The Underworld had been a dark place since all the light bits got split off into the human world. A few ancient demons remembered what 'day' was like in hell, but they weren't exactly known for handing out history lessons. Even old Machiavelli wasn't much for casual chatting before Mundus offed him.

Being a nightmare 'born' in the human world, day and night weren't all that special to Griffon. But even he couldn't deny it was nice to look up at the sky and see something other than daylight for the first time in almost a year. The sun wasn't down past the horizon yet, but passing through a valley surrounded on three sides by mountains made for deep shadows and premature sunset.

Pretty scenic, especially from where he hung off Fern's shoulders with his head poked up under the hood of her cloak. She'd squawked like a startled chicken when latched onto her but hadn't actually told him to get down or go away like he expected. In fact, she was pretty docile all around…

Maybe that was because boy-bot had run off? Said something about seeing the sunrise and bolted for the nearest slope.

"Hey, how can the kid see the sunrise if it's been settin' the whole time?"

V tilted his head from where he was lazing next to them against their piled-up backpacks, cane across his shoulder. "When the world doesn't turn, sunrise and sunset are arbitrary. It surprises me more that he would go so far to see it."

"It's not that weird," said Fern. "Lots of androids who've never been to the horizon sectors stop around here to enjoy the view."

"Androids sight-see?" Griffon piped up, leering over Fern's shoulder. "Figured some scenery wouldn't be all that novel for you. Not like you've had much else to look at the last few thousand years."

"Most of us got assigned to where the machines were." She reached up and pushed Griffon's beak gingerly away from her face. Probably didn't want the pointy bits too close to her eyes. "The sundown sectors… they're different enough to stop for."

"…You've been here before," said V. "This exact place."

Her eyes narrowed, and she dropped her gaze. "Mmyep. S'why I'm your guide."

"Aww, don't be so shy, lady-bot. You kill anyone interesting out this way?"

She ignored him, if only because V's cane was so quick to jam into his open beak. "More importantly," said V, nonchalant over Griffon's sputters. "Is there a possibility anyone might recognize you?"

"Sure. Not as 8E though." She sagged down onto her fist and flicked the cane from Griffon's beak so she didn't have to listen to him choking directly into her ear. "Out this way, I think I might've been Amaranth…? Or maybe it was Cinnabar."

"I'd begun to think all androids were named after plants."

"We tend to get names based on whatever's lying around." She gestured at herself. "Case in point."

"Would it be best to refer to you by one of your prior names?"

Fern's eyes went icy and she glared at him from the corner of her eye. "What do you think, Vergil?"

The air between them went so frosty Griffon couldn't help but shiver. Not that he liked to play peacekeeper, but he really didn't want to be solely responsible for helping V navigate the dark side of the planet. She might call herself Fern, but 8E had more mouth than the old Fern ever had—she couldn't let V's temperamental-at-best disposition go without turning it right back on him.

"Wonder how long the kid's gonna be," he thought out loud, splitting his beaks a little too wide. "You used to be awful fussy about him running off. Finally cuttin' the apron strings, lady-bot?"

"Apron strings…?"

"You know, mommying him~"

She glared over her shoulder. "I'm nobody's mommy, poultry."

"You look after him well enough," V grumblingly admitted. Griffon relaxed by a fraction only to immediately get pissed off about it. Why'd he have to be the babysitter for these two?! "And you have been rather permissive with him since that day on the river."

"Doesn't feel permissive to me," said Fern. "If you two can't act natural by this point, we shouldn't get any closer to Normandy. Better that you get it out of your systems now."

So that was why nothin' got a rise out of her lately. A good old last hurrah before they couldn't afford to be so relaxed anymore. Sounded plenty permissive to Griffon, but boy, V had some nerve pointing that out.

All the time it used to be rush, rush, rush; get to the destination, and don't let that sluggish body that still didn't even have half of the whole's power be the reason they got held up or held back. Then all of a sudden right when the sun started getting low, his tune had changed. He'd been slowing down plenty for little shit that didn't have anything to do with eating or sleeping or taking a quick leak or any of the other dozen annoyances that came with being human. Just the other day they'd stopped for half an hour just to watch some fireflies do their thing. Sure, the cloud was huge, and it was a hell of a light show, but they were just bugs. V didn't give a shit about bugs. Just like he didn't give a shit about the sun rising or setting or whatever the hell it was doing while he kicked back like they didn't have somewhere to be.

Bet he gave a shit that the kid was about to zip off into orbit, though.

Whatever. Not like Griffon minded putting off the inevitable by a few hours. Hiding V from large groups of androids promised to be even more boring than being back in the city. At least while they were out here he got to stretch his wings a bit. Once they made it to the so-called Night Kingdom, maybe he'd luck up and find some action worth getting fired up for. If the place had dragons it had to be more interesting than hanging around all these robots. They were barely less boring than humans.

"I just had a great idea," he chirped, poking his neck around Fern's shoulder. "Once we get V outta this shithole, you should have a deathmatch with us lady-bot! You against me, the cat, and the big guy!"

Half her face scrunched up. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"That a no? I figured you wanna die and we wanna go out swinging… It'd be good for both of us!"

"No, I got that part, I'm asking why you wouldn't just go with V?"

