I roll the peas around my plate, earning a pointed look from mom as I do so, then sulkily resign myself to eating them. Half of them vanish within the blink of an eye when she isn't looking, making me pause and look across the table at Vergil. He studiously ignores my questioning gaze as he eats his own food, his pile of peas suspiciously higher. I stare at him for a few seconds longer then return my attention back to my meal, deciding that if he wants to steal some of my vegetables then that is fine with me. He isn't going to get a thank you for it though.

I just barely manage to finish off the accursed peas when the awkward and strained silence that has persisted throughout the entire dinner is broken by mom softly clearing her throat. "I know how hard this must be for both of you—I certainly find it difficult myself—but there are still rules and boundaries in this household that you will follow regardless of how old you were beforehand. I hope I do not need to remind you of what those rules are-" she pauses here and looks directly at me, her lips pursing slightly. "-and the consequences of breaking said rules. There will be some additional rules as well, which we will go over during your lessons tomorrow."

"Don't we have school tomorrow?" Vergil's question has me blinking in confusion for a few seconds because the idea of going to school—having to go to school—hasn't even crossed my mind. It seems pointless because I can do what… I've… oh. Right. Can't hunt demons for a living.

Mom looks at father, her brows furrowing as she seems to consider the question. "There is much that your mother and I still need to discuss-," father starts with a faint frown after the silent look he shares with her. "-but given the circumstances it would be best to homeschool both of you."

I shouldn't be surprised that they want us to continue with our education—to them we're still just kids—but I am. Vergil isn't even bothered by it at all, which isn't surprising since he always had his nose stuck in a book back when we had actually been seven. "Do we have to do the whole school thing?"

"Yes." Mom's answer is immediate and curt, her gaze narrowing slightly as she focuses solely on me. "We will address this tomorrow." With everything else hangs in the air unspoken, like a weight. After a beat she sighs and her gaze softens, a sad smile going across her face. "I'm sorry, this is-"

"-a lot to take in and process. You look at us and see your children, can't quite grasp what we have gone through as much as you would like to because why should you? We still look like your children so you want to deny it, but you can't because you know that we are different—you would have known something was off even if you hadn't been told—so you have no other choice but to accept the awful truth of this situation." Vergil is decisively cold with his explanation, his gaze flat as he looks from mom to father and then back down at his emptied plate. "Should Mundus be behind this I suspect that it was an attempt to remove us from the equation and not to place us in our younger bodies with our memories and knowledge intact."

"Well, the joke's on him then cuz we're not out of the equation and he still has Nero to deal with," I quip with a grin only to receive a strangely pained look from Vergil.

"There is a high possibility that Nero will cease to exist." There is a note of regret and something else—something dark—in my brother's voice as he admits this but I focus on the regret. He has to be joking, right? Nero can't just cease to exist. He just…how? "Given that I do not intend to repeat certain decisions it could very well remove him from existence completely if this is a temporal loop and not some alternate reality."

The look that Vergil gives me is almost indescribable, so filled with regret and pain that it has my breath catching in my throat and, oh, there is no mistaking what he means. I can't help the sliver of happiness I feel knowing that he won't be leaving me again yet at the same time I resent him for it a whole lot more. Nero is a great kid, maybe a bit rough around the edges, but more importantly he's family. "Verge, he's your kid, he's family. You-"

"I was drugged and raped!" Vergil tears his gaze away from mine and glares down at his plate as his cheeks darken.

For the span of several heartbeats it is deathly quiet and then all I can hear is a dull roar in my ears, like a rushing river, as an icy cold rage consumes me. Something inside of me snaps and with a snarl my demonic energy surges up, free of whatever had been keeping it at bay. In the blink of an eye I am out of my seat and halfway across the dining room, every single one of my instincts demanding that I go find whoever had dared to commit this sin against my other half and spill their blood.

I barely make it to the doorway when I'm very suddenly snatched up into the air by the back of my neck. The grip on me is firm and unwavering, even when I reach up and sink my claws into whatever has a hold of me, a vicious growl in my throat. A low, deep snarl sounds and I'm swung around so that I'm face to face with our father, his human guise dispelled. "Dante! Calm yourself!"

"Let me go!" I hiss out with my fangs bared at him then kick at his head with all of my strength, my left foot connecting with a resounding smack. His head turns slightly with the force of my kick but father is otherwise unfazed.

"You will calm yourself!" Father snarls at me, his own fangs bared as he exerts his energy over me in an attempt to make me yield.

I narrow my eyes and growl in response, refusing to submit so long as the person who had violated my brother is out there breathing. That it was Nero's mother isn't even registering with me at this point. All that matters is that I protect what is mine by whatever means necessary and despite our issues Vergil is still very much mine. "I said let me go!" I dig my claws further into his wrist in an effort to get him to loosen his grasp on me and kick out at him again, missing as he moves me out of range from his face.

"Dante! Cease this foolishness at once!" Vergil's command is sharp and very nearly has me stopping my struggle against the hold father has on me. I can't see him from where I'm being dangled in the air but by his tone I know that he's scowling.

"Foolishness, Vergil? What's so foolish about wanting to protect what's mine?!" I snarl out and give a hard flap of my wings as I swing myself bodily up in an effort to get free. Whether it's due to the extra momentum or because father's grip loosened a fraction at my near-screamed question I flip out of his grasp and land in a crouch. I'm aware enough of my surroundings to know that the door is to my left so before anyone has a chance to react I dart out into the hallway and start racing for the foyer.

A charge pulses through the air around me not even seconds later followed by a surge of my brother's demonic energy and there's no doubt that he's managed to Trigger as well. Knowing just how quickly Vergil can move I push myself to go faster, not daring to glance over my shoulder to check for him or father. They haven't given chase yet, something I would have normally found strange but currently do not think on.

I skid to a halt as I enter the foyer, my senses prickling as a very familiar tear in the fabric of reality appears in front of the doors leading outside. What steps out of the portal is definitely my brother though it's in a form of Devil Trigger that I don't immediately recognize and, more importantly, he has Yamato. I ignore the impulse to stop and study this unfamiliar form, instead dropping down into a crouch while I bare my teeth and growl at him.

"Don't do this, Dante." Vergil's tone is almost a plea as he sheathes Yamato, the portal winking out of existence with no sign of father. I risk a glance down the hallway to see if he's coming from that way but it's clear. "It's just you and me, little brother."

My gaze snaps back to my brother, focusing on him for a few seconds before it shifts to the doors behind him. I could maybe make it past him but now that he has Yamato it makes evading him far more difficult in the long run. "You wouldn't hesitate to kill someone if they did the same thing to me, Verge, and you know it!"

"You're right, but you're about to go kill someone who is currently innocent of what was done to me." I know that he's making a very valid point, one that I can't argue against, but it doesn't stop me from giving another growl. He puts Yamato away and takes a cautious step towards me, his hands raised and palms up.

I shift back a step only for a sharp pain to shoot up along my spine and I yelp as I lose my balance. Another, stronger burst of pain shoots up along my spine as I land on my ass and then everything goes black.