Told ya this one would be out sooner! :D Don't like leaving things off on tooooo much of a cliffhanger. Sometimes. Thank you for the comments and I hope you enjoy! Can't wait to get the next chapter out, too!

Tinin: Yes, there's definitely A LOT to Temen-ni-gru! But for the purpose of the story, Amelia only saw Vergil, not Arkham, so as far as she's concerned, it's all his fault. Plus, Arkham is dead, so she wouldn't need to get 'vengeance' on him anymore. As for Cyra, seeing Vergil's involvement at all is still enough to wig her out.

Amaterasu: Hahah he'd probably kill me too! :P

LadyAmazon: Pop open that hard liquor! (Also PM'd you an answer about your Nero question :D)

ALR27: DEMONSCIENCE

Anonymous1662: Thankyou!

30 January 3:51pm

Vergil quickly sat up, feeling lost in an unfamiliar surrounding. The last thing he remembered was the cathedral, but he found himself resting on the couch in the main room of Devil May Cry, wondering how he got there. Just as quickly, a pain shot through his head, reflexively making him bring up a hand to settle it. He realized just how exhausted and warm he felt.

"Feeling better?" Trish's voice spoke from somewhere around him.

Vergil kept his eyes shut while he threw his legs over the side of the couch so that they would rest against the floor, "What happened?" He groaned out.

"Dante said you passed out at the cathedral. He and Lady went back over there to loot it. Said there were a lot of things Cyra could use," Trish explained.

"Where is she?" Vergil asked.

"Probably at home. Dante didn't really have time to explain it all," Trish said.

"You felt the barrier activate?" Vergil asked Trish, finally opening his eyes to look over in her direction. She was sitting on Dante's desk.

Trish sighed and nodded, "It was just dormant this whole time…Seems we underestimated this Amelia, despite how weak her own energy felt."

"I think Cyra tried to attack her," Vergil said as best he could.

Trish scoffed, "Of course she did… What happened when you showed up?"

Vergil just wished Trish left him alone for a moment so he could regain some strength to speak properly. Showing his weakness was only aggravating him further, but he had to remember this wasn't about him, "That sorceress fended off Dante and I, then teleported away," He said when he could, "And Cyra was tethered again," The fear on Cyra's face popped back up into his mind, wanting to know what it was. It looked like it was directed at him. Making Cyra fear him used to be a fun idea, but now that he got it, he realized he hated it. He had to know what affected her.

"When they get back, we'll have to find Amelia's energy signature. Since she activated the barrier, then she's exposed and we can kill her," Trish said walking closer to Vergil.

"That barrier held much more energy than we thought. But as long as she doesn't run off again, she's as good as dead," Vergil agreed.

Trish crossed her arms, "Dante said Cyra ran off?"

Vergil shook his head, "She saw something, but I don't know what. She ran off before we could ask."

Trish examined his face as he spoke. It was clear he was concerned for her. For a man who was once so obsessed with power, not being able to control the situation must have frustrated him beyond belief, "We'll find out soon," She said, feeling strange that she was standing above Vergil, reassuring him. He didn't respond, leaving them in silence.

Dante and Lady came back holding 2 crates each full of vials and medical equipment they took from the cathedral. Trish and Vergil turned their attention to them.

"Look what we found!" Dante said dropping the crates by the door, Lady following suit.

"Hopefully Amelia won't be needing them," Lady said with a smirk.

"What's in there?" Trish asked

Dante shrugged, "No idea. Medicine, bandages, liquids.. And we know someone who could probably use them."

Trish walked closer so she could inspect the crates full of stolen items, "I think you forgot the copper wiring in the walls," She chuckled.

"We can always make a second trip!" Dante said.

"We would have dropped them off to Cyra directly, but she somehow locked her door," Lady added.

Knowing how she never locked her door, Vergil frowned at the news. He was getting restless not knowing what was bothering her. He stood up without another thought to head for the door.

"Where are you going?" Dante asked.

"I have to talk to her," Vergil answered.

