I Do not own Devil May Cry

Stuck in a world Inbetween, I look at the rubble and destruction, I stare at the sky. I hear screaming, crying. Desperate footsteps as they all scramble to run from their fate. Once I was at peace, but now chaos disturbs my sleep.

Staring at this world of ruin, the sky above Fortuna, I ask you something simple.

Come with me.

Let me tell you a story.

I have seen many things. I watched him suffer and die. I consoled him when he was weary. When I look back as far as our memories together go, I see him, young, rubbing his eyes. He tugs at me.

"Is Papa in the stars, now?"

I nod, swallowing the terrible crime, forcing it down my throat as I pet his head, "Yes, Elijah…" I say, "He is in the stars now."

Elijah was what his father called him, after his name, Ezekiel. It was a tradition in Fortuna. After I killed him, I renamed the boy. Something befitting to someone bound to become something great.

Something dark. Powerful, something that would follow him forever.

It was perfect.

Nero.

Eleven years passed, and he still kept his name. Even after I did what I did.

MY THEORY

He kept his name, Nero, after I cut off his arm
as a promise. A promise that he'd kill me one
day. Take revenge for what I did to him.

But now, I personally think he should thank me. I was the one who gave him my soul. I was the only reason, in fact, that after ten months of Purgatory; he was standing up in that underground lab again.

WHO AM I?

I am the darkness that lingers.

I am the guilt that Dante sees in his reflection.

I am the Order's source of power.

I am Nero's soul.

The Devil he hides within.

Nero, he was something else to me. There wasn't a day that he didn't cross my mind. Of course, back then I could consider myself very cocky and arrogant and anything else you could squeeze in there. So, of course when he slithered into my mind, I'd shake him back out.

My apologies. I must be boring you with all this talk about me.

I'd really prefer to tell you some stories about Nero in the past.

MY PERSONAL FAVORITES

The story when he saved Kyrie from falling quite a distance.

(Credo's forced thank you always makes me laugh)

His first dancing lesson

(A lot of falling)

His first angry run in with Credo

(That man will pack a punch to anyone who disrespects his sister)

And, of course, the awkward "talk" with Credo

(No, it wasn't the sex talk. But it may as well have been,
with the way Nero was sweating)

I hope to tell you all these stories, maybe more, as time progresses, mostly because I just get bored with one story. Even this one. Though I probably just don't get so interested in this story because of him. And I understand it's just my own stupid bias that's doing it.

So, I ask you, bear with me.

After all.

Dante's my little brother.

I just get so irritated with him.

There are six beginnings to this story, each of them relevant, each of them interesting, each of them overlapping. They all fit onto one die. In fact, I'd enjoy playing this story out as nothing more than a die, excuse me while I roll.

ROLL ONE

Of course, Agnus should be first.

I think that's rather fitting, actually.

Of course, you must be mad to hear that he survived that last encounter between him and Dante. You were sure, weren't you? That it would be it? Personally I think it's funny. Agnus reminds me of a man I knew once. He just wouldn't die. But you shouldn't be too disappointed. You like a story that grips you, right?

But don't think he won. He lost a lot of things, actually. His lab was a disaster, reduced to rubble, almost. He lost the Son of Sparda once again. Twice, he had lost one of the most valuable subjects he could get his greedy hands on. You couldn't expect him to be in a good mood. In fact, the very next day he was in the foulest mood in the history of his hate-filled life.

For a man like Agnus, that was saying a lot. But you could try to reason with him. After all, after years and years of absolute success, he was starting to slip.

The day had come, it was time for him to get ready for his day job-the best and worst doctor of Fortuna Island. As his infirmary was in Headquarters, he was a 'strictly business' type of doctor. You only came to him if you were seriously injured, a knight, or, in some cases, were willing to take that next step in evolution.

His first patient was a six year old girl, she came in with her parents, they were very worried for her. Her arm was bloody, a chimera seed had scratched her.

Agnus was setting up and preparing for the day ahead when he heard them, frantically running into the infirmary. He turned around, his face was contorted into an ugly face of rage. The little girl hid behind her mother's dress as her father explained what happened.

Agnus nodded, he stormed over to the girl, he pushed the mother aside and picked her up by the collar of her frilled dress. He set her on one of the beds, she was screaming and crying as he examined her arm. He blocked her out as he cleaned her wound. The only thing he could think about was what Dante and that woman was doing.

He was so busy thinking about it, that he began to stitch up the wound, forgetting about using a sedative. He honestly thought she was just screaming because she was scared of him. As most children were. He heard her father yelling at him, something about numbing before stitching, Agnus looked at his progress.

