow, you turned to look at Dante in question. “People know about me? I thought the usually ladies were Lady and Trish.”Dante shrugged from his position on the couch. “Eh, you might have gained a few fans while running some jobs here and there. I don’t keep track of the gossip.”“O-okay then. So, V,” you redirected the attention back towards the dark haired male in front of you, “When do we leave for this job?”“If it is not too inconvenient, as soon as possible. Urizen has yet to show himself, but I’d like to act before he grows too powerful.” V informed, his eyes shifting occasionally to avoid yours.“Urizen?” You questioned, crossing your arms as you shivered from the memories that the name brought to you, “You mean like in the William Blake mythology?”There was a smirk on V’s face that bordered on affectionate as he lifted a familiar looking book, “It is not the demon’s true name, but a name should be given when referring to him. Are you familiar with Blake’s work?”A bittersweet smile came to your lips, and you suddenly felt sad. “I am. My husband loved Blake’s work, and actually owned a copy of that same volume in your hands.”“Husband?” V questioned with a tilt of his head, leaning on his cane as he stepped forward to face you better. “He sounds well-read, and lucky to have a wife that pays attention to his passion. Does he work as a demon hunter as well?”Dante tensed as you visibly winced from the inquiry. It seemed that Dante was about to rebuff V until you spoke up, a slight wobble to your voice. “No, he… disappeared more than fifteen years ago.”V frowned at your distress, looking mournful at your pain. “An absent lover. I’m sorry. You must miss him.”You took a deep breath and quickly excused yourself. “I do… I’m sorry, V. I have to go… take care of something. It was nice meeting you.”“I hope we can speak again, Y/N.” V called out to you, pivoting in place with an apologetic sadness to his eyes. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”“We’ll speak again, V.” You offered weakly, quickly scurrying up the stairs to your room as your sadness threatened to choke you.You could hear Dante start to reprimand V, but you quickly closed your room door and sank to the floor, grabbing a picture of Vergil as you fell. From the photo, Vergil peered up at you with warm blue eyes in one of the few shots you managed to get of him smiling. A single tear rolled down your cheek as you slumped over the picture, smiling despite yourself.“It’s been too long, Vergil. I miss you so much.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Come on, Y/N! You know you want to!” Dante teased, while dragging you through the streets of Fortuna. Somehow, your brother in law had managed to drag you from the confines of your room to another city almost completely isolated from the rest of society. At first, you’d been under the impression that Morrison had given the two of you a new job. Dante had practically burst into your room that morning with a bright grin, chattering about how the two of you had a lot to get done in the next few days. That “we’ll be set for a few months.” So, thinking that it was a high paying job for once, you’d practically flown out of bed to get ready for a rewarding mission. You’d been suspicious of Dante insisting that you ride along with him on his bike, but you’d let it go on account of Dante giving you the puppy eyes that made you incapable of carrying a grudge against him. It had taken you half a day of traveling before you’d started to read the road signs along the highway. All seemed fine until you’d read, “Fortuna - 30 miles away,” and you’d promptly screamed at Dante, who, like always, laughed at your expense. You had reluctantly agreed to wanting to meet Nero, but you didn’t think that Dante would spirit you away the very next day. It was at that point that you realized why Dante had been so insistent on you not taking your own bike. He didn’t want you trying to run away. No matter how much you argued, Dante didn’t stop the bike the rest of the way to Fortuna. And it wasn’t like you could simply jump off a motorcycle that was going 130mph. “This is humiliating, Dante!” You cried, digging your boot heels into the cobblestone ground as Dante dragged you backwards through the streets. If was a fact that the two of you looked ridiculous to the people of Fortuna, and you could almost hear them whisper about the rowdy outsiders. “Well, it wouldn’t be humiliating if you’d. Just. COOPERATE!!” Dante grunted, giving a hard yank with his arms wrapped around your waist. The leather on his coat sleeve gave a protesting squeak. “You can’t make me do this!” The protest left your mouth along with a loud yelp at suddenly being yanked. “You’re a grown ass woman, Y/N!” “And as a grown ass woman, I can make my own decisions!” “Well, you sure ain’t acting like one! Stop being a coward!” “I’M NOT A COWARD!” “YES, YOU ARE!” “NO, I’M NOT!” “YES.” “NO!” “YES!” “NO!” “WHAT ARE YOU SO SCARED FOR?” “I AIN’T GOING TO BE A REPLACEMENT!” ….. ….. “…What?” Your answering grumble was enough of a sign for Dante to turn you around in his arms, forcing you to either stare at his chest, or his face. You weren’t normally this unreasonable. “Y/N… what’s really bothering you?” “… I’m scared that he won’t like me trying to play at being his mother, Dante.” You whispered, wanting to disappear in a hole at all the stares being directed at the two of you. If Nero was anything like his father or uncle, then he was the type to dislike being underestimated. “I don’t want to just pop into his life after eighteen or so years and be like, ‘Hey! I’m your stepmother, I’ve come to  support you!’ What if he thinks that I’m pitying him?” “Y/N… you don’t have to be his mother. Just… be there for him. Nero’s not the kind of person to just take charity, but he’s also not the type to dislike a person upon meeting them.” Dante sounded so sure of himself as he reassured you, but you still fidgeted from the nervousness. “I… I’ll go see him, but if Nero finds my presence annoying, then I’m out. I just want…” You didn’t finish your sentence as you toyed with the necklace around your neck. I just want a family, again. You didn’t have to voice the last bit, the suddenly somber glint in Dante’s eyes told you that he knew exactly what you were thinking. “You know… maybe you should let me come to my own conclusion before you start worrying.” A playfully annoyed voice suggested from behind. An embarrassing squeak left your lips as you spun around to confront the voice’s owner, indignant at being caught unaware. The first thing that caught you off guard was the chin length white hair, still so striking even after spending years in the company of the twin Sons of Sparda. He was young, but he was tall, almost as tall as Dante, if not a few inches shorter, and you had to tilt your head to look him in the face. It was like a slap to the face with how similar he looked to Vergil, and you found yourself taking an involuntary step backwards in shock. He had the same blue eyes that made your legs weak, stubborn, passionate sapphire eyes so much like his father’s. But that self-assured smirk was without a doubt something that Dante shared with the young man. Without a doubt, the young man that stood before you was Nero. A silence settled over the three of you until Dante broke the silence. “Hey, Nero! Long time no see! How have you been, kid?” Your eyes narrowed at your brother in law… real smooth, Dante. Real smooth. “We just saw each other two days ago, Dante. Not much has changed since.” Nero’s expression was absolutely blank as he pointed this fact out to Dante. It was true enough, which probably made Nero very suspicious of Dante’s sudden return with a stranger nonetheless. The young man’s eyes flickered to look you over before he directed the next question towards you. “So what brings you to Fortuna?” “We were actually looking for you, Nero.” You winced at how uncomfortable you sounded. Nero spread out his arms briefly as he spoke, “Well, here I am. What did you need that warranted coming back so quickly? The city’s still in ruins you know?” “Actually,” Dante started, raising a finger to the sky, “how did you find us so quickly?” Nero blinked once… twice… three times before using his thumb to point backwards at the large estate behind him. “You were both making a ruckus outside of the orphanage… and I live in that orphanage.” You lifted a hand to smack Dante on the back of his head and turned to glare at him. “So your plan was to drag me kicking and screaming across Fortuna until Nero found us?! What kind of shitty plan was that!” “Ow! Hey! Y/N! At least it worked!” Dante protested when you tried to hit him again, pointing at the much younger man. “Worked like a charm! He found us!” “Yeah, after half of Fortuna pointed and stared at us!” You threw your arms up in exasperation before promptly burying your face in your hands and muttering, “Ugh. I’m so not ready for this.” “Uh. Dante? You going to introduce us?” Nero chimed in, a smirk on his face as he crossed his arms, waiting patiently for the two of you to get your acts together. Dante gave an easy grin as he hauled you up from your hunched and embarrassed position, spinning you around and draping his left arm strategically over your shoulders so that you couldn’t lift your arms to hide your face. You shot your brother in law an indignant scowl when he proceeded to poke your cheek with his index finger. “This particular ball of pint sized sunshine… is Y/N. She’s my sister.” At this, your cheek twitched from how unbelievable this lie was. Nero, for his part, looked equally unimpressed, and shifted his weight to lean on one foot. “Right. You don’t resemble one another at all.” “She’s adopted?” Dante explained, sounding unsure of himself as he shrugged. “Anyways, I thought I’d bring her here to help with the relief effort. Y/N’s a bit of a do-gooder and likes to look after people.” Oh, how you wanted to strangle Dante. You weren’t pint-sized and you sure as hell were not a do-gooder. If anything, Dante’s the do-gooder with how often he doesn’t accept payment for his jobs. Deciding that you’d deal with Dante’s lame explanations later, you slapped a friendly smile on your face and offered your right hand for a handshake, “Nice to meet you, Nero. Dante wouldn’t shut up about you.” For a brief moment, Nero’s blue eyes flickered back and forth between your eyes and your offered hand, and you knew that you were being sized up. After a few seconds, Nero’s thin lips curved into a boyish grin and he took your hand in his, giving a gentle but firm shake. “I appreciate the help, Ms. Y/N.” Before you could respond that Nero didn’t have to add a title to your name, a shock seemed to run up both of your arms, and the two of you promptly released each other’s hands. By your side, Totsuka hummed in recognition at the familiar presence, and Nero’s demonic arm started to glow. Nero’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at you, “Who are you, Y/N?” “I… uh… think it’s better if we talked about this in private, Nero.” Dante suggested, getting in close to Nero and whispering, “Y/N’s connected to the Yamato.” The younger man seemed to recoil at the mention of the Yamato, confusion plastered on his face as he glanced at your own bewildered face. “Yeah, fine, we’ll talk in the garage.” With a small wave to follow, Nero pulled away from Dante and began to stroll towards the large ornate building behind him, pulling open the nearly demolished black gate to lead the two of you through. It might have been a very beautiful orphanage at one point, if not for the rubble that littered the property. You thought that perhaps at one point, children might have spent their time running around the large lawn, noticing the various tire swings decorating the larger trees and the metal playground. There were definitely still children living in the orphanage, as you could see their little faces peaking out at you from the orphanage windows, but you guessed that it was still too dangerous for them to be playing outside. Around the side of the orphanage was a less ornate structure attached to the building. The garage seemed to have been a side thought to the entire structure, only added because of convenience from the looks of how bland it was. It was only after the three of you were inside the garage that Nero turned around and demanded, “Okay. What the hell is going on?” Dante made the expression that he normally used when he was about to start spouting nonsensical information, so you kindly stepped up to cover his mouth. “My husband was the previous owner of the Yamato.” Nero blinked for a moment before looking down at his still glowing arm, “You’re not here to take it back, right?” You shook your head, hand still firmly on Dante’s mouth. “No. I’d imagine the only way to retrieve the Yamato would be to cut your arm off.” When Nero defensively hid his arm from your view, you chuckled and shook your head. “Besides, the Yamato tends to be attracted to its owner’s next of kin.” “Next of kin?” Nero muttered before something seemed to click in his head, “Wait, so does that mean my father is…” “My husband, yes.” You confirmed, looking as uncomfortable as Nero was. “Then… are you my mother?” You didn’t know if it was hope, anger, or sadness that made Nero’s voice tremble just the slightest. You shook your head sadly, “I’m not, Nero.” “But if you’re not my mother, then… oh.” Realization dawned on him at the circumstance to his birth and suddenly the boy looked pained, “I’m sorry.” You managed a grateful smile, your hand dropping from Dante’s mouth. “You’re a sweet boy, Nero. I’m sorry that I didn’t come find you sooner. It must have been difficult without parents.” “I wasn’t alone, though.” Nero’s blue eyes lit up from memories of happy times, “I had Credo and Kyrie to help me. I… uh… do you want to meet Kyrie, Ms. Y/N?” You nodded the affirmative and moved to follow Nero into the main house, “I’d love to, Nero. And you don’t have to call me Ms.” “Then, what do I call you?” “Just Y/N is fine, Nero.” “Y/N, then.” …. “Seriously, guys? You just forgot about me?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Around a year later. “Nero, behind you!” Bang! “Thanks for the save, Mom!” … The two of you stood in silence at the center of a ring of ash, having killed a good handful of demons. Both of you paused in awkward silence, your eyes wide in surprise, and Nero bashfully sporting a dusting of pink on his cheeks. “I mean… uh…” Nero stuttered, trying to explain his slip up before huffing and giving up, scratching the side of his cheek, “Can I… call you that?” “You want to call me ‘Mom?’” you wheezed, eyes burning from the overflow of emotion you sudden felt. “I mean, if you don’t mind-” “I don’t.” You interrupted, looking touched and determined to make this work. “I don’t mind if you call me that.” Nero’s posture relaxed a great deal, a relieved grin appearing on his lips. “Seriously? That’s great.” The younger devil hunter gave a huge sigh, “Okay… Mom.” You bit your lip when Nero called you his mother again. “Nero… I’m going to hug you now, okay?” Your son’s eyebrows rose, but he didn’t question your request, merely opening his arms, voice just the slightest bit hoarse as he replied, “Okay.” Before you knew it, you had Nero in your arms, pure joy flowing through you as he hugged you back. “My son. My beautiful son.” 
Did you hear that, Vergil? He wants me to be his mother. He’s our son.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

