A/N: Thanks to my new reviews! They so made my day! Let's see, more language warnings. I hope the first part sounds all right to everyone; just let me know what you guys think! Jimli ;P

Of course, I actually *do* own the rights to Devil May Cry, but I'm just crediting Capcom. You know, you have to humor the little people. ;)


Mementos and Memories - Part IV

Chapter 3

I'm playing in the field. It's pretty, full of flowers, the kind Mommy likes. I'm chasing butterflies. Mommy says butterflies are flying flowers. I hear a voice behind me, and I'm scared, because I don't know who it is. It's not Credo, and not Mommy, but it's a grown-up voice. I look, and I see a monster, like the ones they talk about in church stories. The monster grins at me, showing lots of teeth, and he squats down like grown-ups do when they talk to me.

"Hello, little nestling. I'm surprised to find you here. Did someone bring you here or did you find it by yourself?"

I shake my head. "Mommy says not to talk to grown-ups I don't know, 'less she's there. Or Credo."

The monster laughs, which is a little scary. He doesn't keep grinning when he laughs, and it is a really scary sound. I step back from the monster, but he doesn't chase me. He sits down in the flowers.

"That's very wise of your mother. It shows good sense not to trust random strangers. Your mother had a hard time learning that herself."

"Mommy is the best mommy in the world. She loves me and won't let the monsters get me."

He nods at me, very serious. "Indeed."

I giggle, because I think that's a funny word, 'specially for a monster.

"What's your name, nestling?"

I shake my head again. "Names are powerful," I tell him. I don't know what it means, but Mommy says it when she doesn't tell another grown-up her name. Or my daddy's name.

The monster nods again. "Does your mother say that as well?"

I nod. The monster sits quiet.

"Would you believe me if I said I knew your mother?"

I shake my head. "Mommy doesn't know any monsters."

He laughs again, and I giggle, too.

"Your mother's name is Jade. She is the most beautiful creature in the world. She snorts when she laughs. She does know a monster."

I stare at the monster. "You know Mommy! Are you really a monster?"

"Yes, I suppose I am, nestling. How about we make a deal? You don't have to tell me your name, because names are indeed powerful, but I would like to spend time with you. I swear to you that I will never purposefully harm you, nor allow any harm to come to you. In exchange, I will tell you my name."

I shake my head. "That doesn't sound fair. Mommy says I always have to play fair. I'll just call you Blue. You can call me, um. Black Angel. Will you really play with me?"

"Of course, nestling. Do you know how to play hide-and-seek?"

I nod.

"Good. Do you want to play the monster version?"

"Monsters play hide-and-seek?"

"Indeed. Monsters love playing hide-and-seek, but we play differently than humans do. We use smell to track down those we're seeking. I shall show you."

I run off to hide, but Blue calls me back.

"Don't just run to a hiding place and stay. If you sense me, run again. This game is like hide-and-seek and like tag. I'm it. Do what you must to keep me from catching you."

I look at him. "What happens if you catch me, Blue?"

He grins again, pouncing at me. I am afraid at first, then he starts tickling me. I try to wiggle from him, but his arms are strong, lots stronger than Mommy's or even Credo's. He has sharp claws, but he doesn't scratch me, even when I wiggle. He only tickles me. I squeal with laughter until he lets me go. He lets me get my breath back before we start to play for real. We play, and he catches me every time.

He is tickling me again when Mommy wakes me up in the morning.

"Good morning, my angel. Did you sleep well?"

I nod and look around for Blue.

"Lose something, Nero?"

I shake my head, sad because Blue was just a dream monster. I don't tell Mommy about Blue.

Almost every night, I meet Blue in the field of flowers, and we play monster versions of lots of games.

One time, the field goes dark as we're playing, and I cuddle against Blue. It feels like something bad is happening. Blue pulls his sword as a bunch of monsters pop up out of the flowers.

"Stay near me, nestling. Do not run, no matter what happens, unless I say otherwise, understand, boy?"

