"Okay Vergil, you ready?"
The pudgy-faced boy shook his head slightly, sweeping silver bangs out of stormy blue eyes. He adjusted his feet next to the plate on the dirt ground. The metal bat rose off his shoulder as he stared at his young mother.
Eva was smiling at her six year old with a playfulness that was always familiar and comforting. She tucked a piece of long golden hair behind her air as she rolled the baseball around in her hand, waiting patiently for him to give the word. It was funny, she mused, seven years ago she never would have dreamed to have the patience that she did today. Of course, raising twin half demons did require a lot of patience. She glanced at the younger of the two, who was standing crouched on third base, shifting from foot to foot as he stared at his older brother.
Dante wiped some sweat off his brow and she chuckled at his now messed hair. The boy could just never stay clean. He reminded her of herself; loud, playful, a prankster at heart. He stuck out his tongue at his mirror image and she looked back to her oldest.
Vergil was so much more like his father. He was a quiet child, more the one to sit and do a puzzle rather than play outside. Yet he always followed Dante whenever the youngest goaded him, which he often did. They challenged each other, and she was grateful for it. They took the energy out of each other, which made them much easier to handle. Vergil tugged back the sleeves of his gray jacket and adjusted his grip on the bat.
"Ready!" He called.
The twins grinned at each other, and Eva gave an exact replicate smile. Sparda always did say that they held her smile. She cocked back her arm and chucked the ball as hard as she could at him.
There was a loud crack and the wind hissed as the ball sailed through the air before exploding in a cloud of string and dust.
"Aw, shit." Eva muttered, low enough that her boys couldn't hear her.
Dante howled with laughter as he fell to his knees clutching his side. His face was bright red and his head was thrown back as the child's giggles filled the park air. Eva tried to bite back her own smile.
"Dante, that's enough." She chided, noticing how Vergil started blushing around his neck and ears as he hid the bat behind his back.
Dante, paying his mother no heed, continued to laugh until tears pooled in the corners of his eyes.
"Nice one." He grinned. "That's the fourth ball you've trashed this week."
"Well," Vergil threw the bat behind him and his hands clenched as he glared at his doppelganger. "It's a stupid game anyway!"
Eva sighed. The boy really needed to learn how to control his temper. If anything even went so close as to embarrassing him or touching his pride, he lashed out. But normally it was okay with her; she knew the perfect way to defuse the ticking child bomb.
"Oh?" Eva pulled her hair back in her hands and tugged the elastic band off her wrist. She tied back her hair as she smirked at her son. "Would you prefer something more…difficult?"
The twins looked at each other. When Mother tied her hair back it meant only one thing. Devilish grins painted cherub faces as they both ran and leaped on her.
"Get her!"
"Attack!"
The female laughed as she tossed Dante over her shoulder and Vergil threw himself at her legs, grabbing the backs of her knees and tackling her to the ground. The two boys kicked and wrestled with the female demon slayer until they all ended up in a tangled mass of limbs.
"Dante, sweetheart, could you get your foot out of my back?"
"Tell Vergil to move his elbow away from my side!"
"You're the one with your knee in my stomach!"
"Now boys."
Eva untangled herself before standing and letting her hair down. She smiled lovingly at them before helping the two to their feet.
"Well," She looked up at the setting sun and walked back to the pitchers mound, picking up the glove and dumping it into the blue gym bag that was a few feet away.
"Time to go, guys. Vergil, could you go grab the bat?"
"Kay."
He ran across the field and bent over to grab the butt of the piece of metal before running back to his little family and throwing it into the bag. Their mother zipped it up and threw it over her shoulder before starting to walk away.
"What do you two want for dinner?"
"Pizza!" Dante chirped. Eva laughed and looked down at where he trod next to her. He smiled at her, the perfect vision of a carefree child. She wrinkled her nose at him and ruffled his hair.
Vergil scoffed. "You always want pizza."
"How about," The blonde bit the inside of her cheek. "Dante can have pizza and Vergil what do you want?"
The hybrid boy thought for a moment before smiling shyly at his mother.
"Pasketti?"
"Okay then. Vergil can have SPA-ghetti, and Dante can have pizza."
Dante grabbed his mother's hand as they began their long trek home. Her fingers curled around his as her other hand rested on Vergil's head.
"What are you gonna eat, Mom?"
"Me?" She winked at her youngest. "I'm just going to steal from both your plates."
"Hey!" Vergil laughed at her, and she let go of Dante's hand for a moment to grab the other under his arms and swing him up onto her shoulders.
"Mommy!" He laughed and rested his arms on top of her head.
She reached down and grabbed Dante's hand once more as they walked along. He felt warmth spread from his head to his toes as he looked up at his mother and brother. Even if daddy died last year, they were still a family. He remembered his mother telling that to them the night that they realized their father wasn't coming back home. She held them in her arms, and he recalled the feeling of her tears spilling on his head. She whispered to them as she stroked their backs that they were still a family, and that things would be okay. She promised that she would love them enough for both her and father. Dante thought that this was the reason he woke with a grin each day. Mom promised that things would be fine…and Mom never lied.