"Bad idea. Didn't you hear?" Dante asked. "She locked her door. She clearly doesn't want to talk to anyone."

Vergil stopped. Dante was right, but there was a selfish part of him that thought she would make an exception for him. It was probably wishful thinking. He wanted to argue with Dante, but didn't want to incriminate himself further in front of everyone. The prospect of everyone asking about whatever their relationship was would only add to a headache. He turned to Dante, coming up with an excuse, "Yes, but the sooner we talk to her, the sooner we can find out what happened and possibly track down that sorceress."

"Well, too bad, we have to wait," Dante fought back.

"Why do we have to wait?" Vergil asked.

"Because she's upset and we need to let her have her space," Dante said.

"If she's upset, don't you want to find out why?" Vergil argued back.

"Rookie mistake," Lady chuckled.

"Oh, Vergil," Dante tsked, "You have a lot to learn about women," He said and turned to Lady and Trish, who just shook their heads.

"Vergil, you care about her, right?" Trish asked.

Vergil glared his eyes, "Just get to your point."

"Look, if you want it to work out, you gotta know when to give her space," Trish said.

"There's times where we just want to be left alone, no matter how upset," Lady said.

Trish put her hands on her hips, "We tend to say things we don't mean in stressful situations."

"Yeah, it's like relationship 101. Locked door means back off... for now. She just needs to calm down," Lady said, "It's sort of the first rule."

"Well, the first rule is that the woman is always right," Dante corrected.

"Did you just break that rule?" Lady asked with a raised brow.

Dante's face hardened, "N-no, just, you know, from experience... " he muttered.

Lady smirked, "At least you're learning."

"Dante's right though. Women are always right, and right now, she's in the right for wanting to be alone. So you should respect that," Trish said as they three looked back to Vergil.

Vergil narrowed his eyes watching the three in front of him. He looked from Lady to Dante to Trish, pointing the hilt of his Yamato at each of them as he went down the list, "Psychologically stunted, professed bad luck with women, created by Mundus. Tell me exactly why I should listen to any of you for relationship advice."

They awkwardly looked at each other, hoping one would have something to say back. He made a point, and they took a moment trying to figure out which one of the three truths was worse. When no one said a word in response, Vergil turned to walk out, no one stopping him.

30 January 4:39pm

Vergil went to the bookstore and stopped in front of it. His anger turned into concern. What was bothering Cyra? Regardless of their credibility, he did take the other's advice into account. For a moment it felt like walking in would be overstepping boundaries. Before he could change his mind, he pulled the door handle, testing the lock. The doors separate a bit, and he could see through the crack of the door that something was placed in the handles. Smart, he thought.

Yamato was unsheathed and the blade placed in the crack of the door, ready to swipe and cut whatever was keeping the door shut. Only he didn't move. They were right. The woman never locked her door, and the fact that it was blocked at all, no matter how weakly, she clearly didn't want anyone in - even if it was him. Cutting her makeshift barricade would only break her trust; a trust that he just learned he developed with her. He wanted to be an exception, aware of how shamefully vain it made him feel. Clenching his teeth, Vergil pulled the Yamato back and sheathed it. It didn't feel right to leave her, but there wasn't much else to do if he was going to respect her space. He just wanted to know what caused her reaction. It wasn't just because she was tethered. She was terrified of something. What could she have seen?

A non-threatening presence made itself known behind Vergil. He turned around to see the nurse that Cyra once stalked from the cathedral. She was still in her white habit and veil, her face neutral, showing no expression behind those thin eyes.

"Leave," Vergil commanded.

"I have business with her," The nurse spoke monotonously.

"I won't tell you again," Vergil said.

The nurse narrowed her already small eyes, "If I speak with you, will you relay a message?" Vergil did not respond as if he was testing the nurse's audacity. It appears it wasn't that strong since she spoke soon after, "Meet me at the cathedral," she walked off.

Vergil watched her head to the direction of the destroyed cathedral. He would relay a message, if Cyra would ever allow him the opportunity. The thought of leaving her door unsettled him, but the nurse was curious. He glanced around the surroundings, careful not to leave her to any open attacks.