May 3rd, 11:40pm
Try as you might, you weren’t able to hide your red rimmed eyes when Dante called you downstairs for the second time that night. Something akin to sympathy settled in your brother-in-law’s eyes as he addressed you, “Y/N, V doesn’t have a place to stay. Is it alright for him to take the guest bedroom?”You paused on the small bottom stair landing, staring down Dante before shifting your gaze to your new client.V, the mysterious client, wouldn’t directly meet your gaze at first, head bowed and posture hunched over the walking cane that supported his weight. There seemed to be an air of guilt that surrounded the younger man beyond that of chastisement from Dante’s earlier ‘talk’. But what could he be feeling guilty about? You wondered, observing V as he slowly raised his head, dark green eyes meeting your own. “It’s really not necessary,” V reassured with a half hearted smirk, “I really must be on my way.”The posture… the manner in which he held himself… it was one you saw many times before. Slouched… raven locks limp and unwashed… slight shadows under the eyes… He’s fatigued… Tired… when was the last time he allowed himself to rest? It brought back memories… some happy, some painful. Like Dante… Like Nero… Like Vergil… Like me…“At least stay the night, V.” You suggested impulsively, stepping down the last few steps to stand in front of the younger man. “You look like you need the rest.” Like you need a safe place to rest your head. Like you need someone to help you shoulder your burdens.“I don’t believe that I should overstay my welcome. I should-”“I insist.” You interrupt, a gentle smile on your lips.V hesitates as he stares into your eyes, which peer up at him empathetically. He knows that he should leave this place. That he needed to go get Nero. But when have I been able to say no when she looks at me with those eyes? Dark green eyes shut as a heavy sigh escapes his lips. The man knew exactly when he was able to deny her. He knew that he’d done it many times before. “…Then I thank you for your hospitality.”As your smile brightens, chiming that you would go prepare the guest bedroom, V finds himself staring after you, wondering… lamenting why it was that he had ever been able to bring himself to cause you pain.
My Spectre around me night and day,

Like a wild beast guards my way;

My Emanation far within

Weeps incessantly for my sin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1am
He could sense your restlessness from down the hallway, and he knew that it was because of the sudden reminder of a painful past. He could hear the quiet whimpers coming from you as you suffered in silence and in the dark, not wanting to bother anyone with problems that you believed should have been resolved with time. Your voice, your suffering called to him, and though he knew that he was what plagued you, he found himself following your voice until he stood outside your door, listening to you cry.Slipping through the door, he found himself in a position that seemed very familiar. The rain pattered upon the window pane as he stood in the middle of your dark room, watching you sleep, haunted by nightmares of him.“No… don’t…. Please…. Vergil.” You begged for a phantom to stay within your nightmare, tossing your head back and forth in denial with your arms outstretched to catch someone that had abandoned you so many years ago.He found himself growing angry at the phantom within your nightmares, gritting teeth and pacing to and fro the length of your room. All around were reminders of the phantom, but he could make out how you’d displayed his gifts to you from years ago. The Silver Rose rested on your bedside table, and he could see that the sapphire necklace that he’d given you rested on a vanity display. He allowed a pleased hum to escape his lips before making a discussion, wanting to comfort you the best he could.Unlike when he’d been Nelo Angelo, he decided not to stand and watch, and joined you in bed, making sure you were comfortable before settling in. He brought his head close towards your own before allowing his own eyes to close in sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3am
V slept restlessly from his place in the guest room down the hall. The bed and pillows were comfortable and clean, a luxury that he hadn’t been able to experience in a very long time, but he still found himself troubled. Every time V would close his eyes, anxiety and urgency seemed to wage a war on his mind. The mortal man knew that he didn’t have the time to be resting. That he should have gone back to Red Grave City to keep an eye on Urizen’s progress, but when you’d offered V a place to stay despite how he’d callously brought back past memories, he couldn’t help himself.It was something that V had to constantly remind himself about now that he was around you. That while V the mortal man had the memories and emotions of Vergil, he was not the older Sparda twin. And yet, the guilt remained, a constant nagging pull to make amends. The fragmented man would close his eyes, begging for a dreamless rest, and wake an hour later from nightmarish memories.A family home in flames.Fleeing from the enemies of Sparda.Watching in horror as his best friend was stabbed by a pair of absurdly large scissorsHelpless as he watch the woman he loved most be hurt by the venom that spewed from his own mouth.
“What am I to you that you could just toss me aside?”
V tried to halt his tongue, knowing what would spill from his traitorous lips.“A burden.” He closed his eyes as your tears fell, not wanting to see the heartbroken expression on your face. But even when he closed his eyes, he couldn’t escape what he knew would come next.V could see your face, still shedding tears, morph with the darkness, until you were hunched over, blood dripping from your lips… the Yamato buried to the hilt in your abdomen. The horror that appeared on your face mirrored V’s as he scrambled to support your body, only to once more be unable to move. And then, all at once, it was like he was detached from his body, watching as Vergil violently yanked the Yamato free of your abdomen… his wife’s abdomen before leaving her bleeding out on the apex of Temen Ni Gru.A tortured sob left V’s mouth as he forced himself to wake from the nightmare… from the memories. Shaking… Shivering… On the verge of tears, V sat up from the guest bed and extended his hand towards the nightstand where he’d left his volume of William Blake poems. Tracing the golden etchings on the cover, the mysterious young man closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe deeply, counting the seconds that passed with each breath. Once satisfied with the stability of his breathing and the calm rhythm of his heart, V shifted to turn on the small lamp beside the bed, bringing just the slightest of illumination to the previously dark room. Flipping to a random page in the book, V read the first line aloud.“Wept for me, for thee, for all,When he was an infant small.Thou his image ever see.Heavenly face that smiles on thee,”He chuckled at the coincidental poem before closing the book, throwing his legs over the side of the bed to stand. How strange… V thought, his eyes scanning the guest bedroom for his feline companion. Shadow usually would have appeared by now. Glancing down at the ink that decorated his body, the man hummed in surprise when he found that his tattoos for Shadow were missing. Dark green eyes darted over to the bedroom door in confusion, “Where did you head off to now?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3:10am
You awoke to the pleasant sound of a deep rumble under your head. It was soothing and seemed to intensify when you burrowed further into your pillow. A purr… Blinking your tired eyes open, you first noticed that your pillow was a different color than it had been before you fell asleep. Instantly alert, you raised your head to stare at what you were snuggling up with. The lights from the street signs outside illuminate your room enough to see that it was indeed a large panther that you had cuddled up to. That’s a… big cat. You observed sleepily, sitting up cautiously so as not to disturb the slumbering feline.Your efforts to be sneaky are futile when you notice the two glowing red eyes staring up at you. The cat stares up at you for a few moments as you freeze in place before its tail twitches and it rises to sit on its hind legs, its size easily allowing it to match your sitting height. Eyes wide, you want to scream in alarm at having such a strange predator in your bed, but can only gulp nervously as it leans forward, maw dropping open. You close your eyes, hoping that you won’t be mawled by the panther. Out of everything I’ve faced in my life, don’t tell me the thing that gets to kill me is an overgrown cat…Something rough and wet licks your face before something warm and fuzzy nuzzles into the space under your chin. You open your eyes when the cat starts to purr in contentment as it nuzzles its head into you. Shocked, you hesitantly raise a hand to pet the panther, and its purring grows in volume. “This is so weird.” You mutter, befuddled, but enjoying the affection from the panther.A knock at the door, interrupts the peaceful moment, and while you don’t stop petting the large cat, you open your mouth to answer the knock. “Come in.”The door cracks open slowly, and it is V that steps through the door, posture slightly straighter, but even in the dark, you could tell that he hadn’t rested peacefully. His gaze is cast to the ground as he enters your room, closing the door behind him. “Pardon my intrusion, Y/N. I was looking for one of my companions.” His gaze raises to look in your direction, but not at you. “Shadow… it’s not nice to sneak into a woman’s bed.”The cat, Shadow, pauses in its activities, its back suddenly ramrod straight as it stares at V, judging and silent as it flickers its tail. It doesn’t seem interested in leaving your side despite V’s chastisement.V’s lips thin in disapproval, “My apologies for disturbing your rest, Y/N. We should be departing now.” The younger man turns to leave the room, one hand raised to open the door, but pauses when Shadow growls at him. Turning to look back at his companion, your mysterious client levels a stern glare at Shadow, “Let’s go, Shadow. We should leave her alone.”“I don’t mind.” You voiced your opinion, voice hoarse from sleep. And in all honesty, you didn’t mind the affection that the large feline had shown you. It was a nice comfort, and you wondered why you had never thought to get a pet before.When you voiced your thought, Shadow immediately rose to position itself curled around you, its red eyes somehow smug as it stared at V, as if saying, “See? She doesn’t want me to leave.”“Don’t be childish, Shadow. You know that we have work to do.” V argued with the cat after shooting an apologetic expression your way. “We need to go.” Huffing in exasperation, the feline’s form seemed to melt away, and V immediately tensed up, “Shadow. Stop it.”The command did little to stop the demon (at this point, you were sure that Shadow was a demon…) from shift into a very familiar form, causing your eyes to widen in pain and confusion. Now armored, Shadow threw its arms to embrace you, pulling you into its body possessively. Nelo Angelo… You remembered the name that Dante had given you for the armored visitor… “Vergil…” You muttered in confusion before turning your head to look at V, who looked more tired than ever, “V… what is going on? Why did your companion turn into Nelo Angelo?”“I… cannot explain now.” V gasps, backing towards the bedroom door. “There is no time to-”“Bullshit.” You scowl, moving out of Shadow’s arms to stalk swiftly towards V, extending your arms past his body to pin him against the door. “First you appear with a job, telling Dante that Urizen was his reason for fighting. You cite quotes from William Blake’s anthology as if it’s your favorite thing in the entire literary world. You called me the ‘fabled Y/N,’ as if I were as well known as Dante, Trish, or Lady. Which is bullshit because I know for a fact that people don’t know shit about what I do or who I am. Then, the entire time you’re here, I keep getting weird looks and a strange feeling in my gut. And now… now your companion has taken a form that is eerily reminiscent of my late husband.” Peering up at him, you practically growl out your demand. “Explain. Now.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3:20am
With bated breath, V stares down at your fierce expression as you pin him against the wall. He knows that if he wanted to, he could physically force you to back down. But as soon as the though appears in his mind, he immediately dismisses the idea. No… he’d hurt you enough already, and he refuses to hurt you again. Besides, V is quite sure that if he tried to hurt you, he’d get mawled by Shadow. Dry swallowing, V could only bring himself to do one thing…“Your husband didn’t die, Y/N.” He watches as the fire in your eyes temper before steeling himself to continue. “He was weakened considerably, but he managed to escape Mundus’ control.” When V noticed that you had begun to calm down, he continued to explain, “But suffering such defeat at the hands of Dante and being enslaved by Mundus, Vergil resolve for power only increased.” Dark green eyes peered down at you in the dark, “He took back the Yamato from Nero.” He could see your jaw clench in outrage on behalf of Nero, but continued to speak regardless. “And with the Yamato, he severed everything that he considered a weakness… memories… nightmares… until what remained was he demon half.”“And what became of each part of him after?” You whispered, arms falling from his sides, “How do you know all this?”V sighed and closed his eyes before opening them again. “I suspect that Dante already realized it. And I think that deep down… you know it, too.”“Urizen…” You uttered the name, but a part of you didn’t want to believe it, “What remained became Urizen, and the parts of him that he cut away…” your eyes shifted from V to Shadow, “Became you two.”V offered a hesitant smile before shaking his head, “Close. I merely stumbled upon the parts that he’d severed, and forged a contract with them to keep them alive.” He gestured to tattoos all over his body, “These are your husband’s memories. I was just a convenient vessel.”“And your interest in William Blake?”The man smirked, gaze almost pitying. “Just a coincidence, I’m afraid.”Tired and overwhelmed, V could see the gears shifting in your head. A frown appeared on your face before you frowned and shook your head, “Fine. I’ll believe what you’re saying for now. But if you’re lying…” Your eyes narrowed as the threat left your lips, and V couldn’t help the smirk that appeared when you turned away to shower Shadow with affection now that he’d turned back into a panther.You always were too smart for such lies. V mused, already regretting the lies that spilled from his lips. Hopefully, you won’t piece the truth together before we confront my other half.“Goodnight, Y/N.” V turned to leave the room without another word, trusting Shadow to behave himself despite the glare that the panther sent his way.Pausing, you nodded towards the younger man, “Goodnight, V.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

