Chapter Sixteen: Vacuum

Note: Potential trigger warning for nearly drowning, maybe? Super probably not, but still. I'd rather play it safe. It's probably just fine considering my own personal experiences (in plural FML), but I can't speak for everyone. But I tend to be super descriptive, so I just thought I'd say something just in case it applies to someone. It's probably fine though. It's not graphic. Feel free to skip any part of the story that you find uncomfortable at any time, but I'd love to know if I do something that upsets you so that I can do better in the future. Even if it's through a PM or anon comment. Sorry about that!

(-~-)

For a brief, fleeting moment, the weight of the world fell away and everything became weightless; omitting, of course, the pressure of the water that suspended him upon impact and that now aided his gradual sinking towards the depths of the sandy bottom. The feeling of the crushing and unrelenting, yet pliable and motionless water took him by surprise, as meer seconds ago, he'd been standing upright on the beach, repressing the all consuming urge to tremble in terror from anticipation. He's expected Vergil to do something but this wasn't at all what he'd expected. V didn't know what he thought would happen, but this wasn't it.

It had taken V debatable longer that it should've to come to the realization that he was under water. Perhaps the force of the impact he had jarred his senses to the point where he couldn't properly decipher his surroundings. Or perhaps he just couldn't tell that all the air had left his lungs. Either way, he had sunk quite a ways down before he'd figured out that he was actually submerged, and he wasn't entirely sure why his brain was incapable of reacting like he'd normally expect. He'd actually felt more in control of his surroundings when he's been in the void he involuntarily ventured to before he'd recovered Griffon and Shadow.

Griffon and Shadow…

He suddenly registered that the little voice inside of his head that he couldn't shake was his loyal avian companion. Shadow didn't speak, at least not to him. He assumed that she tried to from time to time, but if she was attempting to do so, he couldn't comprehend anything she was trying to impart upon him. So for a moment he continued to float, unsure of what to do. He knew what to do, but his mind lacked the sense of urgency he knew he should possess, so his limbs continued to dangle uselessly below him. And it felt like ages had passed like that as the light became more and more faint.

V knew that he should be worried. That he should be scrabbling uselessly towards the surface. But he couldn't muster the mental energy to do so. Was this what having a concussion felt like, or was it just all the water in his ears that made everything seem so still and quiet? Perhaps it was the fact that he was probably low on oxygen. He could only assume that was what it was. Or maybe it was the realization that he couldn't actually swim that led to the eerie stillness that he was experiencing. Had his brain just thrown in the towel and decided to leave him to his fate. That was entirely possible, all things considered. His mind often actively worked against him. It could be… problematic, much like the situation he currently found himself in.

"Oh for- what the fuck are you doing?! You do realize that you're still semi conscious, right? That you're totally drowning right now?!"

Despite the fact that his brain registered the fact that Griffon was speaking to him, he didn't have the clarity of mind to actually respond. It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was that he was quite literally unable to part the clouds that hung over his cognitive functions and just ask his familiars for help. Now that he thought about it, would they be able to act without his direct permission? He's never really experimented with that. V's connection with them was incredibly tight. They just sort of acted as an extension of himself. He gave them verbal commands, but at the end of the day, he already knew what they were going to do before they actually did it because it was his will that drove their actions. What were they supposed to do if he didn't have the cognitive ability to command them to do something about this situation? Griffon couldn't very well swim under water, could he? Did he even have enough strength left to summon one of them? He didn't feel weak so much as he didn't feel anything. V was totally and utterly stunned, and he was aware of it, but he was still willing to do something about it. The problem was that no other part of his body was. Being semi conscious was strangely exhausting.

His mind regressed to the first time he'd used Nightmare. To the strange out of body experience he'd endured back then. Despite the fact that he'd been nearly dead and probably in a light coma, he had been able to discern that fact for himself. The pages of his book had been totally blank as if his brain didn't have the processing power to render the words he knew should be there since he'd looked at them a thousand times before. The void he'd found himself in had been like that. And being under water felt the very same way. It was… troubling. He was sure he had felt this feeling once before, a lifetime ago. It had been ages before he'd encountered Nightmare for the first time. Had he been a teenager at the time? No, further back. Much further back. Something he'd buried deep within his own mind. Something so deep that he couldn't recall it. Only the sensation he'd experienced.

There was the sound of rushing water. The gurgling sensation that pared so well with the suction caused by the air vacating his ears and lungs. A pressure he'd felt back then that was greater than the force of the water. He had been perfectly capable of standing up on his own. His balance had been perfect. What had happened to him when he'd been so young? Why had his brain repressed this? What…

Suddenly it came rushing back, making impact with his body harder than the water's surface had. An emotion he didn't feel very often and hoped to never feel in such a quantity again. V remembered why he didn't know why to swim. He remembered why he had instinctively avoided the water as though it would reach out and snatch him towards the depths, never to be seen again. The sound returned to his ears, the burning sensation in his lungs gripped him like the heat of Inferno itself, and the cognitive function suddenly roared back to him with a vengeance.

And it had all been restored by a level of shear, unadulterated, mind blanking terror.

