Author's Notes: Ok, I'm back. This chapter was based on the cutscene of Mission 2 of the Vergil's Downfall DLC entitled 'Hollow'. Explanations and thoughts later on.

DmC: Devil May Cry is owned by Capcom and Ninja Theory

Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima, A-1 Pictures, TV Tokyo, and Funimation

Chapter 7: Phantom

Lying in the ground is none other than Vergil. He opened his eyes and looked around. Good thing is that his Yamato was still there. As he sat up, he saw someone is coming to him. It was another ghostly apparition. His face is white, his eyes are pure black, and his hair is brushed up to its extent. It's more like a hollow version of...

"Me?"

And what he noticed is that he wears his amulet. He has no idea what happened to him after he was stabbed by the Phantom Dante. All he knows is that he went into this... desolate place. It was a barren wasteland. A desert. And he looked on his hollowed self, face to face, trying to greet him.

"Look at you." Phantom Vergil looked at him.

"Who are you?" Vergil asked, exhausted.

The hollowed entity comes closer to him. "You have failed. Your father gave you everything... now you have nothing!"

Phantom Vergil tries to pull out something from Vergil's chest, with the latter screaming in pain. Then Phantom Vergil lifts him up. "Everyone you care about, everyone you love has turned their back on you. How does it feel?"

After this, the hollowed entity pulled out from Vergil's chest. It was his heart. Then an apparition of his heart appeared floating in the air. It was beating but what leave him dumbfounded is that it has holes in it.

"My heart..." 'Are they... wounds...?' Now he realized what his hollow self meant: the wounds of his heart represent the pain and suffering due to being close with the people he cared about. Oddly, something is missing...

'Kagura... No, it's impossible. How would I care for her?' Still, Vergil is unsure of his feelings from the woman from another world.

Phantom Vergil looked into the helpless man. "You can't change the past. But what would you do if you had another chance?"

"Another chance..." Vergil muttered as he tried to stand up. Then memories flooded into him...

"Vergil."

"Vergil."

"Kat, you're still alive."

"Kat was useful, but-

"Useful?"

Kat saved my life!

"Vergil, please-

"Stay out of this!"

Right. It was Kat. She is the first human companion for her. He saved her from the demons and helped him for his cause. From the time he met her, helping his brother Dante, her abduction by Mundus, and the prisoner exchange that led to Vergil killing Mundus' demoness known as Lilith, until he revealed his true motives. He never realized that Kat still cares for him. And he made a big mistake of treating her as a tool...

Until he was sent to another place, inside the demonic realm itself. He was in a large platform that covers an area of ruined buildings.

"Now... where am I?"

Kagura was lying on the ground, unconscious. Luckily, her sword Archenemy is still beside her. Her outfit has a bit of dirt and tatters. Her abdomen was covered in blood but the wound was miraculously healed. Then out of nowhere...

"Rise and shine, princess."

Kagura made her eyes wide open as she's awake. Moments later, she uttered a painful scream...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The mysterious woman took Kagura chest, pulling something out. Because of this, the long black-haired woman arched her back due to the excruciating pain. Suddenly, an apparition of a heart appeared. But it was none other than Kagura's heart. And it was beating.

Kagura crawled back and forth, coughing and wailing, as she experienced a pain like no other. She clutched on her chest where her heart is placed. The culprit had nothing to do but to make a grin, very proud of her work.

Kagura slowly recovered as he tried to stand up, clenching her chest. She opened her eyes slowly as she looked into her surroundings; she saw her Archenemy and picked it up. Then she looked on the person responsible for 'pulling out' her heart. Kagura was stunned on what she saw.

"Surprised to see me?"

The entity recalled on the mage. She wore the same clothes just like Kagura's. But her hair is white and her face and skin are like a pale complexion; she has the same face as her's. It's more like a ghostly apparition of... herself.

"W-who the hell are you?" Kagura tried to ask.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm your shadow." She introduced herself as the other Kagura, her own shadow. She is Phantom Kagura.

"I'm... you...?" Kagura wondered. She is still exhausted, and confused at the same time.

"All of your pain, all of your suffering, all of your anger and hatred. I was born from it, from you." Phantom Kagura describes herself.

Kagura shook her head in disbelief. "No. No, you're not real..."

"Of course I am." Phantom Kagura smirked.

Kagura tried to attack her using her sheathed sword but as she goes for the strike, but her Phantom self vanished in front of her. Then the phantom appeared from behind.

"Over here."

Kagura turned around and what he receives is a smack from her phantom self; she was hit in the cheek.

"See? I'm real." Phantom Kagura told her.

Still unfazed by the slap, Kagura sets her eyes on her phantom self. "What is exactly what you want?"

Phantom Kagura goes on her serious look. "I want to ask you: what do you think about this place?"

"This is from another world, or another realm." Kagura tried to give an answer.

"A twisted demonic realm." Phantom Kagura corrected. "If you ask me, this place is hell."

Kagura can't say a word. She still kept her ears.

"Even if you want to get out of here, what will you do? What if there is no way out, and no matter how you do or try, you will still fall in despair?" Phantom Kagura inquired.

