Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters are the property of Capcom. OCs to their respective owners. The Order of Sparda and its plotline to Clairavance; Chapters 13-Epilogue to me.
Chapter 25: Level 25: Yesterday
Nero stepped deftly amid the rubble, his gaze flicking this way and that, scouring for survivors among the wreckage of the house that had once stood here. Dante trailed along beside him, the devil hunter unusually quiet as he prodded at the broken concrete with his sword.
He stopped suddenly, dropping to his knees to furiously dig through the broken slabs of stone, revealing a thin, familiar arm, the golden sheen of flesh standing out against the drab stone surrounding it. The long, elegant fingers of the hand were turned upward, curling slightly, the knuckles bloody and coated with filth. Nero dropped down next to Dante, helping him to clear the rest of the debris away, the fingers twitching when Nero's fingers lightly brushed against the inside of the wrist.
"Phenex," Nero's voice was hoarse as he caught a glimpse of a single, amber eye peering up at him from the hole he'd made. "Phenex, can you hear me? Answer me, damn it!"
Phenex sat up with a groan, the last of the rubble falling away as he rubbed the back of his head. "Of course I can hear you," he snapped, voice was raspy with dust. "With all the noise you were making, how could I not?"
An involuntary chuckle escaped Nero as both he and Dante helped the agent to his feet, his gaze falling on the clock tower just on the other side of the subdivision, the prestigious landmark miraculously intact despite the wreckage surrounding it. He was surprised to see that it was just passed eleven. And to think, it had only been short hours ago when he'd freed the prisoners, leaving them in the capable hands of the undercover operatives in Ferrum Hills.
Returning his attention to Phenex, he smiled weakly, grasping his shoulder. "I'm just glad you're okay. Baphomet…didn't make it."
Phenex glanced between the two devil hunters, his expression sullen. "Yes, I saw it happen. So many of us have fallen; Kieran, Alaric…and now, Baphomet. But, we knew the risks." His gaze softened, his smile causing a pang in the pit of Nero's stomach as he was reminded of Sparda. "We dedicated our whole lives to our cause, and to die for that cause is a genuine honour."
Hearing a disparaging sound from next to him, Nero couldn't help agreeing with Dante's unspoken sentiment. No matter how small or how noble a cause, there was no sense in the death that surrounded them. He was certain Phenex knew this, too. He wasn't a simpleton, and he certainly wasn't an optimist. But Nero supposed it was better to believe their comrades had actually died for something more, than to believe they'd died in vain.
And at the end of the day, hadn't it been their lives that had meant something? Hadn't their very existence proven more valuable, given that they'd saved the people of Fortuna, and sent Mundus and his forces packing?
"Have you seen my brother anywhere?"
Nero was dragged out of his thoughts by Dante's question, the devil hunter settling Rebellion over his shoulder as the three of them slowly walked the perimeter of the house's foundation.
Phenex shook his head. "I'm sorry. I lost track of him just before your father dealt Mundus the final blow."
"It's alright," Dante assured him, offering a half-hearted grin. "Vergil was never much of a team player, anyway."
"What about Forneus?" Nero asked, doing his best to ignore the scene unfolding before him as several members of the Order piled the corpses of their comrades onto makeshift towing carts. "The last time I saw him, he—"
"—was running away, leaving you to face a very large, very angry Mundus on your own?"
Nero whirled around at the familiar voice, his face splitting into a grin as a battle-worn Forneus stared back at him. A jagged gash ran the length of his right cheek, stopping just beneath his eye. His cleaver, covered in grime, hung from a leather strap at his side, his torn clothing revealing a myriad of cuts and scrapes all over his body. He grinned back at Nero, and spread his arms wide.
"So, Sparda's little helper…did you miss me?"
Nero slowly moved forward, taking hold of the pale blue devil's forearm at the same time that he felt the other grip his own. Forneus's silver eyes danced with amusement, and Nero finally dropped all pretence to pull him into a tight hug.
"I'm sorry."
Forneus pulled away from him, quirking an eyebrow as he stared down at him. "What the hell for? You saved my life, and the lives of many others. You saved the city, and you helped the Order send Mundus back to where he belongs." He squeezed Nero's shoulders, smiling kindly. "There is nothing for you to be sorry for."
"He's right." Nero glanced back at Dante, the other returning Rebellion to its place on his back, and folding his arms across his chest. "You did good kid. I'm sure the old man was proud to have you as one of the family."
