Dante hummed, trying to find the house that held the answers he needed. Just who was that woman and how did she know Vergil? Soon enough, he'll know. He just had to get to the house first. And as much as he hated to admit it, he was lost.
The white-haired man shook his head as crossed the green light, scouring the area to locate his destination. But evidently, he couldn't find it. Because he forgot the description given to him. The only thing he remembered was the address.
Luckily for him, he saw a policeman and approached him for directions.
"Hey, officer. You wouldn't happen to know where 187 Hyperion Avenue is, would you?"
"Oh, that's easy." said the policeman. He pointed right at the Victorian-styled house, looking very much like a castle. "Right over there. That house belongs to Jeanne Arc. Our very own Angel of Death. Too bad she retired from being a Huntress to start up a restaurant. Oh well. You drive safely now."
Dante grunted in gratitude and drove up to the large house with a sizable amount for a front yard. "Quite the house there, Verge. You been living stylishly. I'm jealous."
As he came near, he noticed three people talking at the front. A woman with pure red hair and a man with brown hair standing closely with each other, while the other had golden blonde. If Dante were to wager a guess, the latter was Jeanne while the former two were obviously married. Their body languages and the rings on their fingers suggested as such.
The brunette had emerald green eyes and thin-framed glasses, wearing a simple outfit: a white dress shirt, black pants, a scarf, and a long, gray coat. From what Dante could tell, he seemed like a fighter, just with the way how his body seemed to pay attention to any passer-by, ready to jump in of necessary.
The woman, compared to her tall husband, was a pretty short, only reaching up to his chest. She had flawless skin, no wrinkles that Dante could see, red hair tied up in a bun and held by a circlet. She wore simple civilian clothes, with an apron over it.
"If there's anything we can help you with-" started the female redhead.
"It's fine." cut in Jeanne, a sad smile gracing her lips. "I wouldn't want to pry. Jaune did what he thought was right."
"The offer still stands, though." assured the male. "For saving our darling daughter, we are deeply indebted to you. For now, we hope we're not impeding by letting Pyrrha stay over for a play date."
Jeanne shook her head, the sadness never disappearing. "It's quite alright. She's quite welcome here as many times as she would like. Besides, Jaune needs her friendship. It was nice talking to you, Mr. and Mrs. Nikos. And thank you for the cookies earlier."
Husband and wife smiled and bowed at the Arc matriarch, then left. Jeanne sighed before lifting her head up, staring at Dante.
"You came."
The devil hunter turned off his motorcycle and disembarked. "Of course I did. Some random person just called me and started quoting my dead brother. Excuse me if I'm feeling a bit curious."
He grabbed a hold of his helmet and lifted it off, letting the blonde see his face. The expression on Jeanne grew somber as she looked at Dante's face
"You really do look like him."
"That should be a given. If he ever told you about me, he and I are twins.
Jeanne opened up the door to her home, gesturing for Dante to enter. "Come. We've much to discuss."
"That we do."
Dante was pretty impressed with the house itself. The interior decorating was far superior compared to his, and it felt more comforting and inviting.
"Probably because of the lack of demon skulls on the wall." he mused to himself.
His eyes fell on to a picture frame, making him curious. He walked up to it and picked it up. His brows shot up in surprise at the photo.
It was a family picture. At the center sat Jeanne and Vergil, holding each other's hands as the latter held a baby less than six months old, while five girls, all with golden blonde hair, surrounded them with wide smiles. What surprised him wasn't the fact that his brother had children. It was the fact that he was smiling quite openly.
Dante couldn't even remember a time when Vergil smiled, with how he portrayed himself to be cold and unfeeling since a certain incident. For there to be physical proof that he was openly smiling, it made Dante glad that buried under his brother's lust for power, he still had his humanity.
"That was almost a decade ago." spoke up Jeanne, smiling fondly at the memory. "You wouldn't believe how jittery he was before we took that photo. It took one coo from his son to calm him down and make him smile."
The red-garbed man stepped back, staring at her. "Just what exactly are you to Vergil?"
Jeanne spun around. Dante gasped silently as he looked at the mark on her back. The mark was a blue rose surrounded by feathered wings. If it wasn't already obvious to him earlier, it was now.
"I'm the mother to his children. His wife."
The Son of Sparda's sullen look lightly disappeared, replaced with surprise. "I guess that means you're my sister in-law then... Didn't peg my brother to be the type who'd date a nephilim."
Jeanne smirked, facing her brother in-law. "Was it that obvious?"
"A bit." answered Dante. "I could tell you weren't fully human, but you didn't have any demon blood in you, so I went with an unorthodox guess. But last I heard, the entire race of angels were wiped out."
