Well I'll Be Damned

Chapter 4: Bury the Light

Notes: Credits to the owners and people responsible for this powerful song! Casey Edwards, Victor Borba, Capcom! I borrow this for V's novel in the fic ^_^;

Text in italics are direct quotes from V's book or the POV person's memories.

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In the span of two months, V has produced two poem collections and a novel entitled "Bury the Light".

Nero found the title catchy, but was curious as to what story it tells, especially after reading some of the reviews he saw posted on its shelf in the bookstore where he bought it.

'It tells a wonderful story of how traumatic events can turn one into a villain.'

'To all Vergils out there, don't lose hope!'

'Creative story-telling, relatable characters, compelling chain of events!'

Well, there was no other way to know but to read it.

He knew he wouldn't be able to finish it in one go due to the responsibilities in their mini orphanage and his work, but having breaks in reading gave Nero time to realize things from what he has read.

The chapters always start with a poem, or a verse? –Nero did not really know how to call it— and he guessed that each one reflects the events in their respective chapter. That made it more interesting because he got compelled to interpret the verses after reading their chapter. In a way, he obtained a new perspective on poetry.

The main character was named Vergil. He has a younger twin brother who was not named –actually his whole family was unnamed— but the way things were narrated was not in any way confusing. The twins were sons of a powerful demon knight, who turned his back on his race to protect humanity, and a human he fell in love with.

Figuring that it would probably be Vergil and Dante's story, Nero smirked. His curiosity was piqued, but at the same time he wondered how much of this is true, as it was labeled fictional.

'Immortal temptation takes over my mind
Condemned, falling weak on my knees
Summon the strength of Mayhem'

The first chapter started with a gruesome yet enthralling scene, with the eight-year-old Vergil being ambushed by demons. The child tried to fight, tried to run towards his burning house calling out to his mother and brother, until he couldn't walk nor talk because there were already at least five blades impaled on his small body, including the one he was using a while ago to defend himself. It was at that moment that his body lit up, and the story shifted into a flashback of the events that led to this scene. From his father entrusting him with a powerful sword and a first-born son's responsibility to take care of the family in his father's absence, to the regretful reason why Vergil was away from the house when the demon attack happened, up to the actual event that made the child feel utterly weak and a failure.

"Come on, you were just a child, you shouldn't blame yourself for everything," Nero couldn't help but comment out loud as he flipped a page.

It was also that moment when the child clung to his demonic heritage for survival and he defeated the demons with a surge of power that awakened in him.

Nero's mind quickly recalled the Fortuna Castle events, the time he was on the verge of dying and a similar awakening happened to him.

"And if I become a demon, so be it. I will endure the exile. Anything to protect her."

It gave Nero a warm feeling on his chest, the fact that he and his father had a somehow similar experience, but he could not help but wince because this boy was too young. He was around the same age as the orphans he and Kyrie were taking care of. It didn't help to know that later on, this young Vergil found his mother's corpse and his brother missing, and he had to survive alone, chased by demons from one place to another, as he tried to find his brother and improve his skills at the same time. All the while, the boy was losing hope, thinking that his brother might have been taken into the Underworld, or he might have died with their mother but was without a corpse because he was half-demon. But the young Vergil tried to hold on to what little hope he had.

"Fuck, I wanna protect this child if I could," Nero found himself foolishly carried away.

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"You're not yet sleepy, Nero?" Kyrie asked, beside him.

"Sorry, are the lights bothering you?" he asked, about to stand up, turn off the bedroom lights and read in the living room instead.

"No, it's not a problem." She smiled at him. "It must be a very interesting book. I've never seen you prioritize reading over sleeping before." She chuckled.

Nero scratched his nose and smiled sheepishly. He was never a bookish person but now he's been holding this every free time he had. He now understood what Nico was talking about. "I'll just finish this chapter. You go ahead," he said before planting a kiss on her head.

He almost dropped the book in his movement, but caught it right away. Because of this, he lost the current page he was in, and was brought back to the verse at the start of the current chapter.

'I am the storm that is approaching,
Provoking black clouds in isolation.
I am reclaimer of my name,
Born in flames, I have been blessed
My family crest is a demon of death'

Reading the verse again, Nero thought that it gives out a strong impression. Or it may have been what the 19-year-old Vergil was telling himself to boost his confidence, to reassure himself that he was on the right path.

In the previous chapters, Nero found out that Vergil fell in love with an unnamed girl in one of the cities he visited while researching about his father's legend and power. But he chose to leave this girl in fear of putting her life in danger since demons were still somehow after him.

Nero believed this girl to be his mother –he even shipped them as he read about their moments together— but later on, he wasn't sure. He did not know if it was better to hope that this was not his mother, because there was a line in the book that said,

'But it turned out that he wasn't there when she actually was in danger. Vergil was foolish. He didn't know, he wouldn't know.'