16th May 08:06pm - Red Grave City
“Dante, V, once I get my hands on you, you’re both dead!” You screamed to nobody in particular as the Totsuka sliced through another demon with a simple flick of your wrist. All around you, the bodies of slain demons dissolved, some turning to ash, others into sludge. They were fairly low ranking demons, weak and hardly strong enough to wind you after so many years hunting demons alongside Dante. And speaking of… you could hear the sounds of combat ahead.
No doubt Dante, V, and Trish taking on Urizen… Vergil…
You didn’t want to believe what V had told you two weeks ago. You didn’t want to believe that the monster that decided to invade the human world with the Qliphoth Demon Tree was what remained of your husband. But as you pressed forward, sliding down a few fleshy ledges and striking down any demon in your way, you found yourself begrudgingly accepting that such a stupid situation would be just like your husband. “Fucking summoning another stupidly tall fortress into the mortal world for power.” You muttered angrily, firing off a few shots from the Silver Rose into some flying insect demons. “First Temen Ni Gru, and now the damned Qliphoth Tree, you’re just a walking plot cliche!”There were a few reasons that you were currently livid and brutally massacring your way through the innards of the demon tree. The first, because your husband had summoned a giant blood sucking demon tree in order to gain power. Second, because he had done so in Red Grave City, your childhood home with the Sparda twins. The third, because your fucking house was just on the opposite end of the damned city, and you were going to make sure that nothing happens to your house. Fourth, because you wanted answers. V was only willing to answer so many of your questions, and Dante was just as clueless as you. So, you had to go confront Vergil yourself. And fifth, because Dante left you behind. He’d left with Trish, V, and Lady despite saying that he would take you along. To make matters worse, he’d taken the helicopter, forcing you to speed towards your home city on your motorbike. The pizza that your brother-in-law had sent you out to get because he ‘wanted a snack on the go’ has long since been consumed by your annoyed self on the way to Red Grave City.When you’d called to yell at him, Dante simply said that it wasn’t your fight. And while you weren’t mad that he’d decided to leave you behind to be safe, you were livid that he would even suggest that Vergil wasn’t your problem. Even though you loved Vergil, you would still fight him in order to save the mortal world.“Left me behind to go with V… Had to speed just to get here in time.” You mutter, closing in on the battle.It is when you get closer to the battle that you notice it’s only one person fighting… and suddenly, your thoughts aren’t to fight Urizen… it’s to do everything you can to protect your son. “Nero!” You scream, pulling the Silver Rose out to shoot at the offending tentacle.The limb retreats from your shot, allowing Nero to deal some damage to a spinning crystal of sorts before being forced to back away. Upon closer look, you realize with horror that it is the Yamato that was trapped inside the material. All attention is drawn to you as you step into the ‘throne room’ of sorts, swapping the Silver Rose for the Totsuka.“You…” The deep demonic voice that calls out to you is vaguely familiar underneath the rumble as the gigantic being directs dull glowing blue eyes at you. Perhaps, V was correct, and this was once Vergil, but with its body mutated and entwined with the demon tree, you conclude that perhaps it was time to let your husband go. Heh. Fat chance of that happening, and you know it.A heavy sigh leaves your lips as you Totsuka from its sheath, the blade crying for its counterpart, “Surprise, it’s me.” You cheer dryly, keeping your eyes on the demon. “Did ya think I wouldn’t come, darling? That I wouldn’t come stop you from attempting to destroy the world a second time?” The demon lord does not answer you, and a humorless laugh escapes your lips, “Not the happy reunion that I imagined, but okay.”Your eyes don’t leave Urizen, but your next words are directed at Nero, “Nero, darling, you’re supposed to be in the hospital.”Your son grunts and revs the Red Queen, looking unbalanced from his missing limb. Nero tries to reassure you with a cocky grin, “I couldn’t let the asshole that stole my arm have free roam.”“How the hell did you even learn about this gig, anyways?” You demanded, stepping further into the arena, sword at the ready and positioned beside your son.“V told me.” Nero shrugged and rotated his shoulder before sprinting forward to deal another blow towards the crystalized Yamato.Following up with a strike of your own, you cursed under your breath, “Of fucking course, V told you.” Jumping away from the crystal when several beams of light impaled the ground before you, you were forced to dodge roll to the side in order to avoid a giant fireball getting thrown at you. “When I get my hands on that lanky bastard…”In the background, you could hear a rather loud voice speak out, no doubt Griffon, “Heh! I don’t think the Lady Sparda’s happy with you, Shakespeare!”You were only able to catch a glimpse of a large bird and a head of familiar dark hair before a tentacle appeared from the throne and slapped you into the side of the arena. “Argh!” You grunted from the impact, sliding down the wall to stand on your feet again. “Gah! Damn it, darling! Married for nearly twenty three years and I didn’t know you had kinks! You’d think you’re smart enough not to try this shit in front of my son!” The tentacle reeled back in order to side swipe you, but you jumped up just in time to avoid the horizontal sweep of the fleshy plant limb. As you dodged, you could hear the sound of someone choking and coughing from behind you. “I mean, okay, darling. We can play this game,” You folded with a solemn nod and a sly grin, before dashing forward to attack the unprotected crystal, “So long as I get to do some pegging!”The strike met its target just as Nero groaned in embarrassment, “Mom! What the hell! Cut it out!” You were about to tease Nero with a grin until a tentacle appeared to slap your son to the side, sending him crashing into the fleshy wall. Distracted by the fact that your son had gotten bitch slapped by a tentacle, you didn’t notice when a beam of thin light shot up from under your abdomen, easily piercing through your body and sending you flying backwards.No cry of pain left your lips as you slammed into the back wall and slide to the floor, instead, as your vision started to fade to black, watching as Dante attempted to take Urizen down with his Devil Trigger, you laughed, “Urgh… you haven’t changed at all. Still stabbing me in the abdomen twenty years later…” Before your vision completely fade, Shadow approached your body and shifted, but to what form, you weren’t sure, only able to discern slicked back hair and worried eyes before falling unconscious.The next you came to, your body had naturally healed the hole in your abdomen, and you found yourself lying in your bed within Red Grave City. Sitting in a chair by your bedside, was V, reading the Anthology of William Blake. The moment you shifted, the young man closed the tome and set it aside, his eyes raising to look at you, “I am glad that you recovered, Y/N.”“V…” You wheezed, throat sore and voice hoarse, “What happened? How long was I out? Where’s Nero and Dante?” The questions spewed from your mouth faster than you could breathe.Your and Dante’s client pressed his lips in a thin line before answering you, “Dante stayed behind to buy us time to escape. None of us were strong enough to face Urizen. Nero left for Fortuna to get stronger, and I haven’t heard from Dante since we left the Qliphoth Tree three days prior. You’ve been unconscious since.”Huffing, you peered out the room window to observe the massive tree in the distance, “Did Shadow bring us here?” You wondered, remembering that it was the remnant of Vergil that had probably carried you out of the tree.“Yes.” V answered, turning to also stare out the window. “I wasn’t aware that you owned property in Red Grave City.”“The house belongs to my husband and I.” You clarified, but didn’t say more. “So, what’s the plan, V? Get stronger and then take Urizen on again?”The younger man nodded, “That is the plan.”An impatient huff left your lips, “That’s a shitty plan.”The grim expression on V’s face brought you to silence, “It’s the only plan we have.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

4th May 01:40pm
When you woke the next morning, Shadow was still curled into your side, its eyes closed and seemingly content despite the afternoon sunlight pouring through the windows. Though you’d slept peacefully through the rest of the night, it was rather strange having another presence in the same bed as you. After all, you hadn’t shared your bed with another individual since Vergil had started leaving on his alarmingly frequent trips away from your home in Red Grave City. And although it had been years since you visited that place, the mere thought of those nights brought a frown to your previously content face. Closing your eyes and exhaling slowly, you mentally gave the box of memories a rough shove away.It’s best not to dwell on unpleasant thing, Y/N. You muse to yourself with the slightest tensing of your body.Sensing your change in mood, Shadow shifted to rest a lightly dozing head on your stomach, cracking a single ruby eye open to check on you as a purr rumbles throughout its body in an effort to calm you.Running a hand through the shadow panther’s silky ‘fur’, you hummed absentmindedly in response. “Just unpleasant memories, Shadow.” When the remnant of your husband’s memories merely huffs in a feline scoff, you turn to cuddle into the Nightmare demon. “I am 100% sure that V didn’t tell me the truth last night… but if there’s anything I’ve learned over the years, prying is generally not the correct course to take to learn the whole truth. Still though,” you sigh wistfully, “My life has been so chaotic and cryptic that there are times where I wish that I was born a normal girl.”Although you wished to say more, your lips clam up the moment that you hear a knock at the door. “Y/N? It’s nearly 2pm. Are you awake, yet?”You share a look with Shadow, “Well, speak of the devil, I guess.” You don’t bother moving as you call out to the moral man, “You can come in, V. I’m awake, but I sure as hell ain’t getting out of bed yet.” Even though you say this, you lift your head to peer over Shadow’s dark body as V enters the room with an eyebrow raised.“Do you have any intention of leaving your bed, Y/N? It’s well into the afternoon.” V inquires with a furrowed brow as he closes the door and continues forward to the side of the bed with a limp.“Oh…. Is it? I hadn’t noticed.” You remark cheerfully, settling back down into the sheets as you pet Shadow. “I don’t think I will any time soon, no.”Unsure as to how to proceed with your blatant denial to rise from bed, V gestures towards the edge of your king sized bed. “May I have a seat?”“Knock yourself out, V. This bed is too big anyways, so… ‘free real estate’ I guess.” You found yourself repeating the meme that a group of orphans in Fortuna City had taken the time to teach you… though you were unsure if you had used the meme in the proper context.Your eyes shifted to meet V’s green once you felt the edge of the bed dip to your left. In the daylight, with the sun’s rays pouring into the room, V seemed… sickly. It was worrying how skinny and pale he was despite the hint of power you could feel in him. If it weren’t for his contract with Vergil’s remnants, you would not have any confidence in V’s ability to defend himself should you all take on Urizen. And once Vergil had been defeated again (though you found yourself in pain just thinking about killing your beloved), would the powers disappear and leave the young man before you weak and on the verge of collapse?“There’s no need to worry, Y/N.” V’s gaze is almost gentle as he reassures you, “I promise that I’ll not suddenly collapse.” Not realizing that you had been staring, you blinked your eyes and mumbled an apology. “No, don’t apologize. It is only natural to doubt my abilities when I look like this.” The young man gestures towards his weakened body with a carefully bitter expression that would stick with you for days to come. “My powers are limited, which is why it is absolutely imperative that we stop Urizen before he grows too powerful.” When you don’t respond, trying to find a way to comment without offending him, V took it as a sign of sadness. “I couldn’t help but overhear you before I entered. That you wished that you were born to a normal life.”Your face scrunches up as you force yourself to sit, “If I’m being perfectly honest, V… I don’t really know you well enough to pour my heart and soul out.”V’s smile remains slightly bitter even as he pulls out the anthology of William Blake poems and hands it over to you. “Fair enough, Ms. Y/N. By all means, save your words. I only ask that you listen to what I have learned about you and your past.” When you reluctantly take a hold of the tome, V gestures towards it, “The note written on the back cover of that volume seems to imply that the person who gifted it to you was rather fond of you.”The book’s cover was immaculate, but upon closer inspection, you noticed that the pages have yellowed from its age. Brows scrunched and curious, you immediately flipped to the back cover and withheld a gasp at the painfully familiar handwriting scrawled along the back cover.

To my beautiful silver rose,

Perhaps it is just the slightest bit vain that I gift this book to you. After all, an exact copy of this anthology sits on my book shelf in the study. But I noticed that you’ve taken a deeper interest in these old poems as of late, so I sought out a copy for yourself. Please do not think I turn a blind eye to your sadness when I am away, Y/N. I do my best to comfort you while I have you in my arms, but I must see my goals through. When I am gone, please read these poems and think of me. Just as I will think of you.

Rest assured that no matter how far I travel, Y/N, that I will always find my way back to you.

