Chapter Thirteen: Matronymic

Note: Thanks for all the kind comments! I loved talking to you guys!

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The peaceful sound of waves hitting the shoreline was shattered by the sound of children laughing as Kyle, Carlo and Julio darted about, kicking up sand and generally causing mayhem. Nero chased after them, earnestly pretending that he couldn't keep up with them. It was debatable if he was actually faking it when he stopped mid way and bent over, complaining that he'd hit his foot on a rock. The children kept their distance, not willing to take the chance that he might be kidding and risk being snatched and carted off. After recovering from his supposed injury, the young devil hunter hightailed it after the children again, unwilling to allow too much distance to form between him and the kids. Despite the fact that the two older children could actually swim, he still felt the need to keep an eye on them. And Carlo had to be watched intently. He was thrilled to spend time with them like this for once. Most of the time Nero was so busy that he didn't get to just spend a day with the children without some sort of interruption. No one was at fault in this circumstance, but it still pained him at times that he couldn't just sit and enjoy the children while they were still… children.

From the edge of the boardwalk several yards behind them, Vergil stood with his back to the road. The darkslayer hadn't strayed from his place at the edge of the boardwalk, the shadow of a large, healthy tree of some sort casting ample shade and shielding him from the harsh rays of the sun. It wasn't particularly hot there, but Vergil had spent enough time in the intense heat of the underworld to have grown tired of its influence. He'd adapted to it and accepted it as a reality of his existence, but tolerating and enjoying were two totally different things. He tolerated Nero's slights against him. He enjoyed smiting his enemies. They were different matters entirely.

Just a few feet behind him, V approached. He eyed the sandy expanse in front of him with an unreadable look in his eyes, his soft green orbs casting a shadow of their own between where he currently stood and the water. His eyes lingered longer than they probably should have before he averted his gaze towards his shoulder bag. It was still in Vergil's possession, and he would have to retrieve it at some point in the near future. After all, he'd brought it with him from their hotel room for a reason. His belongings served him no purpose while they were inaccessible inside of their carrying case.

Dante waved at them over his shoulder as he passed by, heading towards the water where Nero currently was. Vergil allowed himself to consider what his twin might be up to given the careful effort he seemed to be putting into sneaking up on Nero, but it didn't take much to come to the conclusion that it was probably something silly and childish. But the more that the oldest Son of Sparda watched his twin carry out whimsical episodes of youthful stupidity, the more that it occurred to him that there was something… hollow about it. It was as though he had constructed some sort of mask or wall to hide something behind. Vergil himself had done so for years, so it wasn't exactly difficult for him to pick up on after long periods of exposure to his younger doppelganger. What he didn't comprehend was the purpose behind it. What could Dante be concealing from everyone, especially from his older twin? It perplexed the blue devil to no end, though he tended to not try and dwell on it. There would be plenty of time and then some to get to the bottom of what was going on with his younger sibling.

One thing was for certain however.

Something had changed in Dante during his absence.

He was not the same carefree teenager that he had once been. And the more he tried to ignore that, the more it bothered him. In a way, Dante seemed… tired to him. It was a sentiment that they both shared. But what had happened to trigger such a drastic tonal switch in him. Dante had once been hyperactive and reckless, going so far as to do rash and insane things with little thought or planning. It had always been a stark contrast to how Vergil went about his own goals. But Vergil couldn't help but notice that as they got older, they seemed less and less different. They were closer now than ever, but their minds were miles apart. He couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly, but Dante just seemed distant to him now, even when they were close to one another. It wasn't as if he were avoiding him outright, but he was definitely avoiding something about Vergil or something relating to their relationship with one another. For now, all Vergil could do was speculate as he waited for V to join him. And he was determined to hate every second of it.