Nero smirked, cocking an eyebrow as he did. "You're not getting soft on me now, are you, Dante? Or is it that you're finally starting to feel your age?"
He danced out of Dante's reach when he made a grab for him, the sound of Phenex's and Forneus's laughter proving to be contagious, for Nero couldn't help joining in their mirth as he struggled to evade the devil hunter's grasp.
"Get back here, you punk," Dante growled, finally getting a hold of the collar of Nero's coat, and yanking him into a headlock. "Any last words?"
Before their playful banter could go further, Forneus stepped forward, holding out a sheathed black katana to the pair. "I almost forgot; I found this over there." He indicated a spot just to the right of where the Hell-gate had been with a nod of his head, Nero following his line of sight as Dante released him from his grasp. "I don't know where he went, but I think he meant for you to find it." He looked at Nero as he said this, empathy lighting his eyes.
Nero reached out tentatively, testing the katana's weight when Forneus gently dropped it into his outstretched hand. A warm, familiar tingling went through his palm, the sensation coursing up and down his arm as though the sword were greeting him after their brief time apart. Running a thumb over the silver hilt, he traced the intricate pattern along the inside, a lump forming in his throat as images of the blue-clad devil flitted across his mind.
"Thank you."
"We'll head to Ferrum Hills to inform Charlotte and the others of what's happened," Forneus said after a moment, nudging Phenex in the ribs meaningfully. "I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about."
Nero exchanged a look with Dante, the other nodding almost imperceptibly.
"Alright," Nero replied, running a hand over his face as fatigue started to set in. "We'll see you guys at the port." As the two agents walked away, Nero heaved a sigh, his gaze meeting Dante's expectantly.
"So, was Vergil…was he really my father?" he stammered, averting his gaze when he felt his face start to burn.
An eternity seemed to pass, Nero continuing to stare off into the distance, vaguely aware of the creak of leather as Dante shifted from one foot to the other. There was an exhalation of breath, and he finally spoke.
"I'll level with you—I honestly don't know." Nero looked back at him then, the devil hunter's icy blues crinkling at the corners as he continued, "A lot of the signs point to 'yes'. Regardless, you're one of the family, and that's all that matters. You'll find that goes far deeper than just blood alone, kid." He clapped him on the back as he said this, chuckling when Nero nearly went sprawling into the remnants of a wall.
Nero let out a snort as he recollected himself, his lips twitching into a grin despite his efforts to remain stoic.
Several moments passed, the two standing in companionable silence as they stared at the starry sky above them, a light breeze teasing the tendrils of hair that fell across both of their foreheads. The air was cool, Nero welcoming its touch after their long, hard-fought battle against the Demon King. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, the scent of rain soothing away everything from the weeks he'd spent undercover, to the last hit he'd suffered before the battle had finally ended.
Slowly exhaling, he opened his eyes, and glanced over at Dante, not the least bit surprised to see that the devil hunter's eyes were closed, a weary smile playing on his lips.
"Well, our work isn't done just yet," he declared with a sigh, opening his eyes to stare at the lifeless bodies piled all around them. "Besides, a proper send-off is the least we can do for these crazy bastards, after everything they've done for the city. Right?"
Catching a glimpse of Ramy and several other Order members as they towed their fallen comrades toward the entrance of the Housing District, Nero nodded.
"In that case, we'd better move fast; it's almost midnight." He secured Yamato to his right hip, and made his way toward a group of human agents struggling with their own load, Nero relieving them of their burden as he took the towing cart's rope in hand, and dragged it along behind him, leaving the operatives to stare after him in wonder. Glancing back to see Dante assisting with another batch, he smiled and kept moving along, the Order members making their journey toward Port Caerula's funeral pyres in silence.
It had taken nearly half an hour for the remaining Order members to make their way down to the port, mostly due to the sheer number of them travelling down the narrow, twisting roads and walkways that led all the way from the main strip to the Residential District and beyond.
When they finally passed through the pitch blackness of the Port Caerula breezeway, Nero was pleasantly surprised to see Trish amongst the members, her honey coloured hair damp with rain and perspiration as she lowered one body after another onto rafts at the far end of the wharf, the still water appearing inky and black beneath the celestial skies. Ramy, along with the red-headed woman known as Victoria, whom he recalled seeing at the Order's headquarters back when they'd captured him, kneeled on either side of the demoness, their robes fluttering in the breeze as they began to set the rafts adrift.