I nod, as scared at the way Blue is talking as I am about the other monsters. They are bad monsters, I know, and I wonder why I thought Blue was bad now that I know what bad monsters feel like. Blue hisses and growls at the bad monsters, and they come running. He slices them with his sword and I see their arms and legs fly all around. The bad monsters keep coming, but Blue kills them all, and they never touch me. When the last one is in pieces, the sky is bright again, and I see that the sky is the same color as Blue's eyes. He asks me if I'm okay, but Mommy wakes me up before I can nod.

After the first attack, Blue starts teaching me to fight. We wrestle, fight with sticks, and box. He never hurts me bad, and never on purpose, and later, when I'm fighting the boys who teased Kyrie, I use the things Blue showed me.

When Mama says that defending Kyrie is what my daddy would have done, I wonder if Blue was like him. I still don't tell Mama about Blue. Even though he's in my dreams, I feel like Blue is real, too. I have fewer dreams with Blue as I get older, and the ones I do have are shorter. As the dreams become more infrequent, my memories of them fade.

When my mother disappears, I stop having them altogether until the meditation-induced dream after my arm is infected. It is then that I learn that Blue is a devil, half, to be exact, and is Vergil, my father.

When I learn this, I feel more complete than I have my entire life, and it is a comfort to know that my father was somehow part of my life, and taught me so many things. I mourn the loss of my friend Blue as I come out of the meditative state, because he said he was dying, and I am afraid that I will not be able to save him. The only person I know of that saved people was my mysterious uncle, and I know I must find a way to reach him if I stand a chance to save my father and find my mother.

I had closed my eyes, not just remembering my dreams, but reliving them. When I opened them, I looked at Dante, wondering what he thought of my dreams of Blue. I braced myself to hear him say that it was impossible, Vergil was dead, so sorry, see you kid. His face was turned from mine; he was looking at Dad's grave marker.

"So Vergil's been captured all these years. You still want some help finding the fuckers who have him, Nero?"

"Yeah, I do. You think he's still alive?" I barely believed his answer.

"He couldn't have done that devil trick with your dreams if he hadn't been, kid. It's kind of a shame, in a way. Between lack of knowledge and communication, you lost years of time." He smiled, turning to face me. His eyes seemed a little wet, but I didn't see any tears. "We'll find your frigid jerk of a father, don't worry, kid. You said that your last dream was meditation-induced? He gave you Yamato, but your arm absorbed it?"

"Yeah, when I was attacked in the forest, my arm...transformed. Blue,...Dad, I guess, said it was my devil manifested."

"Let's see it," he said. I unwrapped my arm and removed my glove, and Dante examined the limb thoroughly. He whistled when I manifested Yamato, and I handed the sword over to him. He looked it over lovingly, and I wondered how things would have been different for all of us if he and Mom had been in contact. He clearly missed Vergil as much as she had. I shook my head, then I remembered the amulet.

"Oh yeah, something else happened. I absorbed this," I manifested the amulet, which still had Mom's pendant inside it, pulsing faintly. "And while I was trying to sort out why I could absorb it, I tried a crystal pendant of Mom's. I couldn't absorb it directly, but it became part of Dad's amulet." I showed it to him, but he shook his head.

"I'm not sure on that one, kid. Your arm and its abilities are unique, as far as I know. My devil, and your father's, are complete transformations that we turn on and off - trigger - at will. Not a permanent, partial change like your arm."

"You mean I'm going to go through the rest of my life with a devil arm?" I exclaimed.

He chuckled. "Who knows? I wouldn't call it that, though; that's what we call demonic weapons. Here, kid." He handed Yamato back, then transformed. He was fully a devil, vaguely similar to Blue. I grinned at him.

"Guess I would have called you Red," I said.

He chuckled again.

"You grin when you laugh," I commented curiously.

He released his trigger.

"Yeah, kid. That's not a devil thing, that's a freak thing of Vergil's. He does the same thing in his human form. It creeped me out when we were kids."

"So where do we start looking for Dad?" I asked him.

He frowned. "I don't buy your mom's mysterious disappearance. That's not much like the Jade I met or heard about. I say we start at this Academy of yours, talk to this Agnus creep." He grinned. "First, though, how about some lunch. Any good pizza joints on this rock?"