V joined him a moment later, opting to sit on the bench that was connected to the railing. He faced the road quietly, glancing over his shoulder at the beach behind him. Although he was still near Vergil, he had purposely put distance between them. At the end of the day, the white haired summoner needed his space, but there was more to it than that. He'd spend a considerable amount of time over the last day or so considering what Magnolia had said to him the other day in her home. She had made a valid point. But he couldn't put aside Vergil's past transgressions as easily as he would have liked to, regardless of home much mental energy he spent on it. The harder he tried to move on from his unfortunate history with his father, the harder he dwelled on it. It was as if he were caught on a snare and the only way he could break loose would be to sever the part of him that was caught in the trap, but he couldn't see what was caught in it. He was only capable of reaching out in the dark, blinded and suffering but unable to do anything to fix it despite the fact that he was willing to do what was necessary to rectify the situation.

In truth, it was exhausting.

He felt as crippled mentally as he did physically.

Perhaps even more so.

A short distance away, Dante sprang his trap. Nero was in the process of trying to wrangle his mischievous children together in one spot so that they would prove less difficult to keep an eye on. As such, the young devil hunter had his back to Dante and was none the wiser that he was present, leaving the older hunter an opening to enact his clever plan. With quite literally no forwarnign whatsoever, Dante caught Nero under the arms and he was going to lean over and give the children a stern talking to. The younger of the to floundered instantly, in exactly the wrong position to try and deliver any sort of meaningful counter attack. Dante then snickered and flung him several feet into the ocean water, garnering hysterical laughter from the children. They had seen his approach and had opted not to tip their adoptive father off to his arrival. Although they hadn't spent a ton of time with their new uncle, they were aware that he tended to do things they found funny to Nero. And that was enough to guarantee their cooperation. So long as Dante kept them entertained, they were happy to be his partners in crime. And he was happy to oblige their request. Pestering Nero was truly one of his favorite pastimes.

Nero hit the water with a loud smack, indicating that he had landed less than gracefully. But then again, he hadn't really been given the option to do so in the first place. Dante joined the children, bending over and placing his hands on his knees as he cackled hysterically. Was he fully aware that his beloved nephew was probably going to sneak out of his hotel room when the children fell asleep tonight to skin him alive. Yes. Did he really care that much? Well, there were stupider ways to die. At least it would be at the hands of someone he liked. In retrospect, he wasn't sure if that was better or worse…

"Dante what the fuck is your problem!?" Nero shouted with as much air as his lungs could scrounge up as he broke the surface of the water. The children might have been impressed with Dante's inhuman display of physical strength and sneakiness, but the younger devil hunter most certainly was not," You just wait! I'm gonna get your ass!"

The more experienced devil hunter folded his arms across his chest and chuckled slightly, raising his eyebrows. He was as unimpressed as he was unworried. At the end of the day, Dante knew that Nero couldn't do anything to him out in the open within the line of sight of so many pedestrians. Until they went back to the hotel, he was totally in the clear. And he planned to capitalize on that.

"Oh, I'm sorry… Kid. You looked a little hot. Thought you might be suffering from heatstroke, so I thought I'd help ya cool off," With much effort, Dante managed to contain the shiteating grin that attempted to spread across his lips as he spoke. One he was sure that Nero's white hot furry had reached a literal boiling point, he turned in the direction of the kids,"Don't repeat anything he just said. I'm pretty sure your mom would like that. But if you slip up, I'll back you up when you blame him. That sound good?"

The children nodded. They had absolutely no reason to rebel against that plan. What child in their right mind, even one who didn't really understand what was going on, would turn down a free get out of jail card with an infinite expiration date? Dante took a step away from the water and was caught off guard as Nero lunged forward and grabbed him, using his redirected body weight to throw them both into the water. The children erupted into another fit of laughter, still unsure as to what on earth was going on. Thankfully, they were too young to be able to identify attempted murder. Nero didn't need any witnesses in the event of a court case.

From across the soft, white sands of the beach, Vergil shook his head. As far as he was concerned, the heat had gotten to his younger twin. Nero had an explosive personality if his experience with him was anything to go by, so he couldn't fathom what had to be going through his head to decide to do something like that. That being said, he wasn't going to condone the murder of his idiotic twin. No. Dante had to continue to live and suffer his presence. It was the ultimate form of punishment.

V let slip a soft chuckle, smirking at the scene unfolding before them. He was starting to see where Nero got his more playful side from. Dante's personality was largely foreign to him. They hadn't interacted extensively during the Redgrave City incident, and before that, they had never met. Slowly but surely he was educating himself on the members of his family. But Dante was… challenging. One could only hope that Dante didn't attempt to fling him into the bay like that. Things would take a decidedly negative turn quite rapidly if he did so.

