Chapter Text
It was all too easy to lose track of the time here; wave after wave of demons attacked the twins, and wave after wave would they be slaughtered. And for as satisfying as it was to tear through demons without even trying, it could also be terribly boring; even the strongest demons they came across were all too easy to destroy, and even Dante's quips failed to draw out so much as an eye roll from Vergil.
It was why the few moments of peace they had were a relief, despite spending much of it in silence. Dante would often try to pry something, anything from his brother, but the responses he received were always brief. And when he asked about Nero’s mother, it was always the same answer: it was a long time ago. Still, for as much as Dante was frustrated by how guarded his twin was, he tried not to be too angry; after all, he was sure that he would open up when he was ready.
But one day, after yet another wave of demons met their end, Vergil saw the last thing he would have expected to see here; standing several yards away from him was her. Red dress, white cowl over her head, slender figure… it was unmistakably her.
At first he thought he must have imagined it; but when she turned her head to look at him, before disappearing and reappearing even further away from him, he found himself chasing after her without a second thought.
“Hey, wait!” Dante shouted. “Where’re you going? Hey!”
Dante’s words fell on deaf ears as Vergil pursued her; it seemed as though just as he had her within his grasp, she slipped away once more. But still, continued his pursuit, occasionally slicing through a demon along the way without even stopping.
Finally, she came to a stop. For a moment he hesitated, as though afraid of what would happened if he took just one step closer. But she remained still as she stared ahead of her, as though in a trance, her gaze not once turning to him. Hesitantly, he reached his hand out to her, and took a single step…
“Nice to see you’ve decided to join us,” a familiar voice said. Not a moment later did V appear next to her, a smug smirk spread across his lips.
“What are you doing here?” Vergil said as his hands clenched into fists. V began to gracefully circle her, his grin not once showing a sign of fading.
“I’m a part of you, remember? And as long as you continue to reject even an ounce of your humanity, I always will be. Especially when it comes to her.” At his last word, he glided his fingers along her shoulder, to which Vergil responded with gripping his hand around Yamato’s hilt, preparing to unsheathe it. “When you separated yourself from your humanity, you also separated her from your memories, the tether that constantly tugged at your conscious, and the source of so much of your pain that you so desperately tried to bury. But now that we’re whole again, she returned as well. Isn’t that right, my dear?” He stopped to gently caress her cheek before using his finger to tilt her head upwards to him.
“Don’t touch her!” Vergil shouted as his blade cried.
“Come now, Vergil, surely you don’t think I would ever harm her? After all, I now have all of your memories, including all of the love you still hold for her to this day.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before continuing. “What she gave you was something most could only dream to have… and then you willingly tossed it aside.”
“What she gave me was weakness,” Vergil spat.
“Is that so? Then you won’t if I indulge in it instead.” He then cupped both hands around her face before leaning in to kiss her, which she accepted as she ever so slightly parted her lips and rested her hands against his chest. In an instant, Vergil was consumed by pure rage. He raised his blade and charged towards his other half.
“Get away from her!” Right when he was about to slice through V, his momentum quickly came to a stop when the blade struck the length of a cane, which guarded its owner. V simply grinned at Vergil as his free arm rested around her waist, her small hands still at his chest. All at once Vergil was torn between wanting to pull her away, and wanting to tear V to shreds on the spot. After a moment of admiring the fury he had provoked, V chucked before turning towards her, his expression softening.
“Better leave now, my dear,” he whispered. “This could get quite unsightly.” Within a few seconds she vanished, leaving the two men to themselves. V’s smug smile returned before swiping his cane towards Vergil, to which the latter immediately blocked.
The battle should have been no contest; not so long ago V could barely even stand on his feet even with the assistance of his cane, let alone fight. Even at his strongest he needed the crutches of Griffon and Shadow to do most of the work in combat. But now V was more than able to hold his own in a fight, and he was actually making Vergil struggle. How could he, the embodiment of all of Vergil’s weaknesses, be an even match for him?