The nurse was standing in the middle of the rubble that was one the cathedral, looking ahead at the angelic statue that was still intact. Vergil walked up behind her cautiously, being careful to spot any danger before it was too late. He stopped walking, leaving enough of a distance between them. The nurse heard his footsteps and turned to face him, "I know you are capable of killing me, so you know that I have no reason to lie."

"Say what you need," Vergil said.

The nurse looked down at the ground, "Is Amelia dead?"

"No," Vergil answered simply.

"Will you kill her?" The nurse asked. Vergil didn't respond. What kind of question was that? Of course that was the plan, "You must kill her," She continued after no response.

"She won't be able to hide for much longer," Vergil said.

"She was never the woman she claimed to be. She never cared about humans, not exactly. It was all just a ploy to use patients as tethers to later absorb demon energy," The nurse explained, "Energy that she would eventually use to finally enact her revenge on demons. I am only human so I don't know how strong she is, but she's been at this for 25 years."

"She admitted all this?" Vergil asked.

Eileen nodded, "Amelia loved Cyra and her passion for helping humans. When Cyra left, Amelia found me as a replacement, she constantly told me how I am a worse student. It made me hate Cyra, as if she was some ex that I felt threatened by. One day, I told her how I felt and Amelia admitted that Cyra awokend her desire to actually help humans instead of use them. Cyra abandoning her made her angry, but seeing her return sparked a rage inside of Amelia that makes me fear her. I cannot leave her enslavement until she is dead," The nurse explained.

The word enslavement resonated with Vergil. Of course, this nurse didn't have it quite the same as he did, in fact, not even close. Though being under anyone's control was unpleasant. Vergil could have interpreted her confession as manipulation, but how would she know of his enslavement? Amelia could have told her, being a demon, but if she was in the human realm for 25 years, she wouldn't know anything about him. This woman in front of him was clearly nothing more than human, and her tone suggested that she was going through the motions. She was dead inside, only a shell of her former self, molded into whatever her master wants her to be. There was no manipulation here. Vergil nodded his head, "I will take care of it."

The nurse put her hands together and folded them, bringing them up to her head. It was like she was praying. She lowered her hands once again, "Thank you. I'm sorry I cannot offer more help, but please tell Cyra that for what it's worth, I'm an ally."

Her insight was enough if Vergil was being honest. There wasn't much else a small human like her could do, "I'm sure Cyra would like to know your name."

"Eileen," She stated simply, "It's only a matter of time before Amelia's demons find me. I will enjoy my freedom while I can," Eileen said and turned around to stare at the statue again.

Freedom to pray to a statue? Vergil thought it was strange. Even at the scene of the crime, for lack of better words. Vergil cautiously turned to leave the rubble formerly known as the cathedral, only to be stopped by a throwing knife impaling the ground at his feet. Eileen gasped when she heard the noise and looked behind her.

A figure jumped down from the top of the cathedral, landing in front of Vergil. The figure straightened himself revealing to be a man dressed in a long black tunic, his long brown hair tied in a ponytail, long, loose bangs obscuring his face. The mysterious stranger held a sword backwards in his left hand and throwing knifes between his fingers in his right hand. Vergil already had his Yamato prepared. The stranger bent his knees, signaling he was about to attack. He threw a knife, which Vergil easily deflected. The knife was a hopeful distracted, but Vergil did not fall for it. He jumped up when the stranger lunged towards him, and responded with a downward slash, aiming for his back. The stranger avoided the attack by rolling forward and threw another knife at Vergil, which he once again deflected with ease. Vergil dashed toward the stranger, slashing multiple times which were being desperately blocked by the stranger.

The stranger got pushed back and Vergil observed his movements. He wasn't a very skilled fighter, Vergil could tell. Even in his weakened state, he knew he could easily kill the man, but he was hoping to find out who this person was or what he wanted, "State your business."