Your loving husband,

Vergil Sparda

“You were in that place, weren’t you?” You asked V as your fingers traced the note written into the cover. “There is no way you’d have this particular volume if you hadn’t been.”V nodded, his eyes carefully watching as you caressed the book. “When I found Vergil’s remnants, they had been drawn to that book which had been left in one of the upstairs bedrooms.”“I left it there when Vergil embarked on his quest through Hell.” You admitted, melancholic. “The book had been a constant reminder of an empty promise, so I tried to bury my past. Obviously it didn’t work, but I left the book in Vergil’s childhood room regardless.”“Why the book?” V wondered, “Aside from the note in the back, the tome seems ordinary.”Handing the book back to the younger man, you merely smiled a tame smile, “It was a symbol of hope that I didn’t want, as well as a constant reminder that the man I love abandoned me in favor of demonic power.” Slipping out of bed, you grabbed a robe and ventured into the bathroom, only a final statement leaving your lips before the door shut behind you, “And nothing’s worse than to be reminded that I wasn’t enough.” 
22nd May 11:32am
You’re not sure if you should be worried or relieved by how easy it was to trail V through the city wreckage as you sprinted and jumped from one roof to another. The mysterious young man traversed the streets below with his Nightmare demons protecting him as low leveled demons appeared along the path. Over the course of the past few days, you and V had taken shelter within your home in Red Grave City. Although there were times where you interacted, V regularly ventured out into the city on patrols and supply runs, seemingly under the impression that you were still injured from the encounter with Urizen at the heart of the Qliphoth Tree. More often than not, V would leave in the afternoons and return in the morning.Although you were touched by his care for your well-being, you still couldn’t but feel distrustful and suspicious of V. The names of his demon contracts… Hence your current trailing… and as it turns out, his actual hair color is white.With how many demons there were roaming the streets, you were surprised that V had lasted this long. Though, from your spot seated on the roof above the corner where V fought to protect a small group of surviving humans, you could tell that the younger man was becoming weaker the more he used his abilities. You would jump down and aid him if he needed it, but only if he needed it.Your initial assessment of V was that he didn’t care for humans in the slightest after watching him walk fast the human corpses without a care. The way the younger looking man had gazed upon the carnage with indifference… you remembered shivering and thinking that there was no way he was completely human. Though, after that night, you were pleased to learn that V had quickly taken up the role as protector while the humans evacuated.Your attention drifted back into the present when V slumped over below you, exhausted as he sat upon a pile of demon corpses. The humans that he had protected were cowering against the wall opposite of V, and you frowned when none rose to offer aid to the sickly man, who had begun to pale more than he normally did.You heard V heave a tired sigh as he asked Griffon a question, “How many days has it been?”The demon summon flapped its wings and hovered above his master, “Three.”V slumped over, curling in upon himself, his dark hair hanging to cover his face. “I’m not sure that I can even last a month.” Your frown deepened at that comment. That’s news to me… shit. Now I feel bad for not helping him. You rose from your seated position and removed your eyes from V to sweep the area with a vigilant gaze.“You’re just going willy-nilly, spending all your strength like that.” Griffon squawked mockingly, “Nicely done, buddy. If you continue like this, you’re gonna croak before the kid even returns.”So, V’s dying? You wondered, Who is he? What’s his deal? How is he involved in this mess to begin with? Your gaze also darkens when the humans call V and Griffon monsters. We have to protect humanity, yes. But this is one of those times where I understand Vergil’s distaste for humanity. Then again… nothing is perfect.Your eyes sweep briefly back down to make sure that V was in the clear while searching for food just as you felt several demonic presences appear behind you. Stepping away from the ledge, you nodded and unsheathed the Totsuka just as several Hell Bats and a Lusachia attempt to ambush you.Your steps are quiet as you slide under several fireballs and sprint across the rooftop to a less narrow roof. “Okay, folks. I’m going to have to ask you to be as quiet as possible during this entire transaction we got going here.” You chirp with a smirk, voice carefully lowered to just below your normal speaking voice. “I don’t want my friend knowing that I’m spying on him. Heh.” As expected, none of the demons respond, opting to rush you with fireballs and incantations.Your feet are moving before your brain catches up with the attacks, running in wide arcs and tight turns to avoid the incoming fireballs and incantation circle. “Sorry, what was that?” Your grin is feral as you push off from the rooftop in a wide swipe at the Lusachia, striking it with a shallow cut before kicking off of it in a backflip, free hand pulling out your Silver Rose to shoot it in the face a few times. “I couldn’t hear what you were saying!” As you stick the landing, you shoot it once more before raising the same hand to your ears, “You’re gonna have to speak louder!”Of course the Lusachia can only groan as it falls, dying from the wounds you’ve inflicted upon it. Around you, the Hell Bats screech and rush, swooping down in lines of fire as you duck and dodge. “No, no! I wasn’t talking to you guys! You’re a bit too loud, so imma have to ask you to shut up!” Just as two Hell Bats swoop down to attack you from both sides, you holster the Silver Rose and Totsuka, getting into a wide stance. When the bats are close enough, you unsheathe the Totsuka in a single movement, cutting down the demons before they could even touch you.The remaining Hell Bat screeches and flies back towards the grocery store’s roof, but you only grin and follow, Totsuka sheathed once more. “No, no! I’m gonna getcha!”You are probably a step away from killing the bat yourself, when you notice a giant meteor suddenly appear in the sky above you. “Ah! Nope!” You are just in time to kick off the grocery store roof and flip to safety when Nightmare crashes into the grocery store, completely decimating the building. Wincing at the loss of the area’s last remaining food source, you crouch down upon the ledge of another roof and scan over the wreckage below. “…that was overkill.”It seems… from how loudly Griffon was protesting, that it agreed with your assessment. “You’re killin’ me here, V! Didja really have to take it that far? You could’ve just-oh, I don’t even know where to begin!”You watch as a boy and his mother walk out of the wrecked grocery store before jumping down from the rooftop, casually strolling over to where V and Griffon continued to converse. You were about to speak when V crouched down and suddenly took a bite out of a demon’s carcass.The only thing you could do at seeing the younger man eat the demon meat was dry heave loudly.Both V and Griffon freeze before turning their heads to look at you. “Aw shit!” Griffon curses, “It’s the Lady Sparda!”You hold back the gag threatening to escape as you approach the two, eyes trained on the blood staining V’s mouth. There’s unfiltered horror on V’s face even as you crouch down and wipe away the blood with a handkerchief. “Raw demon meant cannot be good for you.” The horror softens when you sigh and offer V a hand, “Come on. I still have canned food in the pantry back home. Let’s get you cleaned up.”You don’t see the grief and regret upon V’s face as you turn to lead him out of the wreckage, hand in hand. ~~~~~ 
V’s Point of View
V’s green eyes never leave your back the entire way back to the house that Vergil had bought you all those years ago. He is exhausted from overusing his abilities, his mind muddled and unfocused. V can tell that the silence bothers you. He’s known that the silence bothers you ever since you’d both fled from this very city when you were children. Still, the past few hours have rendered him too tired to speak. So the silence continues.
Even as you fix him a meal.

Even as you sit down with him to eat.

Even as you guide him to the bathroom.

Even as you place a set of his pajamas on the counter.

Even as you leave the bathroom with a comment that you’d be in the study.

Even in his mute state, V doesn’t fail to see the melancholy in your eyes.
As he undresses, leaving his demon blood soiled clothes in the sink, V laments his current situation.The house that he’d bought for you is still very much the same as it was over twenty years ago. Aside from the changes in products and appliances on the inside, it is as he left it. There are signs that Y/N doesn’t live in the building as often as she should… canned and dried food products in the pantry… a fridge empty except for bottled water and frozen meals… untouched kitchen appliances… a vacuum that seemed to be over ten years old… dust gathering in the unused rooms where they had planned to put a baby crib… his old clothes packed into boxes and shoved into the very same dusty rooms…When the overly large bathtub is filled with hot water, V forces himself into the separate shower to quickly rinse off the dried blood and grime coating his skin. In the back of his mind, he recalls a memory where you told him that it was gross to sit in filth when taking a bath. The memory brings a constricting feeling to his chest and he doesn’t care that he drips water everywhere as he leaves the shower in favor of the bathtub.The soap used in the shower is the same scent you’ve always used. The brand has changed, but it seems that you haven’t. His chest constricts some more when he realizes that you haven’t changed much since the last he saw you aside from your overuse of snark and slang. Sinking into the hot water and wrapped in your scent, V laments that the melancholy in your eyes was nothing new. When he was Vergil… a young Vergil from over twenty years ago… the last year spent with you before Temen Ni Gru… there were times where he noticed your eyes fill with melancholy. V winces, visibly in pain as he forces himself to remember. Vergil had known you were sad and lonely… but he had chosen to ignore your pain.And even now, when he was no longer that man, V continues to hurt you.The mortal half slips under the water before he knew it, his mind running wild with reflection.
Strange.

I feel rather peculiar.

I’m scared because I am weak.

I’ve resorted to depending on others because I am afraid.

That is what the weak do.

I’m…

…ever since I got this body, all I’ve been doing are things that I don’t want to do.

All of my thoughts are things I don’t want to think about.

(Y/N. Mother. Dante.)

While I’ve always intended on reflecting on why I lost (to Dante… to Mundus),

The reality is, I’ve moved on a long time ago.

I always thought I could fill this emptiness with power.

Anything that I lacked could be compensated with raw power.

How ironic.

It was only after I was stripped of all my strength that I realized…

That it was always within reach.

Always.

