A/N: Alrighty, here we go with another chapter (a new record for me, lol). Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate the encouragement! As I mentioned before, this story will most likely be told from both Nero and Vergil's points of view, so don't be surprised by that (maybe even some other characters' points of view will be added) xD Might even sneak some other characters in, who knows. Also, I'll be uploading all my stories onto AO3 soonish (I'd like to go back through to check for grammar/spelling before I do), the username is the same as here if anyone's interested, lol. This chapter is a little short I think but I didn't want to drag things out too much, you know?

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, blah blah the usual crap.


Chapter 3

The first thing Vergil felt when he opened his eyes was pain. It was like he was looking directly into the sun, and it caused the devil to cry out in both surprise and extreme discomfort. He quickly clamped his eyelids closed, but the light had already done its damage.

The pain was still searing in his head as he covered his face with his hands to help block out the light, wherever it was coming from. Vergil swiped an arm around as he cried out again, and he vaguely registered the sound of glass shattering besides him as his hand collided with various objects in his quest to eliminate whatever was blinding him. The sound of footsteps caught his attention and before he knew it someone was hovering over him and grasping him by the arms to try and stop his wild flailing.

"Calm down, Verge!" a man's voice called out to him from the person who was currently trying to hold him down. No one who was still alive ever called him that except for one person.

"Dante!" he gasped out, cringing as the light still managed to burn him even through his closed eyelids. "It hurts! Turn it off!" the elder twin begged desperately.

"What hurts?" Dante demanded as he held him tightly in his grip. "What's wrong?"

Vergil hissed in pain and frustration as he kicked at his twin to try and get loose.

"The light! It's burning!" the elder devil snarled. "Turn it off!"

"The light- shit! Turn the damned lights off!" Dante snapped at someone else.

Vergil could feel his brother trying to wrestle him back down onto the bed but he still tried to kick him off, not liking the vulnerable position, even if the man was helping. Thankfully the light was turned off almost immediately by one of the other mystery people in the room-there were two, he could sense them. The devil let out a small sigh of relief as the scorching of his eyes ceased, and he relaxed on the mattress after giving a small shove to the man above him.

The room was silent for a while, probably only a minute or so but the awkwardness made it feel like longer to the elder twin. Vergil had a feeling they were all probably wondering what he was doing there, and he had to admit he was a bit curious himself. If their situations had been reversed he would have probably left his brother wherever he'd found him and went about his business.

The question of how Dante of all people had found him was also on the elder devil's mind; he couldn't remember much of what had happened just prior to him awakening here. Unfortunately for him, Vergil could remember most things before today just fine, but it seemed like the events immediately leading to him ending up in Dante's care were a bit too fuzzy to make sense of at the moment. He remembered finding something that led him to believe he could finally escape the demon realm, so the half-devil could only assume he'd followed up on whatever plan he'd formulated and it had worked to his advantage. Whether or not finding his brother was part of the grand plan, Vergil honestly couldn't say, but it seemed to end up just fine for him either way.

"Where… where am I?" Vergil questioned after another minute or so of silence. He assumed he must be at Dante's home, the place certainly reeked of a familiar scent, and anywhere else would be far too much of a stretch. The elder twin kept his eyes firmly shut, unwilling to open them for fear of being burned again.

"Holy shit, Verge… You're at my shop," Dante breathed out, sounding far more winded than Vergil had expected- maybe his brother was still in shock. "We found you outside in the street. I can't believe it… for real, what the hell, Vergil?!" the younger twin snapped, and Vergil felt the thump of a fist against his shoulder.

"Don't ask me, I don't remember how I got here," Vergil snorted back and swatted at where he thought his brother's arm was. "I thought you would have some answers… clearly not."

Vergil heard a low growl and felt a light smack against the side of his head.

"Watch it, asshole, or I'll throw you back out in the street," Dante threatened. Vergil couldn't see his face but he assumed his brother had that same annoying expression he always had when they argued.

"I'm sure it would be twice as clean as wherever you're holding me," the elder twin shot back with a snort. "This place reeks of mud and pizza, don't you ever clean?"

A low scoff sounded just before a pillow smacked Vergil squarely in the face.