The stranger didn't answer and straightened himself. He looked down at the sword he was holding backwards in his left hand and after a few moments pondering it, he twirled the sword around so he was holding it correctly. He then moved it to his right hand, moving his wrist a bit to get used to the feeling. His eyes scanned back up to Vergil and mimicked his posture as if he was readying himself to attack with the Yamato.

Vergil narrowed his eyes. Was this stranger mocking him or just learning his moves? Vergil bent his knees more to lower his stance, preparing himself for an attack. The stranger mimicked his movements, lowering himself. If he wasn't going to communicate with Vergil, then he probably wouldn't be very useful. Vergil dashed forward, the stranger soon after. They crossed paths, attacking each other at the same time. Only one attack did not go through. Vergil stood up and turned back to see the stranger keel over and fall on his face. Eileen peaked out from behind the corner hoping that was the end of the fight.

Vergil carefully strolled back to the incapacitated stranger. He inspected the body noticing there was no blood. How curious, he thought and used his boot to kick him over so that he could see who this stranger was. The body turned onto his back, arms flailing out and his hair finally out of his face. Vergil eyed the man's face, only to find he looked familiar.

It only took a few moments to realize where he recognized him. The man in Cyra's framed photo… This man looked like Gabriel!

Just then the stranger coughed and tried to reach for Vergil. He reflexively brought up the Yamato to stab him through the chest, silencing him once again. His arms fell back to the ground, seemingly dead. Vergil was shook. Gabriel was supposed to be dead! The man he just fought was a real body, though it may not have been aware. Vergil's first thought was that Amelia resurrected and healed his corpse. She really was desperate… She was planning on using this against Cyra. Staring into the dead man's open eyes, he felt a pang of sorrow for him. Killed by a demon only to be resurrected by another and used as a puppet for manipulation. If she resurrected him once, she will only keep healing his body. The only way to finally give him peace was to kill the source; Amelia.

Vergil removed the Yamato from his chest and stood up, turning back to Eileen, who walked back out, for the first time showing emotion; fear, "He will not stay dead."

"Who is he?" Vergil asked, already knowing the answer.

"I don't know, but Amelia uses him," Was her answer, "I didn't know he was going to attack, I swear on my life!"

Vergil nodded, calming her. Vergil turned back to inspect the corpse. Cyra could not see him.

30 January 5:51pm

Cyra woke up in a cold dark room, only having the light from the outside shining through to remind her that she cried herself to sleep in her bathroom. The framed photo was next to her, arm laying over it. She sat up, using her arm to push herself up only to wince. Looking at her hand, she noticed strings of dried blood rolled upwards her arm. Cyra stood up the rest of the way to go turn on the bathroom light. She observed the floor, remembering that the glass on the framed photo of Gabriel shattered. That explained the bleeding arm. With the lights on, she got a better glimpse of her hand. She sighed and went to the vanity, grabbing what she needed to start cleaning her wound. Pieces of glass were still visibly in the heel of her hand. Unfortunately for her, they were in her dominant right hand, forcing her to use her left hand to take the glass out.

Ten miserable minutes later, she was able to finish wrapping her hand in gauze. The wound wasn't a big problem, but she didn't need it to get infected or have blood dripping everywhere.

Her eyes fell back to the floor to see random small shards of glass. With the wound on her hand addressed, she went to grab a broom and swept away the rest of the debris. In a way, she was happy to have something physical to do so her mind was off the other problems she had to deal with. Anytime her mind would wander to Vergil, she'd shut her eyes, forcing herself to think of anything else. Even Amelia would be better, but that still led to Vergil.

She was afraid to go downstairs; afraid that she'd see him in the chair reading, waiting for her to wake up. It made her smile at the thought, but then her mind went dark again. That memory shouldn't have hit her as much as it did. She knew about Temen-ni-gru. She knew Vergil's past. Dante has told her his stories. It didn't seem so bad in his words, but that was to be expected with Vergil being his brother. Hearing everything secondhand made it feel like a fairy tale. Now that she finally got to see the experience through Amelia, it put it in a perspective she didn't even think of. So many people dead… All for power. He truly was evil once… But that was all in the past, right?

