My second chapter.
Look it's Nero! I have no idea why people hate on him, he's this moody but yet so full of life type of character. He'll do anything for family.
School is out, I'm bored and I already have another four chapters that need to be checked before posting.
To say Nero was pissed was an understatement. Patty had to shout at him to not wreck the shop as he attacked Vergil and Dante. He glared at her and after giving them a punch each, he grabbed them both and hugged them, his hands gripping the back of their necks. Patty shook her head and went into the kitchen.
"Idiots." Vergil and Dante both heard him huff out.
"Missed you too." Dante patted Nero's head. Vergil stood there, but then placed a hand on Nero's back. Nero stepped back and grinned at them.
"There's a lot to tell you." Nero said as he pulled out his wallet and took out a picture of a little girl with white hair. "My daughter, Eva. I thought I should name her after her grandmother. She's four now." Nero let Vergil take the photo first.
"A child?" Vergil asked.
"Yeah, I'm thirty-two with a four-year-old. Not that big of a deal." Nero rolled his eyes. "Oh, by the way, I found her."
Vergil's gaze snapped up to his son, eyes searching for any deception. Dante raised an eyebrow. Details, details. "Oh," Was the only response Vergil gave.
"Found who?" Dante acted dumb, he just wanted to the hear the words.
"My mom, she remembers you too, Dante." Nero smirked and took the photo back, smiling down at the photo. Aha. Dante thought, freaking knew it. That Devil-Trigger gave it away!
Dante clapped a hand on Vergil's shoulder. "Who would've thought you would bang it out with dear Rachel. You know what she is right, Nero?" The last bit he looked at Nero. Vergil shrugged Dante's hand off of his shoulder.
"She's a hybrid herself. Eudaemon. Makes me a whole new type of hybrid. Explains the wings and the freaky ability to regrow and heal my arm." Nero waggled his hand before Dante's face. Dante smacked it away. "She was locked up in one of Agnus' secret labs in Fortuna's cave systems, took us awhile to figure out that poem you chose to write her name in the margins was also the same woman mentioned in Agnus' notes. Patty and Nico took their sweet-ass time in puzzling it out from Agnus' journals and notes, but we got mom back. She's with Kyrie and the kids." Nero said with a soft smile.
"Look at that Vergil, you come back, and your mate is fine. Didn't leave her to die like our old man did to mom." Vergil glared at Dante.
"It was never my intention for us to be separated long. My plan went awry." Vergil stated.
"Then you took a dramatic fall backwards into the demon realm, just because I won the fight." Dante said with a frown.
"I believed I would kill Mundus myself and come back. I didn't anticipate defeat. I was naïve." Vergil shook his head. Nero placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, Mom's gotten over that. She was just mad that you haven't come back sooner or that you just decided to get more power once you were back in the human world six years ago." Nero sniffed the air and then walked around his father. "Patty, you made my favourite! Man, I miss Kyrie's cooking, but this is a very close second." He said with a grin as Patty carried out a dish of baked lasagna. Even Dante had to admit that smelled good.
"Well you did the job quickly and didn't destroy the hotel, so a extra reward is the desert that is setting in the fridge." She smiled and sat down at the bar, placing the plates down onto the bar top. She retreated and came back with two more, but smaller portions.
"How come we don't get as much?" Dante asked as he approached the bar and sat down near the jukebox end.
"You two probably haven't eaten food in awhile, I'm not letting you waste all of my hard word on throwing it up." Patty said as she sat down beside Nero, Vergil sat down between Nero and Dante.
"She makes the noodles from scratch." Nero said wit a smile as he cut into the lasagna. He took a bite and looked at Patty, swallowing, he added with a happy groan, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." The twins then each took a bite and Dante gave a grunt before digging in. "Slow down, you'll get sick!" She yelled at the two of them as Vergil also ate more fervently.
"I'll let mom know you're back. Let her get mentally prepared for that. Okay?" Nero asked Vergil, the older man slowly nodded. "Don't take too long, she's missed you."
"Call the office and then I'll use Yamato." Vergil said and Nero nodded.
"Also, don't get on each other's nerves too much. If Patty calls me, I'll be pissed." Nero said with a mock glare.
"I'll do by best, but I make no promises for your uncle." Vergil smirked and Nero rolled his eyes.
"I'll see you later, dad." Nero waved to Patty and Dante and left. "I'll call you later, Patty. I'll send everyone your love."
