The car was void of conversation as Dante pulled back into the shop's parking lot. Within the building itself Saya could be seen checking to make sure it was them. The demon-hunter brought the old sports car into a smooth turn towards the remains of the garage and ran over the broken door. With that he parked and turned the vehicle off.

Lady exited the car and closed the door. She was more than a little flustered with the way things were going. To start with, the trip had been pointless; they made it halfway there only to have Vergil encounter their target who then got away with the aid of someone who was likely more powerful than any one of them. And while Terrence was still technically considered an ally the teenager was more like a sovereign nation that was allied with their own country. He assisted them when he saw fit and opposed them on a whim as well. Finally, he had informed Vergil and Diva that there was no need to ask Enzeru about Ritorno's whereabouts, as he did not know. Further, when the psychotic man did show up he was supposedly "covered". All of this led to their return to Devil May Cry with little more than which they had left and nothing that was particularly helpful.

"So we're supposed to just wait here for everything to happen… the hell with that. I almost developed a permanent nervous twitch the last time I had to wait for the others to go 'save the day'." Lady thought.

Everyone else exited the car and closed their doors. Diva didn't wait for Vergil before heading towards the shop doors. Whatever had happened between them after the confrontation with the monster shark was even worse now. It seemed that their differing opinions over Terrence were more important to them than getting along, which was a surprise.

"I don't get how it could be such a deep-seated issue with them, though; this Terrence kid has only been around for a few months, and yet he's so important to them. Why?"

She'd never liked him to begin with. Anyone who was more morally androgynous than Dante was too untrustworthy in her book. Well, except perhaps Enzeru. But he was her family to some extent. No one was really close to the most recent additions to the local demon-hunter lineup, and they certainly weren't as endearing as the quirky Enzeru.

The remaining three people by the car entered the shop at the same time and Dante informed her that their trip had been a bust.

"Why is that?" She asked, sounding serious. Her demeanor was most likely due to Diva's premature entry and the fact that her sister had apparently already left the room.

"The short version? It's 'all handled'" He spoke, trying to imitate Terrence even though he hadn't actually heard the teenager say it in person.

"On the way there we ran into Ritorno. When Vergil was interrogating him, Terrence stopped him and let him get away. I guess they had a confrontation after that which Diva had to break up. The kid said that Ritorno would come to Enzeru sooner or later and that they would be ready when he showed up. So we came back here." Lady explained more thoroughly.

Dante sat himself down behind his desk and sighed in boredom.

Their weaponry found its way back to where it belonged except for the handgun Lady always kept with her just in case. Then those who remained standing situated themselves on the couches. They tried to maintain some manner of interesting conversation, and even eventually played a game of pool, though Saya didn't really know how. Dante turned the jukebox on and played some rock tunes no one else really knew. They found some good ones, but eventually switched over to a more noir-like blues tune.

Vergil seemed agitated; like he had a sunburn on his body that was past pain but still uncomfortable. Lady gave him about five minutes before he went up to his room, presumably to speak with Diva. He lasted six, and then vanished into the back. As he walked out of sight she noticed that Dante had a somber look on his face.

"What? I thought you tried to stay out of people's business."

He glanced at her and then looked away. It was uncommon for him to not respond with something simple like "shut up".

"What they've got always seemed like something special. Even before Vergil had 'smoothed out' for her, I'd never seen him seem so at peace before. And from what I've learned of Diva, it's safe to say she's been in the best place she's ever been in as well. It was kind of like that thing in a movie; you know, the ones where they say 'to hell with reason and reality; we've got love and that's all that matters'. I've never seen that before, not something that stayed that way, at least. I guess seeing it as more of a normal romance now just kind of puts me in a bad mood."

"For Vergil? Or because it makes you think that it just never works out?" Lady asked.

He gazed down at a glass, drained of beer. All that was left were ice cubes.

"It reminds me that nothing lasts forever. Pretty much as simple as that. Childish, maybe, but even I have my moments of immaturity; believe it or not."

The song changed to a jazz piece, and the atmosphere was gone. Dante challenged all comers to another game of pool, and Lady accepted. After all, it wasn't the first time there had been a somber moment amongst them, and it wouldn't be the last.


Vergil entered their room to find Diva sitting at the window, gazing out at the sky. Were it anyone else it might seem cliché but somehow Diva made everything seem original. It wasn't a bad night for stargazing either; the sky was mostly clear. Ironically, one of the only clouds that remained was covering the left side of the moon, so it was difficult to see if the celestial body was full or merely waxing.

"I used to keep myself up late to watch the moon." She spoke before he'd even drawn close.

"Seeing it change through the nights was about the only fun thing I could do while locked in my tower."

"I knew you liked the moon, but I didn't know that was the reason." He responded, not moving forward.

"I also looked at it the night Saya decided she hated and wanted to kill me. As well as the time you left me and when I thought you'd died."

He sighed and walked closer.

"So that means you feel like you did then?"

Diva shook her head lightly but didn't turn towards him.

"No. I just don't understand what is happening; why you and I seem so far apart. It isn't the same as the other times, but I still feel… bad."

"We don't agree on a topic that is important to both of us. And neither of us are the kind of person to just give up on our point of view." Vergil told her.

He could hear Diva purr like she usually did when something amused her.

"Always so perceptive. I suppose it's less that I don't understand it and more that I wish we could get past it; that it wouldn't do anything to us."

Vergil finally decided to approach her and hugged her from behind.

"I do, too. That's one of the main reasons this whole situation is bothering me; it shouldn't affect us. That our differences of opinion can cause such a big problem just in this one case doesn't make sense."

"Do you mean someone is doing this to us?"