Cyra threw the broom away from her out of frustration. It hit the bathtub and bounced off, knocking over the trash can, spilling the glass back out onto the floor once again. Cyra just stared at the glass-covered floor for a moment before she let out a long, frustrated sigh. Now calm, she picked the broom back up ready to clean up again.

When she descended the stairs, her hands were beginning to shake. What if Vergil was actually there? Part of her wanted him to be there just to see him, but another part was afraid - of what exactly, she wasn't sure. Turning the corner, she saw the chair was still pushed up against the door, book still stuck in the handles. No one came by. She thought she'd be relieved, but she just found herself disappointed. Maybe he was just giving her space, which was what she needed, but to be honest, she didn't care about what she needed. She wanted to see Vergil. She wanted to be comforted by him more than ever, fully aware of how dangerous he was.

Cyra hummed, something she realized she picked up from Vergil. The corner of her lip twitched downward, soon matching on both sides as her lip was quivering. Why did she have to see that memory? Why couldn't she just remain ignorant to his villainous ways and continue to see him in the light of fairy tales. Everything was going so well and Amelia had to force her trauma onto Cyra and ruin it. Not letting herself cry, she slapped her hands to her face lightly, forcing herself to remember what really mattered. His cure. She would cure him and her deal with the twin half-demons would be finished.

There was a part of her that thought about Amelia's logic. If Vergil was involved in exterminating an entire city's population, twice, what was stopping him from doing it again. Why cure him when he could once again be a threat to the world? She wanted to properly slap herself again at the thought, though it wouldn't be enough. How could she think that? The Vergil she got to know wasn't the same man she saw in either memory - Amelia's or his own. Amelia's manipulation would not work on her… Is what she kept trying to tell herself.

Now that Amelia didn't have a static location, finding her to talk to her would be impossible. On top of her friends' restrictions to leaving her home, she finally found it was becoming much too dangerous to leave. She was going to need the outside help. Literally. Cyra checked the time to see it was getting late, but she had some time...

30 January 5:51pm

Cyra was laying across her dingy old chair, legs over the arm, as she was staring outside the window. She couldn't wait to get the uncomfortable lump replaced. A teenager on a bicycle stopped in front of her bookstore. Judging from the boxes of pizza strapped to the back of the bike, she knew he was there for her. Cyra opened the door to walk out to him, but the door hit something as it opened. She looked down to see crates full of vials and medical supplies. She narrowed her eyes, wondering who left them there, but the delivery boy brought her attention back up to him when he spoke, "Hey miss! That'll be 13.50," The delivery boy said.

Cyra smiled and handed him 100, "You can keep the change if you'll deliver a message to someone," She said with a smile, handing the delivery boy a plain white envelope.

The delivery boy was more than ecstatic, "For real?"

"You're trustworthy, right?" She asked with a slanted smile.

The delivery boy nodded eagerly and let a smile spread across his face, "Yes, absolutely!"

Cyra smiled, "There's a vendor named Victor in the market who re-sells my-, uh, Panacea's Unholy Waters. You'll know who it is because he's always shouting it. He wears a long green cloak. He might not be there anymore tonight, so I'll need you to give me your word that if he's not, you'll try again tomorrow morning."

The delivery boy nodded, "Panacea Unholy Water… Victor… green cloak. Got it! I won't let you down, Ma'am!"

Cyra tried not to cringe at the title, but smiled as he walked off and got back onto his bike, eagerly starting his little fetch quest. She may have hit the jackpot with a messenger. Her attention fell back to the crates at her door, finally getting a chance to inspect it. Vials, jars, various medical supplies. There was a note on top that Cyra picked up and read:

Cleared out the cathedral. Thought you could use them. Everyone is being a baby, but we hope you're okay. Thanks for proving to them that humans don't take shit from anyone -Lady.

Cyra smiled and looked back at the crates. She dragged them into her bookstore and once again placed a book through the handles as her barricade.

