Edit: Changed the spell Marzanna uses. I honestly can't remember where I got it from or my thought process about it at the time, but I must have changed what the spell should mean in my head at some point, because double checking it, it kinda made sense in that situation, but didn't mean what it was supposed to. Hence why I'm pretty sure I changed what it was supposed to mean in my head at some point rather than a mistranslation.

Vergil swallows reflexively, then winces. Mundus very much liked to only give them the absolute bare minimum to survive. Every day was full of achingly empty stomachs and painfully dry throats. He supposes he should at least be grateful that Mundus' confidence in the cells and shackles left them with long enough chains to move around and stretch.

He shifts his head, trying to find a more comfortable way to lean against the bars. All thoughts of comfort fly out of his head as panic descends at the sound of the door beginning to be unlocked. It was far too soon to be for the little attention their physical needs get, and other than the rare visits from Mundus himself, there should be no other reason for that door to open.

Unless they finally got Dante or Nero.

Despite what his brother may believe, he wasn't as cruel and heartless as his past actions would indicate. The truth was, in the years between their home being attacked when they were children and consequently he was separated from Dante and when they remet as young adults, he was blessed enough to meet his soulmate, a beautiful young marine biologist named Dana he'd saved from Demons. In the years prior, he'd dedicated himself to eradicating Demons in a foolish quest for vengeance for his family, but he'd been happy with her, and he had eventually put aside his sword and his desire for revenge to settle down with her. The happiest day of his life was when Nero was born.

But their peaceful life didn't last. A group of humans who had learned of Demons through various personal losses and ended up coming together found them, and more importantly, found out about their Demonic blood. So convinced they'd been that all Demons were inherently evil that they killed his wife in cold blood and nearly succeeded in slaughtering his son in his cradle were it not for the fact he came home just in time.

And just like that he found himself grieving his soulmate while trying to care for his son as a single parent. It was only for his son's sake that he had managed to fight the urge to commit suicide in the wake of her loss, but even his son wasn't enough to keep his grip on his sanity. He had realized it two months later, when Nero was only nine months old. To keep his son safe from his own father and his rapidly growing insanity, he left him at an orphanage on the magically hidden island of Fortuna in the hopes that even if his son's inhuman blood was discovered that he would remain safe. Though he had carefully checked that the orphanage wasn't run by Demons, something he knew was a popular hobby with them, since it gave them access to an endless supply of fresh humans that usually couldn't fight back.

It was his grief induced madness that led to him doing such despicable acts like the opening of Temen-ni-gru, one of the oldest Hell Gates still in existence. Contrary to the impression he had undoubtedly left his brother at the time, he loved both him and his son ferociously, though Dante undoubtedly wasn't aware of Nero's existence. He was also proud of his brother, despite how hard it had to have been on him to fight him so earnestly, he stood firm to his morals and stopped him.

When he'd stayed behind when the Hell Gate began to destabilize, Mundus had captured him. Needless to say, he'd been more than just surprised that his parents were still alive, that Mundus had only captured them on that fateful night.

It had taken quite a lot of patience and faith on his parent's part, but in time they had managed to coax him back to a more sane state of mind. That wasn't to say he was suddenly a saint, he was still, as his brother would put it, 'a cold asshole', but he no longer wanted to rule or destroy the world, and his grieving insanity no longer overwrites his love for his family, even if he still tends not to show it overtly.

That was why hearing the door be unlocked sends his heart straight to his throat, 'Mundus couldn't have caught Dante, he's too much of a stubborn bastard surely. Surely that must be true. Please, please let it be true. And- And I left Nero on Fortuna, Devils are fighters, so he probably ended up with the Order of the Sword, and given how they worship dad, they probably would've seen his Demonic powers as a blessing, so surely he'd be too well trained and protected? Please. If there is a God, I'm begging you, let the rest of my family still be safe.'

When the door opens on Mundus, he feels a surge of hope that maybe this was just another one of his power trips, just another visit to threaten and gloat to his dad. But then he sees the Demon behind him dragging someone by the hair. To his confusion, it was neither Dante or Nero but a little girl. His father stands with a sour expression, "And just what has this poor little girl done to you, that you feel the urge to lock her up down here Mundus? I thought you had reserved this high security area for me and my family, hmm?"