He knew Diva didn't understand that sometimes people can have power over you just by being who they are. It didn't have to be an obvious threat or mind control. He knew there was something about Terrence that made this situation more significant than just their difference opinions on how to deal with people who could be misunderstood. He knew that Diva couldn't have simply fallen for the kid because of his immense powers, but he didn't buy that she was under some manner of spell either.

"I mean that you and I have something in us, something that is telling us that we need to stand up for what we believe in. But we don't believe the same thing. And because of how determined the two of us can be, it's like two bulls locking horns. It doesn't matter why they can't get out of the headlock, they simply feel they have to push on."

Diva placed a hand on his arm, pulling it tighter onto her.

"You mean how we feel about Terrence."

He wanted to sigh, but didn't.

"It looks like this is the time to settle things." He thought.

"Yes. I believe that the people we have become based on our pasts has lead us to see an issue from two different angles."

Diva didn't hold in her sigh.

"But Vergil, you're the only one that sees him as an issue."

Vergil let out the breath he'd been holding and drew out of the hug.

"Diva, I've seen the look in the boy's eyes. I know it. I saw it virtually every year of my life for a decade. He doesn't care about misunderstandings or misbegotten families, he just wants more power."

"But that wasn't what you wanted. You only wanted more power so that you could protect yourself. You weren't like that before-"

"What has happened in our pasts is in our pasts, Diva. I know what you're saying, and yes, that was a poor example. But I'm just telling you, I have a bad feeling about this."

The girl looked down at her lap and her body tightened.

"And if you're wrong you will have condemned a boy for simply being different."

"And if I'm right, I could save the lives of you, myself, and everyone else we know. I know this matter is important to you, but I would rather execute an innocent than stand by when I felt the person was a genuine threat."

In the few moments that followed his statement, Vergil felt the air in the room change. It was as if the air conditioner were running on full blast and it was spraying microscopic amounts of dust into the air. His skin felt brittle.

"You would." Diva spoke with the most bitter tone he'd ever heard her use. Vergil felt like the cold air tore off both his clothes and his skin. He felt like he had the night his mother protected Dante but not him.

"You always do what you think is best and don't consider how I think or feel. Then when you come back I try and let it go, thinking you might have learned something. Then something else happens and you leave me behind again while claiming it's to help me."

"Diva…"

"Vergil…"

Diva turned around to face him, and he couldn't tell if she had a look of despair or simply a vacant expression. Whatever it was, he was just as new to it as he was her tone.

"Tell me the truth; did you let me get raped?"

He fell back. His feet caught him before he could so much as stumble, but Vergil literally lost his feet. For her to honestly believe that he would allow such a thing to happen to her...

"Did you allow me to sacrifice myself for the others to get away? Did you allow me to be tortured by the people I was only fighting because I thought they killed you? Did you allow me to get stabbed by that man who taunted me with your death?"

"Diva, I wouldn-"

"Did you allow all of those things to happen to me, and still think you knew better?"

Vergil didn't know if it was possible to have a heart attack based on the shear rate that one's heart was beating, but he felt he was about to find out as Diva's words pulled the only guilt he'd had from the depths of his mind.

"When you abandoned me that night, did you really think of nothing other than what was more rational?"

Vergil felt like an elephant shot with a rifle. He wasn't dying, and he hadn't really lost any life force. But his entire body felt tired, as if he had been stricken of all his strength. He was both empty and possessed of a heavy weight at the same time, and the only thing that made him remember his skin was really attached was the cold sweat pushing out from every pore.

His mouth felt dry and glued shut, though it was actually agape. And he was vaguely aware that his body was making its way through the hall. He didn't even know how it left the room, and as he felt gravity alter, Vergil realized he was going down the stairs. Every strike the steps seemed to score on his body hurt more than he would have imagined and, by the time he landed on the floor below, he wondered if his demonic abilities had left him.

Feet came towards him, running, but he couldn't connect them to any manner of event. All that translated was the bass-tone of the heavier footsteps and the treble-pitch of the lighter ones vibrating through the floor. Strong arms lifted him up to a shoulder, and he saw red. Then his body was held as his feet dragged across the floor. When his body was eventually let down into the couch he finally realized something was happening. But it wasn't until he heard Dante's strained voice that his mind returned to reality.

"Huh?" He asked.

"What. The hell. Happened to you?" Dante asked in his normal tone.

"Oh… well, it's complicated."

Dante sighed and looked as if he was going to go for a punch, but then let his hand fall.

"Alright, are you okay?"

"No."

"What's wrong?"

He felt his mind wandering off again.

"Vergil! Get your head straight! If something is wrong, you need to be able to at least tell me what the problem is." Dante told him. His tone reminded the elder brother of the words they had traded at the top of the demonic waterfall. It also led him back to his mind, and reminded the half-demon that he couldn't wallow in guilt. Nothing would come of it.

"It's nothing for you to worry about. Diva and I… there are some things we need to address. But I don't know how to."

"Alright, but it's nothing serious." Dante spoke, glad that he wasn't in physical danger.

"No, Dante. It is serious."

Dante shook his head as footsteps ran back down the stairs and over to the couch.

"Diva isn't there." Saya told them.

"Look, she's probably just out for a walk-" Dante offered.

"I'm going after her. Haji." Saya spoke, already heading towards the door.

All the while Vergil muttered to himself and wondered what could be done. He felt his mind slipping again. Dante was struggling to keep Vergil and Saya focused, but didn't seem capable of doing anything but watching them lose track of themselves and simply go where their feelings told them to. Then, when Saya and Haji were gone, he summed up the general tone of what Vergil's musings had been on; "What the hell is going on?"