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V's face scrunched up as he rested his head against the arm of a chair located in an abandoned house. Sleep had eluded him for sometime until it had become imperative for him to rest according the Griffon, Shadow and Hara. Who in turn had given him a firm look that signalled she was serious leaving him feeling slightly intimidated despite her small stature, something that would be laughable since she was an animal of all things.

As a result, V who knew he was outvoted three to one and all were not human. Although he doubted he wanted to know the opinion of Phantom who remained dormant within Hara, never one appearing whether it was expected to or not.

Even now V remained unaware of where the mark of the spider was located and wasn't sure if the fur was blocking it or if it was being concealed by something else entirely, something almost deemed possible considering what they were working with. However he could only hope that the spider would be useful when the time came, when he did not know but contained doubt on whether it was worth keeping the demon nightmare around. For all V knew, Phantom had no reason to stick around and would not hesitate to betray or flee when the going went tough despite being a nightmare that belonged to Vergil. Gripping his cane from time to time as they walked, V's brooding look could be noticed by the group only no one commented even though Griffon's jabs hinted that they knew.

As V slept, his mind continued to be plagued with nightmares, ones that featured a marble human face that looked like a Greek statue, one who would constantly tormented him, tortured him until Vergil finally broke and submitted to the entity's whims. Only to his dismay, V could not find the strength to wake.

As a result sweat formed on his brows while his teeth clenched in his sleep, desperately trying to push the images away but found himself unable to do so leaving him wondering if he was even dreaming to begin with.

Groans left V's lips as he gripped the lapels of his jacket in his sleep without realising it. Meanwhile his heart continued to beat rapidly in his chest, a thing that would leave a person wondering if he was having a panic attack as time continued to drift by without his knowledge.

Just as V began to lose hope on whether he was dreaming or not, his strength continued to wane from each image, each pain that had been inflicted onto his mind leaving him breathless and weakened to a state of being unable to fight back. Despite the urge to mock and resist the tormented dreams that haunted him.

Without warning V awakened to feel his right cheek being touched startling V in his sleep. To his surprise the images of torment and despair slowly vanished as the warmth began to grow and surround his beaten, tired form until he was left weightless and dare he hoped- safe within the cocoon of light.

What felt like fingers grazed his right cheek softly, almost as if they were comforting his weary form until his eyes finally shot open, releasing a loud gasp in response to being thrusted back into the waking world. Now finally awake, V panted heavily but dared not move in fear of what would happen if he so much as moved an inch.

Once he gathered his bearings V lifted his right hand and touched his cheek only to blink rapidly as he felt a furry paw touch his cheek, causing him to look and finally notice Hara staring at him with sombre red eyes. Releasing a soft noise V watched as she remained still, almost as if she was comforting him in her own way. In turn this caused a flutter to fill his chest leaving him perplexed at how such a small gesture could leave such a deep impact on him.

She was just an animal, a smart one who no doubt was looking for scraps and found him by chance inside the house, and yet, he felt a series of emotions ran rampant from within him leaving V uncomfortable.

He should have left her behind, he should have seen this to be a sign of weakness keeping her around and yet V could not find it in himself to push her away. In a way, she reminded him of how alone he truly was.

As strange as it is, he did not have it in him to question what secrets she held just as she remained patient with him. Never demanding his attention until it was needed.

Just how did she do it?

Just how did she contain this power to envelop him into a sense of calm and peace? Leaving him grounded even as the situations they had been through stressed him. He was angry, furious of how low he was now forced to sink. Now being forced to accept a new found powerlessness and be unable to stop it.

How did humans even tolerate such weakness? Living such frail lives only to become manage to become a thorn in even his side.

Now looking at Hara who appeared to be pressing her lips in displeasure watched as V blinked in confusion.

"Something on your mind?" V asked softly before taking the book he had laid on the thin table beside him.

"Yeah, you and your stupid ignorance! How you managed to live this long assuming the worst in something like emotions and humans being a hindrance is beyond me. Lucky you can't hear me or that'll just make it awkward for you" she rolled her eyes slightly before curling up on his lap noticing seeing that he was somewhat back to normal, or at least in his version of normal was for now. Huffing she looked up at him with tired eyes before a quiet yawn left her maw before resting her head on top of her paws. Seeing this V ran his fingers along her head and back softly, a vacant expression now formed on his face before recollecting himself as quickly as he could. Clearing his throat he opened the brown book which had a V on the cover and began to read softly.

Hara's ears twitched as she looked up at him from the corner of her eyes, listening intently Hara yawned softly before nuzzling her paws before closing her eyes. Allowing the soft voice to lull her into a deep sleep, while she dosed off V paused half way to notice soft breathing on his lap. His eyes grew heavy as he watched her sleep peacefully as opposed to what happened to him. Only instead of being resentful he took his left hand and softly stroked her soft fur earning him a light purr from the sleeping creature. Blinking for a bit in silence a smile slowly crept onto his face before a tired sigh left his lips.

Leaning back on the chair slowly, his mind went back to the hand that touched his cheek during his nightmare and soon pondered on what it meant.

Had someone appeared while they were not aware or had someone intervened? Stopping the vivid images from taking over his mind. If so, the question was why? Who would do such a thing?

He never asked for their help and yet- seeing Hara's paw touch his cheek, seeing the concern forming in her eyes. It made V clench his jaw painfully in frustration.

He didn't want pity or sympathy, if anything he hated the very thought of being looked down upon with such eyes. And yet as he stroked Hara's fur his chest became heavy while his eyes dimmed to a degree.

Just what was this fox doing to him?

How did she manage to get these unwanted feelings to surface when he had fought tooth and nail to repress them?

Within the span of one month she had ruined everything, torn the barriers he had painstakingly tried to form during his years of trying to survive to the man he was now. Wanting nothing to hold him back and yet part of him wished dare he wanted- to have seen her sooner.

If she had appeared, would he have ended up the way he had been?

Lost, torn and abandoned by the world and be reduced to surviving. Hating the world for what it condemned him to.

Alone.

Sighing heavily V continued to stroke the fox feeling fatigue slowly enter his mind once more, leaning back V closed the book and allowed it to rest inside his jacket without trying to jostle the sleeping fox.

"Perhaps, a few minutes will not hurt" V dreaded the thought of sleeping as he closed his eyes only to his surprise, his dreams were filled with memories of his childhood. Peaceful and filled with longing for the old days.