Chapter Fifteen: Lessons

Note: Ah yes. Here I am starting work on this chapter at 7:03 am after spacing out for about eight hours. How does that even happen?! Like, how do you daydream for that long and not think about anything?! GAH! As a result of that and a looming delivery from IKEA today (I get to put together furniture, yay!) This will be a shorter chapter than the last one, but the next one will be normal 3k+ length. Thanks for your understanding and feedback, and sorry about that! Life is wild right now.

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With every passing moment, the sun seemed to grow brighter as it's scorching rays cut a swath through the atmosphere and scorched the earth below. Heat was one of those things that was difficult to escape, even in the cooler parts of the world like where they currently were. The region was going through an unprecedented heat wave, so being indoors with air conditioning was the best way to spend your day. But the beach was a close second. Cool water lapped up against the sandy edges of the embankment, washing all manner of shells, pebbles, and seaweed up against the sandy outcropping. It was as if the sandy shores of the local beach were a filter for the water itself, pulling away any impurities and debre. In all honesty, it wasn't all that far-fetched of an idea. Nature works in mysterious ways, after all.

As the sun reached its peak in the sky above them, the children retreated to the shallows in search of entertainment and comfort, all the while being watched over by their adoptive father. Carlo was unable to swim, so he settled for dipping his toes in the water and building a simply dreadful sandcastle; one that Nero felt compelled to praise out of his obligations as a father. He knew he was trying quite hard with his little bucket and pale to make something worth wild, but he hadn't arrived at his destination quite yet. Perhaps in time the small child would hone his skills and create something that met his exacting standards, but for now, it was just a lump of dirt that wouldn't stand up straight due to the fact that Carlo didn't understand the concept of lifting the bucket straight up instead of pulling it sideways. Honestly, it was quite charming.

Nero scoffed in amusement as he watched the tiny curly haired boy struggle, making an effort not to laugh at him. He looked about two seconds from bashing the lumpy structure down with his tiny shovel. Just then, a stray wave washed in, soaking the poor boy and completely flattening the source of his frustration. He went wide eyes and pouted, clearly disproportionately disappointed. It hadn't been great, but it had been his. And now it was gone forever, along with any aspirations of becoming an architect in the future. Truly a tragedy the world would never recover from.

Clearly aware that his youngest child needed his assistance, Nero crossed the few feet that separated them and scooped up the squirming child, hauling him back towards the dryer part of the sand where he was sitting. Nero didn't mind the head that much, so he had plopped down just ten short feet away from the water's edge. It gave the children more than enough room to play, but assured his ability to gain access to them in an emergency. Once Carlo had been plopped down onto the sand gain, Nero borrowed his little bucket and demonstrated the proper sand castle making technique. After packing sand into the bucket, he turned it upside down and then lifted it up at the correct angle, making sure to do so at a speed that the young boy could comprehend.

"You have to lift it straight up like this," Nero said, sitting down on the sand and demonstrating the proper speed, angle, and hand movement required. He couldn't help but laugh to himself slightly at how small the bucket was in his hands compared to Carlo's." Here, let me see your hands.

Understanding the fact that guiding him through the process might be more efficient, Nero waited for his son's small hands to grasp the bucket before covering them with his own and guiding him through the process. Carlo giggles as the bucket lifts to reveal an intact sand mound. As far as the little boy was concerned, this was magic, plain and simple. Was Nero some sort of wizard?

Arriving right on time, V carefully made his way past the pair, stopping for a moment to take in the scene before him. He stared, and eyebrow raising as he tried to comprehend what his younger brother was doing. Nero glanced in his direction, suddenly very aware of how silly he probably looked holding Carlo's tiny arms up in the air with a bucket in his grasp as the child giggled crazily. V probably thought he'd lost his mind. But, to his surprise, V shot him a genuinely pleased half smile, closing his eyes for a moment. The young summoner nodded in approval before sparing Carlo a gentle wave. He then turned his attention back to walking steadily on the shifting sands that threatened to buckle around him.

V's balance was unsteady at the best of times, but sand was another whole level of hazard for him. He was actually slightly anxious. While he was sure he wouldn't harm himself if he fell on such a soft surface, he would look totally helpless and clumsy, especially since the children were getting around just fine. He didn't want the other's to worry about him. He wanted Nero to spend time with his children. This was the first time he'd ever seen him have so much fun with them. He liked seeing them all together like this. Perhaps knowing that the little ones had something he never had the chance to brought him some sort of satisfaction. Despite never having one, family was something he cherished. Nero and Kyrie had given the children the chance that no one had given him, and he admired them for that.

For a moment, a part of him wondered if he would ever take on such a role.

