A/N: Mild language. This is the last chapter of Part I. Part II won't be as long as this was, and Part II has the first voice change, for reasons that will be clear at the end of this chapter.

Let me know what you think!

No, I still don't own the property rights. I did put it on my Christmas list, though, *crosses fingers*. ;P

Kisses, Soft and Sweet - Part I

Chapter 6

Five more years passed before I came to regret listening to Sanctus and Credo. Nero came home from Academy shaken.

"What's wrong my angel?" I grinned, hoping the familiar pun would bring a smile, but when he turned to me his eyes were a little too wide.

"I...I started some new stuff at Academy today. I don't like it, and I don't like the teacher."

"Why? Did something happen?" I asked, concerned. He shook his head.

"Not exactly, Mom, but I had to do a physical, and Sir Agnus, the teacher, he asked me weird questions, and did stuff, said stuff. He said he was testing my psychological profile, but it seemed like he was just trying to piss me off."

"Language, Nero," I scolded, though not as harshly as I normally would.

He scowled. "Sorry, Mom."

"What kinds of things did he ask?"

"Just weird stuff. About my father, you, how I felt about my adoptive family, Fortuna, fighting. He wanted to know if I liked fighting, or if I had ever been really mean to anyone, or hurt anyone."

"What did you tell him?" I asked, carefully keeping my voice neutral. He shrugged.

"I told him I didn't know Dad, that he'd died before I was born. I said that I loved you," he grew a little pink admitting that, "that I thought Credo was the best, and that Kyrie was my best friend." His pink deepened a little. A sharp ache for Vergil ran through my heart. "I told him about the fight I'd had before I joined Academy. He wanted all the details. I kinda lied, told him I didn't remember much, but he pressed me for everything he could anyway. I told him that I wasn't mean, and that I didn't want to hurt people, I wanted to protect them." He looked up at me again. Well, being a somewhat short woman, and my son taking after his tall and broad father, he actually was taller than I, even at ten.

"He did make me angry, Mom. And I, I got this weird feeling when I got angry. This shaky, electric feeling in my arm." He absently touched his right arm as he spoke. "I grabbed it, and he noticed. He looked at me, like...like a snake does a rabbit. He scared me." His eyes flashed with anger. "I hate being scared."

I nodded, opening my arms to offer him a hug. I debated on whether or not I should try to contact his uncle. Nero hesitated a moment, then he accepted my hug. I decided to hold off trying to call Dante. After a moment, Nero pulled away, gave me a smile, and went to his room.

When Credo came home, I privately relayed Nero's concerns to him. He didn't quite brush me off, but he assured me that Agnus was a creepy sort of fellow, though harmless enough, and that nothing sinister was going on. Despite Credo's assurances, I was still concerned and considered calling Dante.

What would I say? 'Hey Dante, this is your twin's widow. Say, I know you haven't heard from me for ten years, and you've never even seen your nephew, did you know he was a boy? No? So sorry, but anyway, I think he's going through something "unique" to your side of family. You want to come to the island and give me a hand?' I snorted to myself. No one would go for that. I decided to go to Academy the following day and speak with this Agnus fellow. If that didn't help, I'd talk to His Holiness. I nodded to myself, feeling better about the situation already.

After much runaround the next day, I finally found myself outside a laboratory, prepping myself to speak with this Agnus. I was picturing a nerdy little fellow and was surprised and intimidated by the large, broad man who answered my knock.

"Sir Agnus?" I kept from stammering, barely, though in hindsight, it probably saved me a little trouble.

"Mrs. Redgrave. P-P-P-Pleased to m-m-meet you. I understand you had something you wished to d-d-d-discuss?"

I nodded, and he graciously led me to a back office.

"P-P-P-Please have a seat."

"I'll get to the point, Sir Agnus. I am concerned by how much you disturbed my son yesterday. No doubt it was unintentional, as you seem to be an intense sort of fellow, but I must ask if you could try to keep in mind that Nero, unlike most of the Academy students, is still a young boy. He's very impressionable, and a devoted and dedicated man such as yourself can be very intimidating to a ten year old." I smiled, hoping I had been artful and polite. He smiled himself, and I saw what my son had meant about feeling like a rabbit being stared down by a snake.

"I was hoping to disturb him; you see, I n-n-need to see what kind of p-p-power the boy has. Such a powerful bloodline, into the second generation. That sort of power needs to be harnessed, m-m-made to work for the Order's n-n-noble cause! So young to have that m-much p-power! That Credo, he has trained him well, yes, but he hasn't begun to tap the p-p-p-potential of the boy's d-devil! Think of it, all the power of the Savior's blood, controlled by the Knighthood! He will be our b-b-best asset, our greatest weapon for the cleansing envisioned by His Holiness! Impressionable? Yes! All the better to m-mold, shape to the Knighthood's will, make him the weapon we n-need! If only we could have had the Savior's sons at this young age, but the boy has much better p-p-potential having come to us so young!"

I was horrified by what I was hearing, especially when he'd used some of the same phrases that Sanctus had when he was trying to convince me to send Nero here, into this snake's pit. Agnus turned back to me, not quite as though remembering me at last - more like my usefulness as an audience had come to a close.

"Too b-b-b-bad that there is one influence greater than the Order's for the b-b-boy, one which could have been a p-p-p-problem, were it not for your m-m-motherly concern. Now, however, I can n-n-n-neutralize that influence."

I jumped up to rush out the door, but he grabbed me, dragging me towards a large painting at the back of his office. He ripped it aside, revealing a passageway. He dragged me along, heedless of my thrashing and screaming. We reached another door which he opened with a passkey of some sort and the shock of what was in that room even stopped my escape attempts momentarily. There were large containers filled with fluid, most of which contained bodies, some human looking, others demonic. Some had body parts instead, floating eerily in the softly bubbling fluid.

"Yes, m-m-m-magnificent, isn't it? The true work of the Knighthood. Keys to resurrecting our beloved Savior!" He sounded proud, triumphant even, but I was horrified at the tableau. He proceeded to drag me back to an empty tube next to one in which an old man floated. I looked at the figure, his long white hair and beard floating in bluish fluid, obscuring his face. Agnus giggled, a high, somewhat girly sound that chilled me through and through.

"Welcome to the honeym-m-moon suite," he said, indicating the vacant tube next to the unfortunate fellow. A cluster of bubbles fluttered through the man's long hair, revealing his face. I gasped, eliciting another giggle from Agnus. The man in the tube wasn't old at all: he was Vergil.

I wrenched from Agnus, pressing against the glass only briefly before he grabbed me and pushed me into the empty tube. I banged on the glass, cursing him. Fluid, purply in color, started flooding into the tube. Agnus tapped the glass, and I snapped my terrified gaze to him.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Redgrave. Relax and the fluid will shut your body down. An everlasting sleep n-n-next to the father of your child, the ultimate key to his grandsire's glorious resurrection!"

I started screaming at the madman again, but true to his word, the fluid came up, flooding my senses, and I fell into darkness.