Well I'll Be Damned
Chapter 5: Your Reason
"V-chan..."
"Can you hear me, V?"
"You're still alive, right?"
Upon opening his eyes, V saw Griffon hovering over him. He found himself lying on the ground, in an alley, near a dumpster – and he smiled at the familiarity of the situation. What is it with him and alleys and dumpsters.
"My, my, I thought you were a goner."
V sat up and asked, "How long was I out?"
"I don't know, I just got back too," the bird answered. "The kitty went back to your arms; he must be feeling guilty."
V touched his left arm, as if to pet Shadow.
"Are you alright, V?" Griffon's tone was a bit more serious than usual. "You didn't summon the big guy this time but you still passed out. Isn't it getting worse?"
"I'm fine," V calmly responded. "I just ran out of demonic power again."
"Your time limit seems to be getting shorter, though. I told you, you should start drinking human blood," the bird now had his usual mocking tone.
V smirked. "It tastes disgusting... doesn't suit my human palate." He then propped himself to stand up. He found it lucky that he chose to bring his cane today. On some days that he didn't, he had to be creative with finishing off the demons they run into.
"Then why don't we call Dante or your kid when we find demons?" the avian seemed eager to find a solution, but was trying to mask it with his humor, "And you just summon me when you need someone to talk to."
"It would take time for them to arrive," V explained, "The fastest way to deal with it is to handle it ourselves." He then made an effort to sway the topic, "You're really okay having the role of the chatty chicken, huh?"
"Oh, that annoying pimple Nero will get a piece of me!" Griffon piped, recalling the last time Nero called him noisy chicken and he couldn't retaliate. "Next time, let's meet him in a place where you could summon me." That earned him a short chuckle from the man.
As they headed towards V's apartment, Griffon opted to come back to his pattern on V's chest. V was actually on his way home and was just a few blocks away when he encountered those Empusas earlier.
'V-chan,' Griffon called out as V entered the building's elevator. It was through the form of telepathy they use when Griffon is not in his physical form.
'What is it?' V replied to him in the same method.
'Why don't we move out of Red Grave instead, huh?' was the bird's newest suggestion. 'That way, we don't have to fight demons often.'
'It is my responsibility to clean up what remains of Vergil's mess.'
'Hasn't Dante cut the remaining Qliphoth roots yet?'
'Nero said they are trying to find a way. Apparently, none of them could use the Yamato to open a portal to the Underworld.'
'They must miss Vergil now, huh?' Griffon quipped, to which V only smiled.
When they reached their room, V offered, "You can come out now."
'Nah, I'm good. Conserve your energy, Shakespeare,' the bird remarked before he seemed to turn a bit serious. 'Hey, don't you miss being Vergil?'
'I'd be lying if I said I don't.' V then recalled the moment Nero told him of their relation.
Learning that he has a son, and a strong devil hunter at that, he couldn't help but feel proud, while at the same time, long to have a friendly duel with him, much like how he and Dante were often tested by their father when they were kids. He would also be more than happy to impart all he learned these years – the skills, the knowledge about demons, the proper way of wielding the Yamato...
'But that is a luxury we can no longer afford,' he added before subconsciously slicking back his hair as he rummaged the refrigerator for something he could cook for dinner.
'Then why not live with them, instead? You might get to feel like your old self if you're with your brother or your son,' Griffon ingenuously suggested.
'Being mostly human now, I believe I no longer have a place in their world,' V explained while cutting vegetables. 'I might only serve as a burden should anything dangerous happen. As you are well aware of, I cannot even protect myself adequately.'
As if fate was proving him right, the knife grazed his finger. He watched it bleed while a part of him counted the seconds for the wound to close. It did not, though, and he could only make a "tsk" before instinctively sucking it.
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Nero arrived at this park by the lake that V told him about. It had been a while since their last meeting, so he was more than willing to go to even remote locations like this.
Aside from being inside what seemed to be a forest, this park did not have any sign of patrons in it. Thinking that his father might be considering a sparring session, Nero was starting to regret not bringing the Red Queen with him. He only brought a small box containing Kyrie and the kids' handmade gift for V. Inside was a leather bracelet like what they saw V wearing in most of his photos. Kyrie and the kids have been making different crafts recently and this gift was their way of saying that they look forward to having V be a part of their little family.
As Nero neared the lake, he immediately spotted V sitting on one of the wooden benches facing it. He thought he must've looked like an excited child as he sped up his pace towards the man.
Before Nero could reach him though, the big blue bird blocked him and greeted, "Open up and say 'aaah!'" before dropping some sort of lightning ball in front of him which he barely jumped away from.
"Little chickee's laid an egg?" Nero was quick to taunt, but he didn't expect the bird to be quicker in snatching the small box he was holding. "What the—"
"Hehehehe fuck yeah!" Griffon's voice faded as he flew away, into the forest, with the box in his claw.
