Hey people. I just wanted to let you know that I won't be around for this weekend beacuse my honorary Aunt Pam passed away.
Her cancer spread to her brain and she passed away painlessly in her sleep.
Enjoy the chapter guys.
In response to PheonixQueen15: Yeah. I figured that since Dante doesn't normally kill humans without very good reason, he would be a little adverse to murder, even when angry.
In response to Guest: I meant that Trish missed the part where Nero said that Vergil went to town as well. She was more caught up in listening that her brain took a second to realise that Vergil was supposedly back from the dead.
In response to Ourfavoritebirds: Thanks! I always hated the lack of actual family binding between Dante and Vergil, with the exception of their childhood which we have seen previous little of. I don't really have a schedule, I mostly upload when I finish a chapter. I worked fairly quickly on the last two chapters.
In response to tenimyuohtori: Oh! Ooohhh. In that case yeah. I thought you meant a taunt from DMC5, but the one from 4 I've seen. Didn't really mean to sneak that in there. Damn you subconscious mind! Being more clever than me! The romance will involve the twins, yes. The girl on the other hand, hehe.
In response to Kiro (Guest): Thank you for dropping by so much! I do apologise for that, as I wasn't exactly in my right mind. I didn't want to leave the story as a one shot, as it wouldn't really do my ideas justice. It is hard to find a DMC story that is interesting without it being a one shot, as I tried to find an older story that I remembered loving but unfortunately I didn't find it.
In response to Angel Wolf: Yeah, we both got hate from that. I suppose there are two sides to each coin. I probably won't delete guest reviews as the good heavily outweighs the bad in my opinion. I hope that my popularity lasts too, even if that hope is a little narcissistic.
In response to Talond-996: I. Would. Love that. To see DMC cosplayers rock it out on stage would make me goop myself. I love your pep talk, and thank you. It was indeed necessary.
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"I'm sorry, come again?"
Trish asked, her brain still boggling to understand what she was just told.
Nero shuffled nervously, crossing his arms tightly. He glanced over at the blonde, finding nothing else on her features besides shock and confusion.
"Yeah. He's my father."
He said it again, just for good measure. Trish maintained her blank look before leaning back into the couch.
"First, he comes back from the dead. Then I learn that he had a son. My god."
Trish said. It just didn't sound like Vergil, to have enough physical contact with a woman in order to have a relationship, let alone a child.
How did even come back in the first place? Did Mundus piece him back together and let him lose because he wad bored? No, not something Mundus would do, especially not when he had a son of Sparda in the palm of his hand.
Trish pressed her hand to her forehead, trying to nurse a headache that had set on earlier in the day.
"Nero, what do you know about Vergil?"
"Besides what you just told me and that he wields Yamato? Not that much."
"So, you don't know anything about your father? What about your mother?"
"I got letters from my birth mother when I was in the orphanage in Fortuna. It only lasted four years before I was adopted."
"Hmm. Have you talked to Vergil yet?"
"No... I, uh, socked him in the face when I found out."
Trish smiled like a mother proud of her son. Vergil must have deserved that punch, if Nero had to endure an orphanage in the middle of town filled with religious fanatics.
That was when the sound of loud conversation came from the door, growing steadily louder as whoever outside approached the door.
"Vergil, don't you judge me. You're the one that stayed dead for ten years."
"I am not judging, brother, I am scolding. You should take more care of yourself, lest your strength diminish because your body cannot keep up."
The door swung open, revealing Dante and Vergil. In Vergil's right hand was a bag of what Trish and Nero assumed to be the paint, as well as other things.
Trish shot a death glare at Vergil as soon as he entered, but the twin failed to notice as he took off his boots and set them next to the door.
Dante simply strode in and stopped in the middle of the room, giving Trish and Nero an evil smirk.
Dante put a hand on his chest and opened his mouth wide.
"Oh, Trish! For where have thou art been in these long months?"
Vergil's face froze into an icy statue version of itself and his eyes crept upwards to the blonde devil who was already getting up from the couch.
Vergil lowered the bag to the floor before straightening back up. Trish approached the blue half devil, her irises crackling with electricity.
"So Nelo, how have you been?"
"Do not refer to me with that name, witch."
"Oh, so I'm supposed to overlook the fact that you should be dead right now, and that you have a son that grew up in an orphanage?"
Vergil paused, giving Trish a glare that she returned tenfold.
"I had planned to speak to him, witch. You are not helping in the matter."
"Oh, good! Then that means I can do this!"
Trish promptly grappled Vergil by the ear, pumping enough electricity into him to make his body compliant, even if his mind objected.
She dragged him over to the middle of the room, grabbing a wooden chair from next to the couch with her free and and shoving Vergil into it.
She brought over another chair and set it opposite to Vergil's, giving Nero a gesture to sit down. Nero compiled, somewhat terrified by the capabilities of the blonde demon woman.
Vergil scowled at Trish as she moved over to the bag of groceries and lifted them from the floor. She slipped the bag up onto her shoulder as she walked back towards the kitchen.
She stopped as soon as she noticed Dante sneaking up the stairs. As her eyes moved over to him, Dante's face contorted into a grimace.
He quickly tried to dash up the staircase, only to be caught by the back of the shirt and dragged back down.
"Oh, no you don't! You're at fault just as much as Vergil is!"
"Oh, c'mon Trish! I'm not the kid's dad!"
"Yes, but an uncle is the closest thing to. Now shut up and mediate."
She said as she slammed Dante down onto a third chair, set to the side. Dante sighed and made a face of a child caught doing something wrong.
Trish smiled evilly before walking back towards the kitchen.