"I'll find a way to get out of here..." Kagura said.

"Will you do anything, don't you?" Phantom Kagura blurted.

"If there is no other way, I'll find one no matter what." Kagura told her phantom self, with determined eyes.

Phantom Kagura makes a suggestion. "Here is mine: there is one thing you need. The one thing that you should have, that can make you do everything, even defeating everyone who gets in your way..."

She widened her eyes as Kagura realized what her phantom self was talking about. "You mean...?"

"Yes. All you need... is power." Phantom Kagura said.

"Power...?" Kagura asked.

"Yes. That's because might controls... everything." The phantom told Kagura. "With power, everything is possible."

Kagura is having second thoughts on what Phantom Kagura said. She never had thought of seeking power in the first place. Yes, she is Mermaid Heel's ace and wields the powerful Archenemy, which it can cause a cataclysm when unsheathed. That sword was meant for Jellal; it was for the sake of vengeance at first, but things are different right now. But in her current situation, she doesn't even know what to do. If she needs power in order for her to escape from this hellhole, then so be it. But she remembers that she is not alone. Then someone comes into her mind.

"Vergil..."

Then everything went white...

Kagura was lying on the ground again. As she opened her eyes, she wakes up and got up on her feet. She found out that she is not in the wasteland anymore. She was in a different place. Yes, the sky is red. Floating rocks are everywhere, and so does the ruined buildings. As she looked around, she began to notice something. From some of the landscape to the ruined buildings, she began to realize: this whole place is very familiar...

Kagura said in disbelief. "This is like... home?"

The mysterious walks into the orb she is watching over. She saw that two people have gone into separate ways; a man and a woman.

"Interesting. Let's see how they will fall into their own darkness..."

And then her eyes turned on Vergil.

"Including you, Son of Sparda..."

On the outskirts of the realm, there was a beautiful woman, standing in a cliff. More than that, she is a beautiful angel. She had white feathered wings, decorated in blue markings that can expand and contract marginally to her will. She can fly and she can glide, but she also touches the ground.

Her hair is platinum blonde and parted to the right side with the exception of a small braid on the left. Pale skinned, her face has black lines running down her cheeks from her eyes, which are featureless and pale blue, but glow brightly just like her eyes. Speaking of her eyes, they are blazing like fire She wears a blue dress with matching blue pants; split up both sides underneath golden laurel breastplates, with matching vambraces, spalders and knee high boots. She is surveying the whole area.

Standing next to her is a little girl, around 7 years of age, with black long hair. She wears a simple dress with black pants shoes. She is sitting in the cliff, with a worried face.

The angel pats the little girls, comforting her. The angel said with a smile. "Don't worry, little one. There is still hope." The little girl nodded.

"Is she gonna be ok?" the little girl asked.

"Of course." the angel said, assuring the little girl. "She will need our help in the battles to come." Then again, she looked down

'I know you have a good heart, young woman. Not only he needs my help but also you. Both of you should never lose hope.'

And she continued to watch over Kagura...

Author's Notes: Like I mentioned earlier, this chapter was based on the first cutscene of Mission 2 of the Vergil's Downfall DLC. Yes, that is where Vergil meet his hollow self, telling him that he had to do something if he will be given another chance. Most of the haters and skeptics called the story has been ripped off most of Bleach (the anime), but if you ask me, Devil May Cry 4 is worse than that. Oh, and Bingo Morihashi.

In Bleach, Hollow is more like a noun but in VD, it's more like an adjective or description. The 'Hollow' Vergil represents more of his dark side; more like a manifestation of his sorrow, his depression, and his anger. Actually, Vergil should overcome his negative feelings and emotions by responding with something positive. He should OVERCOME them. But instead, he chose to dwell in and embrace it just to gain power. At least in DmC, Vergil went into a dark path though his madness and insanity, making himself as the new demon king in the end of the game. I decided to use the 'Phantom' term in order to avoid confusion for many (I know someone will come up with 'Phantom Lord' but that was the name of a guild).

For those who play VD, some of you are wondering why there was a heart floating in place where Vergil and his 'phantom' self met. And why there are holes in it. I explained earlier about DmC Vergil's reasons to gain power, but this is about the 'heart': to most cultures, the heart is a sign of compassion and humanity. That's why it played a role for DmC Dante in questioning what and who he is, and why in Vergil's Downfall Vergil patched up his disembodied heart and left it the crap in Hell when he fell to villainy. So in turn, DmC Vergil became heartless and discarded his own humanity. His kindness.

Not only Vergil will face his darker self, but also Kagura as well. She's still on the path of her own redemption but I want to give struggles for her as she also faces her darker self and other internal struggles. I just want to say that she will gain new abilities and new weapons as her journey progresses, and at the same time, also helping Vergil along the way. And I am also slightly introduced my three OCs (much more like a teaser, right): one who is a villain and the other is a powerful ally. And lastly, a somewhat mysterious girl who will also help both Kagura and Vergil in their journey.

This is a very short chapter but to me, this is more like a prologue on the first arc of my story.

Read and review and I'll see you later!