In that instant, he wished from the bottom of his heart that he could forget again.

Before his body could even fathom a response, he sifted through the subconscious corridors of his previously blank mind, pulling a probably escape plan from the depths. Griffon couldn't swim, of that he was sure. But Shadow was a being composed of darkness itself, untethered to the laws of things as petty as oxygen and pressure and formless until otherwise given shape. He didn't need Griffon this time. He needed his decidedly feline companion.

"We need to go up. Now."

His mind practically screamed the command, his brain echoing despite the total lack of sound. His head spun and his ears rang as his body suddenly jolted in a direction he couldn't discern, rocketing away with a level of force so strong that every last remaining molecule of air evacuated his lungs and set his mind alight. It was so dark that he genuinely couldn't tell if he was going up or down; if his eyes were open or closed. He could be facing the sun or plummeting towards the depths and his subsequent death. The second outcome was quite plausible. Be it the water or his bodily functions beginning to cease, an unearthly chill crawled up his body as Shadow shot through the water with a speed that put her shadow slide ability to shame. It was as if she had become the very water around him as she headed towards her destination. And with every passing second, his unsourceable, unseizing panic rose to a vicious level, his circulatory system firing on all cylinders despite the fact that his blood was starved for oxygen and his brain was running on empty.

Yes, this was it, wasn't it? This was what death felt like.

He hadn't gotten the chance to experience it before, his demise had been too abrupt.

But he felt it now. And he was willing to do whatever it took to avoid it at all costs.

V's brain had little time to process anything further before all motion came to an abrupt end, his body jolting to a bone shattering stop as he was snatched to the surface. Air and sunlight hit him with a force he hardly recognized as possible, and he took a second to try and process what the hell was going on before the opportunity was snatched around him. The water fled his ears and his lungs instinctively reinflated in response to the change in ambient pressure as he flailed slightly, unable to blink away the staggering level of darkness he seemed to be trapped in. The only thing he could really feel was something gripping him with an unrelenting amount of force, like a concrete pillar in a hurricane standing as a bastion while the earth parted around it. V reached upwards (at least from what he could tell) and grasped it, the ability to blink and breath returning to him all at once. And as he shuddered from the combined sensation of the blistering midday sunshine and the sweet euphoria produced by the flow oxygen reuniting with his circulatory system, he blinked heavily and all sight came flooding back to his pupils at once, nearly blinding him all over again.

And it was then that he realized that Vergil had him by the back of the shirt and he in turn had what amounted to a death grip on his father's arm, delivering enough force to probably shatter the bones of a mortal man. Vergil's semi perplexed, mostly breathless facial expression summed up his extreme reaction to him with no words required. His body was running on autopilot, and he wasn't entirely sure what he was actually doing (if anything) to aid his recovery from what he had just experienced, but of two things he was certain. Vergil and Shadow had just saved him, and he now remembered why he was terrified of large bodies of water. And the second one he would have preferred to stay buried as far down as possible.

It seemed that his past experiences had gained the upper hand yet again.

(-~-)

Nero had blushed a gobsmacking shade of red when his brain had finally registered that Kyrie had changed her outfit. He had been so utterly mortified by the split second realization that V probably hadn't resurfaced due to an inability to swim that he hadn't even noticed the others rejoin the rest of the group. She and the others hadn't seen what had just happened and, as such, had been shocked to return to such a tense atmosphere. Never in his entire life had he regretted pulling a prank on another person so much as he did this one. Not by a longshot. But as V had been pulled from beneath the waived and Shadow had lunged at Vergil in a misguided attempt to protect her master, he'd let out the breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. They just couldn't have a fun family vacation, could they?

And unlike the other times his extremely damaged father was basically entirely to blame for the chaos unfolding, he was at fault as well. Had he realized that Vergil would react in the way that he had? No. Did he assume things would probably take a turn? Yes.

But he had no idea that Vergil would toss his older, more fragile sibling in the ocean, and neither of them had any idea that V couldn't swim. And this had most certainly been one of the worst ways they could've found out. Kyrie's new stylistic choice was equally shocking to him in a totally different way, one that he couldn't quite find the words to describe. He literally couldn't figure out how the cute bathing suit made him feel, especially given the context of it's reveal. And when Vergil had practically towed V to the shore and waited for him to release the shock induced death grip that he had on him, only for the young summoner to slide back first into the sand and begin to attempt to stop hyperventilating by covering his face with his eyes and shivering from the sensory overload induced vertigo that he was probably suffering from, Nero's brain had practically crashed like an old broken down computer.

The fact that he'd contributed to something so distressing and painful to watch unfold was physically and emotionally crushing to him. He'd never meant to be the catalyst to something so dreadful. It had never even crossed his mind that something like this could happen.

He had officially been put off of pranks for the remainder of his adult life. But Kyrie's bathing suit? That was a different story entirely. He wanted her to put that on as much as possible. Nero considered her stunning regardless of what she was wearing (or not wearing), but this was something his idle mind had never strayed into conjuring up, and was illogical pissed about that. As soon as he knew for certain that V wasn't going to literally die again, he was going to have to address the sudden onset of salacious reverence he was now experiencing. How was he supposed to cope with knowing that he lived in a world where something like this was possible but he'd never even considered it an option? His mind was being pulled in far too many directions simultaneously, and none of them were very healthy for him. He would have to revisit this shortly.