Mundus snorts then smirks, "She was born, and I did. I suppose I should induce you. Traitorous Sparda, meet Marzanna, your granddaughter, Dante's daughter."

Vergil's mind goes completely blank, and he only vaguely hears his mother gasp as his father immediately calls Mundus a bastard, and without any input from his brain, his mouth murmurs in shock, "Dante-? She's Dante's-?"

It's only because he's staring right at her that he sees her carefully peek at the Demon holding her before with equal cation slowly lifts her arm to hook some sort of metal band wrapped around it to the belt of the Demon. His heart leaps back up to his throat in concern for her being caught. He doesn't know what she's doing, but given that she's going out of her way to be stealthy, he doubts Mundus would be pleased.

He flicks his gaze towards the Demon King and is relieved to find him distracted by rubbing it into his father's face that he's caught yet another member of his family. He then carefully looks to his mother, and from the look they exchange he knows she'd seen it too and that they were on the same page.

Whatever she was trying to do, they couldn't let her be discovered.

Marzanna resists the urge to sigh in relief when she's finally done hooking the stupid armband that blocked most of her powers that the asshole Agnus put on her on the spikes running up and down the Demon's body from the strange piece of armor around its hips. She'd been careful to hook it in such a manner that it was now stuck, and the Demon would either have to break it or remove her arm to drop her in her cell. Given that she had overheard him tell Agnus that he wanted to capture her whole family then execute them all together in a public event, and given how close to death the ritual he had forced her to participate in had left her, she knew he wouldn't allow for the latter.

Sure enough, when they get the cell door open and the Demon tries to deposit her inside, it immediately finds the armband locking her to it. With a snarl it reaches out and snatches at her arm, but before it can do anything, Mundus calls out, "Don't. It's amazing she survived the ritual to break the seal, but since she has she'll be executed when I get my hands on the last two of her family. I won't have you killing her now. Just break the armband, it was just so her pathetic human watchers could control her Demonic powers."

The Demon grabs the band with both hands and tears it apart as easily as plucked grass, dropping her to the floor hard once she no longer has the way it's stuck to the Demon unintentionally holding her up. Even after everything Potter and Agnus put her through, it's still a test of will not to react to the hard impact against her many wounds, but she manages to hold back everything but the quiet unseen tears that well in her eyes.

The pain and her concentration to not react is so great that for a few moments her awareness of the rest of the prison and what's happening fades, but after a few minutes of carefully controlled breathing, the pain ebbs back to a more manageable level and she hears the tail end of one of the men growling, "-a monster like you has no qualms doing something like that to a child."

Mundus makes a divisive noise, "Why should I care how old she is? If anything, her age was only a benefit. She hasn't had time to grow into the might of her Devil blood. It certainly made keeping her under control much easier. And besides, you really only have yourself to blame for what happened to her. You are the one who refuses to shift yourself to the human world. I had to get… creative, about getting your blood there, seeing as it needs to be straight from the vein for the ritual. Everything that has happened to her and will happen to her from here out is your fault, given that I would've had no reason to go looking and found her if it wasn't for your stubborn refusal. She might've lived her whole life in obscurity if it wasn't for you. Think on that, traitorous Sparda."

She hears the clatter of chains and something impacting metal before the previous male voice hisses furiously, "Son of a bitch! Your sins are your own Mundus, do not put them on my head."

Mundus snorts, "You keep telling yourself that, Sparda. I wonder though, how long that resolve will last."

Then there's a brief pause before the door to the small prison opens again, and the footsteps of both Mundus and the Demon that brought her down leave, swiftly followed by the door reclosing and the heavy sound of the lock. There's a brief pause filled only by the faint drag of chain over ground before the other male voice, the one that had only muttered something about her father when Mundus introduced her, speaks up gently, "Little One? How hurt are you?" There's a brief pause, then he goes on, "I know you're awake Little One, I saw you hook that armband on purpose. They're gone, I promise. Honestly though, what were you thinking? Even if Mundus doesn't think it's necessary anymore, he would've been enraged by you being underhanded. His rage would've been painful, I assure you."

