The beacon of hope, a mute girl's innocent laugh, echoed through the area, it woke up a sleeping Nero. He stretched his limbs, waking up to the sound of a small water fall flowing, his head rang with precious memories. He looked around and saw that Alastor and Ifrit were still sleeping; oddly, they were curled closely to each other, like cats, almost. Of course, it was obvious that while the two of them were prone to simple arguments, they were still friends, no matter what.

Nero sighed and shook his head, smiling a little bit. He looked at the river, and found the small flowing waterfall. He looked himself over, he knew even before he saw the river that he was filthy, caked in dirt and blood and other substances. Stretching his arms again, he removed his clothes, save for his underwear, and walked into the river. It was cold, but not ice cold. After a while it felt warmer, especially when he stood under the waterfall, running his hands through his hair, making it shine a brighter shade of white, not a murky gray.

I had to wonder if Nero was ashamed of those hearts on his boxers. Though I figured that after what he went through in Fortuna Castle numbed any shame over what color his underwear was. One thing I'm shocked at was that Agnus never really made fun of Nero's underwear choice. He must have seen worse.

After washing his body, Nero looked at his clothes, wondering if they needed washing. He figured not, since he never wore his clothes in Fortuna Castle. When he did, Agnus made him strip the very next day. (Well of course, he couldn't operate through clothes, you know!) Sighing heavily, Nero laid down in a small patch of grass, where the sun was sitting. He warmed himself and slowly, fell asleep again, laying in nothing in his underwear.

The first thing Alastor saw when he woke up was Nero's clothes, hanging from a tree, and his boots and sock on the ground. He nudged Ifrit, whispering, "I think Echidna ate Nero…and left his clothes behind." Of course he was joking. Ifrit lifted himself up and rubbed his eyes; Alastor stood up and found Nero, sleeping. Ifrit looked with him.

There was something that really stuck out on Nero's body that caught their attention immediately.

The scars.

NERO'S BODY

On his wrists, even on the Devil Bringer, one could see red marks surrounding them.
Like he had been strapped down.
Same went for his ankles.
There was a large scar on his left palm, as though something had been driven through.
There was a red mark, similar to the ones on his ankles and wrists
on his neck. Along with it, some faint red hand marks.
And his chest. His chest had a vertical scar down his front; as though
it had been cut open—several times. Blisters accompanied the scar down his chest.
As though…he had been burned horribly.

Alastor covered his mouth in horror, "Who…would do this? What the hell happened to him?" He whispered, "My…god, and I thought Choirgirl looked terrible."

"…I'm worried about Dante now…after all…if he IS in that castle…who knows what could be happening to him now?"

"…But Nero said he didn't see anyone else there! Maybe Dante got out? Maybe…I hope so. I mean…Dante should be able to get out of there, he's a grown man…Nero's just a kid."

"Alastor? Are you…crying?"

"He's such an idiot…He wants to get revenge on the guy who did this to him. I tried to talk him out of it, but he still wants to do it, I know he does, I saw it in his eyes. I tried to tell him that he'd only get hurt again, but I could tell that he wasn't going to listen."

"Wait…The guy who did this…he wants to get back at him? He honestly wants to…?" Ifrit clenched his fists as Alastor walked away, covering his mouth, still. He kneeled down, and very roughly punched Nero on the chest, startling the boy. Nero tried to get away, but Ifrit held him down angrily, "I said it once, I'll say it again. What breed of stupid are you? You're honestly thinking that you can get that guy for what he did, after all this? Did you even look at yourself? Do you honestly think that he'll be easy to take down after all of this?"

"What are you talking about?" Nero snapped, "Is this about Agnus? I know what he did! I know!" He shook his head, "You wouldn't understand…why I want to kill him…"

"Yeah, well it seems you don't understand that he'll probably kill you first, if anything!" Ifrit grabbed Nero and pulled him to his feet, placing him in a headlock, he turned to Alastor. "Hey Al, what should we do with him? You know he only wants to go to Headquarters to get his revenge! Should we take him to Limbo City and lock him in Dante's closet?"

"What?" Nero yelled, squirming, "That's hardly the reason I really want to go to Headquarters! There's someone I need to see! I need to find her! Tell her I'm alive!"

"Her?" Ifrit said suddenly, dropping Nero to the ground, "What do you mean 'her'? You never mentioned a girl in the first place. What are you, stupid? You honestly think we'll fall for some trick like that? Come on, kid, give us more credit, we're over two thousand years old here."

"No…wait." Alastor said, "He did mention a girl once, remember? He was sleeping…and he kept repeating a name…Kyrie."