The mother held a solemn look. "Quite. A civil war between two factions broke out and it ended up in a bloody war. Survivors were scattered amongst after the war, my mother was one of them. Eventually, she decided to settle down with my father and she had me. But... Like you and Vergil, I was torn away from my family when I was young."
Dante's face turned sullen, a slight wince growing on his face. "Sorry." he simply said.
"Don't be. It's been years. I've already moved on..."
Jeanne smiled and led him to the living room. Dante sat down on the recliner, while Jeanne sat across him, on the couch. She gestured to a plate of chocolate chip cookies, inviting the man to take one.
"Sure, wouldn't mind one." He grabbed one and bit into it, chewing softly. "These are good. Where did they come from?"
"Well, I'm sure you saw earlier, I was talking to two people. They were the parents of a child that my son saved. Coincidentally, we just live a few blocks apart and they came here to thank us and to drop their daughter off to play with my son. They're upstairs right now."
Dante nodded. He swallowed the cookie and leaned in. "So, mind telling me all about my nieces and nephew?"
"Very well. Our eldest is Noir. A bit aloof, but otherwise, a responsible older sister. She wanted to be different from us so she joined the military. But when she's off-duty, I'm sure you and her would get along. Just as long as you give her sundaes."
Dante smirked, leaning back into the recliner. "Well, that's a bonding activity. Sundaes are a bit of a favorite of mine too. Who's next?"
"Well, there's Helena and Selene. Best way to describe them is, well, they're you and Vergil, but girls. Although, there are a few key differences. One, Helena is the older twin but she's more like you, and Selene's the younger twin, but she's more akin to Vergil. I'm sure you could guess who was Vergil's favorite?"
Dante chuckled. "I can only imagine. I'd like to meet them some time. Actually, now that I think about it, where are your kids? The house seems kinda...barren."
"They're all out, aside from my son. Noir's off to get her weapon checked. Helena and Selene are back in Haven, they're training to be Huntresses. Now, Saphron, she's like the typical sister, teasing but caring and love. She took a shine in writing stories when Vergil took her to a library one time. She's off in a seminar."
The Devil Hunter nodded, and leaned in. "So, only two left, right?" asked Dante.
He was certainly confused as Jeanne lowered her head, her expression shifting for a slight moment to that of extreme grief. Dante's face grew somber, realizing what it implied.
"One of them is dead, I take it?"
Jeanne bit back the tears that dared swelled up in her eyes and composed herself. "Yes. That's partly the reason why I called you, actually. A week ago, we were attacked by demons. My son was separated from us and Nera made it her duty to find him. When I found them, Nera was dead, and Jaune was protecting a friend of his with a new arm."
The Arc Matriarch pulled out a photo and handed it over to Dante. The picture was that of Jaune's new arm, grabbing his complete interest. He took it and inspected the image with intrigue.
"From what I gathered, he grew out that arm. After we killed the demons, I found a severed arm, matching Jaune's. Possibly, seeing his sister's death, and having a great amount of desire to protect and survive forcibly unlocked his demonic heritage."
Dante nodded in agreement. "Yeah. From the looks of it, his arm looks like it's stuck in its Devil Trigger state."
As an example, he raised his own arm up and in a flicker of lightning, it became almost reptilian-like. Dante willed it away, allowing Jeanne to continue.
"Unfortunately, I don't know how to help him. Vergil insisted that he would be the one to train our children in combat, while I provided anything else that he didn't cover."
The Second Son then posed a question. "So why not get Vergil? Why call me?"
"Because Vergil completely dropped off years ago. A day before Jaune's first birthday, he just vanished. No note, no explanation. Nothing. I know is that he's alive because of my mark, but I don't know enough to sense where he is. He's deliberately blocking me out."
"I see." he said. "Well, I guess a better fill in for my big brother. I'll train him. But, can we start tomorrow? There's something I need to do later first."
Jeanne nodded. "That's alright. I'm in no hurry. Will you be staying for lunch?"
Dante shook his head, rejecting the offer. "I wouldn't want to impose."
"Nonsense. We're family. It's only natural we take care of one another." She stood up and headed for the door. "Make yourself at home. I'll be going to the grocery to a grab a few things to cook."
Dante wordlessly nodded as Jeanne left. He got up from the chair and headed towards the kitchen, needing a drink. When he entered, he was met with the most extravagant cooking area he had ever seen. It looked like something out of a five-star restaurant. He could only whistle in amazement.
"Wow. Guess that police officer wasn't kidding when he said she was a chef."
He approached the fridge and opened it up. He scanned the contents until he spotted a can of root beer. He smirked and grabbed the soda then closed the fridge.
Dante blinked, as he was now face to face with a kid that scarily resembled him, except he had golden tipped hair. The child's face contorted into surprise, before it turned to that of fury.
"You!"