She slowly pushes herself up, mindful of her injuries. If he saw, there wasn't a point in continuing to fake unconsciousness. She eyes the three when she's up, then takes a quick look around. No Demons posted inside, the door to the little prison was completely solid, and it was just the four of them. Looking back towards the three, suspicion wells up. In her mother's journal, she'd told her all that she knew about her father's family from the man himself, namely that he'd had an identical twin, but that both him and his parents were dead.

But the man in front of her looked just like the picture of her dad, and Mundus had not only called the other man Sparda, which she had learned from Agnus was actually her grandfather's name instead of being her fathers last name, but the two had made it clear with their little chat that the only people here were her father's family. She supposes she could understand the mixup if they'd been prisoners in Hell this whole time, but it feels like a trick.

If there was one thing Agnus had unintentionally taught her though, it was that no method of blocking abilities did anything against ones that worked entirely internally. So taking a risk in revealing one of the cards up her sleeves, she uses one of the two things she'd gotten from the Great Demon she'd slain in Agnus' lab, an ocular ability that amongst other such things as thermal and night vision, also allows her to see certain energies and how they flow. But it does cause her eyes to glow, so until now she'd been very careful about using it. There's no misty shroud over their skin that would indicate an illusion, nor are their internal energies twisted into their outward appearance like a Doppelganger Demons would when they're shifted into someone's form.

She closes her eyes and turns her attention to purifying the foul twisted energy the ritual had left in her wounds that was blocking her Angelic healing from automatically taking care of them, "Well, I guess you really are who you appear to be. And here I was half convinced you were using illusions or yet another fucking Doppelganger Demon."

It felt weird to be talking to people her father firmly believed were dead, even if she hadn't ever met the man, but again it was an easy mistake to make, even for a Demon Hunting Nephilim like her father. And hadn't that been a shock to learn, during one of her escape attempts, when she had realized they'd found out she was gone too quickly and diverted manpower to blocking the exits completely and she'd instead found herself hiding in Agnus' library, hoping that if she could evade them long enough, that they'd think she was already gone.

She had poked through some of Agnus' papers in there and found the surprising truth of her heritage, and combined with the various important notes she'd come across, had decided to write that attempt off as a bad job and just do as much damage to Agnus' research as possible. To that extent, she had rather gleefully stolen everything that wasn't nailed down, and a couple things that were to boot, and shoved the whole lot inside the trunk Agnus still didn't know she had, then razed the place to the ground, so the fire would hide her theft. Agnus had been furious, which had led to quite a lot of pain, but in her opinion it had been wholly worth it.

Sighing with relief as her injuries finally begin to close and the pain starts to fade, she opens her eyes and begins examining the shackles. The woman, her grandmother apparently, gently remarks, "I'm glad to see you're starting to heal Little One, but I wouldn't bother with the shackles or chains. Sparda, Vergil, and I have tried for years. Those seals are thorough. It's impossible to use Demonic abilities in general or destructive Angelic abilities."

She flicks a glance at the sad look on her grandmother's face, then returns to the shackles. They weren't really designed to reopen once they'd been put on, nor were the chains in any way detachable from where they bolted into the middle of the cell. How Mundus intended to transport them to a public execution given that, she had no idea, but even if her father and cousin were captured tomorrow, she had no intention of sticking around to find out. Her grandmother was also entirely correct about the ability blocking.

But.

There was nothing there to stop her human magic.

Her mouth twists into a sly pleased grin, "Mundus, you really are arrogant in your disregard for humans. Too bad for you I'm not about to pass up the opportunity your arrogance left." Then she briefly concentrates on gathering her magic and wrapping it around the shackles before sharply commanding out, "Elido!"

The shackles disintegrate under her magic, and she rubs her wrists as she stands and turns to her surprised family. After a split second, Vergil's head drops as he shakes his head with an amused expression and a chuckle, "Of course. Of course Dante's luck as a playboy gives out right as he's with a witch. That's just his luck."