It was very unlikely, but he would entertain the idea. Maybe it would be…

It was best not to dwell on aspirations and desires he could act upon, at least not for the moment. He would revisit this later, when he was in the proper mindset. For now, he was going to sit down and rest. Walking across that short segment of sand had been strangely tiring to him. At times, he was subtly reminded that he wasn't exactly himself yet. He had only been back about two weeks. According to Magnolia, it could be upwards of a month or two before he was back to the condition he'd been in before the Redgrave incident. The way he felt most days made him open to adding another month to that estimate. He'd always been quick to physically recover, but slow to regain his energy. Thankfully he didn't use very much of it. But being so profoundly drained for extended periods of time wasn't something he wanted to grow accustomed to. Living in a state of constant borderline exhausting was not how he planned to carry out his existence. But for now, he had no choice but to take it easy. It wasn't like he was going to go swimming after all…

No way in hell was he going in the water.

A moment later, Vergil arrived, somehow just as steady on sand as he was on every other surface. Maybe that was the product of spending so much of his time in rough terrain, or just Vergil's general level of grace and coordination. It was hard to say. But it was strange to see someone traverse such a shifty surface with little to no effort. The older devil slayer glanced in the direction of his youngest son, seemingly noting that he was attempting to demonstrate how to build a sand castle to the young boy. Vergil folded his arms loosely around his chest, giving Nero a curious but almost amused look. Nero raised an eyebrow, half expecting Vergil to say something unapologetic or disapproving. But he didn't. There wasn't a hint of irritation or disappointment in his demeanor. In a way, he almost seemed to like what Nero was doing, at least from what he could tell. He simply scoffed softly and turned towards V, tossing him his shoulder bag.

Clearly taken off guard by this due to the fact that he was in the process of sitting down, V caught it but stumbled back and flopped onto his back uselessly. He let out a discontent sigh and huffed, obviously not pleased that he was now covered in sand. He pushed the bag to the side and sat up slowly, brushing himself off. He flicked the fine sand particles out of his hair and then turned his attention to the bag, unzipping it and unpacking it. Nero and Vergil watched in silent confusion as he somehow produced a full sized beach towel and a large standing umbrella from within the confines of the bag. He stuck the shade casting device in the sand and unrolled the towel, opting to sit on it. He then produced a pillow and a book, taking the time to place it so that he could lay on it by propping his elbows up on the sand facing the water. Once in the correct position, he opened the book and presumably began reading it, only to stop a short moment later when he felt the collective eyes of everyone present on him. He shot his brother and father a baffled look, genuinely unsure of how he managed to garner their attention in the first place.

"You both look at me as though you've never seen a beach umbrella before." V said quietly. He wasn't sure what they wanted from him, but he found their confusion as confusing as they probably found whatever he'd done confusing.

Nero glanced between Vergil and V, Opening his mouth and holding out his index finger as though he was going to point and ask something, but then closing his mouth and lowering his hand at the last moment. The umbrella made perfect sense, but how he had managed to get all of that into such a snug bad sure as hell didn't. Vergil looked down for a moment and chuckled to himself under his breath, repressing the urge to roll his eyes as he shook his head slightly. "I suppose that explains why that bag weighs more than you do wet. Am I to take it that you don't exactly enjoy the heat, then?"

The youngest of the trio of descendants snickered. What the fuck?

V nodded, waving passively." My completion and the sun have long since been bitter enemies, but the umbrella is a new addition. I discovered it while I was out with Nico yesterday." He glanced around in the general direction of the beach, obviously searching for something he didn't see." Where is everyone else? I could've sworn Dante was here just a moment ago."

To the surprise of basically everyone present, Carlo stood up and pointed towards the water where the other children were playing. Sure enough, his two older brothers were in the process of trying to drown the youngest Son of Sparda. Nero shook his head, unsure of how he felt about that, but willing to let them continue for the time being considering what Dante had recently done to him. He was still a little wet. The small child then stood up and toddled over to Vergil, tugging on the cuff of his sleeve. Only Vergil would wear what was basically a dress shirt to the beach. It was as close to "casual" as he was ever going to get. And it had to be blue. That was non negotiable.

"Grandpa! I miss you!" The little child said as he hugged his leg, jumping up and down in excitement.

Vergil could literally feel himself age about fifteen years from that statement alone. He suddenly felt the age he actually was for once and felt a profound desire to be somewhere else. This child was his grandchild, wasn't he. How in the hell had that happened?! He hesitantly patted the small child on the head, clearly uncomfortable with his entire existence in that moment. "... Yes… thank you, child."

(-~-)

As it stood, the girls had yet to return from their shopping trip. Some sort of snack vendor had passed by a short while ago, so everyone had opted to grab something. Nero had joined V under the umbrella after succeeding defeat right after that. While he didn't sunburn nearly as easily as his pale complexioned older sibling, he still didn't tan. And to top it off, Kyrie had used all of the sun screen on the children before they'd left the hotel. Staying in the shade was probably a good idea, at least for now.

"So… are we going to discuss the ulterior motive behind why you decided to buy a giant bucket and fill it with water when no one was looking, Nero? Or were you hoping to catch me unawares?" V said casually as he sipped the drink he'd acquired. Raspberry iced tea was literally never a bad choice.

Nero laughed at the statement. "Nope, were just going to throw this on Vergil when he's not looking. I'm pretty sure he's just staring off into space right now. Might be our best bet."

