A mystery covered, a mystery solved. Nero finally had his biological parents under the same roof, some orphans should technically be happy about this aspect in particular, right?
So why the hell is he on the sidelines?
He watches as the two moved further back in the van, seemingly discussing about something as their gazes shifted to him, then back to each other. Beside him, he could've swore that the crippling-pizza addiction of a man considered his uncle say something, but mostly came in a form of muffles.
That was, until, he cut apart a portion of the atmosphere that turned to jelly with his sword.
"The tension's gotten thick you could cut it with a knife..." the older devil hunter said, "so, what do you think they're talking about?"
"The hell am I supposed to know?!" The younger devil hunter exclaimed, "it's not like I have telepathy"
"Well, we need to do something fast" Dante shrugged, "otherwise someone's bound to get stabbed in the chest again"
"What do you mean 'again?'" Nero asked, until the older devil hunter gestured to his chest, revealing an ethereal blade lodged into it: "...oh, aren't you gonna pull that out?"
"It'll fade"
"Hey guys?" Nico suddenly spoke up, covering the microphone of the built in telephone of the van: "we got us a demon alert, south side of town..."
"Nero... is my son?" Ei asked, still processing some of the newfound information: "interesting..."
"How so?" Vergil asked
"For gods, their perception of time is that it passes rather slowly then how humans perceive it" she explained, "sure, many years have passed, but to me, it feels as if it was only a month since I saw him as nothing but a mere infant"
"Sadly, I do not share your sentiments" Vergil remarked. The two shifted their gaze onto the young devil hunter across from them, who merely waved awkwardly as a response. The two then stood in silence for a short while, until one of them spoke up again:
"So Gilver was never really your name?" Ei asked
"Merely an alias I went by in my early years" the older half-demon replied, "that aside, how did you even get to this world?"
"Well-"
"Hey!" A voice called out, belonging to the youngest devil hunter: "while it is nice to see you two chat, we got ourselves another demon infestation, south side of town. Let's go, pa!"
"Since when did you start calling me by that term?" The older of the two asked
"Since I've gotten tired of just calling you 'old man'" Nero joked. As he heard a sigh from Vergil , he could've swore he heard a stifled giggle from Ei
Ever since Urizen's conquest for power, lesser demons have gotten a lot easier to deal with nowadays. Though their sheer numbers made the Devil hunters' work a tad bit tedious:
Nero had to constantly swap between his breakers: from one that propels his hand like a rocket, to another that could essentially control space-time on a limited scale. His winged hands provided him excellent defense, in the form of grabbing his enemies by their necks and using them as meat shields.
Vergil was swift in his end, dicing his fair share of demons like a chef with vegetables. When that wasn't enough, he swapped for hand-to-hand combat with greaves that took the form of a bird's talons and gauntlets that bore the face of a lion encasing his hands and feet.
And Dante was being Dante: aggravating his share while simultaneously dancing around their attacks playfully, before lodging a bullet or two or leaving slash marks from his sword.
Although the sheer numbers of the demons didn't mean they could at least have a little competition for the most kills...
"That makes 15, top that Nero!" Dante exclaimed, resting his large sword over his shoulder.
"15? Ha! Try 20" Nero challenged, smirking triumphantly from his own accomplishments.
"Both of you, that's enough!" Vergil scolded, "those are inferior numbers, try 25"
The two across the older twin laughed at his remark, until Nero's expression flew into a state of panic.
"Hey, watch out!" He warned, realizing a stray fury survived and had lunged towards Vergil. But before it could land a hit, a peculiar blade ran through its abdomen...
Ei had stood outside the van, watching the descendants of the dark knight go about their job. A task involving eradicating monsters hailing from an infernal realm, something she can help take care of had it not for the fact that one of them told her to watch the vehicle behind her.
Of course she didn't mind at all... at first...
These "demons" - while some exhibited animalistic instinct in their flow of combat - some had basic fighting strategies akin to soldiers embedded in their minds, though that didn't make it any harder for the legacy of Sparda.
Even after the battle, she watches the trio's banter amongst themselves, reminding her of simpler times. But outside the friendly banter, she saw it:
A large, red reptilian humanoid with glowing emerald eyes stood, unsheathing a retractable wristblade through some some kind of magic as it suddenly crouched then disappeared. She then notices the miniature splashes within the puddles scattered about, moving in a pattern leading towards-
She hastily made her move, her feet crackled with electricity as she began moving faster and faster. Even with her speed, she knew she wasn't going to make it in time.
She needed to act fast
Light materialized at the palm of her hand, slowly taking the silhouette of an intricate naginata. As she clung onto the light, the design became even clearer: a long, black handle with a gold tip on one end, and in the other, a curved blade sparkled with a violet hue.
Vergil stood there, nearly dumbstruck.
He watches as the impaled fury swung wildly at him, its blade merely inches away from his own face. He then watches as said fury was swung out of Ei's naginata, before her own weapon dispersed into light.
He could've swore he had inflicted fatal wounds on his targets, unless that was one of his brother's...
"Well, Verg, she's a keeper" Dante teased, much to Vergil's chagrin. Nico then returned to the group, holding what seems to be a small pouch.
"Hey guys, I gots good news and some bad news: good news is we got paid" she told them, lightly shaking the bag as coins jingled like the sound of bells: "the bad news is that the client's an ass, paid us less than the original price and ran off"
"Well, at least they still gave us money" Dante replied, preparing to take the bag but the older twin beat him to it: "hey! What gives?!"