Deep inside, the answer was always there.

~~~~~

Y/N’s Point of View
“V?” You knock on the door to the master bathroom after around ten minutes, intent on taking the man’s clothes in order to wash them. “V, I need your clothes so I can put them in the wash.” When there is no answer, you knock again, “V? If you don’t answer me, I’m just gonna come in.” Your brows furrow at the lack of answer. “… Well, I warned you. I’m coming in.”There’s a distinct lack of sound inside the bathroom when you enter although the dirty clothes are in the sink, “Um… V?” Your gaze sweeps across the large bathroom to rest upon the filled bathtub, and you frown when you notice the bubbles rising from the middle of the large tub. Creeping closer, you can see V under the water, his gaze empty and melancholic. No more bubbles rise from his lips, and you suddenly realize that V might be too tired to notice that he was drowning.You don’t notice the wet floor, and you don’t care that the man is completely nude. Something in you beckons you forward, and you practically sprint to climb into the bathtub, taking a firm hold of his torso and lifting V’s upper half out of the water.V’s green eyes blink blearily as he stares into yours. “V?” You whisper, letting go of his torso once he’d sat up on his own. Your hands come up to brush his dark hair out of his eyes. “Are you okay?”The man lets out a shaky breath and ducks his head, nodding. “I appreciate the sentiment, Y/N. But I wasn’t in any danger. You didn’t have to climb in to save me.”“You weren’t breathing, V.” You deadpanned, bringing up a hand to flick his forehead. “Nobody’s dying in my house.”The two of you are quiet for a few moments until V turns to look away from you. “As much as I am grateful for you kindness, I don’t want to imagine what your husband would do to me if he finds out that you bathed with another man.”You flush a deep red when you notice the position you were in… straddling a completely nude V in the bathtub while you sit in a soaked white nightgown that was becoming see through. “I… uh…”You’re at a loss for words and continue to be at a loss for words when V turns back to stare you down with darkened eyes. He scoots you closer, pressing you against his body as he teases lowly, “Unless… I entice you…?”You swallow hard when you notice that something hard is pressed up against you. ~~~~~~ 
Third Person Omniscient Point of View
“I… don’t…” The water is starting to cool in the bathtub, sending chills up your body even as you flush from head to toe. The only source of warmth is from V, who holds you close, his green eyes gazing at you with a myriad of emotions… Lust… Affection… Loneliness… Guilt… Mischief… Love… It has been over twenty years since someone has made love to you, and for all your faith and devotion, you want to feel that intense pleasure… that warm intimacy once more. You know that a demonic Vergil has run rampant across your home city, that what remains of your husband’s humanity has bonded with the man before you… You know that something within you call for V and beckons you to continue… to give in.The moment that you pulled V out of the water, soaked from head to toe with concern in you eyes, V knew that he could continue this charade with you. He’d been cruel to you for most of your life, and he couldn’t bear to be cruel for another minute. He wants you to know him completely once more. As Vergil as well as V. What he wanted and need this entire time had been something you’d been willing to give him from the beginning, and Vergil had been a fool to cast you aside. Yet, with you pressed so close to him, your scent invading his senses, all V can think about is his love for you. A love that had never died, just stubbornly ignored. He’d neglected you for over twenty years because of his mistake. And now, if you are willing, he would make love to you until that melancholy has been chased away.You gasp when V presses his lips to the crook of your neck, whimpering as he simply brushes his lips over your skin in light caresses. The mortal half smirks against your skin and whispers to you in a low rumble. “I’ve slacked in my duties, Y/N.” His hands trail up your bare thighs resting on either side of his hips, bunching up the material as his hands rise sensually to rest upon your waist.“W-what are you…saying?” It would be remiss of you to not notice the same phrase that Vergil used on the day he asked you to marry him. When did your breathing become heavy?V’s lips trail upwards along the column of your throat achingly slow as he kisses teasingly along the way. His thumb traces gentle patterns on the skin of your waist even as he lifts you from his hips to place you close to the edge of the bathtub. He’s on all fours, knelt before you with his arms propped up on either side of your head as he continues the kiss until he’s at your ear. “I’ll show you how much you mean to me, my beautiful wife.” V growls as he gently nips your ear.Shocked, you pull away to stare at the man. “V…” you plead, voice weak from arousal and heartbreak, “Please don’t play with my heart like this.”The dark expression softens as V leans forward to press a loving kiss to your lips before pulling back. “I’ve made so many mistakes in the past, Y/N. The greatest was leaving you in pursuit of power.” His green eyes are filled with guilt as he sighs miserably, “You were right. Power isn’t everything. And I was wrong to call you a burden all those years ago.” At the reminder, you flinch backwards, and suddenly it is no longer just guilt on V’s face, but self-loathing. “Because of me, we lost so much time. Over twenty years of sorrow and regrets, and I didn’t want this to be another regret.”“So, you’re…”“I am Vergil… but not quite.” V confirms, “I… made another mistake, and this is the result.”V’s lip move to continue, but you quickly shut him up by pressing your lips firmly against his. Your arms are raised to drape over his shoulders, pulling him closer as you deepen the kiss with a hungry moan. You part your lips before V can tease you, and heavy desire pools below when his tongue teases the roof of your mouth.V’s hands find their way to the hem of your soaked nightgown, grasping the edges firmly and lifting when you separate briefly to assist him in undressing you. You hear your nightgown flop into the water as V tosses the article of clothing to the side, but you can’t bring yourself to care. You press yourself into V, hands rising to hold his face as your lips capture his once more. “Explanations can wait until tomorrow.” Your voice is thick with desire as you pull away just the slightest to leave the bathtub.After casually slipping your soaked panties off, you turn back to V to beckon him after you. You can hear him leave the tub as you walk out of the master bathroom and into the bedroom.

(Smut Alert!!!)

You don’t make it to the bed before V catches up to you, his hand snatching yours and halting your progress forward. The air conditioning is on, and the cool breeze on your wet skin elicits a shiver through your body just as your nipples harden. Soon, your shivering is not from the cold air, but from the heat of having V’s naked body pressed into your back. His right arm moves to circle around your waist, pressing his palm flat against your pelvis while his left arm releases you in favor of cupping your left breast. You can feel him hard against the small of your back as V presses urgent kisses along your shoulder.“Tell me, Y/N.” His voice is a husky growl between sensual kisses as his fingers tweak your nipple with a quick flick. “Did you ache for me while I was gone?” V’s right palm lowers to rest just over your mound drawing molten patterns just upwards of your clit. “Did you stay up touching yourself to thoughts of what I might do to you when I returned?”You know your husband, and even if V wasn’t completely Vergil, the teasing was enough of a tell to know that he could play the long game. If you don’t answer. If you don’t let out the sinful sounds he’s looking for… V would refuse to continue. And after twenty plus years without, you didn’t want to wait another moment.“Y-yes!” You moaned, body aching for more as your pussy gets wetter. “Every night that I’m alone.” The tortured whimper from your lips pleases V immensely as his hand dips lower to cup your sex, long fingers swiping just lightly before pulling away to show you just how wet you are.“And when you thought of me during those nights, were you as soaked then as you are now?” His voice had been sinful as Vergil, but the deep airy whispers that V makes has you licking your lips in anticipation as his fingers play with your juices. V rests his chin upon your shoulder and brings his fingers up to his lips, “No, right?” You can’t reply, too entranced as he licks your juices off his fingers. “Hmmm.” He moans as you whimper, bringing his hand back down to rest exactly on your clit. “I want to taste more of you.” V growls, a finger toying with your clit while his remaining fingers dip into your slit, spreading your juices all over your lips.Head tilted, you can only moan when V dips a long finger into your pussy before immediately pulling out. “V… please s-stop teasing me!” You beg, quivering as your hands raise to tug his arms close.He hums and thrusts his hips into your back slightly, not enough for him to receive any pleasure from it, but enough so that you know how much harder he’s become. “Hmmm” V purrs into your ear, turning his hand so that it locks with yours, fingers intwined for just the moment, “Well, if that is what my love desires…” In a single fluid movement, he’d spun you around and gently guided you to rest upon your bed. “Then who am I to deny?”Although sickly, you can’t help but salivate over how the black markings decorate his torso and arms. They trail in intricate patterns all over his torso and down to his pelvis, ending at… oh. Fuck. He’s longer than I expected. The part of him that stands at attention, partially curved up, draws your attention better than his beautiful green eyes and dark hair. You’re sure that V can hear how fast your heart is racing as he smirks, completely at ease as he saunters forward and crawls over you. There are whispers at the back of your mind telling you to touch him, but you only ignore them as V presses slow, open mouthed kisses along every inch of skin on his way up to your mouth.He stops just shy of kissing your core, where an unbearable amount of heat has gathered.He presses gentle, mournful kisses to the spot that Vergil and Urizen stabbed, his eyes briefly meeting yours with a silent plea for forgiveness.He licks up the valley between your breasts, eyes closes as if he’s savoring the taste of your skin.He issues a silent challenge by meeting your gaze as he pulls one of your nipples into his mouth while a hand plays with the other. You meet his gaze and stubbornly refuse to look away even as you feel his tongue flick and lap, even as the heat of his mouth becomes almost too much to bear.When he finally makes his way to your mouth, V’s smiling, something that has always been rare even when he was Vergil. The slow kiss that follows is sweet and loving, but is interrupted as you gasp. V smirks smugly as his fingers circle your slit a few times before he presses a finger into you… then two. His green eyes watch you in adoration as he pumps his fingers in and out of your soaked pussy, taking in your moans as if it were the sweetest melody he’d ever heard.You can’t help the moans that fall from your lips or that your legs spread to give V more space. You want more.“V!” You whimper, even as he presses a third in. “P-please!”He pretends he doesn’t hear you, continuing to finger fuck your pussy as his thumb plays with your swollen clit. It has been over twenty years since he’d had you beneath him. And with all the shit he’s pulled in the past, he wants you to cum at least once before he takes you.After years without, you don’t last as long as you’d hoped. The rush of pleasure builds up faster than you expect. Your legs stiffen and your toes curl as the heat builds up to a climax, sending you over the edge of wild abandon and heavy breaths.You come back from the haze to find V grinning triumphantly, licking your juices from his fingers once more. When scowl dangerously, V only continues to grin. It doesn’t take much more than a push to reverse your positions, but still V’s grin persists.“Not satisfied, my love?”“You know damn well that I’m not satisfied.” You mutter with a pout, throwing your legs over his hips so that you can press your soaked lips against his throbbing cock. Biting your lip, you stay still for a few moments as you look down at V, his dark hair sprawled upon the bed and lustful gaze staring up.“And how would you have me repent, Y/N?” The words are out of his mouth before V realizes it.You hum, tracing your fingers along the black lines adorning his chest before moving your hips to slid your pussy along his cock. “I want you to fuck me, V.” His body tenses when you continue to tease him, “I want you to fill me up. To make me cum so many times that I forget my name. To make me scream so loud from pleasure that fucking Urizen can hear it from his stupid demon tree.”A growl is your only answer before V’s gaze darkens once more and you find yourself pressed into the bed, watching as V positions himself between your legs, lining himself up so that the head of his weeping cock is pressed to your opening.“If Urizen hears the sounds of your pleasure, he might be compelled to take you as well.” He’s teasing you again.“Urgh, V, jus-ah!” You’re interrupted when his hips snap forward, sheathing his cock to the hilt.“I’ve never been one to share.” V gasps, holding onto your hips as he pulls away and snaps back.All you can do is moan and move to meet his hips, lewd noises filling your quiet home as V sets a quick pace. After years of denying yourself the pleasures of the flesh, you can feel your cunt stretch around V. Already sensitive from your previous orgasm, it takes everything for you not to cum again just from being filled. Your soft moans and gasps of his name fuel V’s desire, and soon, as you cry for more, he sets a brutal pace, pounding into your pussy as your writhe beneath him.His green eyes are wild as he pounds deep into your womb, something like determination in his eyes, “Y/N.” Your name is like a prayer upon his lips, “You asked me to fill you up.”If it was possible, another jolt of pleasure shot through your body and straight to your core, and you found yourself tightening around him at what V was implying. “Yes.” You moan, throwing your hands up to wrap around his shoulders, “Yes, V! Fuck! I need you to cum in me!”Unable to stop himself anymore, V let go of whatever control he had and thrust into you with wild abandon. He didn’t even know if he could impregnate you in his current state, and he knew that it was reckless to try, but fuck if he wasn’t going to try anyways. It was all you’d ever wanted with Vergil. A family. And if he could give you this, too…God, you wanted to be filled. The thought of finally having a child leaves you wailing and on the edge of release. You could feel him throb as he abandoned rhythm, muttering ‘I love you’ as his body quaked with each thrust before abruptly stopping. The moment you feel his warmth spilling deep into you is when you finally allow yourself to fall over the edge with a wordless moan, pussy pulsing as you milk V of his release.Coming down from the high, you find yourself entangled in V’s arms, the both of you breathing heavy as you both lay on the bed. Like all times before Vergil left, the two of you lay in silence, content with each other’s presence.
(Smut end… *fans self* as a side note, they absolutely cleaned up after an additional two rounds :P)

23rd May 09:32am
You woke up to the sounds of a struggle, bolting from the bed with light steps and snatching the Silver Rose from your nightstand. You heard something clank and clatter from within the bathroom just as you pressed yourself to the wall, gun raised as you peered into the room. What you saw in had you in a fit of laughter.“Ahahahahaha! Oh my gosh! V!” Your finger leaves the trigger as you bend over with a laugh, , “I have a washer and dryer for a reason!”V grumbled and flushed lightly as he wrestled his clean, but soaked pants from Griffon and Shadow. “…” The set of pajamas that you’d coaxed V into the previous night were thoroughly soaked through because he’d decided to hand wash and hand dry his only set of clothes.“Guess we’ve been camping out too much, huh, buddy?” Griffon chirped after letting go of the black pants.Shadow lets out a growl in warning, also letting go of the pants in favor of approaching you, rubbing its face against your side with a purred greeting. Though you raise a brow in question, you raise a hand to scratch behind the panther’s ears. “I have many questions, I’m not going to beat around the bush.”V sighs and sets his clothes on the sink counter before walking towards to pull you into a loving embrace, “Let me change into some dry clothes, and we’ll talk over breakfast.”His wet clothes feel cold against your nightgown, but you don’t mind, humming as you snuggle into V’s embrace. 
15th June 06:00am
“Hurry up, Shakespeare! The Lady Sparda and I aren’t gonna wait for your slow ass all the time!” Griffon called back towards V from his perch on your right arm.“Oh, don’t be like that, Griff. He’s trying his best.” You chide, turning to stare at V just as he closes the remaining few meters to stand at your side. The past month had been an ordeal, but here you were, about to meet up with your son to end this mess. Turning to V, you playfully nudge him, “Let’s go, V.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

15

th

June 06:03am

- V’s POV -