"It isn't up to them," V answered. "Their contract is with me. It ends with me. If I return to being Vergil, I disappear, and they will be on their own."

Fern's eyes fogged over a bit as she looked between them. "…Does 49 know that?"

"He knows what I am." The cane spun lazily. "If it hasn't occurred to him, I don't intend to bring it to his attention."

"Wow, the déjà vu I'm getting. He doesn't like it when people keep secrets from him, V. Kind of a thing for him; I'd have thought you got that through your head after your little spat."

"What happens to me after I return is no more his business than what he will do once he is reunited with 2B is mine. More so because it is unclear." He held up the hand that wasn't all mangled up like a knock off devil arm. The one that had dear old dead mom's infernal jewelry around the wrist. "I've changed too much since I arrived to be sure that what happened before will happen again."

She crossed her arms with slow, irate deliberation. "So you tell me all this, but not him?"

Griffon cackled. "Of course he won't tell the kid! You know what V's like, lady-bot, he's not exactly a good guy, you know."

"I mean I agree, but what's that got to do with anything?"

"It means I cannot live up to being worried after by someone like him," V said flatly, flicking his cane in a way that warned Griffon loud and clear to shut his trap. "But you present something less of a challenge."

From V that was kind of a compliment, but as usual, he was shitty at saying what he meant when it was a little too personal. Griffon, feeling no compulsion to smooth things over this time, snickered into Fern's shoulder. She was so pissed her optic lights were strobing.

"What does that even mean you bony shit—you feel more comfortable with me or something?"

"Comfortable…?" he contemplated, with exactly the smug amusement that tended to get on both the bots' nerves. "Let's say instead that your way of thinking is… more familiar to me."

"Fucking familiar," she repeated with a cynical laugh. "Yeah, okay, guess that shouldn't surprise me. You killed demons, you killed Aconite, apparently killed god, and you almost killed me—granted I did ask nicely. You're used to that kind of thing, aren't you?"

"I am."

"Goddammit, V. No wonder your family's fucked up."

Griffon nearly choked as Fern sharply twisted her body. V's cane shot past like an arrow, leaving a trail of magic so faint it might only have been a trick of the light. V, on the other hand, wasn't a trick of anything. The brunt of his scowl was hidden behind the sunglasses, but he was giving off enough magic that even Griffon squinted a bit under the pressure.

"Fetch."

Luckily, unlike V, Fern had the ability to see when she'd gone further than she should have. She raised her hands in a placating gesture and obediently stalked off at a hop-skip. Dragon magic still gave her a hell of a headache so the distance was probably a relief. The cane wasn't all that far, but once she found it, she kept going.

"You know V's back that way," Griffon pointed out, with a spreading leer. "You scared~?"

She reached over her shoulder and yanked him off her back by his beak. Squatting low in the grass, she pressed a finger to her mouth for silence before she let him go. Only…she just sat there tapping on the cane with a constipated look on her face.

"Did you need somethin', or is this some kind of weird date?"

Her whole body tugged away from him and she grimaced with a mix of exasperation and disgust. "What is it with you and women?"

"Hey, strongest demon of the time scored a human lady and had two more strongest demons of time who were half-bloods. I've come to appreciate the allure."

"I'm not a human."

"Sure, and I'm not a demon," he said with a carefree wiggle of his tailfeathers. "But a bird's gotta have dreams."

She rolled her eyes and shifted back onto her heels. "You're easier to talk to. Can I get a real answer why V told me all this shit about him maybe disappearing?"

"Didn't he already say it? He's a difficult guy but he's also kind of a dumbass, there's not some deep, complicated reason." He stretched his neck up just to make sure they were properly out of earshot and gave a quiet, smug cackle. "You're not all that different from him."

"I don't think he thinks that's a good thing."

"Never said it was a positive resemblance." He gave a hushed but ugly snigger. "Miiiight even be best to say you remind him of the parts he doesn't care for much."

He'd expected her to get ticked off that he put it like that, but her eyes meandered around as she mulled it over. In the end, she raised her brows, shrugged, and opened her cloak to let him in. "I'd be willing to bet that feeling's mutual."

Androids. That little step removed from humans made them just unpredictable enough to be interesting.

He shuffled back under the leather and popped his head up over her shoulder with a gleeful caw. "The offer on the deathmatch still stands, y'know."

"Let's focus on getting where we're going and then I'll think about it." She spun the cane experimentally and peeked over her shoulder. "Hey, I get that V might not be around, but why wouldn't you just go back to Vergil?"

Griffon cocked his head. "I know V's not the most convincing in the strength department, but believe me, Vergil doesn't need familiars. I'm pretty sure he's the de facto king of hell right now."

"I guess but…" She hesitated. "Even if he didn't need you, wouldn't he still let you stay?"

Griffon shrugged without thinking about it too hard. "Maybe. V's soft disposition might've rubbed off on the other guy. But it ain't about him letting us stay. V's something a little more, but me and the kitty and the big guy are all just Vergil's bad memories. We're his nightmares. Better if we disappear when it's time for him to wake up."

Fern stayed silent in the half-dark while a few bright stars that Griffon didn't recognize appeared in the bronze sky. It was only as she stood that she murmured, "…You're a good support unit, Griffon."

"I'm not a goddamn support unit!"