"Well, I'm glad to see you haven't lost that smart ass mouth of yours since the last time I saw you. I take it that means you're feeling just fine then. Maybe I ought to kick you out," Dante threatened.

"If you want to kick a blind man out on the street then fine, I'm sure no one would be surprised by your heathen-like behavior," Vergil replied cooly. It wasn't like he was asking for Dante's charity or anything anyways.

"Hey, give us a couple minutes," Dante spoke, his tone a little more subdued. It took Vergil a second, but he realized his twin was addressing the other two occupants of the room when two pairs of footsteps moved away and the sound of a door closing followed.

"Verge… what the fuck happened? Where have you been?" the younger twin murmured as he leaned in closer. "Is it really you?"

Vergil scowled slightly and gave a heavy sigh. Speaking about his time in that hellish place wasn't exactly high on his list of priorities. Dante wasn't the type to give up without some kind of information though, so the elder of the pair shrugged and slung his arm over his face.

"It's me, in the flesh," Vergil snorted lightly. "What do you think happened? I messed up," he shrugged. "I didn't die when I was under Mundus' control. I don't really recall all the details, it's pretty fuzzy, but I've been wandering around down there a long time."

Vergil heard his brother exhale, the sound ragged like he'd been holding his breath a little too long. He wasn't particularly enjoying this little 'heartfelt moment' but maybe it was the least he could do.

"You don't remember how you got here?" Dante asked, and Vergil could practically hear the frown on his face. This was really uncomfortable.

"Not at all. I must have figured something out though, at least… I feel like I did. I don't recall."

Dante didn't reply for a while, but when he did he nudged at Vergil's arm before speaking. "What about your eyes? Did something happen?"

Vergil snorted and swatted his brother's arm away again. "It's not exactly the Bahamas down there, you know. I've been in the dark a long time. I'm sure it'll pass eventually."

His brother gave a soft snort and Vergil felt his hair being ruffled, which earned Dante a low growl in response. He always hated when his brother messed with his hair.

"I bet you have killer night vision then. You always did remind me of a cat," Dante teased and moved away from the bed. "You should probably keep resting… I'm gonna grab you some water, just… just try and relax. You're safe here," the younger twin added softly before he left the room.

Vergil sighed loudly and tried to relax in the bed. He felt utterly drained, and all that conversation hadn't helped. He just wanted to sleep for a day, or maybe a week straight. A few minutes later the door opened again and Vergil was being helped up and passed a glass of water, which he eagerly drained. As soon as the glass was set aside the devil laid back down and passed out a few seconds after his head hit the pillow.

Vergil woke up a while later, though whether it was hours or days, he wasn't sure. The devil felt a bit less sore and beaten up, though he still felt rather drained and lethargic. It was his luck that it appeared to be night time when his eyelids fluttered open, so he wasn't blinded or in pain. Dante wasn't wrong about the cat comment, Vergil felt like he could see perfectly fine even though the room was almost completely dark, though he felt a bit concerned for how he would fare in better lit conditions. Living his days in torture didn't seem all that appealing.

Vergil's concerns about his newfound night vision skills were interrupted by the door opening. His gaze flickered over at the sound, though he immediately grunted in pain and scrunched his eyes shut when the light from the hall spilled into the room.

"...Sorry, I didn't realize you were awake," a female voice called out as the door was shut quickly.

Vergil cracked one eye open to observe the intruder and his eyebrows raised in response.

"It's you... ," he murmured as he glanced over Lady's form. She looked a bit older, though not in a bad way, but it was definitely the human huntress.

"Surprise," she replied in a bored tone. "I'll go get Dante, stay there," she huffed and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Vergil called out, but the door was opened and she was gone before he could get anything else out. The encounter was… weird, to say the least, and the devil didn't know why he felt so irritated by it. She didn't have to run away, it wasn't like he was going to attack her or anything. Vergil huffed loudly and covered his face with the pillow. He didn't even know why he should care, so he decided to push it from his mind and wait for his brother instead. He was starving, he had to use the bathroom, and while he somehow felt a little cleaner than he did before, he still wanted a shower.

Vergil wasn't sure what to expect now that he was back in the human realm, but he wasn't going to get anywhere by staying in this damned bed. It was time to get up and get moving.