What…? What have you done?
It was strange watching her form, it almost appeared as if she was almost sleeping except he knew the truth.
He did this!
"She…" Sweat formed on the side of V's face as he stared in shock, unable to process what had happened before his very eyes.
He took her away!
He took her away from me!
"She can't be dead" Hara's form remained limp as her chest was impaled from the sharp black root. Her limbs remained dangling in the air beside the pulsating root she was on. No signs of life could be seen on her face or form.
Why? Just why did you do it?
V's throat bobbled as he swallowed, numb and frozen. Unable to look away from the scene before him.
Why did you take something from me again?
Strange… that something so destructive looked so devastatingly beautiful as some blood touched the floor around the root. One would have assumed it to be a real life painting. A thing even Vergil would have been curious about it's origins except V at this moment could not stand the sight of due to what it meant.
Was I that much of an inconvenience?
V still rooted to the spot turned slowly to the left, disbelief and horror filled his now pale face as he saw Urizen growling at the white object. Fury could be seen on the demon's eyes, showing that he wanted nothing more than to tear the object of his anger to shreds for whatever crime she had commented to him.
Why must you take those I care about from me?
Now he had found her, he would gladly take her lifeforce away to help him get stronger.
Is this… is this my punishment? Just for existing?
I never asked to live, so why won't you see reason?
Confusion and frustration filled V, unable to understand what Hara could have said to anger the demon so much. Or was it because of something else? Did she know something he did not?
Was it because I was too weak?
"You… you killed her?" V's words sounded like a question despite knowing the answer, a sick joke in itself, a cruel irony in knowing that he- a part of him had taken something from himself once again. Why could Vergil or any part of himself be happy? Why could he not appreciate what he had? Why had he not taken his brother's hand all those years ago? He could have walked away, he could have done many other things and yet he didn't. Why? Why? WHY?!
You cast me away as you saw me as weakness, that I would just vanish without hesitation but you forget. I am you. So why do you treat me so?
Urizen turned his head slightly to face V, the demon's eyes widened in anger as he realised who it was. First this pathetic infernal creature now this useless husk of a human?! Why were they standing in his way? He desired power. Wasn't that a reason? Couldn't he forsake others so he could become strong? The weak are to be stomped on, ruled over and yet insects like them lived. No matter how many times he flung them away, eliminated or controlled them they would still appear like the pests they were.
Why could we never be happy?
"You?!" Urizen's claws clenched and unclenched as the urge to destroy V filled his mind. In his mind only a threat stood, a weak one but one who could ruin him somehow without him fully knowing why. He couldn't allow such a thing to exist and yet he wanted to finish this small yet pathetic pest first. Lifting his right clawed hand up he clenched it causing the roots to react.
Why must you make us miserable?
"Stop it!" V yelled, not caring that agony and despair filled his voice. Griffon who reacted to V's anguish flew towards white object only to be forced into a stalemate without much resistance to V's frustration.
Why am I so weak? Why can't I stop bad things happening? Am I? Am I just cursed to lose those I care about? All I wanted was to be loved, to be cared for, to be protected so why was it so hard for you to understand?
Why can't you just admit that you are lonely?
After all I am YOU!
Gritting his teeth from the pain of what happened to Griffon, V charged after Hara's form while Shadow tried to force some of the roots away from her master. Diverting them away from V as best so could.
I want to live, to exist so why do you want to throw your feelings away? Why must you cower? Why are you honest, omitting things from those around you and yet the only one you are capable of fully deceiving is you?
Despite getting scratched in the face and arms, V eventually managed to make it to the middle only to grow sick from seeing how the black root had gone through her torso completely. Appearing as if it was close to severing her in half due to her small form if it were to move.
Why do you keep hurting those around you when you could just be happy?
"Why…? Why did you do this?" V asked coldly as he glared at Urizen. "What threat could she have possible caused towards you?" V watched as Urizen's eyes narrowed.
"That fox is not normal, it needs to be destroyed before it can ruin my plans" V's eyes widened in disbelief before noticing that the roots had started to glow in a reddish-purple light. Remembering her words about her blood V used his cane to attack the root holding her before pulling limp form out of the root via the sharp point which had been used to stab her. His body cringed from the squelching noise that filled his ears, feeling lukewarm fluid as her blood gushed a bit on the floor until it hit his vest, jacket and trousers. Feeling the cooled blood leak on his hands and arms, his body began to shake as the realisation settled in knowing that it was too late to undo what has happened. That she was now fully gone.
Why must you see love and joy as weaknesses?
Ignoring that Griffon and Shadow were now free of their stalemate, their reactions mirrored his own not truly understanding why she had to be attacked to begin with. How had the demon found her to begin with?
Had she sought him out? It was impossible to them and yet. If so, why? What good would that come about in the grand scheme of things?
"I have come this far, I will not be stopped by a mere creature!" Urizen growled before feeling a disturbance from the roots. To his shock the root that had impaled the fox slowly started rotting until it exploded causing puss coloured blood to splatter around it. Roots that were near it also suffered leaving Urizen in disbelief.
"Ha! Bet you didn't know but her blood's tainted! It will kill ya if you take it by force!" Griffon mocked darkly as he flapped his wings while flying in the air, shooting a few sparks of electricity to defend the group just in case the roots or Urizen attacked. Urizen blocked it with his hand, a furious look formed on his face knowing that he had been fooled and by a small animal of all things.