He grinned up at Vergil, who looked down at his brother and smirked.
"Loser."
"Jerk!"
…And The Rain Pours…
Vergil crept down the stairs, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Why was it that whenever you got up to go to the bathroom, you felt the urge to drink more water? He yawned and carefully held the stair railing as he lowered step to step, the necklace that his mother gave him last birthday bumping his chest slightly. When he finally reached the bottom step and turned to enter the kitchen he froze.
The sight before him was both familiar and uncomfortable.
Eva had her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Her face was formed into a mask of anger mixed with sorrow and regret. The sight of the pain in her eyes made the boy's heart clench. She had weapons of all kinds laid out on the table in front of her. Guns were strapped to her thighs and his father's sword was in the holster on her back. There were so many blades on the table, and a belt of bullets lay between her breasts. She took a hunting knife off the table and stuck it in her boot.
He had known that his mother was a demon hunter; that's how she had met the great dark knight Sparda. But there was something different about how she prepared tonight. Something that didn't sit right in his stomach.
"Mother?"
Eva's head snapped over to him, and suddenly the pain and anger in her face was gone and replaced with the love and strength that he saw every day.
"Vergil…love, what are you doing up?"
"I was thirsty."
He slowly walked towards her, and his brow furrowed.
"What are you doing?"
She sighed, smiling at him gently.
"Mommy got a…a certain telephone call…and there could be some trouble."
"Trouble?"
"Yeah. So I need you to be an awesome helper and do me a big favor, okay?"
He nodded and stepped forward, grabbing her waist. "Sure, what is it?"
She knelt down and laid her hands on his shoulders. Her eyes were completely serious. That scared him. Eva was never serious. She was like his little brother; she was laid back. So he took to heart the orders that his mother presented him.
"I need you to go wake your brother…and then I need you both to go into the basement and lock yourselves in there. You will not come-Vergil, stop shaking your head and listen to me- you will not come out of the basement until you see daylight. Do you understand? Whatever happens, you do NOT open the door."
His eyes grew wide as his lips trembled and his hands clenched in the sleeves of her red jacket.
"Mom, what's going on, what kind of trouble? Who called?"
"Vergil…" She searched his face, like she was memorizing everything about him. She suddenly grabbed his face in her hands and rested her forehead against his, sighing heavily. "Some people….some really bad people didn't like the way your Dad lived when he was here…so they're still angry about it and taking it out on us."
"But why?"
"Because they need to get laid?" She huffed out a laugh and then cleared her throat. "Because they're jerks…I don't know, love. But I know…that you know you have to listen to me now. So do as I said, okay?"
He nodded, and then pulled away from her and ran back up the stairs. Once he reached the bedroom he shared with his brother he opened the door.
"Dante."
The younger boy slept soundly in his bed, snoring every other breath.
"Dante!"
In his dreams he was the strongest man in the world, and he beat up the bad guys in the movie they had watched earlier.
"DANTE!"
Nothing could phase him now that he-OW!
Dante's eyes snapped open as a pain shot through his head. He sat up and looked to the side of his bed where one of his brother's tennis shoes had fallen before he stared up at Vergil.
"You threw a shoe at me? What the heck, dude?!"
"It's your own fault for not getting up the first three times I called you!"
The boy stepped out of bed and looked at the clock next to the mattress.
"You do know that it's three in the morning, right?"
"Yes, stupid, I know. I learned how to tell time faster than you did, in case you forgot with that pea sized brain. Mom needs us to come downstairs. Something big is going on."
The boys ran down the stairs and met their mother at the bottom step. Dante shot a confused look at her, and she just laughed softly at their rumpled state.
"Come here, boys."
She knelt down and wrapped her arms around both of them. Her hand buried in their hair as she clenched her eyes shut and felt their tiny arms loop around her neck. Her boys…her children…
"I love you both. I love you very much, you know that?"
"Yeah…" Dante whispered.
Eva pulled away and looked at Dante, brushing his hair out of his face as she kissed his forehead.
"Go head on down to the basement, Dante. And I want you to listen to your brother now, all right? He's in charge."
The youngest sent a confused look at them before he nodded and shuffled through the kitchen down to the door that led to their basement. Eva let out a shaky breath before looking at Vergil.
"Take care of your brother, okay?"
"I will."
"Here." She walked to the table and picked up a large sword, "I want you to keep this with you."
His eyes widened as she held it out to him. "But…isn't that…?"
"Yamato…mmhmm…I want you to have it, son."
His hands tentatively reached out and little fingers clutched the sheath housing the magnificent blade. When Eva finally let go of it, it was heavy in his hands and he almost dropped it. This katana was larger than him, how would he ever use it?
"Vergil."
He looked back up at her.
"It's time to go, kiddo."
He nodded and turned away from her, following the path his brother took until he opened the door to the basement and closed it behind him. He turned and shifted Yamato in his arms as he locked the door before walking down the steps to the old beat up orange couch Dante was sitting on.
"…Vergil?"