Nero had no clue that he was talking in his sleep, and by the time Alastor had said her name, he found his face feeling very hot with a tinge of embarrassment. It only worsened when Ifrit and Alastor both "Ah"ed and smiled at Nero.

"That's right…!" Ifrit said, "I remember now, you kept on calling out a name. So tell me…is she your girlfriend?"

Nero bit his lip, his face turned a deep red, "No!" he said, rather defensively, standing up. "She is not! My girlfriend!" he yelled at them angrily. They turned to each other and smiled wide, whispering not so quietly.

"I think the boy does protest too much…" Ifrit snickered, whispering into Alastor's ear as he eyed Nero menacingly, Alastor had the same smile on his face, sharp, white teeth glinted at Nero, who backed away, rather furious, but not willing to fight over it.

"She's not my girlfriend. That's that."

"Oh, come on, we heard you say her name. You like her, don't you?" Alastor teased.

"Shut up!" Nero yelled, his face so red you'd think he was getting a sunburn. He clenched his fists angrily.

"Oh wow, he's really defensive about it, isn't he?" Ifrit murmured, obviously amused at Nero's reaction. The two of them snickered and turned away, whispering to themselves; though Nero had a good idea of what they were talking about, and stormed over to them.

"Alright, that's enough!" He yelled, pushing through them. "It's not important who she is! I just want to see her again! Let her know…I'm alive." Nero paused, looking down at the river. Even though he had just bathed there not too long ago, he never actually looked at his wiggling reflection in the water.

All went silent as Nero examined the scars on his body. Scars that he didn't know he had, though he knew he should have. He ran his hand down his chest, even lightly touched his neck, where the hand marks were. He dropped to his knees to get a closer look. To make sure that it was, in fact, himself looking back in the reflection.

He wanted to ask what had happened, the only problem: He already knew.

His fingers trembled as he looked at himself and touched his neck, running his fingers down his chest. He took in a deep breath, and gulped, absolutely terrified of what Agnus had done to him. He wondered, what would others think of these scars? Would they go away?

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY

Would Kyrie still be loyal?
Would the appearance of scars terrify her?
Would she run?

Nero continued to look at himself, when he saw a new image in the water. People running away from him, saying he was dead. No one caring that he was alive, having already moved on from his sudden disappearance. He saw Kyrie, not even running from him, but looking at him like he was crazy, ignoring him, telling him to leave her alone. All while she held onto the hand of another.

Nero looked away from the water, trying not to think of the horrifying possibilities. He stood up and looked away. Slowly he grabbed his clothes off the trees, beginning with his black tank top and his jeans.

"So, uh, Nero." Alastor said, "I know that this is probably a bad time to ask you this, but, if anything, do you need any…romantic advice? Because I'd be happy to give it."

Ifrit scoffed, "Oh please. Don't listen to him, Nero, you've only seen ONE of his ex-girlfriends, and you've seen how terribly it's turning out. Besides, the one girl he might like, he's too terrified of even being in the same room as her."

"Well don't listen to him, either! The last person he dated was his SISTER!"

"She was sister by clan and you know it!" Ifrit yelled back.

Nero sighed as the two of them began to bicker and yell at each other. Nero sighed, tugging his shirt on, he turned to them, "Guys! That's enough…" He said, staring at the ground, still rubbing his hand on his neck, sighing heavily.

Alastor and Ifrit paused, taking note of Nero's saddened face. They looked at each other, then back at Nero. Alastor made his way over to the boy first and out his arm around his shoulder. "Don't be so mad, we're just messing with you. And…the scars…don't worry about them, I mean, come on! If anything they make you look a lot tougher!"

Nero pushed Alastor off angrily, "That's not it! I mean…I've been missing from November to August, that's about ten months! Who knows what's happened while I was gone? I mean, I apparently missed the assassination of my own leader! And to top it off, I'm here with two of the guys who were a part of the whole thing! And…ten months…ten months…well, what if Kyrie has forgotten about me? What if she has some other guy with her?"

Ifrit crossed his arms. "Well, then that would probably mean she wasn't worth it. That's all I can tell you. There's a lot of fish in the ocean, kid, just cast your line again until you get the catch to take home."

"You don't understand! Kyrie…she was the only person I knew who would…really talk to me. She was the only person who really…understood me. We've known each other since we were…"

"…Nero…" Alastor said, "You shouldn't think like that. I mean, would you prefer it if you were dead? There are worse things that could have happened to you aside from being in a coma for ten months. And let's face it, people are going to assume you're dead if you've been missing for so long. The only thing you have to do is tell them you're well. They won't ignore you or anything. And besides, if Kyrie's so special to you…if you believe that you two were so close to the other, then I'm sure she'll be happier than anyone else there to see that you're alive." He patted Nero's back, "Don't worry about it too much."