"Thanks!" Patty waved. Nero left with the door closing with a creak. Vergil turned to look at the other two in the room. Patty was sitting on the desk, ankles crossed, and Dante sat at the desk, head on the desk and groaning softly. "I told you not to eat so much. Now look at you, a total mess." She huffed, crossing her arms.
"That was the best desert I've ever had, and it didn't even had strawberries." Dante groaned and leaned back in the chair.
"No one told you to be a glutton, brother." Vergil said as he sat down on the couch. Dante glared at him and then looked up at Patty.
"Patty, can I talk to Vergil alone for a bit?" She looked over her should and down at him.
"Oh. Okay. I can run the cookies and some items over to the orphanage." She hopped off the desk and went to the kitchen. She popped her head back at out and added, "You two better behave while I am gone!"
"Yeah, yeah, get going." Dante huffed without looking in her general direction.
"She was an orphan herself?" Vergil asked.
"Yes and no, she was left there as a child because her mother was chased by demons constantly. Her last name is Lowell. Probably why her and Nero get along so well, they share that experience." Dante saw Vergil shift uncomfortably on the couch, a slight movement and shift of shoulders, but Dante knew him well enough to read into that. "You didn't know Rachel was pregnant. If you did, you would have stayed. You can't change the past, Vergil."
"You said Lowell? As in Alan Lowell's descendant? I read about his alchemy once." Vergil tried to change the subject. Dante nodded but Vergil frowned and added, "Rachel, she probably hates me."
"He's calling you dad and not in a sarcastic tone, like 'father'" Dante mimicked the way Nero had said the word all those years ago, flexing illuminating blue wings and toss a shoulder slightly, fists clenched. "So, I think he gets you a little more now and you heard the kid: she misses you." Dante stood up and stretched. "So, how did it happen? Last time I saw Rachel was when I was sixteen. She said she wanted to check something out in Fortuna, she never came back. I begged her to not leave. I assumed something killed her."
"I met her there, two years later. It wasn't planned." Vergil sighed and shook his head.
"Did you love her? Do you still love her?" Dante asked. "It's just us." He walked over and sat down on the coffee table and looked at his twin carefully. Vergil looked at him and nodded slowly.
"Do you remember the time that just after father left and I…" Vergil stopped and frowned at himself.
"You bit her thinking if you marked her, she wouldn't leave to find him but stay with us. She was pissed as hell. Are you saying that mark actually worked?" Dante asked. Always trying to be like pops. Mom bore Sparda's mark too.
"Yes, and no. It created a bond for me, not for her. When, I saw her in Fortuna she was disguised as a local. Had a little apartment and blended in with everyone else. She brought me back to her place as I investigated the town. She had suspicions about things going on there. A new man, Sanctus, the one you told me about, was keenly aware of Rachel's presence and knew she wasn't entirely human." Vergil explained.
"It was my last night there. I gave into my feelings and told her then." Vergil looked down at his lap, "I shouldn't have left the next morning. I should've checked, I would've known."
"Yes, you would have. But I suppose you marked her truly then?" Dante asked. Vergil huffed, "Of course I did" As if that is without a doubt. Was what Dante could see on his brother's face.
"You had sex with Rachel, dad would've smacked you around. He basically raised her after her father's death. And the near one-thousand-year age gap." Dante let out a whistle and Vergil glared at Dante.
"Our father and mother had no qualms over their about age gap. I always loved Rachel; my feelings have not changed. Yet, I still sought power over her." Dante shrugged. "I'm nervous about facing her." Vergil admitted a few minutes later of silence.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's Rachel. She was through so much shit with Sparda that I doubt your shit could even compare." Dante said as if that was explanation enough.
"I was her first Dante." Vergil explained with a frown and then shook his head, "She must have been upset when she woke up and realized I was gone."
He patted Vergil's knee and stood up. "Oho. You need to make that up to her for sure. Can't believe she waited that long to have sex to only have the guy, you, ditch her in the middle of the night." Dante chortled more to himself than at his twin, "I'm going to go bed. Get some rest. Take that bedroom upstairs. Patty can sleep on the couch as punishment for taking over my bed." Dante smirked and went up the stairs. Vergil following closely behind. Both feeling some sense of relief to sleep on a bed.
I think Nero is a little OC but I tried to figure out what he would be like a little order and calmer. I also figure he read Vergil's book ten times over, that Vergil had written things in the margins, like notes for himself, and that Nero learned to accept his father.
So, I have a degree in Classics and still love Greek. The word eudaemon is a good spirit/demon and are depicted as what we call angels because of their wings. Cacodaemon was the opposing evil demon/spirit. I may play on that later.
Until next time!
MH