Not mentioning that it was because her mother had been looking to get pregnant that night and Dante had just been the man who ended up as the father, she moves over to the door and places her hand on it as she gathers her magic again and sends it into the metal, "Alohomora."

The lock clicks and the door swings open with silent ease. She steps out and moves over to her uncle's cell, giving him a glance before turning to her grandmother and planting her hands on her hips, finally replies to her, "I don't know about you lady, but I have absolutely no intention of sticking around, so I'm getting the fuck out of this hellhole, no pun intended."

Her grandmother stares in wide eyed surprise, and it's her uncle who responds, "Well, you're certainly Dante's kid. You may use more intelligent language, but that foul mouth is a damn good match to his own, and that 'you can't fucking stop me' attitude is remarkably similar."

She shrugs, "Wouldn't know, to my knowledge it was a one night stand, so I've never met the guy. Now, unless you guys have been here so long you've come to like being imprisoned, I'm going to assume you're coming with me."

Then she narrows her eyes at her uncle as she stares him down through the bars with hardened wariness, "But let me make one thing perfectly fucking clear. I don't know you and I certainly don't fucking trust any of you. That being said, I'm not the sort of person to leave people behind, so I'm going to say this once. You may apparently be related to me, you may be Angels and Demons and older than me, but I will not hesitate to fucking end you if you betray me."

She looks her surprised uncle up and down, "And given how long you guys have been here, I'm fairly confident I could take you."

Her uncle's brows furrow and he shares a look with his parents before turning back to her, "I suppose any reassurances that we wouldn't hurt you would mean nothing, so I suppose I'll just say that we're clear and leave it at that."

She nods sharply, then lifts her hand to the lock.

Dante was in limbo, the first layer of Hell. When he, Nero, and Kat had finally made it to the facility the Hell Gate was being created in, they found the Gate finished but not powered up yet. Though it was obvious it had only been completed sometime in the past couple hours. A plan had quickly been thrown together based on what they knew. Real Hell Gates had two physical anchors, one in Hell the other in the human world. All the energy that flowed through the Gates really did was just connect the two anchors like a bridge.

So here he was in Hell to destroy the anchor on this side, while Nero would simultaneously destroy the anchor in the human world. If he wasn't a Devil this would leave him trapped in Hell, but Devils had a unique ability to cross between the two dimensions at will. The only reason he and Vergil hadn't done this when they were younger was because neither of them knew how to use that ability back then, though he had figured out how to do it in the time since Vergil's death.

He was currently looking for the anchor for the Gate that resided in Hell. Just as he found it though, he hears an achingly familiar voice exclaiming from behind him, "Dante?!"

He knew that voice, would recognize it anywhere, but that was impossible! He was dead! Turning sharply on his heel he stares at the source for almost a full minute trying to find his own voice, which seems to have uncharacteristically disappeared as soon as he laid eyes on the man before him.

Eventually though, he manages to force words out, "Vergil? How?! I thought you were dead!" Then rage fills him as it occurs to him that it might not really be his brother, "Prove it's really you, that you aren't a Doppelganger Demon. If you are a fake, I swear I'll fucking kill you for such trespass."

The being with his brother's face smiles faintly, "I'm surprised you'd react so violently towards a Doppelganger, purely for taking on my form." Then his smile gains a mischievous edge, "Anyway, proof huh? Hmm, do you remember that time in Egypt, when your playboy tendencies-"

He doesn't get to finish, as Dante, absolutely embarrassed, quickly cuts him off, "Ok! It's really you! I get it! Though I thought we agreed never to mention that?"

Vergil chuckles, amusement clear in his eyes, "No, you said we'd never speak of it again, I never responded. So I never agreed to anything."

Dante stares at him for a few moments, "If you hadn't just given me proof you were really you, I would think you were a fake right now. Since when are you so easily amused, and not in a dark morbid way?"

His brother turns to look at something behind him. It was only then that Dante noticed that there was a bit of a cliff. Well it was more like it was incredibly steep steps than a cliff, but still. His twin shakes him from his observations when he bends to look down the cliff slash steps and absently adds over his shoulder to him, "I'll explain later." Then, clearly speaking to someone else, "Is she ok? Or do you need help, I know being in those cells for so long weakened you both."

