Chapter Text
Two blades hit in a chaotic clink and bounce off each other to tear and rip the limbs of demons apart. The lighter one quickly shifting between cutting heads to cutting limbs, whilst the heavier sword settles on trying to find out how many demons it can impale at once.
Two backs hit one another, neither panting nor breaking a sweat. The man in red lets out a laugh before kicking three demons off of the Devil Sword Dante. The man in blue simply resorts to a tsk upon seeing his brother’s immaturity before ending the misery of three demons in a blink of an eye.
The man in red lets out an exhausted sigh, pretending to be tired by the battle that took place. It’s all just a game to him, but surprisingly it doesn’t bother the blue clad man like it used to.
Sheathing his sword back, the man starts to walk away from his companion, not bothering to look back.
“Oi Vergil! Don’t leave me here!”
Vergil ignores him and continues walking.
Slightly peeved at his brother’s choice to ignore him, Dante catches up with Vergil and puts a hand on his shoulder, trying to slow him down.
Vergil doesn’t push his shoulder away.
“What’s the hurry for? Can’t we catch a break? Hmm? We’ve fought demons for god knows how long! Its probably been weeks!”
Vergil scowls but decides not to take the bait.
Dante continues nonetheless, “y’know, demons are still going to be here wether we rest or not. It’s not like they’re going anywhere…”
And Vergil already knows where this is going.
“…unless you’re scared they’ll seep onto Earth? Don’t worry there’s no portal for it to happen!”
And here it is, Vergil thinks to himself and holds back on rolling his eyes.
“…And even if it does happen, Nero is there to kill ‘em. You know he’s well capable of it! Unless you’re worried about his safety!”
Vergil stops. He can’t help but bite the bullet— “I’m not.”
Dante wraps his arm around Vergil’s shoulder and laughs. “You know? There’s nothing wrong with being worried for his safety! Dad was a full demon and he still cared for us.”
Vergil doesn’t look at Dante’s face. He doesn’t need to, he already knows how his smug his brother looks like.
“I told you. I’m not worried. I know he can defend himself.”
Dante laughs again. And again, it doesn’t bother Vergil, not as it used to. It’s odd, not having that feeling of annoyance be there. It's new. But it’s also something Vergil can get used to. “Yeah you would know! He kicked your ass pretty badly!”
Vergil finally turns to Dante. His indifferent look contrasting Dante’s smug smirk. “‘That bitch slap nearly killed me’ you said. At least I lasted longer.”
Dante doesn’t show any sign of being hurt by the comment. “I just wanted father and son to duke it out between themselves, is that so wrong?”
Vergil turns away and starts walking again. Not bothering to mention how, he too, held back against Nero. He knows Dante is already aware of it. It became an unspoken truth between them both. Well, at least until now. Dante is clearly trying to make his brother admit to it. Because of course he is! The cold and unapproachable Vergil has a soft spot— the opportunity is presenting itself to Dante! He’d be a fool to not take it by its neck.
Catching up with Vergil, Dante admits the unspoken truth since Vergil won’t. “I know you went easy on him. It isn’t bad to admit that yknow? He’s your kid, it’s natural to not want to hurt him.”
Vergil doesn’t speak, this time not because this conversation doesn’t interest him, but rather because he doesn’t want to confirm nor deny the statement.
It’s something he himself doesn’t know how to respond with. He knows he hesitated greatly during their battle. It’s a feeling he’s not used to, but one he’s more willing to accept anyways. The ability to protect someone… ah, but Nero can protect himself, can he not? Then why bother? Why does he still feel an obligation to protect?
Suddenly his mind remembers. Not too long ago, he could not move his legs with the freedom he does now. Not too long ago, he could not fight demons with the same strength. Not too long ago, he was weak. And fearful. He could feel the fear of dying crawling up his spine, but his desire for survival didn’t match his strength to carry out this instinct.
Is this how he was going to die? After all that effort? Dying by the hands of a demon that can easily be slayed by the Yamato? If he could not meet the Demon King, then this truly would be the end for ‘Vergil’… and the end for ‘V’.
Dying like this, there was no dignity to it.
A shot is fired into the air, and both he and Malphas turn their attention to the origin of the sound.
Nero!
He remembers relief washing over his body. He was called back to a time where there was no one to protect him no matter how much he wished for it, but this time it was different.
Someone is going to protect him now.
Malphas falls quickly. As expected. V watched in the background. The way he dodged every attack with ease. The way he was willing to break his so-called “devil breakers”. Switching between his gun and sword. All without ever activating his Devil Trigger.