An Hour Ago - Upstairs
Jaune stared idly out the window and at the tree house, ignorant of everything else around him. Even after a week had passed, he still couldn't believe that Nera died, and he lost then got a new arm. His arm was now a constant reminder of what hell he went through, and what he had to lose for his life to change.
At the door stood Pyrrha, looking at him in concern. Her parents dropped her off here to hang out with her new friend. But when she came here, he didn't even notice that she knocked, or opened the door.
She looked at his arm, not at all bothered by it. Why would she? Jaune used it to save her. Sure, she was a bit scared a week ago, but now she wasn't. A little weird, but nothing to be afraid of.
Pyrrha thought of an idea to get Jaune's mind off whatever he was thinking of. She walked up behind him and gently wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face against the back of his neck.
"I'm sorry."
Jaune snapped back to reality, feeling Pyrrha's embrace. He turned around, looking at her in confusion.
"Pyrrha, you've nothing to be sorry for. In fact, I'm the one who should be saying that. You got dragged in because of me."
The redhead shook her head. "That doesn't matter! If only I wasn't useless, you wouldn't have had to push me out of the way and get your arm cut off."
"But, we're kids, Pyrrha.." he argued. "We couldn't have done anything against them… I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough."
"No, I'm the one who's sorry."
"No, I'm sorry."
The two of them looked at each other, having said it at the same time. The two of them then broke out in laughter. Whatever sadness they were feeling earlier were now washed away, as they smiled. Getting in the swing of things, Jaune gestured to the box below his T.V., controllers strewn around.
"So… I have a Game Station console. Do you wanna play?"
Pyrrha tapped her chin in thought, before smirking. "You got Aura Combat?"
Jaune pulled out said game, smirking back right at her. "Prepare to get your butt kicked!"
A couple of matches later...
"How are you so good?!" exclaimed Jaune as he watched his character get beaten. For the fourth time.
Pyrrha shrugged, a smug little grin on her face. This made Jaune grumble a little. Something about still not being used to his new arm. But despite that, he couldn't help but smile at the time he was having. Usually, he would play all by himself. Most of his sisters didn't really like video games, except for Helena or Nera…
Jaune's smile turned sad, remembering the fun he and his sister would have, playing games all day, trying to beat them all in one go. He shook his head, snapping himself out of his sadness.
This was supposed to be a time for fun, not a time for being mopey.
A grin spread through his face as he finally managed to beat Pyrrha. He shot up, cheering in excitement. The redhead sighed before clapping for her friend, a congratulating smile on her lips.
"Well done, Jaune. That was quite the impressive move, parrying my Super."
Jaune rubbed his head in embarrassment, not used to being praised. "Thanks. Honestly, I forgot that I can even do that, but thank dust I did." He said as he pushed himself up. "I'm feeling a little thirsty. Do you want anything to drink?"
Pyrrha nodded. "Yes, please. Do you have orange juice?"
"I think there's some in the fridge. I'll be right back."
Jaune went out his room and headed for the kitchen. He stopped in his tracks, seeing some random person raid their fridge. He was about to shout at him to leave, until the guy closed the fridge, revealing his face.
The Lone Son stepped back, shock overcoming his expression as he looked at the man before him. It was his father. His shock was completely overridden by fury as he barely snarled out one word.
"You!"
Back to the Present
Dante could practically feel the anger that Jaune was exuding. It was so thick, he could probably slice it in half. That, and his eyes turning red was a pretty clear indication. Before he could say a word, the child charged with surprising speed and decked him across the face, launching him into the living room. Dante groaned as he held his face, a bit amazed at the power behind Jaune's punch.
"Ow, that hurt."
Jaune burst out and struck the Legendary Devil Hunter once again, creating a small-sized crater on the poor floor. But he didn't care, he just wanted to beat up the man who he assumed was his father. The cambion roared and started pummeling Dante's face rapidly, growling like a beast.
The Son of Sparda did nothing, and merely allowed it to happen. He could feel the hatred ooze out of Jaune. He could understand, because it was how he used to feel about his own father. Dante really wanted to beat up his own father for leaving them when they were young, but as time passed, he realized that Sparda had his reasons, and Vergil must be the same.
Dante occasionally flickered his arm to his Devil Trigger, if only to accelerate his healing. Because seriously, the kid's punches hurt a lot.
Back upstairs, Pyrrha was starting to get worried that Jaune still wasn't back yet. She got up and went down to check up on him. The redhead gasped in shock as she saw her friend straddling someone as he repeatedly struck them.
"Jaune!" she let out in slight surprise.
Jaune blinked. His eyes faded back to blue and his arm came to a halt as Pyrrha's voice reached him. Dante quickly capitalized on the situation and flipped him onto his back while he was distracted and stepped on his arm, only applying enough force so he couldn't use it.