"I'm almost done, there's no point in it now." He grumbled. The girl continued to scream. She could have woken all of Headquarters.

Agnus was reminded of the young woman he raped and let live. Kyrie. Her room was going to need to be unlocked soon, before His Holiness' tramp found out that he was still locking her in. He finished the last stitch. He realized he had been a little harsh, and he was dozing off too much.

He took her off the table and handed her a piece of candy, her father picked her up immediately, the three of them stormed away, certainly they were mad and confused about what had happened. They'd probably have the nerve to talk about the "crackpot doctor".

They only got the usual when they squealed. Agnus was the finest doctor in Fortuna, crazy, oddball, evil, or not. Who could replace him if he was fired? Or worse, when that man in red killed him?

Now, that was just the question, wasn't it?

Agnus unlocked Kyrie's door and knocked on it several times, an alarm to let her know it was time for her to wake up.

The day passed on. Agnus' mood wasn't getting any better.

"Come here!" He screamed late in the afternoon. A nine year old boy with a broken leg. Why were there so many children getting injured today? Not that he was feeling any kind of sympathy for them. It annoyed him, honestly, as if you needed to be told, but Agnus detested children.

One thing was for sure: the boy wasn't coming towards him for all the candy in the world. Agnus snarled at him, he turned his back.

"Fine! Bleed to death! You're just one child less in this world!"

You'd think the boy's parents would be supportive and try their hardest to get him to come, but they were dead, a few knights had brought him to the doctor. And they were ready to toss him out if it wasn't for that.

That, being, the girl who walked in from a room inside the infirmary. She was silent, but she kindly beckoned the boy to come to her. He gave a look at Agnus. She understood, and she walked to him, she helped him to the bed. She put her fingers to her lips as Agnus began to work over him. This time he did not forget the sedative.

The boy watched her as she left into the room connected to the infirmary, where she came from. She came back mere seconds later, toting, of all things, a violin. When she played, he hardly took note of his leg, he only looked at her, the serious and concentrated look upon her face as she played a soothing melody.

Later on, the boy was sitting up on his bed, looking at his leg, propped up. He drank some apple juice. Agnus came in to check on him.

"…Was that girl an angel?" He asked wistfully. He felt that she must have been, because one second she was there, and the next second, gone.

Agnus smiled, "Yes, she is an angel. That's why she doesn't speak. If you heard her voice, this entire world would collapse."

Such a cruel sense of humor, really.

ROLL TWO

The music girl.

You know her. The angel of Nero's life and his afterlife, Kyrie. The night of the meteor shower she prayed for Agnus' death. You can say what you will to that. One of the most harmless girls of Fortuna praying for someone to die, violent, maybe, but many people would say that Agnus is most deserving to die.

The next morning, she waited with anticipation for her brother, someone, anyone, to pound on her door. Demanding to know why it was locked. Hoping they'd break down the door and set her free. Tell her that they found Agnus' body, or that he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Something to tell her that her prayers had been answered, Agnus was dead.

It broke her heart so miserably to hear Agnus unlock her door and pound on it to wake her up. She sat on her bed for a while, thinking to herself about Dante.

Was he dead? Did he lose? Was he…

No, of course not, if he was, Agnus certainly would have stormed into her room and bragged about it.

It had become her job, Agnus' assistant. He didn't use her often, but he did teach her a few things, nevertheless, she wasn't called upon, she was sent into the small room attached to the infirmary, a room Agnus turned into a music room, just for her.

Maybe that was her job, to play the piano for the patients while they moaned in pain and cried. Sometimes she'd come out and play her violin just for them, when Agnus didn't complain about her being in his way. Today he was in such a rage that she didn't want to come out, she didn't even want to know why he was so mad. Then again, she probably already knew why he was so angry.

Dante outsmarted him again.

When she heard him yell about "one less child in the world," she immediately came out, she knew that there were a lot of children injured today. It worried her, unlike Agnus. She knew what to do, before the boy was taken away, she did her best to calm him down. A useful ability.

Agnus didn't lock her room that night, he said that he trusted her, now. If only just a little bit. Kyrie crawled into her bed, it was late when she noticed that she left her violin in the infirmary. She really loved that violin, enough to get out of her bed and walk back to the room.

Just in time for her to watch as Agnus took the boy with the broken leg's pillow, and smother him with it.

Kyrie was paralyzed as she watched the boy squirm and try to scream. His hands reached out to grab something, anything. Agnus scowled as he pushed harder and harder on the boy. Kyrie trembled as she watched him fall limp. Agnus sighed and put the pillow back under his head. He turned and noticed Kyrie, standing there.