But first, he needed to figure out what the hell had just happened to V.

And then they needed to talk.

(-~-)

To the surprise of practically no one aside from the young children who had no way of truly comprehending what the hell had just happened, V had quietly retired to the hotel after he had regained control of Shadow. The hyper pissed off panther had been ready to disembowel literally anyone who came within viewing distance of V, and that wasn't very good for keeping a low profile. He had vacated the scene wordlessly, totally unsure of what to say or do about what he had just endured, and not a single one of them even knew where to start. Simply asking if he was alright didn't cross most of their minds due to the panic that they had all collectively felt in that moment in time, and for the ones that did consider this, the simple gesture didn't seem nearly profound enough.

Vergil had quietly shadowed V back to the hotel after allowing ample room to settle between them. While he didn't doubt that his eldest son knew he was tailing him, he was also aware that not allowing him the proper time to wind down after experiencing something so distressing was probably a surefire way to literally start a magical brawl in the street in full view of the public. That wasn't a good look or a good idea, and it would most certainly end the entire trip early.

Oh, where was their mother or father when he needed his advice on how to handle something like this?

No. It was better that neither Sparda or Eva know of his failures. They were his and his alone. He would not wish to disappoint them. He just knew that his actions would.

After a short while, the rest of the group attempted to go about the rest of their day, but there was an unmistakable blanket of discomfort that settled over them. Nothing about what had just happened seemed like the standard reaction one would have to almost drowning, if such a thing even existed. There was clearly another layer to it, but none of them felt like it was their place to ask. For now, they were just going to give V his space.

That was all they felt they could do…

"Hey Kyrie I… you look nice," Nero said hesitantly, unsure if it was the right time to bring it up. It had been just shy of an hour, and things were winding down from what had happened, but a part of him still felt like it was too soon to change the subject, even if he hadn't spoken since then. "Did the others talk you into it?"

Kyrie nodded, her mind elsewhere as she watched the children from the distance. Since V had left in such a hurry, the umbrella was still there. Nero made a mental note to make sure that someone took the time to bring that back to him. If it got left out overnight, someone would probably make off with it.

"Yes… it is pretty, isn't it? I wasn't sure it was my style, but it's really starting to grow on me. Maybe I'll go shopping with them more often?" She wasn't sure who that question was directed towards, but she asked it all the same.

"Maybe you should. You seemed like you were excited when I saw you before," Nero said as he glanced sparingly between the hotel and the children. Carlo was trying his hardest to teach his two older brothers how to make a sandcastle." I mean, getting out of the house more might be fun! Everyone's enjoying themselves so far…"

Silence settled over them for a moment as he considered his statement. No. That was a lie. As much as he wanted that to be true, there was most certainly one member of the family who wasn't having a very good time at all, and he couldn't' sit here any longer and pretend that wasn't the case. Even if he hadn't been partially involved, he still would've been concerned. But he had been. And while it was a mistake that had been the foreseeable result of what he had assumed to be a relatively harmless prank, things had turned out decidedly less "harmless" in the end. He needed to get a gauge on the damage his idea had caused.

Kyrie seemed to understand exactly what he was thinking. She'd spent over half of her life around Nero. She knew when the gears in his head were turning, and when there was no train in the station. They had all the time in the world to plan their next fun adventure. But right now, Nero needed her to let him go. He couldn't make himself ask. He cared about how she felt too much to do that, even if it was an irrational train of thought born of an escue sense of responsibility to her. She glanced over her shoulder and gave him a lingering, thoughtful look before nodding gently and looking in the direction of the hotel. She was more than happy to wait, especially when it was about something so important.

Nero smiled at her gently and leaned over, giving her a gentle squeeze before planting a small kiss on her forehead. Kyrie really did get him, didn't she? He was never permitted to doubt himself in her presence, and that was something he'd truly come to appreciate over the years. Her unwavering faith in him reassured him that he wasn't half as foolish as he thought he was most days. And he was going to make good on that faith.

"I don't know how long I'll be." Nero said quietly, trying not to draw the attention of the children. Wherever he went, they tended to follow.

The brunette waived him on with a gentle smile. "Were fine, Nero. But he isn't. I think he might need someone right now more than everyone realizes. He just seems so… lonely most of the time. That could just be me, but I don't think I'm wrong. But he's not like that with you. Go see how he's doing."

With a determined nod of his head, the white haired demon hunter released her and stood up, turning to head in the direction of the hotel. She wasn't wrong. He needed to speak with V, and probably Vergil for that matter. He wasn't going to accomplish that sitting here on the beach with her trying to pretend that everything was okay.

"You got it, Kyrie. Sorry to always keep you waiting."

(-~-)

Wow this chapter was a wild ride. First one I wrote at my new desk. Have to say, the new set up definitely helped me be more productive! Let me know what you guys think! I loved your comments on the last chapter. They made me laugh! I'll see you all on Friday! Take care and stay safe out there!