A low male voice replies, too quiet for Dante to properly make out either the words or the man's voice itself. There was a brief pause before the male said something else, and Vergil nods before he reaches down and carefully grabs something, "Come on Little One, up you get, and no protesting you still haven't fully healed." Then obviously speaking to the male again, "Are you sure you don't need help with her?"

The male huffs and says something else causing Vergil to nod and straighten. This reveals who he'd picked up, and though Dante had never seen her he instantly recognizes the tri-colored hair that Agnus had described. He stiffens a bit, his mind racing, focused on one thing only, 'Marzanna. My daughter. That's my daughter Marzanna. The daughter I only just learned of. Oh dear God!'

Though he's not usually one for being shaken up or going down so easily, Dante feels seconds away from fainting. First Vergil was alive, now he was meeting the daughter he only just found out he had? What curveball was the universe going to throw him next?

For the rest of his life afterwards Dante never could figure out how he stayed conscious when abruptly Vergil leans down with his hand extended, and a moment later another hand grabs his. Then without further ado, his supposedly dead mother climbs up the steps with Vergil's help. Even more shocking, after she takes Marzanna, Vergil promptly helps their father up. His parents. They-But-They were dead! They'd been dead since he and Vergil were seven! How?! He wasn't complaining by any definition of the word, but still how?

Eva, his precious, dear mother, turns to him once his father is safely up. Smiling, she walks over to him and says in a quiet, obviously tired voice, "Dante. It's so good to see you. Though I must confess, I'd given up hope that we'd escape a while ago, so for a while I didn't want to see you or Vergil, since it meant Mundus had captured you. Still, I missed you so much."

He stares at her in wide eyed silence for a while, then desperately looks at Vergil over her shoulder, who nods with an understanding smile at the unasked question. Dante immediately turns his gaze back to Eva, tears appearing in his eyes. He only manages to hold that small bit of composure he had left for a moment, then he casts it aside and engulfs his mother in a hug, burrowing his face in the juncture between her neck and shoulder, just like he used to when he was a kid. Though he was careful to regulate his strength now, something he'd never done as a child. After all, his mother had been imprisoned for years, so she was undoubtedly incredibly weakened, and he didn't want to hurt her. Besides, she was still holding Marzanna, and he doesn't want to aggravate the injuries that were littering her body, nor did he wish to crush her.

Eva reaches up with one hand and cards her fingers through his hair, comforting him like she used to. After a moment she leans away a little and gives him a gentle look, "While I normally wouldn't mind. We need to get going, Dante."

He collects himself and steps back a moment later, roughly swiping at his eyes with his sleeve, "I'm assuming you guys can't cross to the human world on your own, or you wouldn't have come this far from wherever Mundus was holding you."

Vergil nods in agreement, "I still don't know how, neither does the Little one, and mom isn't a Devil, so she can't cross the barrier without a Gate at all. Though it was very unlikely we would succeed since Mundus no doubt has it under ridiculously tight security, we knew he'd broken dad's seal and figured making a Hell Gate would be the first thing on his priority list, so we were going to attempt to escape that way."

Dante snorts, then points down the cliff he'd been looking down when Vergil had called out to him, "While I know you're skilled Vergil, and I assume mom and dad are, you're all injured not to mention unarmed. So, damn straight you would've failed. See for yourself."

The others walk up to the cliff and look down, Vergil immediately cursing violently. The area was swarming with Demons. It would be impossible with their current conditions. He turns back to Dante with a sour expression, "I might have been able to put up enough of a fight for them to get through if I had Yamato, but it was broken." Then after a pause he sarcastically continues, "So unless you know a conveniently unguarded back door, what's the plan?"

He grins at his brother, "Matter of fact, I do." Seeing Vergil jerk in surprise, and the other three gape at him, he can't help but grin before adding to Vergil, "In fact, you know it too. Oh, and Yamato was repaired a while ago. I'm sure the kid wouldn't mind giving it back to its owner since you're alive and he doesn't need it anymore."