Nero sighed heavily. He looked at the ground, and took a heavy step forwards. "I just…don't know."

"Come on, don't think too much about it, what happens, happens. Now here," Alastor handed the boy his red vest as well as his navy blue jacket, "get dressed, and we can get moving. Unless…you'd rather eat first. I want to eat. I'm starving." Without another word, Alastor turned around and began to climb a tree.

Nero looked up in amazement, but soon realized that he was hungry as well. Sitting down, he sighed yet again as he dressed, still troubled over his situation.

But really…Kyrie getting a new boyfriend was the least that could happen.

Not too much longer, Alastor jumped down from one of the trees, his sudden landing caused Nero to jump in shock, but Alastor had several fruits in his arms, and set them down for the trio to share. Nero grabbed the first fruit in his reach and took an enormous bite out of it, the juice spilled all over him, but he was too occupied with the sweet taste.

The last thing he remembered eating was a frozen meat pie, even then, he'd only nibble at the corners, hoping it would last him as long as possible. And after ten months, he felt like skin and bones.

He continued to chew until there was nothing but the pit left, he tossed it over his shoulder and grabbed another fruit, digging his teeth into its flesh. As quickly as he dug his teeth in, he felt someone slap him on the head, he paused and looked up, his mouth dribbling and covered in juice.

"Slow down, you little pig!" Alastor scolded, "There are others here! And at least swallow before you take a bite!"

"And please try not to smack your lips so loud, and taste the fruit." Ifrit finished, holding his hands up to block his eyes, as though he was absolutely disgusted with Nero's behavior.

Nero wiped his mouth and licked his lips, and slowly ate the fruit, looking around himself cautiously. He felt a little embarrassed for what had happened, not realizing that it was no longer a struggle to survive.

"So…You think your girlfriend will be happy to see you?" Ifrit asked, causing Nero to blush red again.

"She is not my girlfriend!" He yelled, "For the last time, she is not my girlfriend!"

"…Well you at least have to have a crush on her, right?" Alastor suggested. Nero looked down at the ground, trying to hide the redness of his face. Alastor and Ifrit smiled, and soon crowded in on him. "Come on! Tell us about her, at least? There has to be something you can tell us! Please?"

"Like what?" Nero snapped, pulling away from the two of them, but they were pushy, and grabbed Nero's shoulders, holding him in place as he struggled.

"Well at least tell us what the girl looks like, kiddo!" Alastor said, "We'd at least like an idea of who you're fantasizing about. You know, hair color, skin color, how tall she is, what it feels like when you wrap your arms around her."

"Okay, okay, shut up, that's not what happened between us!"

"Come on, don't be so shy…"

"Just give a few details about her." Ifrit suggested, elbowing Nero lightly in the ribs. Nero growled, still trying to get away from them, but they wouldn't let the boy go.

"Alright, alright! Fine, just a few things about her, then we get up, and we keep going for headquarters! Alright?"

"Well…we'll see about that…" Ifrit whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing, we agree." Alastor covered quickly, attempting to assure Nero, waving his fingers, giving him the signal to move on with what he wanted to tell them. Well…not necessarily wanted to, but you know what I mean.

Nero sighed heavily, but he began, slowly, anxiously. "It isn't very comfortable, talking about her to two other guys who I barely even know, and not to mention you're both demons, AND you both helped on a plot to attack the Order. I don't even know why I'm with the two of you."

"Don't think about that right now, kid," Alastor said, "I implore you, we're the good guys here, in fact, you already know that something odd is happening around here if one of the members of the Order kept you hostage in a castle."

Nero sighed again, "Alright, her name is Kyrie. And she's...a really good friend of mine. We've known each other for a while now, but...I was never sure if we were...together. I never really asked, I never wanted, I was too afraid that I would...lose her or something." He shook his head, "It was something ridiculous like that, you know? We were...hardly apart, but, that was kind of my job, I was supposed to be her bodyguard." he gave a small laugh, "Though...I think that Credo did that on purpose."

"Credo?" Alastor asked curiously.

"Her older brother…ironically, he's my boss, too. But there was something…I don't know, I guess he did like me…he just had an odd way of showing it. So I was in charge of his sister after I…um…" Nero blushed, "I got in a fight with Kyrie. So he…found me, and he kicked the crap out of me. A few days later, I have a new position, I'm in charge of her. And of course, she wasn't talking to me, so eventually I had to apologize."

