Work Text:
As the Sinners fight Dante notices one of the attacks doesn't hit. They wince as they definitely should've thought more about which commands to give to the Sinners.
<That’s a shame. Our attack didn’t seem to land that well.> The words automatically leave them, a routine at this point.
A second later a recording of Vergilius’ voice comes out from their PDA.
"Perhaps the manager's lack of any real combat experience is the cause of their ineffective command. Hm... I might suggest that the manager be assigned some combat training sessions as well ."
They notice Vergilius pause his movements for a second but before they can give it a thought he's moving ahead.
The rest of the battle is smooth.
“Didn't think the company would get Vergilius to do these.” Rodion chuckled as she stretched.
Dante thinks back to that one recording. Would Vergilius train them in combat? Should he? Maybe they would remember something of their past then? But even wearing the overcoat didn't even give them a glimpse. They knew they wore it before their amnesia and Vergilius even implied so.
An elbow to their side shakes them out of their thoughts. <Huh?> They look at Rodion. “What got you so thoughtful, huh Dante?” She asks, there's a bit of worry on her face. Dante shakes their head. <Nothing, just thinking about the announcer recordings of Vergilius.> Rodion perks up. “Oh yeah. Those were fun. Especially hearing him say your name like, Danteh .” She makes an impression of Vergilius while saying their name. Dante elbows Rodion as they look away.
Rodion watches as Dante and Vergilius leave Mephistopheles, both of them dressed casually and Vergilius holding a sword, she knows it's not his gladius. She gets up from her seat and follows.
<Huh, Rodya? Do you need something?> Dante seems surprised. Rodion smiles as she shakes her head. “No, I'm just curious what you'll be doing.” Dante scratches the side of their head. <Well…> They turn to Vergilius. He raises an eyebrow. “After Dante had acquired battle recordings done by me and requested by Limbus Company they expressed an interest in learning combat.” He takes a look at Dante and hands them the heavy looking sword.
Rodion didn't want to doubt Dante's strength as Don Quixote was the shortest Sinner and wielded a lance but she was a combatant and she might've been able to wield it because of her Bloodfiend strength. She basically looked as harmless as Sinclair did though a halberd was a less heavy weapon than a lance.
She's surprised when Dante takes the sword from Vergilius and stands upright like a moment ago when they didn't hold the weapon.
She watches as Vergilius fixes their grip on the sword and guides Dante as they slash the air with the blade. She notices that while their movements are quite stiff they move the sword with ease and precision of a seasoned combatant, the apparent weight of the blade doesn't seem to hinder any of their movements.
Rodion takes note that Vergilius seems to know the outcome of the slashes the weapon makes in the air. She notices that Dante seems both confused and happy. She suspects that Vergilius' words of Dante being a “big wig” were more than true. She watches as the flame on top of their head flutters elegantly in the faint wind and their coat flaps with the movements as they make yet another strike at the air.
Just as Vergilius pulls away from Dante she sees bits of flame rising from the sword licking at the air playfully.
“Hooh!? Manager Esquire is thou training with Sir Vergilius!?” Don Quixote's voice suddenly appears. Rodion jolts up and she sees as the sword in Dante's hands nearly falls out of their grasp but they quickly steady themselves. The weight of the uncontrolled swish of the sword nearly has them falling over but Vergilius catches them with a hand on their waist.
<Don- Don Quixote! Don't scare me like that!> Dante yells at the blonde who tilts their head. “Manager Esquire is thee upset?” Dante nods but they let go of the sword with one hand and slide their palm across the clock. <Nevermind…> They shake their head. They turn to Vergilius who sighs and takes the sword from them. “That's enough for today.” Dante seems surprised but they nod. Rodion smiles. “Dante~ Let's play a game with Gregor, hm?” She walks up to them and then she's behind them and pushes them back to Mephistopheles with a smile.
Over the next few days Dante spends at least an hour training with Vergilius. They're almost sure that what he teaches them is what they knew as the moves are a little too easy sometimes, like it's muscle memory.