30 January 8:02pm

A long two hours later, she finally finished organizing her new wares. Cyra's inventory for bandages, antiseptics, and syringes weren't at stake, and with her current additions, she thought she'd be set for life. There were so many new liquids and vials that Cyra hasn't used before. Amelia's collection was a side of demonology that was new to her. Most of the medications and liquids were labeled, even if Cyra didn't understand some of them. She was eager to start experimenting with them just to find out the use of them. Perhaps she'd just stumble into a cure. Something gave her the feeling that she'd be awake for a looong time.

There were two vials that were not labeled. One was a pale green, the other was clear. She glared at the clear one, feeling it was Holy Water. Pure Holy Water was possibly still precious enough to keep it a secret. However, the unlabeled pale green vial was something to be curious about. She held it up to a light to give it a better look noticing how cloudy the liquid looked. The consistency reminded her of an antivenom she tried to create recently. One of Cyra's first attempts at creating a cure for Vergil was to make several types of antivenom, hoping that the Nidhogg would respond to any of them, but to no avail.

Out of curiosity, she wanted to test it. Her two constants were pure Nidhogg cells, and Vergil's blood. She hasn't been able to get a recent sample from him, so the current one would have to do. Cyra placed one drop of the new pale green liquid onto each petri dish and sat there to examine the changes.

Staring at the two dishes didn't provide much entertainment. She fought herself from falling in and out of sleep, the stress finally taking its toll. She remained attentive and brought up her knees to her chest, resting her chin up top.

The jumped in her seat, unexpectedly. Her body felt a bit stiff. She sighed, knowing she must have fallen asleep in her seat after all. Amazing that she didn't fall off her seat and found herself on the floor instead. With a groan, she stretched out her legs to sit properly and leaned forward to observe her concoctions.

The green chemical dissolved and all that was left was blood. She placed some of the blood onto a slide to throw under the microscope to inspect if there were any changes. Sure enough, there was a change. A huge change. The nidhogg cells were mostly died out! They were very slowly trying to regenerate, but the green serum must have killed the cells.

Cyra's heart started beating much quicker. Adrenaline kicked in. Did Amelia seriously have an antidote to kill Nidhogg cells? Humans didn't have a Nidhogg problem anymore, and there's no way this serum was made per Cyra's request for Vergil. Cyra's explanation was that the serum was made for humans 8 months ago, only for Amelia to realize that there was no saving them from the Qliphoth's effect. If the Qliphoth was near a human enough where the Nidhogg would have infected them, it meant it was already too late. Yet Amelia kept the antidote… It must have been a failsafe, just in case she needed it. Perhaps for Amelia herself. Demons could resist it for so long before being controlled by it, as she saw with Vergil, and Amelia of course wouldn't want to take any chances of that happening to herself.

However this serum was no perfect cure. Nidhogg cells were in fact still regenerating and there wasn't enough of it to overpower the parasite that latched onto Vergil's heart. She has to be smart with the amount she had in that small vial. What would Amelia do? What was her plan with the tiny vial of liquid Cyra now had in her possession? Experiments had to be extremely limited as to not waste any of it. Every drop was precious.

However, she knew that the antidote wasn't strong enough alone. There needed to be something else. Something else… Perhaps Amelia's method to kill Vergil would end up being the secret to help him after all.

Cyra smirked, mentally thanking Amelia for the help.

31 January 12:04am

Dante and Vergil were taking up any time that they had to patrol the streets. They were hoping they would feel Amelia's energy signature and be able to follow the trail. Eileen confirmed for Vergil that she was tethering humans on the off chance that they would come into contact. If she was still doing that to absorb energy, they'd be able to catch someone, hopefully. The energy that Amelia disappeared with was much stronger than they thought considering how dormant it was in that barrier. They didn't know where Amelia was then, but the longer she was out of sight, the more energy she was using to exist. Which would have been great news, but it only meant she was going to be that much more desperate to kill who she needed to kill. They still didn't know Vergil was her main target, but Cyra was in danger by proxy. Amelia could strike at any moment, so it was better to find her before she found them. They were heading back home for the night, feeling they couldn't do much else currently.