Nero glanced at V, who just smiled and said, "Go ahead. He wants to play," and that was all the confirmation he needed to rush towards the forest and do some big-bird hunting.
His spectral wings made it easier to glide from one tree to another. His heightened demonic senses also made it possible to locate the familiar, who seemed to be waiting for him on a branch of the tallest tree there was.
"What, you prefer the view from high places than that pretty lake?" he mocked as he made his way closer. They were indeed quite far from the lake where they left V. "I thought chickens are afraid of heights!"
"Oh, the wise guy Nero," Griffon started before throwing the small box to Nero's direction, which the latter caught with ease. "I actually lured you here for a reason."
"And what would that be?" the lad asked as he sat on a branch near the one Griffon was perched on.
"There's something about V that I think you should know."
And Griffon told him about V's weakening state.
That every time he calls forth all his familiars for battle, he was sure to pass out afterwards.
That it was getting worse – that sometimes even summoning the second one, 'the shape-shifting kitty' as Griffon called, drains V so much that he even passed out from that too, once or twice already.
And that one time when they encountered a demon that can summon some other demons with its blade-arms, they ended up fighting for a long time and V really tried hard to keep up, distracting himself with the book he had so as not to lose consciousness. But after the fight, V's hands started crumbling. "Literally falling particles, shit!" Griffon seemed spooked by the experience. "I really thought he would fall apart for good but somehow it stopped and he got back to normal the next few days," he added.
Even though Nero was listening patiently, he knew there was a mix of unpleasant emotions brewing inside him, as he noticed that the part of the branch where his right hand rested flaked off, with some chipped parts sticking to his palm.
"Then why does he keep fighting the demons he sees? You guys could've called me or Dante," Nero wanted to say this from the start of the bird's tale, but somehow, he knew the answer. Handling the demons then and there was the fastest way and would be less dangerous for the humans around, than waiting for devil hunters on call.
"Well, your old man has been stubborn since day one," Griffon remarked. "Somehow, he takes responsibility for the Qliphoth aftermath, and when that guy has his mind set on something, it's kinda hard to sway him, you know. I don't know if it's only a V thing or if it has always been a Vergil thing."
Nero could see how much this demon pet cares for his master despite how he tries to cover it with his snarky ways. "Is there a way to keep him from running out of demonic energy at least?" he then asked. Picturing V passing out in the most inconvenient places got Nero worried. Even more so when he imagined the crumbling hands.
"Well, to be honest," Griffon seemed to be having a difficulty saying this, "Back then when we first established our contract with V, our common goal was to merge back with Urizen, be Vergil again so we could all continue existing even just inside the guy or something.
"You see, we V's familiars, AKA Vergil's discarded manifestations of his trauma, cannot exist without a host. Much like how nightmares cannot exist if no one's watching them, you know, the basics of dreaming.
"Being a fellow discarded matter, V was also meant to cease existing the moment he was expelled. But V's will to survive was strong. Then we came to an agreement that if he became our host, we would help him fight demons until we reach Urizen, beat up the big guy till he couldn't resist, and we could all get back to being Vergil. But you know the rest. You messed up our plan." He laughed. "But nah, it worked out for the best. More people could've died if we didn't stop Urizen sooner. And besides, we had a bash living among humans! We didn't actually expect that we could last this long – discarded buddies drifting in the ocean together." This bird really seemed to be the glass-half-full type, Nero thought as he listened.
"But yeah, we are still bound to stop existing, one way or another. We all knew that from the start anyway," Griffon stated with a wistful tone before putting humor in front again. "Be sure to remember us, okay? Like hold a commemoration every month or something." The bird laughed.
"Fuck, little chicken, can you not be so morbid?" Nero was taking it all in, he didn't know what better thing to say.
"All I'm saying is that, the hour glass is uh, dripping, something like that. Make use of your time with your youthful old man before uh, you know," the avian chose to leave it at that.
The rest of his day out with V, Nero tried his best not to look distracted with what he learned today. He has always been direct and open with his emotions so he didn't know he could pull off all those smiles, suggest interesting activities and places, and even make his father laugh a few times, despite the gaping hole growing inside his chest.
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Notes:
As you might have noticed, I enjoy using lines from the game. XD That also goes to say that some things that are meant to happen still happen or lines that are meant to be said are still said, even in an alternate timeline.
About V's crumbling body, it didn't happen here as drastically as in the game, because in the game, well, we kept playing with him and he kept using his demonic powers. I also tried to make a lore-sense of the 'read book' skill, I hope it worked. :P
V passing out, on the other hand, was based on Visions of V, the first time he used Nightmare. Still the same reason, running out of demonic power.