Ignoring Vergil's confused look, he pushes his hair out of the way, and presses a button on his headset, "Hey Kat, you there?"

The reply comes swiftly, "Yeah, I'm here."

"Good. Listen, I've got some people here-"

She cuts him off, "People? I thought this was a base destroying run, not a rescue mission? What-"

"No, I'll explain later just trust me, ok? So then can you-"

She cuts him off again, "Know of a rift nearby and can open it? Duh. Are you calling me incapable as a medium or something?"

"No, I wasn't insinuating you're incapable, I just didn't want to assume you knew of a rift nearby, preferable not anywhere near the Gate."

"Yeah, I can sense one that should be suitable. I'll send you the coordinates based on how far away I'm sensing it to be."

"Gotcha. Nero, can you head over with Kat and guard it so no Demons get through?"

This time it's his nephews voice that responds, "Sure thing Dante."

"Thanks kid. Be there soon."

With that he pulls his modified phone out of his pocket, opening the text Kat had sent him with the coordinates. As soon as he knows where he's going, he motions for his family to follow him and sets off.

They follow his brother to the rift Kat had opened for them, and wasn't that a thought. Kat had stayed with Dante all these years. Knowing how loyal she was first hand, he has no doubt she's loyally stuck by his side through thick and thin. Once they go through the rift, the first thing that greets them is Kat gasping before shakily exclaiming, "Vergil?! You're alive?!"

Vergil stares at her for a moment, just taking her in. She's gotten older, and her expression as she stares at him is an odd mix of hope and fear. Eventually he nods at Kat, glancing away before mustering himself and quietly saying, "Yeah, I am. Kat, I- I'm sorry about before. You- You deserve an explanation. See, I had met my soulmate a while before, but she died when our son was seven months old. Some humans had found out about us, about the fact we weren't human, and they killed her. I managed to resist the usual suicide, but I-I went insane. That's why I tried to do what I did, and why I treated you how I did. I'm still not fine, but now I'm at least mostly sane. I know you probably can never forgive me, but I truly am sorry for my actions and behavior. And even if you can't forgive me, I still owe you an apology."

Kat searches his face for a moment. Once she seems to find what she was looking for, tears appear in her eyes and she hugs Vergil tightly while saying, "It's ok Vergil. I may not have a soulmate but I know people who do, and I know the madness that can come purely from them being in danger, for your mate to be dead-" She cuts herself off briefly before continuing in a quieter voice, "I may never be able to truly understand the pain you were in, but I do understand your actions now. So I forgive you."

He still feels guilty for everything he'd put her through, but he couldn't deny that he was relieved by her forgiveness. He doesn't deserve it, but it isn't his choice to make, it was Kat's. He resolves himself to do the best he can to deserve her absolution. Despite the issue of his sanity, they'd been friends once. He hopes to one day be worthy of her friendship and loyalty once more.

He's broken from his thoughts by Dante's voice, "Oi, kid. Vergil's not really in any condition to fight, but you wanna give him back Yamato just in case?"

Vergil turns just in time to see the boy shift his gaze from himself to Dante and immediately stiffens, now that he thought about it Dante had said the name 'Nero'. Having been caught up in thoughts of seeing Kat again and worrying about his family making it through Hell and keeping an eye out for Demons, even if he currently wasn't capable of putting up much of a fight, he hadn't put it together and realized what it meant until now.

Now though, his son was standing right in front of him, having been watching him with an odd expression before Dante grabbed his attention. He was so much older than the seven month old Vergil last saw, but it doesn't matter, he recognizes his son anyway. Nero nods at Dante, then lifts his right arm. It was strange, much like Marzanna's arm, it looked like his arm was Devil Triggered, but the rest of him was in human form. Then out of the part of his arm that seems cracked open with a blue glow coming from inside, an energy of the same color begins to flow out, before it abruptly expands and solidifies, becoming the ever familiar Yamato.

He accepts his sword with a hesitant smile when Nero extends it to him, but he can't help but ask, "How exactly was it restored? Powerful Demonic weapons like this aren't exactly easy to make or fix."