While no longer distracted trying to look for energy signatures, Vergil felt it was time to relay his recent discovery regarding Gabriel's body, "Dante, there's one other thing I haven't mentioned yet…" He started.

"Better or worse than Amelia's 25 year old grudge?" Dante asked.

"Worse. Let's just say don't be surprised if you see Cyra's late husband start attacking you," Vergil began.

"You're kidding..." Dante muttered, "Projection or puppet?" He knew what Vergil was going to say. It wasn't shocking for a sorcerer to practice in necromancy.

"I wouldn't claim it's worse if it wasn't his corpse," Vergil said angrily at the thought.

"You had to fight him?" Dante asked.

"I did, but it was about as one sided as you can imagine. It's clear he's not meant for us. He's meant for Cyra. That sorceress is desperate and will do anything to make her turn on us," Vergil said. On me, he thought. Whatever Amelia was plotting felt personal. The fear in Cyra's eyes was directed at him.

"Maybe it's a good thing she locked herself in. We can clear out what we need while she does her thing," Dante said, Vergil hummed in response. He still didn't like the idea of her shunning herself with no explanation, but he agreed with Dante's reasoning.

Dante was angry at the thought of Amelia using Gabriel's body to manipulate Cyra. It was similar to when Mundus created Trish to try to manipulate Dante. If only demons could come up with their own methods instead of copying Mundus. They weren't exactly creative, which only made them that much easier to understand and defeat. If only they weren't so illusive. Teleporting enemies were always an annoyance. He chuckled a bit glancing at Vergil, who was a teleporter, but at least he didn't always do it to run away.

"What now?" Vergil asked.

"Reminiscing is all," Dante said honestly, which reminded him, "You know, Nero could lend us a hand with all this."

"No," Vergil plainly said.

"Afraid of getting your ass beat by him again?" Dante taunted.

"As eager as I am for a rematch, I'd rather not do it in my current state," Vergil corrected.

"It's only a matter of time before he hears about that cathedral attack, anyway," Dante said.

"Then we'll worry about that when the time comes," Vergil said casually.

"Alright, but I still think we should get him over here," Dante said.

"We're fine without him," Vergil said starting to get annoyed.

"Ya sure? You're at half strength on a good day. Trish and Lady are doing other things. Plus lately it seems we need one person just to keep Cyra out of trouble…" Dante explained, but then it dawned on him why he may not want Nero around, "You haven't told her about him," Dante stated more than asked.

"No. Have you?" Vergil asked.

"When I told her about the last job, I mentioned him, but that he's your son? No," Dante said.

Vergil had plenty of time to contemplate Nero's relation to him, but it still felt odd to hear, "I'd like to handle that myself if you don't mind."

"You got it," Dante confirmed. He wasn't planning on giving away his secrets anyway. Well, anymore of them, "As long as the only reason you don't want him around is so you can avoid the topic."

Vergil threw a side glance, "I can assure you, it's not," Even if it partially was.

"You know I'm going to be the one he yells at when he finds out we're back," Dante sighed.

Vergil hummed, "Then I suggest we take care of the problem before he even finds out," Vergil said.

As they were approaching Devil May Cry, Dante heard his phone was ringing before he even opened the door. Dante walked in, Vergil following suit, to slowly make his way to the phone wondering who the hell would even try to call him so late at night, "I bet you it's Nero," He said under his breath, earning a slight chuckle from Vergil. Dante thought about ignoring it, but he didn't even know how long it was ringing for, considering it was already going when he walked in. It could be an emergency. He sighed and picked up the receiver, "Devil May Cry," He said lazily.

"Dante…"

"Cyra! What's up?" Dante asked, surprised to be getting a call from her. The mention of her name grabbed Vergil's attention.

Cyra was calling from her workstation, staring at the supplies on her desk, "I, uh…" She trailed off.

"Are you okay?" Dante asked now concerned.

Cyra didn't speak up right away, needing a moment to feel confident in what she was about to say. Cyra picked up two new vials that were in front of her, "I think I did it…I found the cure."