“You weren’t so different from one another, were you?” V asked without faltering his breath as he flawlessly blocked each attack. “You were both horribly lonely, though of course you would never admit it, and you both experienced the pain of losing the one you held most dear to you.” For a brief second there was an opening for V to take advantage of, but Vergil refused to allow it to happen. Even so, the smile never left V’s face. “It was why you complimented one another so well, despite your differences; you were someone who cared for her when everyone else looked at her with contempt, and she gave you the peace that had been absent in your life for ten long years.”
“I don’t need you to tell me my life story,” Vergil said as he attempted another attack.
“But if I don’t, who will?” V replied as he elegantly dodged each strike. “It’s not healthy to keep your memories buried. And surely your son will want to know more about his mother.”
“He doesn’t need to know.”
“And you just expect him to be satisfied without any answers when the key to his past is right under his nose? You really are still detached from your humanity. If only she were here to see you now.”
“I don’t care about what a dead woman thinks of me.” A mischievous gleam shone in V’s eyes as he increased the distance between him and Vergil.
“Then let’s put that to the test, shall we?” Just as Vergil began to charge towards him, V snapped his fingers and she appeared before him just as he was about to be attacked. As soon as he saw her, Vergil stopped in his tracks, sword still raised above his head and almost stumbling from forcing himself to stop so quickly.
A second later he felt an intense pain at the back of his head, which made his vision turn dark as he nearly fell over. He was barely able to regain his balance when he clumsily spun around and blocked the following attack, still trying to recover from his dizziness.
“She’s not even truly here, and yet you continue to act as her guardian,” V said as he tried to land another strike. “It seems your actions betray your words.” Just as he blocked another attack, they both heard a voice calling out in the distance.
“Vergil!” Dante shouted. “Hey, Verge! Where are you?” V slowly lowered his weapon as took a few steps back.
“It seems your brother has finally caught up,” he said. “I’ll leave you two to yourselves. But we’ll see each other again very soon.” He gave a final bow as he disappeared from sight.
As Vergil sheathed his blade, he turned around to see that she was still standing there. He slowly approached her, hoping she would welcome his touch as she did so many times before. But right before his fingertips could reach her shoulder, she disappeared.
“Of course,” he muttered as he dropped his hand. “Why would you want anything to do with me after what I did to you?”
“Verge!” Dante called out as he caught his breath. “There you are… what the hell were you chasing after?”
So he couldn’t see her; that must mean that he probably wouldn’t be able to see V either. Of course Vergil would end up looking like madman in front of his brother.
“Nothing,” he replied.
“Yeah… you ran like hell after nothing…”
“It’s nothing, Dante; now let’s go; we’ve already wasted enough time.”
Keeping secrets, again, I see V’s voice echoed in Vergil’s head as he continued forward. You never learn, do you?
Vergil ignored V’s prodding, but already he was dreading what was to come; not only would his other half be a constant source of torment, but now so would she; how many nights were spent dreaming of her, and how many more were to come? How many times had he see her pleading for him to reconsider every reprehensible act he had done? And Nero… how was Vergil going to tell him that he broke every promise to his mother, because he lacked to strength to protect her? That he was the reason why his childhood was spent in an orphanage? As if his son didn’t already harbor enough animosity towards him…
“Hey,” Dante said, “I know you’re just going to brush me off like you always do, but I can tell that you’re going through some shit right now, even though you’re too much of a hard ass to admit it. So all I’m going to say is that you’re going to be a lot better off if you actually talk about your problems instead of keeping them all to yourself.”
Listen to your brother, for once; I think even you know that keeping your memories locked away isn’t doing you any favors.
“I’m fine,” Vergil replied, though with noticeably less irritation in his voice. “Let’s… just try to find a way out of here as soon as we can.”
There was certainly going to be a long road ahead of them.