Though he seems equally unsure, it warms his heart that Nero returns his smile, "I, uh, I had my first partial Devil Trigger less than ten feet from it. Dante figures since I'm… your son, and Sparda's grandson, it recognized the signature of my Demonic energy, resonated with it, and soaked it up. He figures I probably would've fully Devil Triggered if Yamato hadn't been feeding off of me to repair itself, but I'm glad it did. I… needed it to save someone I love." He glances at Kat, then showing he'd heard his brief conversation with Kat, gives him a small unsure smile, "My own soulmate, funnily enough."

He ducks his head and smiles a bit wider at the sword, "I'm glad. I'm glad it could help you save your soulmate, and I'm glad that after all the… terrible things I did with it, it's been used for good since I was separated from it."

Though he says that, and means it, he also can't help but wonder how it came to be wherever it was that Nero initially Devil Triggered. Shouldn't it have been with Dante? Had Dante given it to him and then he Triggered? He supposes that with how Yamato had been passed from their father to them, if Yamato was rightfully anyone's when he'd been assumed dead it was Nero, but how did Dante even find him? He thought he'd hidden him rather well. Well, he supposes he has pretty much all the time in the world to get the story from the two. Knowing Dante, it'll be interesting.

Dante cuts into his thoughts again, "Are they down?"

Nero nods at him, "Yeah, the charges are set on the Hell Gate's anchor, we're just waiting on you, unless you managed to set the explosives before you found them?"

Dante shakes his head, but before he can reply Sparda speaks up, "Destroying the Hell Gate is all well and good, but unless we recreate my seal they'll just make another one in a few days."

Dante frowns at that, then sighs, "Yeah I know, but I don't know how your seal is done, and you're in no condition to do it. Especially since you had to leave a significant portion of your power on the other side last time, and in your condition that could very well kill you. And what about the sacrificed priestesses? I don't feel comfortable sacrificing anyone. Surely there's another way?"

Sparda shakes his head immediately, "First of all, when it comes to priestess, last time the Angels found me a priestess pure of heart, but they made sure it was one that was old and didn't have much time left anyway. Partially because they were equally uncomfortable with the idea of sacrificing anyone, but partially because the sacrifice has to willingly give their life. Someone willingly dying creates powerful lasting magic, Dante. And though it pained me to do that to her, Vita was willing to die to make the world a better place, as free from Demons as possible. The magic of her sacrifice still lingers, and if the seal is done right, we should be able to utilize that and shouldn't have to sacrifice anyone else."

He glances at Kat with a thoughtful look, "As for my leaving power on the other side of the barrier, last time the only help I had was Angels who naturally struggle to access Hell. This time we have a medium who can open rifts and other Devils who know how to travel back and forth between the planes of existence. So there shouldn't be any need to leave the majority of my power this time. It wouldn't matter even if I did. We can't afford to let them obtain a fully operational Hell Gate. It would be disastrous. Besides, the ritual only requires Demonic energy and my blood. The blood isn't a problem, a few drops will do, it's the Demonic energy that's the hard part. The ritual to make the seal requires a ridiculous amount."

Before Dante can respond Nero cuts in, "Dante. He knows how to do the seal, and we can use his blood. I can supply the energy, so get going and set the charges."

Dante studies him for a minute then nods, "I can see you're not going to budge, so I won't bother arguing. Just make sure you keep them safe kid, ya hear?"

Nero nods firmly with a determined expression.

Once the Gate was destroyed and Sparda's seal back in place, they'd all gotten in Dante and Kat's cars and left. When he asks, Dante informs him that the only reason both cars were there was because Kat left before them to scout the area, but that's fortunate for them, seeing as it means there's enough room to load everyone up without having to wait for 'Lady' or Trish to show up, whoever they are(1).

Once they arrive at Dante's shop and Vergil sees his brother move to get his daughter, he follows his parents inside. The first thing that greets him is two women bent over what looks like a map. Without looking back at them the blond says, "The sign says closed for a reason."

His mother tilts her head in amusement, "We came with Dante, he's just grabbing some rather precious cargo from the car."