Shame quickly falls onto his decaying body. Of course he can’t activate his Devil Trigger— he was the one that took his arm. Sure, he can argue it was ‘Vergil’ and not ‘V’ who did it, but ‘V’ was part of ‘Vergil’. All that he, as Vergil’s humanity, feels at this moment are things that Vergil repressed, but still felt nonetheless. Responsibility must fall on him, too. It would be easy to not claim responsibility, but he must.
When Malphas is finally killed, he wastes no time. No, this was a realisation for him. He was mopping around, wasting time. And with the body he currently has, he afford to do so. This wake up call is deserved.
Still,
Still, his weak body refuses to let him stand up quickly. Or even walk normally. It takes great strength to even— to even stand up!
“I guess I owe you one,” Hopefully ‘Vergil’ will appreciate this kindness. Hopefully, he will appreciate the way Nero protected him.
“You should turn around. Your body’s not gonna last much longer.”
“That, I cannot do,” he needs to go on. Though he appreciates the way Nero filled up his desire to be protected— even if a short while— he still has a duty. “I must go—“ he feels, or rather, he doesn’t feel, the way his legs give up on all strength and his body weakly meets the floor. Even then, Nero reaches out to help.
He mustn’t become accustomed to his kindness… not after what he did to him.
“Don’t push yourself. You need some rest!”
“I must go… to where Urizen is.”
“Why—“
“I beg you!” His voice falters, he doesn’t even have the strength to properly raise his voice. He can only sound pitiful. There’s no time to be angry at his weakened state. “This is my last request,” he is dying, and Nero is well aware of it… so why bother hide the fact?
Nero could’ve picked him up and taken him somewhere safe— somewhere where ‘V’ could be safe… and life out his last moments in peace.
Instead, he says “Fine,” and picks him up, choosing to respect a dying man’s wishes as opposed to feeling pity towards him.
For once, he feels valued.
For once, someone respects him as a person.
“Hey! Earth to Vergil!”
“…or… would it be underworld to Vergil?”
Vergil refocuses on his surroundings. Right. He’s in the underworld.
Remembering how Nero made V feel… no, how Nero made himself feel, hits him harder than expected. How long was he reminiscing for? Dante was definitely not going to let this die down now.
“What do you want?”
“You blanked out for a second there… staring into nothingness. I knew if it was a demon you wouldn’t stop to stare,” Dante narrows his eyes with a smirk growing on his face again, “or, was my dear older brother thinking about his son again?”
Vergil doesn’t find it in himself to get angry with Dante’s banter. Again, he chooses silence. Only this time, that silence is all the response Dante needs.
“What a stupid question! When is he not thinking about his son?” Dante shakes his head. “Right, no need to doubt a bond between father and son.” Bond? What bond had he formed except for fighting Nero?
…Right, he also gave his book to him. The book he would not share with anyone, not even Dante. Much less give to someone! Vergil wonders, does Nero know the importance of the book? He can only hope he does.
“But I can’t fault you for wanting more time to bond! Brawling with your son isn’t exactly the normal way to do it, is it?” Demons start to surround them from the corners of the underworld.
Taking out his Devil Sword Dante once again, with a smile he says “the quicker we do this, the quicker we can reunite you two.”
Demons start sprinting towards them. Do they think these two are regular humans?
Vergil humphs. Before, anytime he did this it was with malice or genuine annoyance. Now, it’s done with a smirk. “Finally something we can agree on.”
The fight starts and devolves into what it always does; both slashing through demons whilst deflecting blows aimed at each other.
“Which part do you agree with? Reuniting with your son or killing these demons?” Dante asks between slashes.
Vergil smiles once again just as he decapitates a demon. Who knew he’d enjoy fighting alongside and against his brother? As children, Dante would often have to force Vergil to spar with him. Now, it has become natural. Vergil could choose to be upset at this. Be upset at how fate was cruel enough to cause such a change, where he now enjoys wielding a sword. Instead, he chooses to appreciate this feeling.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Noticing his brother finally playing along, Dante laughs. “Yes! Please enlighten me, brother,” right after saying this, his blow is blocked by the Yamato. He quickly turns and cuts in half a demon that tried to jump at him.
“Let’s see who kills more demons, I’ll give you your answer if you win.”
”Well,” Dante dodged the Yamato “you better start using your speed for good use, then! Because so far I’ve won every time.”
Vergil furrows his eyebrows and turns to cut a demon in half from the head down. “Where did you get that from? I’ve won previously!”
“Are you sure?” Dante sends a demon flying through the air. “Because I only recall you losing.”
Vergil smirks for the second time today. “We’ll see about that.”