V shot him a slightly wide eyed look, clearly disturbed by the prospect of the plan he'd somehow been included in without his express permission. "... Has the salt water short circuited your brain, or do you just possess a death wish?" V said breathlessly in a hushed tone. He spoke as though he were trying to persuade someone to reconsider a suicide mission." He will not take that well."

The younger of the two shrugged, indifferent. " I mean, he can't kill us both, can he? He's never gonna see it coming. I'm going for it."

With that, Nero jumped up and grabbed the large bucket of water, making his way across the sand. V carefully stood up and made his way across the sand behind him, not entirely sure as to what he intended to do in this situation. To some degree, he actually wanted to help Nero with his plan. But the sensible side of his subconscious couldn't help but inform him that this was a lousy idea liable to get them both murdered in front of Nero's children. Nero noticed that he was pursuing him and stopped, waiting for him to catch up. V had practically sprinted after him, and was clearly out of breath and off balance.

"W-what are you hoping to achieve by doing this?" He asked, taking a few deep breaths as he attempted to steady himself.

Nero stuck the other end of the huge bucket out to him as if offering it to him. "Nothing, V. I'm just fucking with him. Live a little. Or can you not lift the bucket? Because-"

V held his hand up, shushing him. He then gave him an unreadable look before closing his eyes and sighing. A wicked smirk passed across his face as he shook his head and opened his eyes slowly, grasping the other end of the handle. Yes. They were absolutely going to die here. But at least it would be for something stupid. He'd always figured that would be how he went. Pointlessly as a direct result of his own stupidity and hubris.

The pair quietly and slowly closed the distance between themselves and Vergil. He was sitting no further than five feet from the shoreline, seemingly daydreaming or dozing off. It was honestly hard to tell. He'd been like that for a while, more than likely thinking about something originally, but now content to allow his mind to wander. It seemed like he was actually trying to relax for once. It was strange to see Vergil so quiet and at ease.

And then they tipped the bucket and a wall of cold salt water slammed into the back of him.

Practically Instantaneously, the entire atmosphere around him became electrified as he went from a sitting to standing position to fast for their eyes to detect. He faced them, radiating what could only be described as the white hot intensity of a thousand suns. V visibly paled and a look of immediate regret passed across Nero's face as they faced down their father. He was really starting to wish he'd taken V's advice and sat his ass down on the beach towel under the umbrella where he was safe. Now his children were going to have to watch him get maimed and possibly murdered. Again.

In an action that only intensified the nauseous feeling in the pit of V's stomach, Vergil actually laughed. V had no idea that his father was capable of even doing that, and the fact that he honestly couldn't tell if he found what they'd done funny or if he was planning to break every bone in his body made every millisecond physically painful. Vergil reached out and rested a hand on each of their shoulders, still laughing while facing down at the ground. It was at this point that the two of them shared a tentative glance at one another, considering the option of sharing their final goodbyes. Yea. Vergil was one hundred percent about to disembowel them.

Before either of them could blink, Nero went flying back across the sand, smacking his head against the umbrella stand about fifteen feet away. He considered getting up, but decided that laying there and playing dead might actually be a good idea for once. After all, the last time Vergil had thrown him across a room, he'd sat up only to find himself short an arm. Yes, his head did feel like a raging hornet's nest and his back felt like he'd just been waxed with sandpaper, but he still had all of his limbs. That was an improvement.

V watched the scene unfold, trying to register how Vergil had done that with one hand and silently hoping that he didn't decide to repeat it on him. He was a lot less… resistant to damage than Nero was. He could practically feel his shoulder dislocating just thinking about it. For a brief moment, he and Vergil shared eye contact and Vergil gave him an almost sarcastically reassuring pat on his shoulder, squeezing slightly but not in any way that he found harmful. The oldest Son of Sparda then turned his attention in the opposite direction as if something had caught his eye before nonchalantly shoving V in the direction of the water. He lurched to the side and violently spiraled towards the shoreline, yelping in a combination of terror and surprise as he slammed face first into the water with an impact velocity that would have made a speedboat green with envy and a car accident seem mild. All the air left his lungs as he sank beneath the waves about ten feet off shore, having been launched a good fifteen feet effortlessly. Vergil then smirked in satisfaction as he walked in the direction of his perplexed twin. It seemed that the others had just returned. After taking a few steps in their direction, he stopped. A thought had just occurred to him in that moment.

Why hadn't V gotten up yet?

…

… Oh no.

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And it didn't end up shorter after all! Funny how that works sometimes! I fell asleep, woke up, and got this taken care of. Kinda happy with myself right now. Can't wait to see you next Wednesday for chapter sixteen. Looks like Nero is in for quite the surprise. Also, your comments cracked me up and made my whole day. Let's just hope Vergil doesn't come to regret what he just did. They should have seen that coming though. Don't poke a sleeping tiger lol! Also my dumb ass has been using HTML instead rich text on A03 this whole fucking time! Guess I know why italics and bold hasn't been working well now! FFS!