The two look up, and he vaguely recognizes the brunette. He'd seen her at Temen-ni-gru hadn't he? She was the descendant of the priestesses that was needed to temporarily open the portal and reach their father's power wasn't she? Arkham's daughter? Though he only vaguely recognizes them, it's clear they recognize him and know of his past with Dante as they both immediately draw guns and aim them at him. His parents' amusement dries up instantly, and they look seconds away from attacking the two women. He quickly places a hand on their shoulders, shaking his head when they glance back at him.

This appears to confuse them enough to make them hesitate, which is all the opening Nero and Kat need to start trying to explain and reassure them. It doesn't seem to help much, as they continue to eye him warily with their guns pointed at him, but at least they aren't trying to shoot him yet.

The tense standoff is broken by Dante growling in a low quiet commanding voice, "Lady, Trish, that is enough! Put your weapons away now. Yes, my brother has done some horrible stuff in the past, but it's different now. I will explain, but only after I put Marzanna in the guest bedroom. So all of you, keep your fucking voices down. I won't have you waking her!"

He doesn't walk away just yet though, giving the two a stern glare. He only lets up once they've put their guns away, and it's only then that he nods sharply and leaves, the sleeping Marzanna carefully cradled in his arms. He couldn't blame the kid for passing out in the car, she'd been exhausted by the time they'd run into Dante, though she'd made a valiant effort to hide it from them, likely because she still didn't trust them.

It was nice to see that even though he clearly felt totally out of his depth with a child he only just found out about, something Nero had quietly filled them in on while they'd been setting up the new seal, he was still protective of her. He knew Dante could be serious when it was required, but he'd never seen his brother so commanding. Even more surprising was the fact the two listened, especially since Lady and Trish don't seem like the kind of women who follow anyone's commands. Though, thinking back to Temen-ni-gru, he thought the brunette's name was Mary? Yes, now that he thinks about it, he was sure he recalled Arkham calling her Mary. So she'd changed her name? He couldn't blame her for wanting to distance herself from her father.

Nero grins at the blonde woman mischievously, "Oooh, someone's in trouble. With the boss to boot!"

The blonde glares at him, "Not my boss."

His grin widens, "You're an employee of Devil May Cry, aren't you? Last I checked, Devil May Cry was Dante's business and his business alone, so unless he gave you partial ownership he is, in fact, your boss."

Her glare intensifies for a moment, then melts into a smirk as she tosses her hair over her shoulder, "You sure you should be wasting time with me when your personal Armageddon has dawned?"

His smug teasing melts away into a look of wary confusion, but before he can reply an overly sweet female voice drifts through the doorway leading to what Vergil presumes is an attached house, "Nero? Is that you? Weren't you supposed to be home two days ago?"

Nero blanches then heatedly hisses in a demanding tone at the blonde, "What did you do?! She only uses that tone when she's royally pissed, and she's always understanding of the fact that hunts can take longer than expected unless you say something to her. So don't try to act dumb or innocent!"

The blonde smirks evilly, before shrugging nonchalantly, "I haven't the faintest clue what's wrong with Kyrie. The only thing I said to her about you being late was that she was lucky you two were soulmates since you were with playboy Dante. After all, the chances of him dragging you to some strip club or some other place was quite high, so she was lucky that as your soulmate you only have eyes for her."

Nero glares murderously at her, then at Kyrie's sharp 'Nero!', quickly calls back to her, "Coming!" Before mumbling to Kat, "If you'll excuse me, I've got some hardcore groveling slash explaining to do."

Kat snickers into her hand before quietly saying back a quick, "Good luck. You'll need it."

Once he was gone Vergil whirls towards Kat, "Does Dante really take him to strip clubs and stuff?"

Kat rapidly shakes her head before explaining, "No, he doesn't. However Trish and Nero not only tease one another, but are constantly trying to get each other in trouble. So Trish implies all sorts of lies to Kyrie, who continues to listen to her since she never outright tells lies, just implies."

Vergil sighs in relief. He really didn't want to have to murder his little brother after seeing him for the first time in years, especially since his most of his sanity had finally returned.

(1): Yes, Vergil met Lady in Devil May Cry 3, at least briefly, but it's not like he'd know she'd taken on the name Lady.