Not wanting the emotions that he felt in that particular chapter resurface, Nero quickly searched for the bookmarked page.

In this current chapter, Vergil had the arrogance of his youth but the skills that can back it up. It didn't help that the older man that he was working with was feeding him bullshit. This man enticed Vergil to claim his father's power, convinced him to believe that it was rightfully his to inherit. And Vergil being chased by demons almost his entire life, fell prey to the irresistible promise of greater power.

In the process, they unsealed the gate to the demon world, which somehow marked the start of Vergil's role as a villain to those that served as collateral damage. Little did he know that the older man wanted that power for himself and was just manipulating him even to the extent of fighting his brother.

Yes, in this chapter, Vergil was with his brother but on opposing sides. Vergil even considered unraveling their father's power together with his brother, but his brother antagonized his intentions. At first Vergil thought that his brother just hated him, but he realized later on that his brother had developed a love for humanity like their father did before. The way that Vergil, in contrast, was embracing his demonic heritage for it kept him alive and strong, he knew that he and his brother would never come to an agreement.

That was also the reason why, after temporarily teaming up with his brother to defeat the manipulative older man, they then turned on each other and fought for what they believed. But in every fight with his brother, he couldn't help but hold back in the crucial moments where he was presented with a chance to finish him off for good.

Vergil could break the laws of physics and bend time and space with his attacks but he never once aimed to decapitate his brother or something similar to how he efficiently finishes off other enemies. He just couldn't kill his brother, and he sometimes saw this as a weakness. He blamed his human side for it, having such feelings of concern, doubt, fear – all that kept him from finally achieving the power that he needs to feel safe and to feel in control; the power he needs in order to face the demon behind that tragedy that ruined his family.

That foolish human side of him was also the reason why he lost to his brother. He hated doing things half-way, but emotions brought by the humanity in him kept him always falling short of 100%. And the following events of his life fueled that idea even more.

"So that's why he split himself later on?" Nero figured. "So that his demonic half could pursue power without any hesitation whatsoever."

Upon his defeat, Vergil chose to jump deeper into the Underworld, leaving his brother who wanted to stop him. Vergil should have grabbed his brother's offered hand, and not wound him instead. He shouldn't have let frustration and impatience get the better of him. He shouldn't have faced the Prince of Darkness while not in his best state.

"That's the demon who commanded the attack on their family, right?" Nero muttered, piecing together what he now knows.

He closed the book as it was the end of the chapter, and leaned back with a sigh. He imagined himself in Vergil's shoes. Would he have done the same?

He then looked at Kyrie, sleeping beside him. This made him think, 'I only want the power to protect her and everyone I care about... but then again, Vergil's case was different. He already lost those he cared about. And Dante to him wasn't the same as Kyrie to me. His feelings for Dante weakened his resolve and made him hate his humanity more.'

He sighed before lying down and placing the book on the bedside table. "Fucking messed up twins."

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'Inherit the nightmare
Surrounded by fate, can't run away.
Keep walking the line between the light,
Led astray'

The chapter Nero was reading now was about Vergil's experience after carelessly challenging the Prince of Darkness and eventually losing.

As hinted in the previous chapter, this Prince of Darkness fueled Vergil's growing hate for his humanity, by telling him that it was the tumor of his weakness – what's keeping him from achieving his full potential.

Upon defeating Vergil, that demon shattered his treasured sword and corrupted his mind, and even his body, making Vergil a mindless puppet of him. He was reformed into a demonic knight – a poetic form of revenge because Vergil's father used to be a knight working for this Prince of Darkness before the former betrayed the latter in favor of humanity.

And that revenge wasn't that simple. Vergil was repeatedly tortured, both physically and psychologically, for years that seemed to count differently in the Underworld. And whenever Vergil would be able to wake up from the brainwash and rebel against the fucker, he would use Vergil's amulet –the only memento from his mother, the only remaining thing he has of his family and of his identity— to somehow subdue him, and the torture and brainwashing would repeat.

"Fucking demon asshole," was all Nero could say.

Years later, this Prince of Darkness lured Vergil's twin brother by creating a demon that looked like their mother, and eventually, he made the brothers fight each other.

"So this is what Trish was talking about," Nero concluded. He wasn't that surprised when he reached the part where Vergil's twin brother killed him before knowing about his identity, but Nero's hatred for this Prince of Darkness grew even bigger. "Fucking bastard giving the twins a trauma...again. Shit."

"Nero, language!" He heard Kyrie's voice from the kitchen. She and the kids were baking right now, but he figured she must've been hearing him swear, and they both didn't want the kids to learn such words.

"Sorry!" He couldn't help but grin sheepishly even when no one could see him.

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The closer he got to the end of the book, the more Nero understood what the Yamato meant to Vergil and why he wouldn't think twice to rip someone's arm off just to reclaim it.