"Then I'll have to end all of you for allowing such a thing to exist" Urizen spoke coldly causing Shadow to tense up, hunched forward she prepared to attack only to feel V stand up on shaky legs.
"Are you so ignorant? Do you truly have no empathy that you would attack anything without wondering why it crosses your path?" V asked lowly as he used his cane to support him.
"There's something wrong with Urizen" Hara finally admitted as she looked up at V with troubled eyes. V seeing this felt his stomach twist as the uncomfortable feeling ebbed at his chest. Nero hearing this frowned in thought, what did she mean by that?
"What's that suppose to mean?" Griffon asked before V could speak, sighing Hara kept looking at V.
"Urizen has no memories of who he is, what he is. All he knows is that he's a demon who craves power but does not know why" Hara explained.
"That's bizarre even for a demon, surely most crave power anyways right?" Nero asked earning him what looked like a raised brow from Hara.
"From my line of work- not always. What I mean is he doesn't understand anything. His mind and emotions don't process the same way we do. He doesn't know what joy, anger, sorrow, fear, or any emotions like we do. It's like he's an empty shell in regards to feelings. All he felt and felt when he saw Dante was see a complete stranger, his body might recognise him but his mind only sees a threat to him. So he attacked. His mind overall is like swish cheese, it's a mess" Hara's words echoed in V's mind as he looked at her bloodied form that rested in his free arm.
"Has your sense of mind truly been warped by how little you have left? Do you not feel guilty for the acts you have committed?" V bellowed in frustration as tears ran down his face.
"You attacked your brother without even a shred of feeling, you've killed countless innocent people and for what? A fruit that will gain you power?"
"And I will do it all again if it means gaining more power! You will not stop me human!" Urizen retorted as his power grew once more, only to cringe as Hara's blood left him feeling physically sick. Blood left his mouth as he coughed violently causing him to kneel on one knee.
"And yet, your greed has made you sick. An irony in itself, you gorged on the blood of others only for it to turn on you" disgust formed on V's face as a brittle smile appeared seeing the sad result of Urizen- Vergil's greed once again backfire and create more harm. Damaging him from the inside out. If suffering from Mundus had caused him on death's doors. Then this would be the final nail on his coffin. Surely his father would be disappointed in him. The eldest Sparda who had ruined everything he had worked so hard to achieve. Protecting humans only for his own heir to take lives, to forsake them just for power. Just for revenge.
Was it worth it?
"Once my job is done, I will need to leave" V's jaw clenched as he looked at Hara's form, placing her down gently he gripped his cane knowing that she had given him an opening. A way to fix things, something he had wanted but not if it meant losing something precious.
Now the question would be- would Vergil be the same or would he die once they merge thanks to her blood?
"You and I have always been the same, we want what we can never have. Always… always taking. Always yearning for things instead of truly earning it. What we should never have and yet we never learn from the past. Only when we did gain something, we just threw it aside without any care or consequence before we had the means of understanding. But instead, to avoid us risking the idea of losing it" V's eyes grew sombre with each thought, each memory that filled his mind.
Truly, Vergil had never learned a thing.
What a sad existence he was.
"We will always be doomed to repeat the same mistakes… over and over again" V said as Griffon and Shadow looked at V in worry. A sense of foreboding filled his bodies from feeling V's emotions.
"If there is one thing that is different between us, is that I have a series of regrets lingering within me" V looked at Hara's form with sombre eyes. "I lost a friend who risked her life to help me, only instead of trying to be better… instead of stopping her when I had the chance. I allowed her to die for me"
Why did she have to die?
"If I had… if I could. I would wish she wouldn't have had to leave. I would wish I had more time with her" V murmured softly as he approached Urizen who remained kneeling down on one shaky knee. His strength waning fast due to the blood he had consumed.
Wasn't there some other way? Surely there had to be so why did it have to be this way?
"She may not be normal, she maybe small, but she was a dear friend of mine. One I wished I had been better to" V gripped his cane tightly as he continued to use it now feeling his strength wane as well, was it because Urizen was dying as well? Did he share sympathy pains from his other half? Cracks started forming faster on his skin leaving him in agony and exhausted. Part of him wanted to scream in pain but he clenched his jaw tightly, not caring that it would hurt more. The last thing he wanted was to give Urizen the satisfaction that he was in pain, that he was dying as well even though it was plain as day. That they were both running out of time, despite Urizen's stubborn resistance.
"You… will not defeat me. I will not lose to either of you" Urizen growled, forcing the words to leave his lips only to cough as blood trickled down the right side of his mouth. To his frustration he could not lift a hand to wipe it off.
"Cease your struggles Urizen because if you have lost to a mere fox, then what makes you think you will now win against a mere human? Now that you have become weakened by her blood?" V asked, his voice now becoming hoarse as his grip on the cane weakened causing him to almost lose his grip on the item and fall. Not that he cared anymore considering what has happened.
What's more painful than losing another reason to live?
"You… very clever to use her blood to weaken me. I never knew you would resort to lowly means" Urizen croaked as he coughed more blood, ignoring that V now stood before him with shaky limbs.
"I didn't… it was your pride, your folly that allowed you to attack someone without any thoughts to the consequences" V replied with a grim smile as he raised his cane.
"While thy branches mix with mine, and our roots together join" V's mind went to Hara, thanking her for her selfless act and yet the deep pain- the hurt from how she could just throw her life away for a fool like him left him feeling bitter.
"If I truly wish for one thing, it would be that I would want more time with her" were V's thoughts before everything went white the moment he stabbed Urizen's chest.
And then, he felt no more.