"What?"
"…Mom's going to be okay, right?"
Vergil hopped up on the couch next to Dante and smiled, perching the sharp keepsake in his lap. "Please, it's Mom, things will be fine."
The look that his little brother gave him was anything but reassured. He looked at the sword in his lap before scoffing and looking back at him.
"Then why did she give you Yamato?"
Vergil sighed, not knowing how to answer. Sometimes Dante really was too intelligent and perceptive. He looked up at the tiny window above them and bit his lip.
"Let's just wait until morning."
As soon as the smaller boy opened his mouth to reply, an ear splitting scream sounded through out the house. Both heads snapped to the door at the top of the stairs and Vergil clenched the hilt of the sword.
"What was that?" His brother whispered.
"Nothing human…"
Another scream erupted in the air followed by several more. They heard something smash, and then the sound of a rain of gunfire.
Dante hugged his knees as he clenched his eyes shut and covered his ears, whispering the same sentence over and over.
"Mom will be fine. Mom will be fine. Mom will be fine."
…And The Lightening Strikes…
All Dante could hear was the sound of his own heavy breathing. It's been silent for the past two hours…the gunshots finally ceased a long while ago. He was shaking, and looking at his older brother.
Vergil was being unnaturally calm. He was just sitting there, his eyes closed and his arms folded around the sword in his lap. Dante almost thought that he was sleeping, but then his eyes opened and he looked up at the door.
"I'm going to go check it out."
"What?!"
"You heard me."
He looked up at the window. "But Vergil, it's not even morning yet."
"It's near enough."
Dante sighed as his twin stood up and grabbed the sword before he rotated his shoulders and started walking towards the stairs.
"Hold it! Why the heck should YOU be the one to go look."
"Because I'm the oldest."
"Oh by two minutes, good for you!"
"ENOUGH DANTE!"
Dante's mouth snapped shut as he stared at his counter part. Vergil sighed and looked at him.
"Mom told me to take care of you, okay? So that's what I'm doing. Stop being such a baby."
With that said, Vergil jumped up the stairs and unlocked the door. It creaked as he opened it and poked his head out. Dante's legs shook as his ears hummed with adrenaline pumping through his system. It was like this hearing was enhanced. He could practically hear and feel every step his brother took. It made ice shoot through his core when he heard him scream.
"DANTE GET UP HERE NOW!"
Faster than he could think, he was already through the door and running to the living room. Vergil was staring, face drained of all color, at their big chair…or more what was laying behind their chair. Dante followed his brother's gaze, and felt the breath get knocked out of him.
"…Mom?"
Eva lay on the floor, the chair covering her waist and legs from their view. Her hair was soaked in the blood that drenched her clothes and pooled beneath her on the wooden floor. Her nose was cracked, and her forehead bleeding. Her fingers looked swollen, and her favorite jacket was ripped at the sleeve.
Her eyes were staring straight at her sons…and any life that was once there was gone.
"Mom…?"
Dante's breath quickened. This just wasn't possible. It wasn't possible. He didn't understand. He took careful steps toward the body that was once his mother.
"Mommy?"
When he finally reached her, he lifted his hand and put it on her shoulder, shaking her slightly. "Hey…Mommy?"
"Mommy!"
Tears blurred his vision and spilled down his cheeks as a scream erupted from his throat.
"MOM!!"
He shook her harder, the body shuddering beneath his grip.
"WAKE UP! MOMMY! WAKE UP!"
"Dante, DANTE!"
Two hands, small and powerful, gripped the sides of his face and forced him to look into eyes identical to his own. Vergil's own gaze was glossed with unshed tears.
"She's gone…she's gone."
Dante's breath came out in shuddering gasps, and he suddenly felt very numb. The only sound he heard was his choked breath and the only thing he felt was the cool press of his brother's palms on his cheeks.
"Vergil…Verge…Mom…"
"I know…I know."
The older boy's voice sounded tight with some unnamed emotion. Dante was about to fall to the floor. This was too much. It was all just too much. His head was pounding.
A scream split through the room, and Dante was suddenly tossed against the wall. He hit it with a thud and felt it crack behind him before his ribs hit the floor. He coughed and looked up.
Demons. Tons of ugly, decaying, ragged demons were surrounding Vergil.
"No…no, Verg…"
The monsters closed in on the small child, and for a moment, when Dante stared at his brother…he swore he saw his father instead.
Gripping Yamato, Vergil backed up slowly as he slid the giant sword out of its sheath. He gripped the sword in two hands, struggling to hold it up in the air. He swung at one demon, and missed. His eyes flashed towards his twin as long, decrepit arms grabbed his waist.
"Dante!"
Dante's breath came out quicker as he willed himself to stand and run towards where the group of horrors was. The red sun glared at his eyes through the window, and he blinked as his vision swam with bright crimson.
"No! Vergil!"
A large demon screamed, and swung its sloth like arm out, throwing Dante across the room. His head cracked against the wall, and before the darkness swam over him, he saw himself surrounded by his worst fear.
…And We Remember No More…