It was the sword that helped Vergil survive the demon attack when he was a kid. It was also what helped him survive the following years, what his father entrusted to him, what he devoted his life mastering, what he must've relied on to not be afraid of anything.

That fucking Prince of Darkness broke the Yamato alongside torturing and toying with Vergil for years, so reclaiming the Yamato must've meant reclaiming himself. Now Nero could see from that hooded arm-ripper's point of view.

Now he wanted to return the Yamato to V even more, even though the latter refused it the last time they talked. That part, he couldn't understand yet. Does V consider himself unworthy of it or something? Or was it painful to not be able to revert to his original self and the Yamato would only remind him of it?

That made Nero realize, that the whole time since he has reconnected with V, Dante and V never once met or even talked. He didn't fail to tell Dante the things he found out about V, and both of them seemed happy to know that the other was doing fine. But whenever he would invite them to be together, both would refuse. What's the deal with that?

Upon finishing the story of Vergil and his brother, Nero's desire to help them reconnect grew bigger. But he thought, the first step to that would be asking Dante to read this book too. Dante would probably be too lazy, though, but Nero was motivated.

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Dante sat on his chair the usual way, with his feet on his desk. This afternoon was boring. No job, no clients, no visitors. Not that he wanted someone's company, anyway. He just didn't feel like doing anything either.

Then, he noticed the book that Nero left him earlier this week. The kid kept on asking if he has already read it, and of course, Dante was not only too lazy to read it –heck, it has the thickness of 3 to 4 magazines!— he also found it amusing to have Nero call him everyday just to ask and then scold him in different ways because he still hasn't read it.

He took the post-it note attached to the book and read Nero's message, 'Enough with your magazines and try a book for a change! You and your brother are shitty with handling your emotions but I guess he found a healthy outlet now that he's more human than he used to be.' He laughed for he could imagine a frustrated Nero saying it.

He took the book into his hands and examined it a bit as his mind wandered. The feeling of holding a book reminded him of his younger days where he would snatch what Vergil was reading and run off to the backyard with it – one of the simplest ways to force his brother to spar with him.

Dante has not seen V after the Qliphoth incident, but Nero told him everything he learned about the guy. That got him curious, so he bought one of V's magazines that day. He was satisfied knowing that his brother is living quite well; no need for them to meet up like what Nero kept insisting.

He was a bit guilty though that Vergil was forced to live as a human now. With all that power-hunger he had before, he must be feeling ironically punished or something. Maybe that's why Dante couldn't dare to meet up – he was the one who left Vergil trapped in a mostly-human body now.

He glanced at that magazine on the couch. V's photos were actually decent. Honestly when he first heard that V was a model, he half expected provocative poses and he looked forward to laughing his ass off at the fact that his introverted brother was doing that – but no, V's photos were decent. He did not even seem to be making an effort in projecting or whatever they call it, but there was something catchy about him.

'Maybe it's the edgy appearance or the uninterested look in his eyes.' Dante recalled Trish's comments.

'Or that lopsided smile,' Lady added that time.

Dante remembered how Vergil liked to dress up classy even as a kid because he looked up to their father. Even when they met at the Temen-ni-gru, he was wearing a cravat with his three-tailed coat. Oh boy, he must be enjoying his current job.

"You really have a talent for surviving and adapting, brother, may it be our demon-hybrid world, the demon world, or the human world." Dante laughed as he leaned back on his chair. As a demon-hybrid, Vergil got really powerful with his own efforts – he recalled how their first fight at the Temen-ni-gru turned out for him. Then somehow as a pure demon, he became a usurper demon king. And now he's kind of a celebrity in the normal human world. "You're really a high achiever when you're motivated," he said as if talking to the book he was holding.

That made him finally curious how well his brother turned out as a writer. Dante decided that he would just pretend to not have read the book yet just to tease Nero.

Upon noticing that the chapters started with poems, he smiled and muttered, "That poetry geek."

And time passed by unnoticed.

It was already pitch dark and quiet outside when he reached the last page. Somehow the lines there struck him harder than the others.

'Vergil wanted to protect his mother and brother, but he was not enough. He could not protect even himself.'

Dante immediately recalled what Vergil said on top of the Temen-ni-gru. 'Might controls everything. And without strength, you cannot protect anything, let alone yourself.'

Smiling wistfully, he continued with the rest of the page.

'It was Vergil's choice to leap into the underworld and face, once and for all, the source of all their agony.

It was Vergil's mistake that he lost to the Prince of Darkness and became his slave.

It was Vergil's freedom, not death, that he got when his brother defeated him.

No matter how determined he was to defeat his brother, Vergil never blamed him for anything. His brother was his motivation, his reason for fighting, his reason to keep living.'

As he closed the book, Dante found himself deserving of his shop's name.

"Damn you, Vergil."