 V watched as you raced to greet Nero with a flying tackle hug that nearly sent the one armed boy tumbling to the floor from the force of your excitement. The mortal half of Vergil couldn’t help but feel equal parts bitterness, sadness, envy, and longing as he watched you fuss over Nero with worry. As he was, V didn’t feel like he was capable of having a family. Not only was the mysterious man dying the longer he remained separated from his demonic half, but because he felt unworthy after everything that had transpired since the day his family home was burnt down. Although he longed for this, it was probably one of the biggest conflicts within him during the past few weeks with you… and one of the reasons why the days had passed with too much left unsaid.“Nero! Light of my life! My reckless son!” You continued the embarrassing titles while straightening his jacket and hair, taking care to pat down the spots covered in rubble dust. “I’m so happy to see you! Nico did such a good job with your arm! Oh! But that last one broke-”The demon hunter’s cheeks pinkened as his mother continued to fuss over him, “Mom,” he whined, embarrassed at the fact that a stranger like V had to bear witness to this. “It’s good to see you, too, but I’m fine. I got a spare arm here-” Nero gestures to the red colored mechanical limb attached to his hip, “-see? I’ll be fine. But enough about me, what are you doing here?”Like mother, like son, I see. V mused with amusement when the pair of you completely ignored the dying Goliath. Shadow had stalked over to sit at your side with a content flicker of its tail while leaving his weakened master to slowly walk over. “Little wanderer…” V addressed the dying demon, raising his cane to deliver the killing blow, “hie thee home.”Just as the massive demon faded into burning ashes, you and Nero stopped your fussing to address V’s arrival. “Well, it’s a bit of a long story, Nero.” Your grin is sheepish as you pointed at V with two hands, “Apparently, V’s been living like a hobo before he came to Devil May Cry for the job. Since he didn’t want to leave Red Grave City… and I have a house here, he kinda stayed with me the past few weeks.”“Uh-huh.” Nero crossed his arms and leaned on one foot, his expression incredulous as blue-green eyes flickered between you and V. “You expect me to believe that your old house is still standing after over two weeks of this.” To V’s amusement, Nero nodded at the rubble and chaos that surrounded them as he finished his sentence.Kid’s got a point. Griffon communicated telepathically as it circled the sky above their group.You pouted and slumped over slightly, “… well, it’s not standing anymore.” You looked saddened and bitter at the loss of your home, something that V understood. It had been the home Vergil gifted you, and watching the structure of the building get torn in two had been a devastating loss to you both.Nero grimaced and uncrossed his arms, pulling you into a comforting hug. “Shit, mom. I’m sorry.”“It’s uh, one of the reasons why I’m here, actually.” You confessed, hugging your son back. “I’ve got business to settle with Urizen… and I’m sorry to intrude, but would it be okay to stay at the orphanage with you and Kyrie after this is all over?”“Do you really gotta ask?” Nero smiled gently, pulling away. “Kyrie’s been begging me to ask you to come over. So, just take this as a permanent invitation, okay?” The boy’s attention diverged to V, who had settled to stand off to the side, “By the way, V… Thought I was gonna have to pick you out of his… uh… tummy teeth.”V didn’t bother hiding the smirk that appeared on his face when you pulled away to look at the fading Goliath and promptly giggled when you realized that the dead demon did indeed have tummy teeth. “Pardon our delay.” The mysterious man holds up the collection of William Blake poems to show Nero, “I was… catching up on some reading.”Nero’s eyes narrowed at the book, “Yeah… looks like a real page-turner.” The young man remarked dryly. In the background, V and Nero both noticed your renewed laughter at your son’s dry tone while a section of the Qliphoth Tree crumbled. “So uh… you think Dante’s still in there?” Nero asked V, the pair now watching as a path forward was cleared by the falling debris.“If Urizen defeated him, then I expect he’s not much more than Qliphoth pollen by now.” The somber words from V’s mouth put a stop to your laughing, and while he hated when you were upset, he would rather stay honest when possible.  
- Y/N’s POV -
 You knew what a Qliphoth tree was, so you didn’t bother paying attention to V’s explanation, preferring to explore the area for anything remotely useful or valuable. Shadow followed after you, its red eyes watching your surroundings in case a demon tried to get a drop on you while away from V and Nero. “V may very well be right about Dante.” You muttered to the demon panther as you nudged a slab of concrete to the side with a foot. “But we’re also talking about Dante, here.” You smirk down at Shadow with hope, “He’s always been the lucky one out of the Sparda twins. Whether it be a winning prize popsicle, or taking on a demon overlord… Dante’s always been able to pull through…”When you hear the distinct sound of a car smacking against slabs of stone, you turn to walk back towards your son and V, watching with barely concealed amusement at Nico’s antics. “You know, Shadow… Some days I wonder what would have happened to us if Vergil had even half the luck Dante has.” Ignoring Shadow’s questioning gaze, you wave at the trio waiting for you by the van. “Oh well, forget I mentioned.”Once you were close enough, you plastered a carefree grin on your face, “Hey, Nico! Thanks for looking after my reckless son!”“Wha-Hey!”You and the aspiring legendary smith ignored Nero’s indignant cry. “Ah! Don’t mention it, Mrs. S! It’s always mah pleasure!”“Bullshi, then why do you compl-”“How much does he owe you for a new arm?”“Mom! I can pa-”“Nuh-uh, Mrs. S. Don’t worry about it.”“D-Don’t worry about it?! What a load of-”“Aw! You’re sweet as always, Nico!” You grin, walking around to enter the van with V in tow. “I’m looking forward to working with you!”“Ditto, Mrs. S!”Poor Nero looks like he’s about to have a fit from his seat inside the van. You feel slightly guilty for teasing your son in such a way, but quite frankly, you and Nico were having too much fun. To rain on your parade, when V climbs up the stairs to stand just behind you, he leans over to whisper in your ear, “Perhaps you shouldn’t tease the boy so much.”And of course his father would be against my need to tease. You roll your eyes and sigh theatrically, “Alright, fine. I’m sorry, Nero. Please forgive your mother?” You know he already did, but you bat your lashes at him anyways for the fun of it.Nero just shakes his head and folds his arms, “Just sit down. I don’t wanna risk you two falling and breaking something because of Nico’s shitty driving.”You and V take a seat to the soundtrack of Nico’s indignant yelling.

15

th

June 06:26am

- Y/N’s POV -
 “I think we should split into two groups.” V suggested as the group of you sat in the van while Nico worked in the back.“… And cover more group. Good idea.” Nero finished, turning to leave the passenger seat.“Three groups.” You amended, getting up to snatch the Totsuka from where you rested it. “We’re splitting into three groups to get rid of the Qliphoth roots, and I’m leaving no room for arguments.” You shot a challenging look at both Nero and V when they opened their mouths to protest.“Wait, Mom. Are you sure about this? We could still get this done in two groups.” Nero stood up to stop you from leaving the van.“Yes, I would rather we all play it safe as well.” V’s green eyes locked with yours, silently worried for your well-being.Sighing, you lifted a hand to pat your son’s cheek fondly. “I’m touched that you’re both worried about me, but you both said it yourselves. We’re on a time limit if we want to stop Urizen. I have Nico’s number, okay? So if I run into any problems, I’ll make sure to call.” With that, you waved goodbye to Nico, Griffon, Nero, and V before departing from the group, jumping out of the van with a spring to your step.

15

th

June 08:30am

“Maybe I should have stuck with V.” You muttered out loud, back hand-springing off the wreckage of an industrial building to land on a sturdier platform. A few moments prior, you’d been strolling rather peacefully along the city’s central boulevard… or what was left of it anyways. When you noticed a peculiar figure standing in a dead-end of the collapsed street.Having just dealt with a few lingering red Empusa stalking the streets and destroyed a few bundles of Qliphoth roots, you were still on high alert. For a moment, you simply stared at the tall imposing figure before it clicked in your mind how familiar the shape was. The last that you had seen that figure was a dark stormy night. “Nelo Angelo?” You whispered in disbelief, yanking the Totsuka from a dying Empusa and taking a step towards the imposing figure.Of course, the moment you stepped towards Nelo Angelo’s direction, it turned its back on you and jumped atop the rubble blocking the street, only turning to look at you briefly before walking away. You weren’t naive enough to rule out a trap considering how close you were to the main Qliphoth’s structure, but if that phantom was connected to a main root… you would have to deal with him anyways. Sheathing the Totsuka, you followed after the figure, eyes set with flames of determination ablaze.Which led to your current predicament: scaling collapsed buildings and platforms as you followed the figure of Nelo Angelo. “Honestly, why does every incarnation of Vergil make it their life’s goal to be difficult?” You cursed when your feet made contact with another unstable platform.The floor gave away just as Nelo Angelo stopped to turn around, your eyes connecting for a moment before you plunged into what seemed to be a tunnel made by the Qliphoth roots. When you failed to grasp ahold of something to stop the fall, you cursed and fixed your position midair. Ah shit. Stick the landing. Stick the landi- You tucked and rolled to absorb the impact from the fall, but instead bounced as you rolled, “Oof!” You grunted when your back collided with a fleshy wall.“Oooo… ‘A’ for effort.” You huffed, out of breath as you clambered to your feet and strolled over to pick up your Totsuka.It was… deceptively quiet in the tunnel while you regained your bearings. Red, fleshy, pulsating walls told you that you were definitely somewhere inside the Qliphoth, though probably not in its main structure… maybe you were within one of its main roots? When the walls pulsed rather violently, you grimaced and backed away from the wall, trying not to remember Dante’s comments about demons and vore. “Urgh. Too late.” You groaned, going the slightest bit green as you journeyed deeper into the tunnels.The further down into the tunnels you went, the less light there was, until you were forced to use a smidge of demonic energy to see in the dark. You’d seen Dante and Vergil use this ability mostly for intimidation purposes, but you found that it was useful for seeing in the dark. With a simple blink, gone were your human eyes, and in their place stood slit pupils, dark sclera, and ethereal glowing light grey irises.When light was at its minimal, a wail reached your ears from deep within, and suddenly you were sprinting down the tunnel. The closer you came to the wailing, you realized with shock that it was a baby’s cry. What’s a baby doing down here? You wondered, turning as the tunnel drifted left before skidding to a halt at the scene before you.“That’s not…” your words stopped, caught in your throat as something tight and unpleasant clawed in your chest.They stood before you, a family. They weren’t much more than shades… shadowy images and illusions… falsehoods… but you knew what you saw. A mother comforting the crying baby boy in her arms while the father stood by his wife’s side, helping her quiet the little one with comforting shushes and whispered words.“Shhh, shhh, everything’s going to be okay, Nero.” The woman carefully rocked the baby boy in her arms. “Vergil, do you mind humming to him? He always did love it when you sing to him.”The man nodded and gingerly accepted the baby from his wife’s arms. “Of course, Y/N. You should get some rest, it’s my turn to look after our son tonight.”The woman yawned and rested her head upon her husband’s arm, watching as he began to hum a familiar lullaby to his baby son. “No, I think I’ll stay right here, Vergil.”You watched, eyes transfixed with longing and melancholy over the scene. How you wanted this for your family. How you wished that Vergil would have stayed all those years ago. How you wished that Nero was your biological son. How you wished and wished, but your wishes never came true.The shades before you vanished into wispy shadowy smoke before reforming into two figures and a bed. The tears that had gathered at the corners of your eyes fell as you stared in misery at the scene before you. “No. I don’t want to see this.” You sobbed even when you couldn’t tear your gaze away from the two figures involved in a passionate embrace. Your hands rose to cover your ears, not wanting to listen as a shade of your husband made love with a woman that wasn’t you.
“V-vergil! Ah! Harder!”
“Stop.” You begged, finally closing your eyes, but you could still see and hear the shades.
“Y-you said you had a wife waiting for you at home.”
“Please. Stop!” You cried, shaking your head, not wanting to hear or see any of this.
“Tell me you love me, Vergil. If you don’t care about your wife.”

“… I love you.”
“STOP!” You wailed, throwing a volatile pulse of demonic energy at the shades, banishing the scene completely until you were the only one stood in the middle of a large room filled with rubble. Huddling into a ball of misery, you wept, your hair now a dark silvery white to match the rest of your family.“Why must you torture me?” you asked the figure stood behind you, though you didn’t rise to confront them face to face, still drowning in your woes. When the figure didn’t answer, you let out a bitter laugh, sniffling, “Figures. You never answer. I don’t even know what I didn’t file for a divorce all those stupid years ago.”Still crying, you rose to your feet and turned to meet the eyes of Nelo Angelo, though its armor was much different than you realized. Though its eyes glowed red from within its helmet, and its body was solid, you noticed that wisps of shadow and smoke would occasionally fall off it like a fog. This entire time, I was chasing a shade… Umbral Angelo. Probably a pawn of Urizen given life by the Qliphoth. Your grief seemed so intense that it felt like you were choking, but somehow you found it in you to be angry. “Of course Urizen would find it amusing to dance all over my emotions.” You snarled, drawing your blade to point at Umbral Angelo. “So, what! Are you a puppet as well!?” You demanded, taking a menacing step forward. “Are you a puppet to Urizen like Vergil was to Mundus!?”Umbral Angelo seemed to flinch back, as if struck, but still it didn’t answer you, opting to hold its massive blade at the ready. Gritting your teeth in frustration, you charged forward, swinging the Totsuka in an overhead strike that Umbral Angelo easily parried and countered with a backhand, sending you flying backwards even when you blocked.“Tsk.” You clicked your tongue in annoyance as you skid backwards upon sticking the landing, “Katana versus broadsword. Really should have taken Dante up on those spars.” You couldn’t get cocky here, you decided, widening your stance and sheathing the katana once more. “I’ll let you come to me, big guy.”The shade knight raised his broadsword with both hands in a preparation for a lunging motion, the blade glowing and ominous purple before it blinked forwards. You barely had time to switch your footwork and unsheathe the Totsuka to parry the blow to the side before Umbral Angelo was upon you again. Being much smaller than the shade knight, you dodged the incoming elbow thrust by getting in close and under his arm, thrusting the Totsuka into a crack of the armor before pulling away and creating distance.A growl escaped the shade knight as he too jumped away to create distance. For a moment, the two of you stood at a standstill, simply observing one another from across the room. “I don’t understand you.” The statement falls out of your mouth, eyes narrowing as you run a hand through your silvery hair. “You won’t attack unless I provoke you. You won’t speak. You just stand there!” When Umbral Angelo remained silent, you threw up your arms in exasperation. “Is it the grey eyes? The silver hair? It’s probably a little darker than those of Sparda’s bloodline, but- I’m getting carried away. Answer me!”The shade remained silent, only changing its position from one ready to attack, to one of rest, stabbing its broadsword into the ground in front of its feet.“Fine!” The Silver Rose is drawn and its trigger pulled in the blink of an eye, the single bullet hitting the wall just next to the knight’s head.“…s…r…gi…” Broken sounds echoed from within the confines of the shade knight’s helmet as it shifted its position once more, raising its blade to swing. “…fea…m… w…i…”Surprised, you could only jump to avoid the wave of energy sent at you from the swing. “Wait. What did you say?”It didn’t reply, sprinting forward in a violent horizontal swing as you bent backwards to back hand-spring away. The assault of strikes was overwhelming as you were put on the defensive, parrying and dodging while trying to get a few hits in with Totsuka and Silver Rose. There were chinks in its armor, but very little injury to his person. Now that you were closer, however, you could finally hear what Umbral Angelo was muttering.