Chapter 4
What was he doing here?
Why had he come?
He stood before the ruins of the manor he had grown up in. His body frozen, unable to go any further. He should have turned back after retrieving Yamato, he should have returned to that pathetic orphanage and back to Nero.
He'd found Yamato with no problems, it had been hidden away deep within Fortuna Castle, how the Order had procured his blade was yet to be determined, he didn't like it when people helped themselves, to that which belonged to him.
Yamato had been sealed within a containment room, broken into two halves.
At his touch, Yamato was again whole and Vergil felt a rush of energy seemingly revitalise him. His mind was still putting itself back together, but slowly he was feeling more and more like himself again.
He inched closer to the mansion and reluctantly crossed the threshold, his steps echoing around the empty ruins.
Once again he wondered why he'd come, one moment he was in Fortuna and the next he summoned a portal and it had brought him here...home.
What was left of it?
He followed a path he'd walked a thousand times as a child, and entered the sitting room. Everything still as it had been that day, not pristine as his mother would have kept the manor, now it was covered in dust and he could hear the scuttling of small rodents.
He stepped past the furniture and stood before the fireplace.
there still taking pride of place upon the wall, hung the family portrait.
He wiped away at the dust obscuring the canvas.
In the portrait sat his father, in his favourite chair and standing beside him was his mother.
He moved closer and ran a finger over her cheek. It had been so long since he last lay eyes on her, he'd forgotten how beautiful her smile truly was.
His eyes fell on the two boys standing in front of his mother.
And he froze, took a step back and looked again.
Yamato fell to the floor with a thump as his heart rate picked up, his eyes frozen upon himself and Dante.
Recognition sparking through him.
He racked his mind for how long ago it had been since his first visit to the city of Fortuna when, during his stay, he had taken the time to live a little, as the saying went.
It was just before he'd raised Temen-ni-gru, he had been nineteen at the time and he was twenty-eight now...so over nine years ago.
Nero had recently turned nine, he remembered the boy telling him about the chocolate bar, the chef, Marina had saved and given him for the occasion.
He stared at the image of himself and Dante, and pictured Nero, with his hair in such disarray atop his head, he resembled Dante at a similar age with messy locks and cocky grin.
How had he been so blind? Even with his mind as distorted, he should have seen it right away.
He needed to sit down and he didn't care about the dust lining the sofa. His thoughts spiralled uncontrollably as he recalled Nero's words
"All my life"
His fists clenched, his heart pounding in his chest. His eyes resting on the image of his mother once again.
"I...have a son" he whispered stunned.
His mother's image looked on in silence as he cupped his head in his hands, losing what little control he'd regained over his emotions.
This place was tearing him apart.
His thoughts turned back to Nero, what had happened to his mother? She wasn't the type of person to abandon a child, granted he didn't know what her circumstances were. Something must have happened to her because he knew with certainty she would not have left Nero's side without cause.
He sat procrastinating, lost in his own memories of long ago, it seemed like a lifetime ago.
It bothered him more than he cared to admit, thinking about Emilia's fate. He would look into it as soon as he could spare the time.
The revelation that he was no longer alone, no longer without a family stunned him. And he was faced with a new dilemma, how to explain to a nine year orphan, that he had a family.
A sudden urgency to return to Fortuna, to Nero, pressed upon him. It explained the connection he had felt around the boy, Nero had snuck his way in through Vergil's armour almost from the very first moment they had met.
Though he honestly had no idea how to be a father, not to mention, he had little to no experience being a nurturing person, He was hard, bordering cold and strived to disengaged forming bonds, he had spent so long shunning his humanity.
Pushing people away, as he had with the boys' own mother, even after she had accepted him no questions asked.
How different his life would have become, had he stayed with her when she had asked him not to leave.
Could he even become the kind of person Nero would need in his life?
What did it take to be a father?
The true question plaguing him was, should he walk away from the boy now, before he ruined Nero's life, as he had ruined his own?
He had committed some terrible sins, all for gaining power.
How would that affect Nero when he found out? Because Vergil had no doubt that one day Nero would come to understand what a monster Vergil truly was.
The internal battled raged on within him.
He'd been willing to take Nero before discovering he was in fact, his father, so regardless of his own personal fears. He had no certainty that Nero would hate him for his past and he could try to offer the boy a better life, a life where he wouldn't be alone and unloved.
He could offer Nero that at least and he would just have to be the one to tell him everything about his past before Nero heard it from elsewhere.
The boy deserved that and much more besides.
Vergil titled his head toward the ceiling, he'd attempt to be everything Nero would need. He couldn't promise he wouldn't mess up at some point. But he knew without a shadow of a doubt, all the time Nero needed and wanted him around Vergil would never abandon him.
He would protect his son with the same fierceness his mother had always protected his brother and him.
