Chapter 4
Nero practiced swinging his wooden sword in the living room while Credo watched him and offered advice. Credo had talked to the leader of the junior cadets. Nero wasn't allowed to rejoin, but when he was order he could apply to be a Holy Knight. Becoming a Holy Knight without being a junior cadet first was almost unheard of, but Credo was confident he could train Nero. While still young, Nero was a hard worker, attentive, and took direction well. Whenever it was time to train, Nero was fully focused and ready.
But that wasn't the only reason Credo was confident. Nero was a natural. In fact, he was a little too good. He was faster and stronger than a kid at his age should be. In fact, he was able to disarm Credo a couple times already, and they had only been training for a few weeks.
But that wasn't the only thing that bothered him. Nero had white hair. Sparda had white hair as well. Everyone knows that white hair means that person is a demon...or albino. And Nero was rather pale. Credo liked to think that's all it was, but Nero's unnatural strength and speed was concerning. Then again, Credo himself was a gifted fighter even from a young age too. He wasn't as good as Nero though. Maybe he's just a good teacher? Credo shook his head; he doubted that's what it was.
Either way, Nero was a sweet kid and had nowhere else to go. In fact, that had been bothering Credo as well. Where did Nero come from? He couldn't be from Fortuna originally because he had no knowledge of the city or its god, Sparda. Before Credo could contemplate this more, Nero called out to him.
"Credo? Are you okay?"
Credo blinked and snapped his head up. He realized he had been starring at the ground. "Yeah, Nero. I'm fine. Here." Credo stood up and grabbed his practice sword. "Try against me again."
Nero gulped and nodded his head. Credo didn't know why he still got so nervous every time they sparred. He was never hard on him. Nero was just a nervous kid, apparently.
They finished an hour later. Nero heaved a sigh, satisfied with the day's workout, and put his wooden sword away. He went into the kitchen where Kyrie was at the table, coloring. Nero climbed into the seat next to her and joined in. Credo yawned as her came in. "I'm going to order a pizza for dinner okay?"
"Okay!" Nero and Kyrie both said at the same time. They paused to smile at each other before continuing their art. Credo dialed the pizza place.
"Hello? Yeah, can I get two medium pizzas with- hold on" Credo turned to the two children "what do you guys want on it?"
"Extra cheese!" Kyrie cheered.
"Meatballs." Nero replied and Credo nodded his approval.
"All right, can I get one with extra cheese and the other with meatballs? Yes, Don, this is me. Who else? Yep. No, I'll come pick it up. Thank you." He hung up and turned to the others: "Kyrie, I have to go pick up the pizzas. Come on."
"Do we have to come?" Kyrie whined.
"Yes. Remember what happened the last time we got it delivered?"
"It was two hours late, cold, and a slice was missing." Kyrie replied robotically.
"Exactly. Come on. You too, Nero."
Nero stood up without a word and Kyrie followed. They headed outside and walked two blocks down to the pizza shop. "How they took two freaking hours to walk a hundred some feet..." Credo muttered under his breath.
Nero leaned over to Kyrie and whispered in her ear. "I bet that Devil May Cry guy stole a slice." The two of them starting snickering. Credo looked sideways at them.
"Devil may who? What guy?"
"Nothing." Nero and Kyrie said together while trying to stifle laughs. Credo smiled and shook his head.
"Kids."
Pizza was a Thursday night tradition in their house. It wasn't the weekend quite yet, so the pizza served as much needed celebratory fuel for one more day. Right as Credo put his hand on the door to open it, he realized eating pizza once a week probably wasn't the healthiest choice in the world.
While contemplating what to do about this realization, someone from the inside pulled the door open. Credo fell forward and would have landed on his face if his hands hadn't broken the fall. "What the?" he stood back up and saw-
"Well hey there!" Jerry was eating a greasy slice of pizza. He wiped his mouth with his hand and then rubbed that on his white shirt: giving it a stain that will never come out. "How you guys doing?" he asked as he took another bite.
"Hi Jerry." Nero and Kyrie said flatly.
"So I'm glad I ran into you two." Jerry said while finishing his slice. Nero and Kyrie exchanged nervous looks. Credo walked around Jerry and went up to the counter, in the meantime.
"What's going on?" Kyrie asked.
"My birthday party is in a couple weeks." Jerry reached into his back pocket and pulled out a bent up card that now had grease on it. He shoved it at Nero, who fumbled it and nearly dropped it. "You two better be there. All the cool kids are going."
"Um-" Nero didn't know what to say.
"Thanks, but I don't think we can make it."
"Sure you can." Credo interrupted as he walked back over carrying two pizzas. Jerry smiled evilly and walked out. The whole rest of the night, Nero stared at the ground while Kyrie glared at her brother. Credo pretended not to notice.
Admittedly, he doesn't know much about Jerry besides the fact that he's kind of a weird kid. But neither Nero or Kyrie have many friends, so spending some time at a birthday party with our kids from their class might be good for them.
Credo had no idea.