“…use your gift… defeat me with it…” The shade knight muttered, its voice an echo of something that was once familiar, but long since a memory. “…you must… for your own sake.” It pulled back just enough to throw another downward slash at you. “…please…”The force of the strike as you block it causes the ground under you to give away. The knight is unrelenting as you struggle to lift the blade or even parry it to the side. You didn’t want to rely on your demonic power so much, but at this rate, you were bound to be defeated by a mere phantom.A flash of light blankets the room in searing white as you call to your demonic powers. You can feel your body absorb both the Totsuka and Silver Rose as it changes. Before the bright light can disappear, you’d practically teleported to dodge the still descending broadsword.You grunt in annoyance when you feel your grey hair cascade down your back, having grown longer than it was in your mortal form. Like Dante, your Devil Trigger causes you to take on a draconic appearance, tough silver, grey, and black scales adorning your body in a mimic of a knight’s armor. There’s a ridge around your neck and shoulders that resembles a high collar, protecting your neck from potential damage should the need arise. Your head and face are pulled into what looks like a snout, though your mouth and eyes seem to be stuck in an eternal grin of mischief. Behind you are a set of white leathery wings and a long tail. You have little practice with your wings in tight spaces, so they are currently folded into your spine, keeping them out of the way while you make use of your tail, probably one of the only weapons you have in this form besides your fists and feet. Though describing the appendage as a simple tail would be an understatement, as it is probably more like a stinger, its point, a sharp dagger that can shoot energy beams.“If you want me to win so badly,” your voice is a hollow echo when you activate your Devil Trigger, “Then, come at me now.”Umbral Angelo flies at you with another lunge, but this time you dodge and summon white energy copies of the Totsuka to lay into the knight while you throw in a few jabs and kicks, mixing the barrage of attacks up by occasionally backing away so your stinger has enough room to fire a beam of energy or two.The assault is too much for the shade knight, and it is forced to create as much distance from you as possible. It looks like it can barely lift its sword from the damage you caused. Umbral Angelo drops his broadsword and falls to its knees, weakened and defeated as you approach.“Now, let me ask again. Why did you show me those things?” You demand, releasing your Devil Trigger to stand as mortal once more.“To show you the truth. To show you his demons. A part of him regretted. But a part of him did not. Before you face him again, you needed to know.” Umbral Angelo forced himself to reply, though his voice was weak. “There is… one more thing. He-”Umbral Angelo did not get the chance to finish when a sword cleaved through his chest, killing the shade instantly.You stood, wide-eyed, your face slightly splattered with dark blood as another figure bearing Nelo Angelo’s semblance stood before you. When it didn’t attack you, you wondered briefly why it had killed its own ally. And then, you heard a distorted demonic cackle behind you.“A pity it wasn’t even useful to defeat his old whore.”You had no idea what the hell you were staring at. A three headed woman fused with a giant chicken fetus. Wait… whore?“WHORE!?” You screeched, immediately activating your Devil Trigger once more to rush the cackling abomination. “I’LL SHOW YOU A WHORE YOU RAGGEDY EXHIBITIONIST!”“Oooh! I touched a nerve!” The abomination sneered before disappearing into a portal. “Deal with her.”Just as you’re about to close in on the backend of the retreating abomination, you’re tackled so hard that you get sent through the floor and into open air.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Around 30 Years Ago
 One night, around thirty years ago, a large red roofed manor located at the outskirts of Red Grave City was attacked by a horde of demons and set ablaze. That night, two children ran as fast as their legs could carry them, a backdrop of red lighting the sky behind. When they stopped, out of breath and exhausted, the two sought shelter and huddled together for warmth and comfort.You remember huddling close to Vergil, wrapping your arms around his trembling shoulders, stifling your sobs as tears trailed down both your faces. His clothes were shredded and dried blood caked into his hair… There’s so much blood.“Vergil?” You whimpered, holding on to him just as tight as he held on to you. “What do we do now?”When the older boy turned to look at you, and you were sure that his normally bright blue eyes seemed dead. Let’s both be strong. I’ll stay by your side, so we’re both not alone. You thought, straining your ears to hear what your friend would say.“We survive.”   15 th June 09:51am  
- Nero & V’s POV-
 Just as V parted ways from Nero, the two men paused when a ringing explosion echoed throughout the open area. Confused, the two descendants of Sparda watched with narrowed eyes as rubble and debris rained down from the sky.“What the hell?” Nero muttered in question when he heard the distinct sound of something… someone… yelling.Green and blue eyes darted up just as a hole was punctured in the ceiling and two figures fell down and into the open air. Even from afar, Nero and V could make out the form of a Proto Angelo being assaulted by a humanoid demon with white wings. Now that the ceiling wasn’t muffling the figure’s voice, Nero and V stared in astonishment when they heard Y/N’s voice cheer. “You wanted an air battle? I’ll give you a fucking air battle!” The two men watched as you used the Proto Angelo as a springboard, propelling yourself into the air before spreading your white leathery wings and dive bombing into the demon knight like a missile, sending it flying into part of the pit below with a crash.“…I didn’t realize your mother had access to such abilities.” V commented, unable to tear his gaze away from the scene as you flew after the Proto Angelo promising what sounded like a beatdown from the obscenities left in your wake.“Neither did I…” the quarter demon hybrid remarked, his voice trailing off in both awe and horror, “…you know, when I first met Mom, she was nervous and fidgety. She barely spoke more than she needed to and swore probably once in a blue moon. Whatever she went through affected her for years. I know she’s still insecure about our relationship, but damn it, I’m just really proud that my mom’s a badass.”V didn’t think Nero knew that the boy tended to grin ecstatically when he spoke of Y/N, so he kept silent, his gaze staring into the ruins below to watch as Y/N launched the Proto Angelo into the air with a swipe of her tail.“I think she’s proud to be your mother, as well.” V whispered, parting from Nero with a wave.   15 th June 10:30am  “Why won’t any of you answer my fucking questions, huh?!” You snarled, holding up the battered form of the Proto Angelo. “First Umbral Angelo, the big guy you killed upstairs? And now, you won’t tell me where I can find that exhibitionist!” When the Proto Angelo went limp and started to disintegrate, your lips flattened in displeasure. “Shit, I went overboard.”Dropping the demon, you took the time to observe your surrounds and the ruins of buildings nearby. “Well, shit. I didn’t even realize we were in my old neighborhood.” You cursed, taking flight as you searched for a better vantage point. Even among the ruins of a once beautiful city, flying graced you with the feeling of absolute freedom, and you didn’t bother stopping the girlish giggle as you spun and flipped in the sky. It had been over thirty years since you’d last been to this part of Red Grave. From the highest point in the sky, you could see the playground that you and the Sparda twins played at… and off in the distance was the Sparda residence. Touching down at the playground, in your mortal form once more, you took a seat upon one of the forward facing green horses, adult legs resting on either side of the small structure and rested your arms upon the head. Eyes gazing out in the distance, you hummed and thought back to what you learned about V since your night of passion together.
Vergil escaped Mundus’ control when Dante defeated Nelo Angelo.

After everything that had happened, Vergil was dying and still too prideful to come home.

He still thought that his humanity made him weak, and returned to Red Grave to cleave his soul into two… so that he could finally beat Dante.

What resulted was V, the human half, and Urizen, the demon half.

Shadow, Griffon, and Nightmare are parts of Vergil’s memories and trauma that haunted him and made him weak.

V and Urizen both, while being parts of Vergil… do not have all of Vergil’s memories.

V couldn’t tell me why Vergil cheated… only that Vergil’s love for me is one of his most prominent memories.

V, as he is, is dying quickly.

V’s goal is to merge with Urizen so that he doesn’t cease to exist.

Although V wants some way to right Vergil’s wrongs… he doesn’t think that Vergil will share his sentiment when he returns… and even with all he’s confessed to, V’s still holding some stuff back.
All around you was silence, the wind blowing at the top of the cliff you sat. Nobody was there to listen, but you spoke anyways. “I should probably go find V. He’s not completely you, Vergil, but… even with his regrets and shortcomings… he showed me how it felt to be loved completely… instead of being an afterthought on the road to power… but that’s not being fair.” You shook your head and rose from your seat on the playground horse. “There was a time where you stopped at nothing to ensure my happiness. V asked me a few nights ago if I could ever forgive you… for sleeping with another woman… for abandoning me and hurting me… Before I can even begin to forgive you, I need you to answer me this…”
What changed?
   27 th December 02:47am - 22 Years Prior  He couldn’t stop the nightmares no matter how hard he tried. There are some people who never get to escape their demons, forever pulled back into the darkest pits within themselves. No matter how much the light beside him calmed him, reassured him, brought hope to him, the light could never follow him into the darkness. If the light tried to follow after him, he would always be helpless to stop the shadows from smothering that which was precious to him.Tonight, you followed him into the darkness of his dreams, and like all the nights you followed, Vergil could only watch as familiar, giant, terror-inducing sheers appears from the shadows beside you to cleave you in two. Like all nights, you called to him, voice weak as the blood gurgled from your lips. The elder son of Sparda opens his lips to scream your name, to reach out his hands to grasp your own… but no words leave his trembling lips even as he’s thrown to the floor, pinned down by demons on all sides. A manor engulfed in flames appears before him as he screams in silent horror and despair. Vergil begs them to leave you be, but his voice is still gone. The horde of demons drag you towards the flaming house, where a figure dressed in red with long blonde hair receives you. Even when the figure is aflame, Vergil can recognize his mother.In his nightmares, Vergil screams his throat raw as he begs for you both not to leave him. He screams until the flames completely consume you, until the horror of watching your skin melt from the heat forces him awake… and even awake, his screams are silent… his body is still… there is no sweat clinging to his skin, just a bone-chilling cold that fills him with fear and dread.Although fast asleep, you can sense his distress, and Vergil is reminded that you’re alive when you turn around and ensnare him into a comforting hug. Eventually, his racing heart calms along with his breathing, and his arms circle yours to pull your body closer to his. Vergil’s eyes close as he buries his tear stained face into the crook of your neck. You tighten your hold on him, but you still don’t wake.
Y/N… You are the only one I have left. The older we become, the stronger our demonic power becomes. One day, they will come to find me… and if they find me, they’ll find you. I couldn’t protect you all those years ago…
Vergil’s body trembles as the image of you cleaved in half appears in his mind.
I couldn’t do anything to save my mother…
His grip tightens just a little from remembering his mother’s screams.
Even now, I don’t think I’m strong enough to keep you safe if Mundus comes for me… I couldn’t bear it if I lost you to Mundus and his army.

But how can I get stronger?
The darkness creeps at the back of his mind.
My father was the strongest demon in existence. Surely, some of his power must have been passed to me.
He presses a trail of kisses upon your shoulder before settling in for sleep once more.
Yes, this could work. I will travel to learn more about my father and his power. If I am away long enough, the demons won’t find Y/N. And with Sparda’s power, I can protect anyone.
   15 th June 11:40am - Present Day  “We are… falling… the light is calling… tears inside me… calm me down…” You sang as you strolled through the wrecked passageways and overgrown vegetation. “Midnight… calling… mist of resolving… crown, me… with the… pure green leaf…” Something within you demanded that you make your way towards the old Sparda residence, but you didn’t feel like expending all your energy flying there. “Bless me… with the… leaf off of the tree… on it… I see… a freedom reign…” It was a homecoming of sorts for you as well as Dante, so it didn’t hurt to just walk the distance. Although those demonic abominations with the too many hands and masks had creeped you out when you cleared your path through. You shivered at how unnatural and unsettling their motions were. “Praise to my father… blessed by the water… black night… dark sky… the devil’s cry….”You finished singing the song just as you climbed the last slope towards the house, “Ah fuck.” You bent over, clearly out of breath from singing and climbing at the same time. “Urgh… bad idea.” You groaned, lungs and core burning as you gave yourself a moment to breathe before straightening up and entering the home… with a huge fucking hole in the front of it. “Pretty sure that that wasn’t done by a fire.” On guard, you sauntered into the house, taking care to keep your footsteps light as you entered where the sitting room was. Overlooking the entire room was a burnt picture of the Sparda family. Your childhood memories of this place were fond… of your first meeting with the twins… and of the day where everything fell apart… watching as Vergil sat reading his new book… and as Dante pestered his older brother to play fight with him… of giggling when Vergil lost his temper and started arguing with Dante…Your parents were never home to look after you, always sending you over to the Sparda residence so that Lady Eva could watch over you. There were times where you were bitter at the lack of connection to your own family… how your father always seemed to disappear for days on end… how your mother attended tea parties with the other suburban mothers, gossiping and social climbing. They loved you in their own way… now, that you were a mother to Nero, you were sure of this. Still… you could only ever mourn your family home as that of a second home. Your first home would always be the one you stood in now.“I’m home.” You whispered into the damaged empty house. Reaching under the collar of your shirt, you pulled out a red jeweled amulet surrounded by gold, letting it hang in plain sight as you took a seat on the old sofa, a plume of dust rising from the old furniture as you sat down in the same spot when you’d first met the Sparda twins.“Mrs. Eva… I came back.” Your voice grew hoarse as you pulled your knees to your chest, boots resting on the ruined soba fabric as you bit your bottom lip. “I went to see mom and dad at our house before here… our house didn’t survive the fire, I only found a new house where it stood… so I guess this place is all that’s left.” You sniffled and rubbed at your eyes, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Eva. I wanted to come back here with Vergil and Dante… but I couldn’t protect them.”
Promise me, Y/N. If anything should happen, that you, Vergil, and Dante look after each other.