"Now, you boys make up while I make dinner."
She said with a wave of her hand.
The three sat in silence, with none of them having the slightest idea how to initiate the conversation.
Nero leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Dante leaned back and crossed his legs. Vergil simply crossed his arms tightly.
The silence reigned for a good three minutes, with each part devil growing more uncomfortable.
Nero let out a small groan and shook his head, his pent up anger returning due to the awkward position he was in.
"Where were you?"
Vergil looked up, now completely focused on his son's words. Dante watched from the sidelines, ready to jump in if Nero got to hot-headed.
"What do you mea-"
"I mean where were you? Where were you when I was born?"
"I... I was pursuing power in the Temen-Ni-Gru. I saw no reason to stay in Fortuna."
"Was my mother not a reason?"
"I... I do not remember much about your mother. I only stayed over the course of a month."
"And that justifies leaving how?"
"I suppose it does not justify my actions. If it's any consolation-"
"Yeah, you were a puppet to Mundus. I don't want consolation, I want answers."
Vergil went silent, either unable or unwilling to give Nero the answer he wanted. Nero hissed before leaning back in his seat, giving up.
The sound of the sink tap turning on and the crinkling of the plastic Wal-Mart bag was heard from the kitchen, leaving the only other sound the squeaking ceiling fan.
Dante looked up at said fan, making an annoyed face at it like it was a fly that refused to leave him alone.
"Really need to fix that damn thing."
He muttered. Unfortunately, this drew Nero's ire.
"Dante, how long did you know?"
Dante glanced back at the quarter devil and uncrossed his legs, preparing to get more invloved in the topic.
"I wasn't sure, at first. White hair, devil powers, pretty good evidence. It wasn't until I saw how the Yamato reacted to you that I knew."
"Why did you not tell me?"
"Because you dealing with other shit at the time, kid. You had to save your girl, what was her name?-"
"Kyrie."
"-Yeah, Kyrie, and you needed to give that old pope an ass-kicking. Not to mention picking up your grandpop's sword over there."
Dante said, pointing a thumb to the Devil Sword leaning against the wall. Nero stared at the floor, his expression strained.
Dante sighed.
"Look kid, around the time you were twinkle in your mom's eye, I was kicking your old man's ass for being a power hungry douche. He probably didn't even know your mom was pregnant. Verge, did you use a condom?"
Vergil ignored the last question and spoke, much to his brother's surprise.
"It is true, Nero. I had not stayed long enough to know that you existed."
Nero shot up from his seat, pointing a very agressive finger at Vergil with his Devil Bringer. The two half devils actually heard Nero's devil snarl as he spoke, giving the quarter devil a echo to his voice.
"Then why didn't you stay?!"
Nero kept his gaze on Vergil, searching for any kind of emotion. Upon finding to traces, Nero plopped back down on his seat and covered his face with his hands.
The two brothers sat silently, eyeing their nephew/son carefully. Dante gave an angry look to Vergil, who didn't even have the energy to return it.
Nero sighed as he moved his hands, going back to staring at the floor.
"I rotted in an orphanage for four years. Do you know what that's like?"
Nero said. Vergil looked downward, his expression changing to ine of pain and shame.
"No, I do not."
"To live in an orphanage where everybody is suspicious of you, talking behind your back, or just plain hate you. Do you know what it's like?"
"No."
"It's hell. And not the type of hell you think of. I was pushed around and tormented every day. And no one came to help. No one cared to help. The only comforts I had were the three meals I was fed and the bed I had to sleep on."
Vergil and Dante shared a pained look. Dante now knowing the depth behind his nephew's pain, and Vergil beginning to fathom the damage his actions caused.
"I suffered there for four years. The only thing close to family I had was the letters my mother sent me. It wasn't until Kyrie and her parents came along that I learned about family."
The brothers stayed silent, waiting until Nero was ready for one of them to speak.
"Now I find out that I have family. Actual, living blood relatives. Not adopted family, or step family, actual blood family. I have a father and an uncle. I don't know how to handle this."
Vergil reached out, setting a hand on Nero's shoulder. His actions surprised even himself, but Vergil couldn't seem to control his actions.
"Then allow us to help you cope. If anyone knows about not having family, it's us. I would wager that Dante knows more about this than I do."
Dante nodded in response, taking his turn to speak.
"Yeah, kid. I had to deal with the thought of my father, my mother, my brother being dead every day, and two of them were because of me. Because of both of us. I had to cope too. You know what I do? I hunt demons. Why do you think I decided to kill demons instead of going to college and getting an office job, huh?"
Nero didn't respond. Dante had expected that though, and continued his speech.
"Vergil had to deal too. He was the one who took on the responsibility when Dad disappeared. He got serious about protecting Mom and me and decided that getting power was the best way to do it. He wants power because he believes that power is the only way to protect the things you love, including family. He left your mom to protect her, because the same thing happened with your Grandfather."
This time Vergil decided to explain. Vergil felt that the words were not his own, but from some deep part of him that he didn't know was there.
"When we were young, Nero, our father Sparda was married to our mother. She was human, and he was a demon. He was hunted by his own kind every day. We were never safe, never truly able to be children. One day, Father just disappeared. Without a single trace. But we were still hunted. I believe that somewhere in my head, I left your mother because I feared that she would be hunted like we were."
Nero nodded, slowly absorbing the reasoning that they had given him.
Trish leaned on the kitchen doorway, watching as the three reconciled. Vergil kept his hand on Nero's shoulder while Dante watched carefully to the side, still very involved despite his physical distance.
The demon blonde smiled and looked over to Sparda.
"They get along well, don't they honey?"