Dante found himself dancing the old dance once again. He was well into his 50's and had battled every conceivable opponent up till now, but the one in front of him was the most difficult yet. Strangely enough, he was not out to kill this adversary. No, you see, what made it difficult wasn't the brutal strength of a particular demon or the cunning of a crazed human obsessed with demonic power. What made this bout difficult was the fact that he couldn't solve the issue he was having with his godlike power.
"Isn't that enough, dad? I'm already 16, I don't want to spend all my time fighting you… or mom."
Yes, this opponent was his very own daughter.
"Now cupcake, you know how your mom gets if we slack off on your training. Daddy won't get to sleep in his comfy bed or use his comfy desk or use his comfy bathroom if-"
The sound of a bullet rang out. The projectile impacted Dante in the back of his head, forcing it to look down. His daughter froze, knowing exactly who the perpetrator was. She craned her neck, staring into the face of her mother's scowl. Dante knew who it was as well, but stayed perfectly still, hoping that she caught a case of "Predator vision" and couldn't see him if he didn't move.
This, of course, was wishful thinking.
"I sincerely hope you're not filling Eveline's head with nonsense or talking about imaginary punishments again, Dante." She stressed every syllable on the word "imaginary" to get her point across. Dante tilted his head back up, turning around to face the mother of his child. Said child had seemingly shrunk to the size of a mouse and was doing her best to impersonate its mannerisms as well, scurrying away as fast and as quietly as her feet would carry her. Mama bear wasn't born yesterday, however.
"And you. You know as well as I do, young woman, that this world is dangerous. One slip-up, and it's curtains. Training is for your own good." She admonished Eveline for what felt like an eternity to the young woman. Eveline sighed; she knew that her mother was right and that it was a total waste of time to argue with her. She placed her sword, the legendary weapon Alastor, on her back and stood straight, looking her mother in the eye like she was taught.
Dante had recovered (or had simply felt that now was the right time to intervene) and voiced his opinion.
"Ya know, Lady, it might just be time to let her go out a little more." He prepared for the inevitable wave of backlash that he would get. Lady sighed; whether it was out of exasperation or just plain tiredness, only she herself knew. Eveline, to her credit, did not flinch like her father (not that Dante would ever admit to flinching). She too was prepared for her mother to roar like the lioness she was.
"… Maybe you're right." This caused Eveline to flinch. Never in her 16 years had she heard her mom back down on a topic. Was Mercury in retrograde? Did the alignment of the cosmos shift? Had Hell frozen over? She looked into her mother's eyes and then into her father's, searching for answers. Dante didn't say anything but had a look of knowing on his face.
Lady walked up to Eveline and hugged her, looking up to her. Her daughter was tall for a woman, about 5'10. She wasn't surprised in the slightest about this. Dante was well over 6 feet tall, as were all the other descendants of Sparda. Their bloodline was extremely powerful, and it showed.
Eveline looked down at her mom, who was almost teary-eyed at this point. She panicked, not knowing what exactly to do. Her mom never, EVER cried, at least not in front of her, so this was about as unfamiliar a situation as she could be in. She looked at her father for guidance. Dante mimed a hugging gesture, indicating that she should hug her back, so that's what Eveline did.
"… I-I don't know what I did, mom, but I'm sorry." Eveline was a girl with a heart of gold. Brash and adventurous as she was, she could never forsake her family or ignore their feelings. Her mom of all people breaking down into tears was something she never thought she'd live to see. She hoped that her apology would be enough.
"No, no, you don't have anything to apologize for, sweety. I just got a bit emotional, is all. Looking at you reminds me of that reckless young girl that I used to be." Eveline looked like a cross between her and Dante. She had her mom's trademark heterochromia (Lady had hoped that wouldn't have been the case), facial shape, and skin tone, but her hair was white like Dante's, she was tall, and she obviously had an abundance of demonic energy (no devil trigger just yet, though).
Lady continued.
"I guess I just didn't want you to repeat the mistakes I made. I met your father at 16, ya know, and I don't regret that at all. What I went through to get to that point, though…" she trailed off, not wanting to remember that man and what he did to her and her mother. Dante stood pat, ready to jump in at a moment's notice if Lady had one of her episodes about her parentage, but she seemed to be under control for the moment.
"Anyway, I know that you're not a carbon copy of me or your dad. I wouldn't want you to be, anyway. I want you to be your own person and to be better than the two idiots that made you. You can't do that if I'm breathing down your neck all the time, so I figured now was the best time to let you have a little more freedom. I trust you."
Eveline felt her confused facial muscles forming into a smile. Her mother, her tough-as-nails, ornery mother, had just poured her heart out to her and made it clear that she had faith in her. She didn't know what other kids her age thought was the best feeling in the world, but this was it for her. She felt the sting of tears welling up in her eyes and didn't hold back. She bawled freely, tucking herself into her mother's arms. Lady held onto her crying child, satisfied that she was a source of comfort for her.
Dante, all the while, stood pat with a smile on his face. This was what he had been missing his entire life. Vergil was back. Nero had found himself. His daughter, his precious pudding-pop (this nickname was in no way, shape, or form Dante's idea and he'd never admit to it), was coming into her own as well, and he couldn't be prouder. He had a full-fledged family now.
He leaned on Devil Sword Dante, folding his arms and silently thinking to himself.
"Mom, dad, I did it. Hope you guys are proud."