Carefully dragging his cart down the ramp onto the loading dock on the right, he swept his gaze over the large assembly of soldiers and witches around him, every single one of them entirely focused on the task of preparing their final farewell to the friends they had lost. Charlotte and her eclectic mix of operatives were amongst them, the petite brunette working tirelessly to create more rafts for the deceased, her hands trembling as she lashed moderately thick branches together with frayed bits of twine, only stopping to brush the bangs from her eyes. Two of her companions, the bird-like demon, and a young human woman with short hair the colour of dark chocolate, aided her with her task, the other three agents in her company taking the rafts she'd already made to the water.
Nero made his way passed them, his eyes lighting up when he caught sight of Phenex and Forneus, the duo tearing broken planks of wood from the look-out tower and handing them off to another group of Order members, who in turn undertook the duty of delivering them to Charlotte and her raft-makers.
"We'd better speed things up a bit, if we're determined to make this a midnight funeral." He jumped, having forgotten Dante had been following along behind him the entire time.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Nero muttered. "The question is, how are we going to light up the rafts? We don't have any arrows."
"That's where I come in." Phenex stopped what he was doing and stepped forward, stretching his arms above his head with a groan. "I'm more than just a pretty face, you know."
Nero rolled his eyes at this and opened his mouth to deliver a snappy rejoinder, only to close it again when he finally spotted her; Kyrie.
The songstress stood on the metallic bridge just across from him, her back turned as she put a tarp over one of the rafts with help from a few humans that Nero recognized from the pits.
As he strode toward her, he could vaguely hear Phenex mutter, "Speaking of pretty faces…" The gold-tinted devil giving him a quick nudge to the ribs for emphasis. He brushed past Phenex, snorting in amusement when his retaliatory jab to the agent's side resulted in him doubling over.
"Damn it…didn't anyone ever tell you to respect your elders?" he wheezed.
Nero heard Dante chuckle in reply, "Story of my life, pal."
The sharp clacking of his boots as he stepped onto the bridge drew Kyrie's attention, her soft, red hair swirling around her shoulders as she turned to look at him. Her mouth formed an 'O' of surprise before splitting into a wide, genuine smile.
"Nero! I was hoping you'd make it in time." She threw her arms around his neck and planted a delicate kiss on his lips, leaving him somewhat dazed. "Forneus said you were on your way, but with all of the destruction…" She trailed off, her golden-brown eyes clouding with sadness.
Nero gently wiped her tears away, and pulled her close. "It's alright, I'm here." He planted a light kiss on her forehead before disengaging from her embrace. "Come on, it's almost time. Let's give these guys the farewell they deserve."
"Need a hand?"
He turned to see Dante, Forneus, and Phenex standing behind them, along with Trish, Ramy, and several more Order members he didn't know. Casting a glance back at the dozen or so rafts along the bridge, he nodded.
With that, every demon, soldier, and sorcerer moved forward to help, forming an orderly line as they transported the rafts toward the docks. A sort of calm seemed to fall over everyone, Nero exhaling softly as he listened to the soft lapping of water against the concrete pier, the young hunter not even feeling the strain as he shouldered one entire side of a raft by himself with two human agents on the other side.
Settling the raft down into the water, he watched it follow those that had already begun floating away, dozens upon dozens of wooden transports destined to become funeral pyres.
Didn't Phenex say he would take care of it?
No sooner had the thought occurred to him, when a streak of orange passed high above, the fiery trail splitting into an array of smaller ones as it arced over the water. The flames met their mark, several of the rafts set ablaze the moment the fire touched down.
Both Dante and Kyrie came up to stand beside him, the red-clad hunter patting him on the shoulder and throwing a thumb back over his own to indicate the source of the flames. Twisting halfway around, he saw Phenex standing atop the pulley used for raising and lowering the
bridge, his entire body cloaked in vibrant red fire. His amber eyes glowed fiercely, an expression of strained concentration pinching his features as he held his hands straight out to either side of him. Sparks jumped from his fingertips, the flames that licked across his palms growing in intensity until he thrust both arms upward, jettisoning his fire toward the harbour.
Nero watched, fascinated, as the fire trails mimicked the first group the phoenix-devil had unleashed, soaring through the sky and plummeting onto the pyres below, not a single flame wasted as every single one hit its mark. Clearly, Phenex was a master of marksmanship, and with that realization, came another; though he already held him in high esteem, Nero had reached a new level of respect for the fiery agent.