Nero was his own flesh and blood.
He stood from the sofa and glanced at the portrait of his parents' one final time, then he turned and climbed the staircase. The floors creaked under his weight as he walked the length of the hallway and entered the room at the very end.
His room, every piece of furniture had been tossed aside as if the room had been thoroughly searched.
He moved to the closet and opened the door, kneeling down he moved aside the dusty pile of his old clothes and felt the floorboards.
He heard the squeak as his hand pressed on the loose section of wood, and he quickly lifted it up. Underneath was a small space, a place he'd once used to hide those things special to him.
Away from Dante, who would take them just to annoy him.
He lifted out the few items hidden within.
The first was a leather-bound book with a large letter V adorning the cover. He smoothed the dust away with care and smiled fondly at the book.
The next item was a smaller katana sword, a blade his father had given him to learn and practice with. It had no special attributes, he kept it purely because it had been a gift from his father.
These were things that held sentimental value to him, they had both been gifts he'd cherished as a young boy and still to this day.
He placed them aside and looked through the assortment of clothing littering the floor, some items remained on the hanging rail and he took them down.
He placed everything he'd collected into a large holdall he found in the hallway closet.
Finally, he entered his parent's room and headed to his mother's dresser, sitting on the top was a smaller version of the portrait from the sitting room. He took the framed picture and placed that too, in the bag.
He stood and cast his eyes around the place he'd once called home.
Echoes of long ago memories stirring in his mind, he wasn't sure how he was meant to explain to Nero why he'd never known of his existence.
The boy would likely hate him once he discovered the truth.
...and that bothered him!
—-
The streets of Fortuna were lively as Vergil strolled toward the orphanage, it was market day and apparently, the city had come to life. He wore his travelling cloak, his hood obscuring his face, though next to the acolytes he did not look out of place.
His gait was steady, despite his eagerness to see Nero again. He trailed the cobblestone path as he had many years ago. Though no scarecrows jumped out at him this time.
Each stone building he passed reminding him of his time spent here retracing the path his father had once walked.
Not for the first time, Vergil wondered what Sparda would think of these people. With their pious lifestyle, with the way, they praised a demon as a god. After his recent excursion through Fortuna Castle, he had begun to realise the leader of this devout society was very obviously power hungry.
He had the strangest feeling one day their Holy leader Sanctus would be a problem.
As long as they stayed out of his way, he would leave it to lie for now.
On he walked ignoring the hurried conversations of sellers and patrons as he passed by.
He was on edge, though he couldn't fathom the reason behind the feeling, his Devil was closer to the surface than usual, fidgeting and alert.
He reached the orphanage five minutes later and with his rapidly beating heart, he entered the empty courtyard.
He smoothly sidestepped the children's toys littering his path and reached a set of wooden doors, his fingers took hold of the brass door knocker and he tapped it three times and waited for an answer.
A small mousy-haired woman with bright hazel eyes opened the door and peered at him suspiciously. " can I help you?"
"I'm here to see Nero." He said removing the hood of his cloak to ease her suspicion.
Her eyes widened as she examined his face and she stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind her.
"He is not here..." she hesitated "there...was an incident last week"
He didn't like the way she said that and his eyes narrowed, his Devil pushed forward a little more and he fought for dominance.
"You had better explain, woman" He snapped
With a frightened squeak, she nodded hurriedly " h-he was attacked by a small group of children." Her eyes flashed angrily at the memory and steel entered her "he was injured considerably...and...something happened to his arm during the attack..." she took a breath looking around her again.
He was growing impatient, fury roaring through him. "where is Nero now?" He said his devil flashing in his eyes.
She took a step back " they have kept him at the medical facility...I tried to visit yesterday but they wouldn't allow it. They say he has a rare infection" she gave him an assessing look.
"Now I see that is not so, I have travelled the world and seen many things...you are not human are you?" smart woman. " he looks so much like you...Y-you are related aren't you?"
He didn't answer, he kept her pinned within his icy gaze, she had obviously seen right away what Vergil had not seen in a whole month.
Outside he was collected and cold, but inside he was in a spiral of panic and rage. Cursing himself for leaving the boy behind.
Oh, so slowly, he was losing the battle to control the fury within him and he pinned the woman with an icy stare.
"Nero is not wholly human, is he? I should have realised when I saw his arm" she was muttering more to herself now " you need to hurry, they are planning to transfer him to the castle. That doctor Agnus...he's not right...I tried to get him back" her voice had taken on a sudden urgency.
Agnus? That name was familiar, hadn't those laboratories in the castle contained files of research by a scientist named Agnus? He should have paid more heed, he shot forward and grabbed hold of the startled woman.
His eyes hard " Tell me where this facility is?" His ire at boiling point.