She immediately ran away. Agnus called after her, she could hear his footsteps, he wasn't as fast as her, and this could be bad. Kyrie continued to run until she made it to Credo's room. Agnus' heart skipped as she opened the door.

There were two screams. Kyrie was shocked at the sight, probably more shocking than the boy being smothered. She turned red as Credo and Gloria hid themselves under the blankets.

"Kyrie! What are you doing?" Credo snapped.

Kyrie could only stare in wonder. At Credo, then Gloria. Naked and sweating and gasping for air. The door was wide open, Credo demanded her to close it. He wasn't about to get up and do it himself, and neither was Gloria, who looked more ashamed than angered.

Agnus snuck up on her and closed the door, after apologizing to Credo. The door shut. Kyrie could hear the two of them arguing from the other side. Agnus picked her up, he held her under his arm as he brought her to her room. He set her on her bed. He began to laugh.

"Well, now! That was quite a show, wasn't it, Kyrie?" He said, sitting next to her. "I'm so sorry, I should have told you earlier. Credo and Gloria have been intimate lately. Ever since you went missing, I guess they've been waiting for you to get out of the way."

Kyrie trembled, Agnus wrapped his arms around her and held her close to his chest, he stroked her hair lovingly, "There, there, sweetie. I know, it must be terrible knowing that you've just been a burden to everyone. You poor thing…"

Kyrie's heart was sinking, I hate admitting it, but I honestly felt very sorry for this girl. I would have patted her on the head, apologized for all of her suffering, but it wasn't my business to intervene.

She was tucked in, Agnus bid her a goodnight. She still wanted her violin, so, very quickly, she followed after Agnus, he was a little irritated with her behavior as she ran back to the infirmary, she averted her eyes from the dead boy. Agnus sighed as he watched her enter her small music room.

"Kyrie…he was taking up space," He explained, "Fortuna is in too much of a crisis for me to care for children or any other useless people."

Kyrie looked at him in anguish, she held her violin in hand, she looked at him, then at the boy's bed. She took her violin and played a slow dirge. Agnus sighed loudly as he listened to her, he packed the body away.

ROLL THREE

Credo and Gloria

My, such a mess. These two have such an odd relationship it almost makes me want to gag. I can't understand what Credo ever saw in Gloria, other than a stuck-up attitude and a need to mock things whenever she had the chance.

When Gloria was first brought to Fortuna, she and Credo could not stand one another, every other minute you'd expect them to rip each other's throats out. Their personalities were so opposite, Credo was strict and easily stressed, whilst Gloria was laidback and calm. The one thing they had in common was Credo's sister.

Gloria was hired to take care of her because Sanctus wanted Credo to get back to his duties. After Nero had gone missing, Credo tried to fill in for him, but he was the Supreme General, not his sister's bodyguard, and Sanctus needed him.

No one disobeys His Holiness.

Credo wasn't very happy with the woman who was put in charge of his sister, the way she dressed, the way she acted, it infuriated him. He couldn't stand having that kind of woman around his sister.

But enough about their past, it's their present that's in play right now.

There were many bumps between them at this moment, Credo had been stressed, Gloria had been distant. Silence was the only thing there when they were in the same room. Silence and awkwardness.

Gloria wasn't sure what to do. She was still getting used to having emotions, and to get used to her emotions, she had to get used to them being wrecked. So that night, she knocked on Credo's bed and slowly let herself in.

"Credo?" She asked quietly, Credo was sitting up in his bed. "Credo, may I come in?"

Credo nodded, "It's been a while since we were last together…" He mumbled. "I mean… together….together. You know?"

Gloria sat down next to him, "I know what you mean." She whispered. Their hands slowly slid on top of each other, They gripped the other. Gloria rested her head on Credo's shoulder and sighed, Credo wrapped his arm around her.

"I'm a terrible person…" He mumbled, "I let her down."

"…We both did…" Gloria sobbed, "Credo, I'm so sorry."

"I should be the one who's sorry. You were right…I gave up on her. But I don't know what to do. Agnus said that it would be easier on us both if we didn't see her for a while. Maybe he's right…"

"…Credo?"

"What?"

"…Do you see me…as some sort of…dog?"

"…What?"

"People, they refer to me as…'Credo's Lovesick Puppy'. I just wanted to know how you really feel about me." She held her knees close to her chest as she spoke, looking downwards. "…Do I bother you, Credo?"

Credo stiffened, he couldn't bear to hear such terrible things about Gloria. How long had she been harassed? How long had she been keeping the pain inside?

One thing was for sure: he couldn't keep her as his bodyguard. Not with the feelings he had for her. Could he? What could he do? What was there to do in order to protect her from becoming a subject of gossip? To keep her from being thrown in the battlefield?