As the last of the rafts were set alight, Nero turned back to gaze across the water, watching the brightly flickering flames sail off into the distance. The crescent moon hung high above them, the stars particularly bright since there were no city lights to obscure them, twinkling as though to pay homage to those who had died.
A slender arm looped through his, Nero lacing his fingers with the familiar, elegant ones of Kyrie, the couple watching in silence as the brave souls who had fought for the people of Fortuna disappeared into the night.
Dante raised Ivory over his head and fired a single, clear shot into the air, signalling the end of the 'moment of silence' as the last vestiges of orange light faded into the distance. Several people jumped at the sound, only to dissolve into embarrassed titters at their reactions.
The buzz of conversation started up almost immediately afterward, the members retreating to the loading dock to sit in groups, regaling one another with their exploits during the final showdown against Mundus and reminiscing about their fallen comrades. As Nero strode past to sit alongside Dante and several of the others, he noted the glistening of tears on people's faces. Their sorrow seemed to be at war with the cherished memories of those they had just said their final goodbyes to, lips upturned into tentative smiles as fond words flowed from them in remembrance.
He settled down with his back against what remained of the look-out tower, Kyrie curling up beside him as Dante, Trish, and several others from both the Order and the resistance sat across from them, Evan and Aiden amongst them.
"Well, it looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us," Evan said to no one in particular, running a hand through his unkempt hair with a sigh. When his eyes met with Nero's, his mouth quirked into a grin. "But on the other hand, at least we're still alive to know that there's work to be done."
A few of the others murmured their agreement, Aiden flashing a grateful smile in Nero's direction, the youth's eyes bright despite the darkness. "We owe you our lives." He looked at both hunters as he said this, his gaze then sweeping around to include the rest of the Order members. "All of you."
Nero rubbed the back of his neck at the same time that Dante cleared his throat, both white-haired men exchanging an uncomfortable glance at the praise. This started a chain reaction, the group surrendering to a fit of giddy laughter at the duo's obvious resemblance to one another.
When their mirth finally subsided, Nero turned to Phenex, glancing between him and the other Order members as he asked, "So, what will you guys do, now? You know…now that Sparda is gone?"
It was Ramy who answered him, her lips pulling into a sad smile. "We will continue our Lord's work in his stead." Her head tilted downward, her chestnut ringlets casting her face in shadow. "Many of us will stay here to help the people rebuild, while the rest will return to our realm."
Forneus continued in Ramy's place when she was too overcome with tears to say more. "Once we've completed our task of rebuilding Fortuna, we'll focus our efforts on fortifying the city's defenses, and deploy as many of our people as possible to other known, demon-infested areas, ensuring nothing of this magnitude ever happens again."
"Just make sure you don't put me out of business," Dante quipped, winking. "Some of us have bills to pay, you know."
"We make no such promises," Phenex retorted, his lips pulling into a mischievous grin.
"You hear that, Trish?" Dante smirked as he turned to the demoness, absently running a hand along Rebellion, the large sword settled across his knees since he couldn't sit with it across his back. "It looks like we've got some competition."
She smiled back at him, her blue-green eyes betraying her amusement as she shifted into a more comfortable position, one leg stretched languidly in front of her with the knee of the other drawn up to her chest.
"You know what that means, then," she replied, twirling Ombra around her index finger. "We'd better step up our game, or we might just find ourselves out of work."
The group shared another laugh, and when their laughter dwindled down to chuckles, they took turns entertaining one another with everything that had happened since they'd seen each other last. The loading dock continued to buzz with conversation long into the night, and well after the sun began casting its fiery, orange glow over the water.
It wasn't until Kyrie's form slumped against him entirely that Nero decided it was officially time to call it a night. He swept the songstress up in his arms, following the others as Phenex opened a portal into the Timeless Realm, Ramy assuring everyone that the Order would provide them with temporary lodgings until Fortuna was rebuilt.
Casting one last look over his shoulder at the rising sun, Nero realized that he was more at peace now, in this exact moment in time, than he'd ever been in his entire life. Smiling, he stepped through the gate, leaving the pain and strife of yesterday behind him.
V.2 (June 2017)
Thanks for reading. Please don't hesitate to leave a review. ^^