He didn't like people taking that which belonged to him, that was twice now!
First Yamato, and now Nero.
Unacceptable.
He pulled the woman toward him, " where...is...the...facility woman?" He said through tightly ground teeth.
Don't lose your shit yet Vergil, he scolded himself, find out where the facility is located first.
The prettified woman's arm shot out and she pointed toward the street he walked not five minutes ago. "T-that way, walk right to the end and take a left. It's a large white building! You can't miss it."
He let her trembling body go and fixed her with a seething look.
His next words born from his fury "if I don't like what I find...I will be holding you accountable human...not even a prayer to my father will save you!"
She gasped falling to the floor and watched as he disappeared in a blur, tears trailing her cheeks.
At least she knew Nero would be safe now, there was no mistaking that he was the boys' father.
She just prayed Nero wouldn't reject him, that boy deserved a family!
—
Bone deep fear washed through him, never in all his life had he felt so afraid. They had strapped securely on the medical bench, he could hardly move.
The strange gas they had forced into him through the face mask wasn't working as they expected, each time they put it over his face he would feel his strange arm warm.
Almost like it was absorbing and nulling the medication.
So he had fought to get free, biting down on the nurse's hand and clawing at her face, like some wild thing backed into a corner. he had pushed his drowsy body forward and met the floor, losing his balance as the gas fogged his senses enough to leave him very vulnerable and weakened.
He felt filled with rage and his temper burned, his spat and bit and even tossed insults at them, all to no avail.
He'd become such a wild thing - biting and clawing, as any exposed appendage he could, he hated them, he hated that they had pinned him to this bed and strapped him down.
As he lay panting and heart drumming rapidly, loudly in his ears. He had to fight back tears of both frustration and fear.
Never had he been afraid of an adult, even at the orphanage they may not have liked him much. But never had they scared or hurt him.
They had tried to relate to him, it was alway Nero who rejected them. Shying away from their attempts at showing affection- the other children's voices reminding him he was a freak and he was different.
That he didn't belong there and eventually he had started to believe that was true.
Agnus wanted to hurt him or at least he wanted him for some strange experiments.
Agnus had a habit of speaking too much and he prattled on about everything and clearly thought Nero was an idiot. He constantly treated Nero like a toddler.
He tried to wriggle free of the bonds across his torso, arms and legs, he wouldn't just lie here waiting to have them cut him open.
Hell no!
He wriggled furiously and so much that the bed began to wobble. His arms were easier to move under the leather strap, so he concentrated on trying to free them first.
A shadow fell over him and he froze, his eyes widening as he watched to Order knights take each end of the bed and begin to push him out of the room.
Agnus came into view next and Nero felt such blinding hate toward the man. If he had a knife to hand Nero would happily kill the beefy man.
"Young Nero...why are you being so stubborn? I only wish to help you" Agnus gushed peering at Nero's face.
The young boy spat in his face causing Agnus to jump back and snarl at him, raising his hand to strike Nero.
"If you wish to keep that hand, it'll be in your interest to refrain yourself" sounded a familiar voice, laced with an icy tone.
Heart drumming in his chest, Nero fought the urge to cry out in relief as his eyes searched the room for Vergil.
Blue eyes met his own and a tear slipped free as he curled in a sob.
Agnus spun around, as Vergil's steady footsteps echoed around the room.
"That's twice you've taken something belonging to me"
Agnus spluttered angrily "Wh-wh-WHAT!?" The beefy man seemed shocked and confused as his eyes landed on Vergil, cool and causal behind them.
Agnus' eyes move to the long sheathed blade in the other man's hand, his mouth agape.
Nero couldn't tear his eyes from Vergil. Something had changed with his friend - who stood there regarding Agnus with icy eyes, from beneath the hood of his cloak. He seemed to have an air of strength and an aura of power crackling the air around him.
He couldn't help himself as tears fell from his eyes.
Vergil had come back, Just as he had promised Nero he would.
Blue eyes assessed Nero from head to toe "Close your eyes Nero and keep them closed"
The boy did as he was told, closing his heavy tear-filled eyes.
He fought the urge to open them again when a crisp zing sounded through the air- followed by the thumping of bodies hitting the floor right beside him.
Nero quickly peeked through spotted lids before closing his eyes again.
His heart drummed as he felt the straps around him fall away, sliced cleanly by the gleaming blade in Vergil's hand.
Thump, thump, thump!
he kept his eyes screwed closed even as tears continued to seep from beneath his closed lids, and the urge to look became overwhelming.
"Y-You cannot take that child!"
An icy chuckle "Fool, like you, could stop me."
Slow steady footsteps sounded and a sudden gasp from Agnus, even knowing he shouldn't- Nero cracked an eye open and he held back a sharp intake of breath.
Vergil was stood before him, his blade digging into Angus' throat.