Pyrrha grew fearful and was about to run away to get help, when Dante held up his hand in faux surrender, to show that he meant no harm. This lightly placated Pyrrha, allowing him to turn his attention back to Jaune.
"You cooled off yet, kid? I know why you're angry, and that you did what you did. But I'm not your old man. I'm your uncle."
Jaune looked at his supposed uncle in surprise, shock overcoming. "You're…my uncle?"
Dante nodded in affirmation. "Yeah. Your father's my twin. That's why we look alike." He pulled his foot off and extended an arm to help his nephew up.
Jaune accepted and pulled himself up. He decided that the floor looked more interesting to look at, but nonetheless, he apologized. "I'm sorry. I… It's just-"
"I know that feeling. Don't worry, I understand." said Dante, reassuring the young child.
Jeanne then came back, carrying a handful of groceries. She looked at the state her son was in and then at the living room. The blonde mother sighed, shaking her head.
"I should've expected that this was how he was gonna react. Jaune, go and clean yourself up. Pyrrha, would you be a dear and help me cook? And Dante, explain."
The three of them nodded. Jaune headed for the stairs, while the others went to the kitchen.
Hours passed by with the evening approaching. Dante leaned against the wall as he watched Jaune waved goodbye to Pyrrha, who waved back as she and her father walked home. With no interruptions, he pushed himself off and walked up to his nephew.
"So Jaune, tell me - what would you do if I told you that I'll be training you to become stronger?"
The former blond looked up to him, surprise and excitement displayed on his face. "Really?"
Dante nodded. "That's right. But first, I need to know something. Do you know of the tale of the Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda?"
"Sparda?" parroted Jaune. "Not much. I heard stories from my sister, Selene. The general thing about him is that he was a demon general under some guy called Mundus before he decided to betray his fellow brethren for humans and Faunus and fought them off and sealed his home world, staying here in Remnant. That's all."
"Well, that about sums him up." nodded Dante. "You see, Sparda's my old man."
Jaune's eyes bugged out, staring at his uncle in disbelief. "Wait, that would mean-!"
"That's right. You're his grandson." A frown overcame his face, becoming serious. "And that's the big reason why you were attacked a weak ago. Because dear old dad betrayed the demons, he's the most hated one there is because of his actions. And that hatred is passed down to anyone who shares his blood."
Dante placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder, looking at him straight in the eye.
"And because of this, your mother called me to train you. With Vergil off to who knows where, it falls to me to help you control your demonic powers. But just because you're a kid and my nephew doesn't mean I'll pull any punches. Training will be grueling, hellish, and it'll make you wish you were dead."
This made Jaune greatly reconsider. But, then his mind wandered towards back to the times he was pushed around, helpless against everything. Then to just a week ago, how weak he was until he got his new arm. The power that coursed through him… It felt good. Liberating, even. But most importantly, it gave him purpose.
He looked at Dante, determination burning in his eyes.
"It doesn't matter. I wanna stop being weak. I'll go through hell if it means getting power to protect those I care about! I'll take on whatever you got, I can take it. I don't want to be useless anymore!"
Dante's eyes slightly widened as he could practically see Vergil standing beside his son with a proud look. He closed his eyes as he mused to himself.
"Guess you inherited quite a lot from your old man, kid." He crossed his arms and smirked. "If that's what you want, kid. Once we've started, there's no going back."
Jaune fiercely nodded. Dante smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"Get ready. We start tomorrow. I'll pick you up at 6 AM sharp. So you better get a lot of shut eye." he said as he walked out.
Jaune watched as his uncle closed the door, leaving him alone to ponder. Tomorrow will be a new beginning for him. He will change for the better, and become strong enough that he didn't have to be protected nor saved anymore.
Back at Devil May Cry
Dante plopped onto his chair and sighed in content. Fortunately, Morrison was feeling charitable and left him a box of pizza, but it wasn't gonna be enough. He pulled the drawer on his desk, revealing his personal Scroll. He picked it up and speed dialed a number.
"Hey. Yeah. No, I was just off in a business trip. That's right. I'll need ten of my usual, and no olives and be sure to make it a large. Thanks."
He hung up and headed upstairs, to the library he had that he barely visited. He sighed and walked up to his one of the shelves, plucking out books pertaining to anything demonic.
"Maybe I should call in Matier and ask her how she raised Lucia..." he mused to himself. "Yeah, maybe I should. Might as well call in to tell them I'm fine."
Again, not much changes compared to the previous version. Most distinct change is the way how Dante and Jeanne's first meeting goes, and how Pyrrha's father looks. Decided to go with a more average-looking man, after I consulted ChrisRainicorn.
As always, leave your thoughts down below, and stay safe.