"Nero told me of your debts" Vergil spoke, "the last thing I need is you roping me into it. Nero! Call Mary and tell her a minuscule portion of Dante's debt has been repaid"
"Um... with what exactly?" Nero asked, confusing the older twin as he realized the pouch that was once clung by his hand and Dante, disappeared.
"Dante..."
Nero sat in the van, his own father promised to return with a barely alive Dante on his shoulders. While Dante does need the money, he isn't the type of guy who'd take it without warning. Probably just did it to get a reaction out of his twin brother, Nero thought.
Now onto the next problem
Sat across from him was the purple-haired woman, she had opted to stay given the look of Vergil's face basically says "I wish to be alone while hunting my own flesh and blood."
His first impression wasn't essentially that good, given he still needed time to process everything his deadbeat of a dad unveiled before him. But now? He should be accustomed to it.
Ok here goes nothing...
"Hey" he spoke up, garnering the Archon's attention: "is it alright if we... talk?"
"Talk?" Ei asked, "that'll be alright, is there something you wish to inquire about?"
"Yeah, something's got me wondering" the young hunter began, "I know my father left me in an orphanage because he had an obsession for power, but what was your reason?"
"Back in Inazuma - my home - I was in charge of handling its daily affairs" she began, "politics have no right to take place in a child's life. As you were conceived and your father finally decided to return to his home, I came to him with a last request..."
Ei was pacing around within the Plane of Euthymia, cradling a bundle in her arms: she didn't think it was entirely possible at first, but it turns out, demons are surprisingly compatible with other races.
The infant stirred from within the black sheets that were embracing his small stature, seemingly empathizing with his mother's troubles as she continued pacing within the plane.
"What to do?" She thought aloud, looking at the small infant as she struggled to soothe its concerns. The results ended with the infant merely looking at her curiously, before trying to reach out for her with his grabby, little hands. She allowed one of her fingers to be grabbed by the small child, in which the infant cooed in response.
This was the third child, another to be sent away given reasons she wished had not existed. It would be a lie to say she had grown fond to this one in particular, but it was her country's priorities first before her own.
Once her mind was clear, she made one final visit.
She found him in the same spot in the city's outskirts, a rift stood in front of him as he sheathed the dark-forge blade back to its scabbard. He had stayed within the region for a few years now, refining his swordplay and was sometimes seen traveling to other parts of the region, presumably for his pursuit of strength.
Now, he felt as if he stayed within Inazuma for too long, if the rift in space-time had indicated anything.
"Gilver" she spoke assertively, the cambion gave her a sideways glance in response: "may we talk?"
"What do you want?" He asked her
"I understand that you are yearning to return home" She began, "but could I trouble you to at least take the child with you?"
"And do this, why?" He asked again
"The role I've taken leads to dangers to not only myself, but also to those associated with me" she explained, "back when my sister led Inazuma, I had taken the role as her Kagemusha in case she were to be targeted. I worry that if the knowledge of this child's conception is revealed, he may become a potential target."
"And you think my journey is any safer?" He challenged
"You've beaten me in our duel a few years ago, I fear something like that may happen again"
"Ei-"
"I beg of you!" She interjected, before regaining her composure once more: "this is my last request..."
"so that's how I ended up in Fortuna..." Nero thought aloud
"Your father had agreed to take you with him, but I never thought he'd leave you in an orphanage" she sighed, "but perhaps that was for the best..."
"So what happened afterwards?" The young demon asked
"After your father had left, I returned to handling the affairs of Inazuma... there is not much to say afterwards"
"I... see" Nero muttered. The two sat silence, until Ei spoke up again:
"Were you... unhappy with your circumstances?" She asked him
"If it wasn't for those circumstances, I wouldn't be who I am" he let out a soft smile, "besides, politics might not be my thing anyways"
"I see... that's good" she examined, before she could utter out another word, the two heard muffled voices coming from outside:
"Come on!"
"No"
"It's the least you can do, you stabbed me a hundred times!"
"It was only twenty-eight stab wounds, Dante"
"C'mon, Verg! Describe the magical night of Nero's creation!"
"That's enough!"
The next thing the two heard was the distortion of space...
"So..." Nero began, "does she have a place to stay?"
"I'm afraid I have no dwelling of my own" Vergil replied, "and rebuilding my childhood home may take months to be completed"
"Well, I got some space in my office for you both" Dante offered, "I got a comfy couch"
"I see..." Vergil thought aloud, before turning to his son: "Nero, do you and Kyrie have spare rooms for guests?"
Nero cleared his ears to see if he didn't misheard: "I'm sorry, what?"
"Gee, I offer you my hand and you cut it like last time" Dante muttered
AN: I genuinely tried to make some sense of how Nero would've ended up in Fortuna for this story, politics being the reasoning was the only one I got given how Kagemushas were literally known as "body doubles" were they would impersonate the political figure in case they were being targeted due to political disputes and other issues. Nero would've been a potential target.
As for the implication of Nero being the third kid in the story, I decided to limit the number given the fact that I may potentially reveal the entire family. If it doesn't happen, then you could headcanon who the other two are... as long as it doesn't involve NTR.
For those who read my other ongoing fic of Fire Emblem, I apologize for deleting, I just didn't like how I was handling the story so I'm restarting it from the ground up.
Also given how I treated Nero's heritage in this story (Ei being a god, Vergil being a Cambion), would this technically make Nero a Kishin of sorts? Considering in myths, Kishins are also called "Oni Gods"
I also like the particular aspect where the perception of time is much slower for particular entities when it's much faster in some stories.