Oh. Nero beat me to that story, it's rather cute, really. You see, Kyrie and Nero had formed a friendship ever since Nero and her fell out of the tree, but, one night, Nero was walking to his room, when his old shock therapist passed by him.

A WICKED WHISPER
"She only pities you, you know."

That simple sentence threw Nero into a paranoid fury, that by the next day, when Kyrie approached him, he lashed out at her, asking if she was just pitying him, if she didn't really care about "The One-Armed Knight", if she was just toying with him. Kyrie was in such shock that she dropped the books she held in her hands and ran away, sobbing. Nero was breathing heavily, but was beginning to feel terrible for what he had said, he picked up the books Kyrie had dropped. Nothing really important, just her music books, was all. Nero looked around, everyone was staring at him, glaring at him, whispering harsh things.

MORE WHISPERS

"No better than his father, I say."

"Poor girl, she should have just stayed away from him."

"Just like that asshole of a father, next thing you know he'll start up drinking and smoking."

"What do you expect from a boy that was raised by a drunk and a devil?"

These were words Nero hated hearing, he didn't even glance at the people as he walked away. He walked faster as he heard loud footsteps, and Credo's voice, "Where'd he go?" No doubt that the people pointed Nero out immediately, but by then, Nero had already escaped. He found his safety yet again in a tree, once again, I'm still shocked that he could climb a tree with one arm, though I figure it must have taken him a lot of practice.

Hours passed, it was dark, Nero figured now was the time to go home, though he really didn't want to run around headquarters trying to avoid Credo. Though he was lucky, he didn't have to do any of that.

…Credo was waiting for him at the bottom of the tree. So, Nero had no chance of escape when he jumped down, as Credo grabbed him with both hands, one good advantage against Nero, the other advantage? Well, back then, Credo was much bulkier than Nero, who was slightly underweight, so as you can imagine, it wasn't hard for Credo to give Nero a black eye, or bruise his stomach, or give him a fat lip, or drag him back to headquarters and throw him in the infirmary, yelling at him to straighten out his act.

Nero knew he judged wrong, especially since Credo's beating. He was just lucky Credo didn't break any of his bones. He knew, from that day forth…no one ever…ever…messed with the Eleison siblings.

"So…" Alastor said, nudging Nero again, "Come on, give us a few details! What does she do? What does she look like? Huh?"

"Oh…well, she's a songstress, for the Order of the Sword. She sings for them, you know? And…her voice, penetrates the air, it's the most beautiful voice I have ever heard. It's…so soft and shy when she speaks, but…strong when she sings, when she sings, her voice rings out more than anyone else's voice, like…the voice of an angel. She's…so cute, too. She's short, but not too short, she stands…to my shoulders, I think, and her hair is this brilliant, brown-red color, And she has these…kind of…coffee like eyes, like when you pour milk into a cup of coffee, that kind of color, a milky-brown…"

Ifrit's eyes widened, he stood, staring at Nero in horror, but Alastor began to laugh, causing Nero to yell at him while Alastor teased him about having a crush. Though Alastor was right, the way Nero spoke, and in the way he turned red as he spoke, was a dead giveaway that he more than liked Kyrie. But there was something else on Ifrit's mind.

"Al, shut up." He snapped immediately, he looked at the boy, who thanked him, assuming he was standing up for him, "No, don't thank me. You're going to hate me in a few seconds. Alastor!"

"Yes?" The Thunder Devil replied, standing up, Nero stood up, too. Ifrit put his hand on the boy's shoulders. As if measuring, Alastor followed suit, confusedly, "What's this about?"

"…Seem familiar?" Ifrit snapped, "Brown red hair, how long is her hair, Nero?"

"What? Um…past her shoulders a little bit, I think, I haven't seen her hair down too many times."

"Right…and brown eyes, Alastor, tell me we're on the same page here…"

Alastor was looking shocked, and terrified, "I was right…Choirgirl…Why she wanted us to call her that, even though she was mute."

Ifrit nodded, "Because she was a choirgirl before she was mute."

"Wait a second! Wait a second! What are you guys talking about?" Nero snapped.

"Remember how we were telling you about that girl we saw earlier?"

"Kyrie isn't a mute!"

"Defend her all you want, but that description you gave her matched Choirgirl perfectly."

"No! No, there's no way they were the same girl! I mean…"Nero took in a deep breath, "she would have never made it out alive! She has to still be alive!"

"She is, Nero…" Alastor said, "we don't know this for sure, but we think Dante saved her." He fidgeted with his hands, "She had his scent all over her."

"No…no, that couldn't be! What about Agnus?"