You laughed bitterly as you scrubbed your face of the tears. “V told me that Vergil got here first… cleaved his soul right into two with the Yamato just so he could beat Dante in a fight. I don’t know what to do with them, Mrs. Eva. They’re so stubborn!” You sighed and slumped into the chair, drying your eyes. “Can’t believe I married one of them.”“Yeah, I can’t really believe you married one of us, too.”…You knew that snarky voice anywhere. “Dante!” You cheered, head whipping to the right just as Dante stumbled into the house with… the Sparda and…. “Griffon? Why aren’t you with V?”“I’m trying to get this numbskull to slow down, is what!” Griffon screeched, throwing what seemed to be a dirty glare at Dante. “I swear, what da hell is wrong with you, Dante!?”Craning your neck, you peered over Dante’s shoulder, expecting to see V come stumbling up the slope any minute, “Is V behind you?”“V’s watching over Trish right now. And Nero’s gone ahead to face Urizen.” The way that Dante stated this so nonchalantly gave you pause before you bolted out of the chair, “WHAT! THEN WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?!”Griffon squawked in alarm at how enraged you sounded, “Oh, shit.”“Relax, Y/N. I just wanted to try something first.” Dante raised his hands to calm you down from your seething mother hen mode, holding out the remains of the Rebellion in his hands. “First though, how did you get here so fast?”Raising a finger to your lips in a shush motion, you winked, “I think Vergil once told you about our secret path.”At this, Dante seemed mildly annoyed, “Yeah, that you both kept from me. And how the hell is it still around anyways?!”“Beats me.” You shrug before pointing at the broken Rebellion. “So, what’re you going to do with that?”“The demonic power was activated in me once, when Vergil lovingly jammed this through my chest.” Your brother-in-law paused to raise the Rebellion up, observing it with great scrutiny. “I always wondered… why did my father give me the Rebellion?”“Okay, what are you muttering?” Griffon demanded, gliding over to rest on your outstretched arm. You glance at one another and shrug, unsure as to what Dante was getting at.“Over the years, I’ve been stabbed and jabbed by a number of things. But who would’ve ever guessed…”When Dante trailed off at the end of that sentence, the bulb in your head clicked on, but you were too late to stop him from stabbing himself. At the squelch of broken blade meeting flesh, you winced and recoiled as Griffon yelled in outrage.“Have you lost your mind!? There’s a demon to destroy! Kill yourself later! I’ll help!” Griffon turned to look at you, “C’mon, Lady Sparda, help me stop him!”“If the Yamato can separate man from devil… then what of the Rebellion?” Dante grunted as the wound glowed red, spreading to engulf even the Sparda on his back.“Wow… you are… absorbing the Sparda.” Griffon seemed equally as shocked as you were when Dante’s body quickly absorbed both Rebellion and Sparda, glowing a red light so bright, that you wondered if this was how it felt to be on the receiving end of a Devil Trigger transformation.Once the light show faded away, you pouted at how cool Dante looked with his numerous wings. “And of course you’d have a better transformation.” You received no answer from Dante as he shot up into the sky and flew away, presumably to where Nero and Urizen were. “Rude.”“Hey, Lady Sparda!” Griffon called to you, “You gonna come too?”You paused and thought about it for a moment before smiling and shaking your head. “I trust you and Dante to keep Nero safe. There’s… a few things I need to finish up here before I can move on.”“Alright! See you topside!” Griffon bid you farewell before flapping its wings and soaring after Dante.When both Griffon and Dante were out of sight, you sighed and settled back down on the couch. “Dante gave me Vergil’s half of the Perfect Amulet after he sent Mundus back to Hell. But before that day, the last I’d seen of your gift to Vergil was around his neck… at the top of Temen Ni Gru.”   30 th August 10:34pm - 20 Years Prior  Vergil had done as he’d promised himself over a year ago. He’d left to search for more information about his father’s power, hopping from one location to the next and only going home when he needed to. For the first few weeks, Vergil convinced himself that the gnawing loneliness he felt while away from his wife was necessary in order to further his goals and to protect her. He quickly learned that demons were slowly starting to learn about his wife, and suddenly simply distancing himself wasn’t enough to protect Y/N. And one night, while he was in Fortuna seeking information, he found himself in the bed of another woman. Though the guilt settled within his gut, he stubbornly waved it away.
What was one night with a stranger?

The demons are constantly watching me.

If I can convince them that Y/N means nothing to me… they will leave her be.
One night became several, and before Vergil knew it, he’d begun an affair. This woman… he could barely remember her name now… had been a brief relief among the nightmare that was leaving your side… And yet, this was probably the ultimate betrayal.
My work is done here. If I never return. If I never tell Y/N… then maybe I can save her heart as well.
Months later, Vergil came across Arkham, who whispered sweet demonic secrets into his ear.
Distance yourself from your family, Vergil. You will be doing yourself and your loved ones a favor. You will spare them the pain of separation. You will be protecting them.
He knew that he was a fool for listening, but for him to gain Sparda’s power, Vergil needed to awaken his father’s blade. With the blade and Sparda’s power, Vergil would then enter Hell to avenge his family.
It’s for the best.

If I stay, I’ll remain content… complacent.

Complacency leads to death.

It is my demonic blood which makes me strong. I’ve no use for humanity.
Colder still he became to you while he obsessed with gaining power.And then, he encountered his younger brother… his mother’s favorite…They fought, like they did always did… like they did on the day his mother died.Vergil won… but it wasn’t enough. He had to prove that he was better than Dante while they were on equal footing…He didn’t tell you that Dante was alive.Before he knew it, Vergil had spoken the words to sever your ties to him…Before he knew it, he was face to face with you atop Temen Ni Gru…You, who were only quarter demon.You, who only ever fought when you had to… who possessed such a gentle, loving heart.You, who embodied all the good Vergil ever had in his entire life.To see you make it to the top of Temen Ni Gru without much help from Dante, Vergil found himself questioning if it was his humanity that was weak.
She climbed this hell-trap of a tower to bring me home… she’s standing there, crying… begging me to come home… she went through hell for me… because she loves me… my light.

She could have stayed safe and away. Her humanity brought her here. Y/N let herself be put into such a difficult position because of her humanity…

Foolishness.

If her light is her humanity… and my light is her love… then to bury my light… my humanity… I must bury her, too.
Vergil found himself attacking you just as he allowed his lips to spew vile, venomous words. Nothing could have stopped his assault upon you in that moment because all you were in that moment was an obstacle to be rid of.He left you to bleed out on the top of Temen Ni Gru and didn’t reflect on his actions until much later, when he had no choice but to.   15 th June 12:00pm - Present Day  You are startled out of your thoughts when the earth shakes violently all around you. Peering out of the crack in the ceiling, you notice that the Qliphoth Tree has reached full bloom, now shedding away its old roots to reveal the mature tree beneath. “Oh, shit. This isn’t good.” You curse, turning to watch as the ceiling collapsed even more because of the seismic activity caused by the demon tree. Looking back at the charred family painting hanging above the fireplace, you grit your teeth and force yourself to leave the house. “Mrs. Eva, I’m going to go beat some sense into my husband! And when this is all over, I’ll drag them back here, okay!”Silence and collapsing rubble are the only things that answer you in the violently shaking world. With a huff, you shift into your demon form and take to the skies, dodging falling root debris as you maneuver your way out of the covered underground pit. As exhilarating as it was to perform complex aerial maneuvers to evade the falling debris, you took care to keep your eyes peeled for your friends.You sour for around five minutes in the open sky before your keen devil eyes focus on two figures on a crumbling cliff. “Trish and…V!” You’re diving down when you realize that Trish was trying to keep V from falling off the cliff. Although diving might not have been the wisest thing to do, as the shockwave of air from your arrival catches both V and Trish off guard, the latter accidentally letting go of V’s arm in shock. Luckily, you’d stopped yourself just under V, catching the thin man with ease and cradling him close as you rise to land on sturdier ground.“W-who?!” Trish wonders, out of breath from the shock you just gave her, eyes narrowed as she pulls herself away from the cliff edge to look at you.When you transform back into your human form, you grin at the demon cheekily, still cradling V to your body despite your height difference. “Heya, Trish, V. Sorry for being late.”“You sure took your time.” The demoness quirked a brow when you didn’t set V down, casually holding him like a bride as you started to walk away with no problem, “You going to carry him all day? You realize who he is, right?”Pausing, you turned to quirk a brow at her, tightening your hold on V when he struggles to stand. “Is there anything wrong with carrying my husband?”You feel more than hear V’s heavy sigh, surrendering to being carried bridal style as you continued forwards in search of Dante and the others. “Fine… but only until we’re near the others.”Now that you had him in your arms, you noticed that his skin was beginning to crack and flake. “V… you’re.”“I don’t have much more time, Y/N.” The dying man confessed, resting his head against your shoulder, left hand rising to play with Vergil’s golden half of the Perfect Amulet. “I must get to Urizen quickly.”Nodding, you close your eyes and press a kiss to the man’s temple, whispering an “Okay. I love you.” Before turning to Trish, “I’m going to start a brisk walk and gradually speed up. You okay with that?”The demoness grins and tilts her head to the side, “Who do you think you’re talking to.”Without another word, you take off down the road, Trish close behind.   15 th June 12:36pm  With how the Qliphoth Tree was structured, it was fairly easy to spot Nico’s van. Setting V down before entering the room, you cheerfully greeted Lady and Dante before latching onto his left arm in a vice grip, letting V make his way to a small ledge to rest on. “Dante~ my darling brother in law~” you sang, “Where’s my son?” Sure enough, you couldn’t spot Nero.“Sis! Good to see you!” Dante grinned sheepishly, looking nervous by your overly sweet words, “I-ugh… he’s in the van?”“Dante~~~”“He’s not hurt! I swear!”Although displeased by his answer, you trusted that Nero would be able to take care of himself, pulling away with mocking pat on Dante’s head before settling on the spot next to V, leaning on his shoulder lightly, eyes trained on Dante and Trish when they approached.“Hey, where did that garbage god go? What’s Urizen after?” Dante demanded, earning a displeased glare from you. He pokes your nose in reply to the glare, “Down, girl.”Eye twitching, you snap and try to bite his finger. “Then be nice.”Regardless of Dante’s tone, V answers, sounding beyond tired, “He’s at the top of the Qliphoth.”It is at this point, that you cease paying attention, retreating into your thoughts for a moment to think about what you were going to do from here on out.Well, it’s a guaranteed thing that I’ll be following wherever V goes. He’s running so low on energy that I’m scared he’s not going to make it to Urizen in time. Even the shoulder upon which you rested your head could barely withstand the pressure, the cracks having already grown more prominent. Griffon told me that V had been so weak after finding Nightmare, that his limbs shattered like fragile porcelain…You were so distracted, that you missed Dante’s performance… or most of it. Catching the last half of his dance, you quirk a brow at your brother in law… “Um… eight out of ten, please dance again?”“Dante!” Standing alert, you grin and wave at Nero when he walks around the van, confronting Dante. “I’m gonna go, too.”“Now why did I know he was going to say that…” you trailed off, tapping a finger on your lips as you smirked.“Why don’t you sit this one out?”Deadpanning, you cross your arms and thin your lips, unimpressed. While I do get where Dante’s coming from… there’s no way the three of us are going to just sit down twiddling our thumbs waiting.Nero seemed to be of the same mind, though he could certainly hold a grudge against his uncle. “Oh, and let you call me dead weight, again? Yeah, no thanks.” Your son lifts his right arm, mechanical limb waving in demonstration. “I got all the power I need. Right here.”“You don’t understand.” Dante retorted, impatient as well as tired with dealing with the entire situation. “That’s not what I mean.” Well, of course not. We both mentioned to Nero that my husband is his father, but we never did explicitly state that Vergil was Dante’s brother… and Nero only knows that we’re up against Urizen… not the demonic half of his father… but, that truth involves so many people… would it be my place to tell Nero? Or is that V and Dante’s job?You sense V rise from his seat behind you, struggling forward on his two feet, only stopping when you stood by him to act as support. “Let him go, Dante. Time is a luxury we can no longer afford.” Even standing left the weakened man out of breath, further worrying you. “We must chase after him, post-haste.”“Why? Does this mean you’re going, too?” Dante scoffed, watching as all of you approached him.“You know that there’s no way I’m hanging back, Dante.” You crossed your arms and lifted your chin, challenging.“I have a duty to see this through.” V insisted, looking much paler now that he’s hunched over and struggling to walk.Both men took notice at how serious V was, and Dante gave in, “Well, that’s all you have to say, Mr. Poetry.” You watched as your brother-in-law backed up to head his own way, a disapproving frown on your face and a twitch to your eye. “I’m gonna go my way, you guys can go yours. Let’s just say that’s best for the cause.”Dante… I get it. You think that everything that happened to your family was your fault. But you need to stop thinking that it’s only on your shoulders. You watched as the three men separated to jump down, clicking your tongue in annoyance as you followed after V and Griffon. The men in my life are so frustrating!  
20 Years Ago - Hell
 Singular in his ambitions, the eldest son of Sparda fought his way into the deepest depths of Hell. The lesser demons were no match for the demon hybrid, falling to the Yamato in countless numbers. Vergil didn’t think of anything but revenge. It was Mundus who had set upon hordes and hordes of demons to their childhood home. It was by Mundus’ orders that they lost everything. He was a son of Sparda… if his father was able to beat Mundus all those years ago, then he could do it too. So then… why was it… that he could feel nothing but pain now? He blinked his eyes to clear the blood in his vision. He’s been strung up and impaled… but why?A voice, booming, demonic, spoke down to him. Demeaning… Oh… yes… Mundus.In the deepest pits of Hell, Vergil clashed with the Demon King… and lost.Mundus kept speaking, but Vergil couldn’t hear him. The Yamato, broken, slipped from his grasp, and as the blade impaled the ground below, Vergil suddenly heard a voice. 
“Vergil… sometimes, I’m scared by you.”
Vergil blinks tired and weary blue eyes until his focus is clear enough. The front door of the house closes softly as he shrugs and kneels down to take his boots off, placing them on the shoe rack before setting the Yamato down on the weapons rack in the hallway closet, shedding his winter coat as well. The elder son of Sparda could hear the crackling of wood in the living room fireplace, providing extra warmth for the house even if you had the heating on.Outside, a snowstorm rages, covering the streets of Red Grave City in silent white. It’s late, there are no cars in the streets. Everyone in the city is home with their loved ones… and now he’s home with you.When Vergil ventures further into the house, rounding a corner to see into the kitchen, he sighs contently, glad to be home after a few weeks away from you. He can see you, stirring a pot of soup on the stovetop. It was quite cold outside… and you must have wanted to make something to warm him up…He closes the distance between your bodies to embrace you from behind, pressing his lips to your crown as he savors your presence. “Why do you say such a thing, my darling wife? Have I done something wrong? Something to scare you?”You melt in his arms, slumping into his embrace but still paying attention to the soup, not wanted the vegetables to overcook in the pot. He feels you shaking your head, one hand coming up to rest on his, which had been placed upon your hip. “No, my love. You haven’t done anything to hurt me.” If you lied, Vergil was unable to tell, purring in contentment as your traced circles upon the back of his cold hand. “…and I know that you’d never do anything to purposefully hurt me, either… I just…”You finish stirring the soup and set the wooden spoon down upon the counter, shutting off the stove gas in order to turn around and throw a sheepish smile at him before drawing him into a tender kiss. And as your lips locked, Vergil found himself thinking that he loves your smile. If one day, your smile is taken from you… I would stop at nothing to bring it back… and to hunt down the one who took it away in the first place.When you pull away, Vergil can’t stop the rare tender smile he gives you, the edges of his lips tugging upwards as his blue eyes stare down lovingly at you. Your next words throw the smile right off his face, however. “You’re so focused on becoming more powerful… you’re always going off on your own nowadays… I’m scared that… one day… this won’t be enough for you.”Your normally bright eyes are now sorrowful, and Vergil scrambles desperately to convince you of the opposite. “You know that I would never abandon you, right?” Vergil pulls you into his arms as he curses his lead tongue for such a weak argument. Let me pour my heart out to her. Let me lay myself bare and tell her that the only future I have is with her. That the sun ceases to exist when she’s not smiling at me. That if I could guarantee her safety for the rest of our lives, I would abandon my ambitions for her. Yet, even as Vergil thinks these things, his tongue doesn’t move. Refuses to lie more.Your smile drops just the slightest, and you return your attention back to the soup, turning away from him to start the stove again. Vergil wonders if you could read his mind… if you know that even he doesn’t truly believe the words coming out of his mouth despite what his heart tells him. He can’t help but notice that you dodge his question… as if unsure. “I would follow wherever you go, Vergil. But one day, I’m scared that you’ll run to a place that I can’t follow…”He flinches when the memory overlays with another… and he’s staring down at your impaled body, smile gone to be replaced with inconsolable tears… and to his horror, it is his hand that holds the sword. Vergil returns from his memories when Mundus lifts his limp body up.“The heart is a tumor of weakness. So let me rid you of it”Struggle as he might, Vergil is unable to escape the tendrils of darkness.“You need neither ego, nor memories.” Before his mind and body are taken away, the defeated son of Sparda has only one thought. 
Y/N. Forgive me.
 Your voice answers him in the dark. 
“And when that day comes, we’ll both be alone.”