"Gloria…I will make these rumors stop." He promised. He turned to her, he held her hands in his, "Marry me."

Gloria was taken aback, "E-excuse me?"

"Give up your duties, Gloria, and marry me." He repeated, "Please. Marry me, Gloria. I promise, I will keep you safe, you don't have to worry about me anymore. I'll protect you. For all that you've done for my family, I shall return the favor and love you and keep you safe. Please."

"…Give up my duties?" She said, shocked, "Give up my duties? I couldn't do that. Why would I want to do that?"

"…Knights are not allowed to have a relationship other than comradeship, it's law."

"…But Credo. You're not a knight anymore." Gloria reminded him quietly, "You're the Vicar of Sparda."

"And the leader of the Order of the Sword. I'm still involved in the activities of the knights."

"…Your word is law now, Credo. I won't give up my duties. Make it so that I don't have to."

"…But Gloria."

"I won't become a housewife, Credo." Gloria said firmly, "I will marry you, but I could never picture myself as some housewife."

"…What if we had children? Who would take care of them?"

Gloria gasped, tears slid down her cheeks, she buried her face in her palms, "That would never happen, Credo." She confessed, "It can never happen. I can mother your sister all I want, but I will never mother a child of my own."

It tore her apart. This man wanted to spend the rest of his days with her, and she couldn't even bear him a child. She continued to sob, until Credo wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. He hushed her.

The comforting soon became a cuddle, then the clothes came off little by little, they were wrapped in sheets as they kissed up on each other and loved each other, they got lost in each other. Such beautiful love had happened, then, with a quick swing, it was ruined as the door flew open.

Credo and Gloria yelled out in shock, they looked as Kyrie stared at them. At first Kyrie was shocked, then she had a look of betrayal on her face. The door was wide open. Credo glared at her.

"Kyrie! Close the door!" He hissed. She continued to stare at them, "Damn it, close the door, Kyrie!"

Agnus snuck behind her, Gloria hid, "I'm so sorry, Your Holiness." He said as he shut the door.

Credo growled, he threw his underwear back on as he mumbled to himself.

Gloria held the blankets close to her naked body. "…My god." She whispered. "She saw us…"

"Damn it, what the hell was she doing running around at night like that?" Credo snapped.

"She looked upset. Maybe we should talk to her."

"Are you mad? What the hell are we supposed to say?"

"I don't know!" Gloria quickly threw her clothes back on, she looked around the hall, "I'm going, now, Credo. I'll see you in the morning."

"Gloria, don't go!"

"…Credo…I don't think I can marry you." She whispered, "I can't do that to Kyrie. I'm sorry."

As soon as Gloria was sure that no one was around, she left Credo's room, slamming the door shut. She walked angrily to her room, feeling ashamed for letting things get so out of hand. She was worried for Kyrie, she couldn't even imagine the betrayal she must have been feeling.

But things got worse.

The next morning, Kyrie was in her little music room, playing her piano, when Credo approached. Agnus wasn't around to tell him not to go near his sister. He tapped her on the back. Kyrie turned, at first she was curious, Credo figured that she thought he was Agnus, but the second she took in that it was her brother, she scowled and returned to her piano.

"Kyrie…" Credo tried, but Kyrie interrupted him by pounding ferociously on the keys, "Kyrie please. Just hear me out." The pounding only got more aggressive, "Kyrie you're going to break that piano! Now if you would please listen to me-" Kyrie stood up, Credo took a step back as she grabbed the music book off the stand, she turned and began to smack Credo repeatedly with it.

Well, at least she wasn't using her nails, like last time.

She continued to smack him, pushing him back every time, he held his hands up to cover himself, he hoped he didn't trip over anything. He felt a large hand on his shoulder, and a yell that was almost deafening.

"KYRIE KNOCK IT OFF! GET IN YOUR ROOM!" Agnus screamed. Credo took in a deep breath and watched as Kyrie left with a scowl. The door to the music room slammed. A somber tune could be heard.

"…Why does she keep attacking me?" Credo gasped, holding his hand to his heart.

"It could be a subconscious feeling, Credo. She must see you, and only think of what she's been through. Such thoughts eat at her mind and tell her that it's your fault, giving her the sudden feeling to attack you."

"B-but, when I went in her room that one night."

"Subconscious, Credo, her attacks are unpredictable. I suggest that if she looks at you in fury, you stay away. Then again, I believe it would be best if you stayed away from her in general. As I have told you before."

Credo clamped his eyes shut, he turned and left the room. Agnus smiled, he scribbled notes onto his clipboard.

There you have it. The first three rolls.

Be patient, I'm almost done here.