"They seem to be enjoying themselves," Vergil said with a slight shake of his head. He closed his eyes for a moment as his mind tried to refocus on the task at hand," It's truly a wonder that he's managed to live this long. I'm almost impressed."

"Satisfaction isn't in your nature, it seems. I can't imagine that you were always like this," V said as he attempted to scoot over and out of the sun. The light breeze had picked up and turned into a mild wind, shifting the angle of the shade," Though I do advise you against doing something like that to me."

With a slight tilt of his head, Vergil adjusted his gaze. He gave V an unreadable look, but was unsure of how to react when V seemed to dismiss it all together. That wasn't something he was accustomed to. "... I'm assuming that Dante's foolishness isn't what you came here to discuss."

A quick nod of V's head confirmed Vergil's suspicions. The darkslayer gritted his teeth in discontent. Though he was eager to get this uncomfortable conversation out of the way, he didn't feel the desire to do so right now. But he wasn't gaining any points with his oldest son by holding out on him. With an almost protracted sigh, he closed his eyes again, leaning into the rail. "What would you like to know?"

Uncomfortable silence fell over them like a thick weighted blanket as V seemed to ponder the question. There was a part of him that didn't expect to get as far as he just had. As such, he didn't really have any specific questions in mind. The young summoner settled on something he considered rudimentary and uncomplicated. It seemed like a reasonable place to start.

"You can start with her name. I have no memory of her." V's head fell slightly as the words left his mouth. With every word, his tone grew more faint. It seemed that he physically wasn't prepared for the conversation they were currently having. Actually getting answers was something he had always told himself would more than likely never happen. Everything about this conversation seemed… surreal. And he had no idea how finally knowing the truth would actually affect him.

With a long, uncomfortable sigh, Vergil stood up again. The eldest Son of Sparda folded his arms, wishing that he hadn't brought this up so soon. While he never had what he would consider a "good day", today had been better than most. He wasn't sure if this conversation would ruin that, but it was a definite possibility. And the conformation that V didn't know his mother was almost physically hard for him to swallow. He'd assumed that a while back based off of other things that he had overheard V say in casual conversation, but having it so blatantly stated as fact cut him in a way he couldn't put into words. Vergil had never imagined that she'd…

"... Vivienne. Her name was Vivienne. Though her last name escapes me at the moment," Vergil paused for a long moment, both to allow V to process his statement and to try and recall her maiden name. It bothered him that he couldn't remember what it was, even if it had been difficult for him to pronounce at the time she'd told it to him. That was a lifetime ago now."... I believe it was… Beaumont, but she went by her mother's maiden name, Monroe. Some sort of falling out with her father if I'm not mistaken. It was complicated."

There was a long moment of silence between them as V digested the information that had been given to him. He nodded to himself, unsure of what to say. After a while, he glanced up at Vergil. In a way, they both looked equally distressed to be talking about this.

"Do you think she's… Is she…" V couldn't quite make himself think or speak the words he wished to so that he could finish his inquiry. There was a part of him that didn't really want to know. It was as if his mind was playing tug of war with itself. Luckily he didn't need to. Vergil sighed quietly as he looked down at the ground and then over at him. For a moment they shared a silent instance of consideration, not needing to express their thoughts or emotions out loud. For perhaps the first time, they were on the same page.

"I have no idea… But I intend to change that,'' There was a note of finality in Vergil's voice as he turned towards the stairs that led down to the beach and took a step towards them. It was time that they met back up with Dante and Nero," I searched for her once before when she disappeared all those years ago. I think it's time I did so again."

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Some big revelations in this chapter! Heck yea! One of the biggest requests was to tackle this topic, and I think we were all on the same page here! As always, I look forward to discussing this chapter in the comments, and I hope you like the chapter! I feel like this will spark some quality conversation lol! It's nice to have this whole week's chapters finished by Wednesday morning for once! Time to get a head start on next week. As always, I hope you had a great weekend, and I hope to see you next week. Take care!