A trickle of blood seeped down the man's neck and he stared utterly wide-eyed as the hood fell free from Vergil's head.
Agnus' eyes darted between Vergil and Nero, his face paled and he swallowed, stepping backwards and lifted his hands in surrender.
Nero blinked in confusion as Agnus backed further away mumbling apologies and more words he couldn't quite grasp. His head was spinning again and he felt suddenly nauseated as the room spun.
"That's right! now you know...if I see you again, I will kill you Agnus" Nero blinked and frowned not understanding the silent conversation exchanged between the two adults in the room.
Was he missing something?
Angus was backing away with terror-filled eyes. He looked at Nero once last time with a wistful expression.
A growl rumbled through the air.
Angus jumped making a pathetic sound and scurried from the room like a cowardly dog, tail between its leg.
"Nero?" Gone was the iciness from his tone.
Vergil's voice was had a whispered tenderness to it and he was staring at Nero in a way that made Nero frown in confusion.
The man's eyes glued to him, almost as if Nero was the centre of his universe!
"Mm.." he couldn't form the words through the fogginess consuming him.
His drowsy body was gently lifted from the bed, Strong, sure arms cradling him gently, tenderly.
Safe, Safe, Safe!
His mind sang losing the fight to stay conscious, finally, he felt safe enough to give into the darkness waiting to claim him.
"Rest Nero."
Why was Vergil looking at him like that?
His eyes still shining with a strange, almost affectionate look.
"I'm fine, you can put me down now...I won't fall." That wasn't quite true, he was exhausted and his limbs were still shaking- whether due to shock or just fear, he didn't know.
"Let us leave here first, I have found us a small cabin to stay in, for the moment. Close your eyes" Vergil said eyes scanning the room.
Doing as he was asked, Nero closed his tired, aching eyes and soaking up Vergil's warmth he began to calm and relax in the elders' arms, his breaths becoming deep and even.
When Vergil looked back down Nero was fast asleep.
—
Two days following their arrival at the small cabin on the outskirts of Fortuna, Vergil stayed vigil while his son slept on and off in a night of fitful sleep, plagued by nightmares.
He was grateful for the distraction of looking after the boy, this place would site up too many memories otherwise.
During those periods Nero managed to stay awake Vergil had begun to tell him stories about his life.
Cautiously, he told Nero the story of 'the Sons of Sparda' leaving out the key fact of he, being one of the brothers.
He told him about demons and the story of his mother and father, how they fell in love, how Sparda sealed the demonic realm from the mortal realm.
Nero being the sharp-minded boy he was, had asked if he could be a Devil. He asked if that was why his arm was 'mutated' ( his words) he asked if Vergil was a devil, to which Vergil had told him yes.
They were both the same, both bearing demonic heritage.
He asked so many questions from 'what is it like being a part demon?' To 'why is your sword called Yamato?'
So many questions, Vergil had forgotten how curious children were.
He asked if Vergil knew where his demonic heritage came from, could it be his mother or his father?
Did he, Vergil, know either of them?
Vergil refrained from answering these questions and distracted the boy away from seeking the answers. At least for the moment...he wasn't yet fully recovered enough to mentally and emotionally handle that information.
Quite frankly Nero's constant questioning was exhausting! But he answered as honestly as he could.
When the boy had exhausted himself with questions upon questions and he finally fell into a deep sleep, Vergil found himself watching him like a hawk.
Strangely, no matter how much he sat by Nero's side he never tired of watching him, he would discover something he hadn't noticed before, almost every time.
He would need to tell Nero the truth sooner or later.
Sooner being the better option, he knew the boys' reaction would likely be a mixture of resentment and anger, he would want to know why Vergil didn't ever come for him or why he never knew about him.
And Vergil would have to confess that he was actually one of Sparda's sons, he would have to tell the boy it was he, who had committed all those sins.
Even if he didn't want to.
If Nero didn't hear it from his mouth, he would likely never forgive him.
Better to be honest from the start, even if Nero hated him a little for it.
He had plenty of time to earn his sons forgiveness.
There were so many things the boy needed to hear before he broached the subject of explaining that he wasn't alone, he wasn't without a family.
Granted, his family was slightly dysfunctional, but he wasn't alone in the world.
He would ensure he tell the boy everything, when the time was right and he was fully recovered from his ordeal.
He enjoyed how Nero's eyes lit up when he was around, almost as if Vergil had become the centre of the child's universe.
selfishly he didn't want to lose that just yet, he didn't want Nero to stop looking to him with admiration.
He didn't want that lit to dim into disappointment and resentment just yet.
—
I don't own Devil May Cry!
Thank you once again to all reviewers and followers! That fact you enjoy this story means a lot.
I really hope you like this chapter.
Revised (5/7/19)