Chapter One: Lessons Learned

Notes below!

Several decades ago…

In the twenty long centuries or more that he'd spend carrying out his rather eventful day to day life in the human world, the Dark Knight Sparda had undertaken many different kinds of challenges. He's sat on the royal courts of kings and queens, and traveled to enumerable locations in an effort to seal away the darkness that he'd once contributed towards creating in his time serving the Prince of Darkness himself. In doing those tasks, he'd experienced a great many things, especially when it came to matters of war and destruction, many of which he'd fought singlehandedly, but nothing had prepared him for the seemingly innocuous task of keeping up with his two young sons, the both of which seemed literally hellbent of causing as much destruction and chaos as they possibly could. In many senses, they were the very anthesis of their father.

Calm, collected, and generally at ease, Sparda was still entirely unsure as to how the union between his lovely wife and himself could result in tiny creatures with such a strong predilection towards destruction. For the most part, Vergil was the exception to this rule. He spent the majority of his time quietly reading and shadowing his father around the house, only getting into notable trouble when Dante was involved to some degree. It wasn't so much that the younger of the two was troublesome perse, it was that he didn't tend to take no for an answer when it was presented to him, and he took any limitations set before him as a personal challenge. There was rambunctious, and then there was the wholehearted deep-seated hatred that their youngest son seemed to feel towards any and all rules and limitations.

And that was why Sparda had concocted a different sort of education method.

Like clockwork, the two children appeared before him, answering his summonses as he'd expected them to when he'd called them only a moment before. While their mother had no idea where they were at the moment, he could sense their presence on a more mynute level, an ability that came in handy on a regular basis. They stumbled their way into the room in a manner that spoke volumes. He was certain that they had been in the middle of something unsavory until he'd redirected their attention, and he couldn't escape the feeling that he very well might find out what that thing was sooner rather than later.

"It has come to your mother's attention that there is an insect nest of some kind in a tree in the back garden." Sparda turned to glance in the direction of the back garden, knowing exactly which tree she was referring to and completely aware of the fact that both of his sons were actively trying to figure out which one he was referring to." I've been asked to dissuade you in regards to meddling with it as it may cause you temporary harm."

The two young children glanced between one another before nodding in conformation, more than capable of comprehending the concept of being stung by an unfriendly insect. They knew what pain was, and at least one of them had no desire to actively seek it out. While they both healed exceptionally quickly, that didn't change the fact that they were still able to feel pain.

"Okay father, I won't," Vergil said with a slight shoulder shrug, opting instead to wander off and browse the bookcase in search of something less hazardous to do. If he was going to put himself in harm's way, it was going to be with sword lessons or something similar, not by doing something as stupid as picking a fight with a stinging insect.

Dante peered around his father, curiosity overriding what should have been an obvious warning bell. I mean, they couldn't kill him, right? What was the harm in it? They were just a couple of little bugs." That makes sense. But can I still look at them? I don't think they mind, right?"

Expecting something akin to that response from at least one of his offspring, he repressed the urge to chuckle slightly, shaking his head slowly." I can't say that I've ever asked them as much myself. But I'd advise against attempting to do so."

The youngest member of the family looked disappointed by his father's answer, but sighed and ran off, slowing to something akin to a jog when he considered what his mother or father would say if they caught him doing so. Sparda watched him go before casually resuming the book that he'd been reading prior to their conversation, taking a few sips of his tea as he resumed his more or less relaxed state. Vergil joined him, sitting on the floor nearest to him in a quiet attempt to spend meaningful time with his normally frantically busy father. The Dark Knight appreciated the gesture and was going to say as much, but before long the young white-haired child leaped up and scampered over to the window, his attention clearly fixed on something. Before Sparda could move to see what his oldest son was so interested in, Eva entered the room, a calm look of concern on her face.

"Darling, have you seen Dante? He's been practically begging me to bake some sweets with him the last few days and we were supposed to do so a short while ago but now, for the life of me, I can't seem to locate him." Although her calm demeanor hid it very well, she was clearly concerned as to what had become of their youngest child. Dante had no perception of time, but he very rarely missed out on sugary treats. It was very unlike him." Do you have any idea where he may have wandered off to?"

Sparda never got the opportunity to respond. Instead, Vergil did so for him, pointing out of the window behind him as he faced both of his parents, a slightly nervous look on his face. He already knew where this was going, and he was glad that this time he wasn't on the receiving end of what he knew would be his mother's displeasure, possibly even his father's depending on how he decided to react to this situation. "Umm… I found Dante?"

As if on cue, a piercing cry followed by a branch snap and a notable impact with the ground could be heard from a short distance away, revealing Dante's whereabouts to both of his slightly baffled parents. Eva folded her arms and gave Sparda a stern look as the white-haired devil Knight exhaled in obvious displeasure. Neither of them needed to inquire as to where their young son was or what had just happened.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, dear, but didn't I ask you to take care of that nest sometime today?" Eva said, clearly unamused as to what had just happened. While she'd witnessed their abilities first hand, that didn't make her any less concerned when it came to their wellbeing.

He nodded somewhat hesitantly." That you did. And I warned them both to be warry of it, not even a half-hour ago, but as you can see…" He leaned over to see where Dante had gone just in time to see the child in question come running into the house yelping in discomfort as the results of his misadventures became clear for everyone to see."... that didn't exactly go as planned."

Neither of them could hear very well as Dante babbled incoherently, completely taken aback by how unpleasant the combined sensation of being both attacked by hornets, and then falling out of a tall birch tree could be. He'd probably broken something, and that wasn't taking into account his pride. Eva gave him a look somewhere between displeasure and concern as she tried to comprehend what on earth the distressed child was trying to communicate to them both.

With a look of almost stupefied disbelief, Sparda glanced over at Dante, somewhat sympathetic to his youngest child's obvious suffering, but also unable to grasp how he'd managed to locate and enrage the unagreeable insects in such a timely manner. "Dante, this is why I advised against trying to befriend creatures that possessed singers and venom," Sparda said sternly, earning him a much more extreme reaction than he'd considered reasonable.

The overwhelmed child burst into hysterical crying, none of which he doubted was ingenuine. That didn't mean that he fully understood the reaction, however. He gave Dante a pat on the head, standing. "I suppose that I should go and take care of the nest then. Best to be overly cautious on this specific location."

Eva shook her head, releasing Dante from her comforting grasp and sighed as she smoothed the wrinkles out of her long dress." Oh no, dear. I'll take care of this. You see to it that Dante is taken care of."

With that, she gave the youngest of her twin sons a kiss on the cheek before heading down the hallway and up the stairs, a fierce look of determination on her normally calm face. The three of them watched her go, utterly bewildered. Not a single one of them understood what she intended to do to the hapless insects, but they knew two things. There weren't going to try and stop her, and they were fortunate indeed that they didn't have the misfortune of being on the receiving end of her plans.

It was an occasion they would never forget. Especially the hornets.

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this little side story! I'd love to hear your suggestions for future ones. I plan to do these from time to time as a little bit of filler for the main stories. Sorry about the delay. Hopefully, this can fill the void between now and Hiraeth's release. I have another chapter coming out on Christmas. Family stuff came up! I'll see you all again on New Years Day! Enjoy the holidays!