Ifrit and Alastor were silent, Ifrit was the one who spoke up, with difficulty, "Nero…remember…how Alastor said she was bloody? Well…along with Dante's scent, there was a much more foul scent on her…and the blood, was in the crotch area…Nero, please tell me…I know you don't want to, but tell me you know what it means."

"It was her time of the month…" Nero said defensively.

Alastor shook his head, "I don't think so, Nero. The blood wasn't flowing when we got to her. And when we found her…she was covered in bruises that were obviously dealt by human hands."

Nero shook his head, "No…it couldn't…no. That can't be…" He didn't want to believe it, but he knew Agnus would do anything to have his way, and he wasn't about to put such a shameless act beneath Agnus. First, he felt denial, but grim reality wrapped itself around him, and soon it boiled into more hatred and anger than ever. "That bastard." He growled, "That sick fuck…I'm going to kill him…I'm going to kill him." Nero growled as he began to storm through the Lapis River, Alastor blocked his path.

"No, you're not." He said, "I know you're angry with him, but I'm not letting you go near this guy, I don't care what he's done. He's obviously more than a match for you, I'm not letting you risk your life. Not for this, Nero. Vengeance is not the answer here."

"Then what?" Nero yelled, "What else is there for me to do, Alastor? Do I turn the other cheek on this bastard? He's killed hundreds! Maybe even more! I can't just let this slide! He's not going to get away with this, and I'm going to be the one who makes sure of that!"

Alastor gently put his hands on Nero's chest, "Nero…calm down, I know this is a horrible shock for you, but I'm not letting you make another mistake, the angrier you are, the more blind you become, and the more blind you are, the easier you are to defeat. Calm down, Nero…we'll figure something out…I promise."

Just as Nero was about to calm down, there was a loud splash, Ifrit ran out for cover as water burst out in all kinds of directions, Nero and Alastor saw what had emerged from the water. The demonic reptile of the Underworld, the Blade, two more of them emerged from the ground and wailed at them, bearing their large claws, and swollen left arm, it's blood vessels popping out as they adjusted the helmets on their heads and circled Nero and Alastor.

"Shoo, you god damn pests!" Alastor yelled angrily, shocking the one that had emerged from the water, frying and killing it. Ifrit ran over to them and promptly shoved both Alastor and Nero out of the way as the other two Blades shot their talons at them. Ifrit was pierced in his leg and the side of his torso, he fell over, the talons still sticking out of his body.

Alastor ran to his friend's side immediately and tried to help him. As Alastor turned his back, once again, Nero began to feel that desperation, not only that, but his anger, his hatred, all bottled up. The two Blades lunged for him, but Nero's eyes began to glow red, the Yamato was in his right hand as he drew out Red Queen with his left. A blue specter appeared behind him as he began to hack up the Blades, the specter mimicked everything he did, even using a spectral version of the Yamato.

Blood stained the ground as Nero stood over the remains of the demons, he voice echoed hauntingly as he spoke, "I don't have time for this bullshit." as he walked over the bridge to the other side of the river. Alastor and Ifrit were in shock, but Alastor still tried to pry the talons out of Ifrit.

Ifrit shook his head, "Go after him! Stop him! I'm fine, I'll pull these out myself! Get him!"

Alastor clenched his fists, but ran after Nero, he grabbed him from behind, only getting himself elbowed in the face as he staggered backwards and fell to the ground, but that didn't stop him as he ran in front of Nero and grabbed the boy's shoulders, giving him a shake. "Nero, wake up!" he yelled, but the boy's eyes still glowed red. At this, Alastor immediately slapped him across the face, "Wake up, damn it!" He yelled again, but Nero's eyes were still a menacing red, Alastor gritted his teeth and this time, slapped Nero with a small jolt of electricity, sending the boy crashing to the ground. "Nero! You have to wake up! You can't let him control you!"

The specter disappeared, Nero lifted himself up, he looked at Alastor, to his relief, the boy's eyes were blue again, but he was distressed, and terrified as he spoke, trembling. "Alastor…? What happened to me? What was that?" He lifted himself barely to his knees, looking at his hands, "What's happening to me? What's going on?" He nearly sobbed, "I…I could barely control myself…"

"…I told you, that sword belonged to a wicked devil…the Black Angel, as some call him."

"Black Angel...?" Nero said, clenching his fists, "But…the voice I heard…" He didn't finish, but he knew the voice that had spoken in his head. It was me. He continued to stare at his hand, he pondered, about how he had thought that Agnus had done this to him. But now…now he knew who it was. It wasn't Agnus, it was me. But he wondered:

Is Vergil trying to possess me…? Or…is he…trying to help me?

As I said already, I was most definitely not trying to possess Nero. Though, was I trying to help him? Well, that can be debated…