Notes:
Well, since I can't PM you, I'll answer your review here: Marlingrl, thank you so much for your kind word! I'm glad you think i'm doing alright writing this fic, and I'm also realy happy that you choose to read my fic, even if DV isn't your cup of tea. I hope you like this chapter!
Anyway, my country is a mess because of covid-19 and our crazy fucked up president, so my days had been very stressful and people I know are dying... I'm really sad. So this fanfic is my secret place, my scape ground, and I hope to entertain you with this fic. We all need a safe place right now.
It's really important to me to know what you are thinking about the story progress, so don't be shy and comment, I will answer you always!
Anyway, let's go to the second chapter. I hope you guys like it!
Much love to you all! =D
LINEAGE
By PCSP
Chapter 2
20th October - 10:40
Fortuna Island
"What's your problem?!" Nico shouted from afar, distracting Nero and making him miss the target; his shoot hit the corner of the gate instead of the tree he was aiming "Hey, you asshole, don't ignore me!"
Nero grunted in indignation and undid his devil trigger, putting away Blue Rose and Red Queen while turning to meet Nico's angry stare. She was running to his direction and seems ready to scold him.
He already knew what she was going to do: piss him off even more.
"What's my problem? It's you who seems to have one, idiot!" he snapped back at her. He was with zero patience to deal with Nico's bullshit right now.
"Haven't you stopped being a sentimental idiot yet? Because you are scaring the kids and Kyrie with all that noise! Look how many trees you have already destroyed in this yard! "
"I'm just training, Nico. Leave me alone."
"Nero, the tree next to you is literally on fire because of Red Queen's exceed. You are not training, you are destroying the fucking yard!"
Nero realized at that moment how his... uh... "training" had indeed destroyed a lot of the vegetation around him, some of it was still burning to the ground. It was definitely not possible to call that place a "garden" anymore. Kyrie would be furious when she saw it, and the children were probably shaking with fear under their beds.
He could blame his devil trigger, because he was still getting used to such power; but it would be a lie. It was all his temper's fault.
Nico, tired of waiting for Nero answer, crossed her arms defensively. Nero took the time to sit by the fire that had become the apple tree in the garden, watching the flames as if wanting them to burn all his problems away.
Oh no. – She thought – Now the asshole is sad? Come on!
"Are you PMSing?" she joked.
"Shut up!" He snapped, felling the tips of his ears heat up in embarrassment.
"Then what's going on with you?" she asked, seriously once in a lifetime, as she sat next to her friend and put her hand on his shoulder "You looked happy! You went on weeks with a smile pasted on your face, and Kyrie told me that you cried with joy a couple of times in your shared room. By the way: 'Devil may cry', crybaby."
He let an embarrassed little laugh escape his lips, looking down and trying to hide his disastrous temper from Nico. He was not comfortable talking about this subject, at least not while he didn't understand his feelings very well.
Fuck... How I wish Dante were here.
"I'm a mess." he confessed, trying to make the turmoil of emotions in his heart as simple as possible by putting into words "I don't know how it works."
"What is 'it'? How to be a father?"
Also. – He thought, bitterly. – It is not as if I have any great examples of this in my life.
He chose not to verbalize that answer.
"Kyrie is getting more and more tired, and I know this isn't normal in a pregnancy."
"Of course it is, the baby is growing and..."
"I know it's not normal." He interrupted in a definite tone, causing Nico to stop talking "She is unwell, I can feel it."
"Is 'it' a demonic stuff? These shits that make you and Dante feel like you want to stick the sword in each other and everything? What do you call it… 'Instinct'?"
"I… I don't know. All I know is that I feel that she isn't doing well, but I can't explain how it works. I just know it. It's like I feel bad too, but instead of getting weak I get violent and I want to destroy everything and everyone who comes close to her."
"Possessive much, Mr. Sparda."
"This is serious." He murmured, feeling a little scared of himself "Every day is worse. One day I won't be able to control myself. I feel like I can eventually lose control and attack you or the kids. It's an awful feeling, trust me."
Nico stretched her arms, looking up in the sunny sky and contemplating the possibilities.
"Okay, this is really weird, even for your little devil self. You used to trust me in your 'territory', didn't you? You said something like that once, one of those times when you talk like an animal."
Nero feels shameful when compared to an animal, but Nico was right: when it came to his demonic inner self, he acted as if he is a territorial animal. This was usually not a problem, and it was certainly an advantage during battles; since he is still part human, his rationality often prevailed. But it seems that the rationality was weakening day by day.
"It isn't something rational, Nico." He explained, frustrated, running his hands through his short hair as a self-comfort move "I'm afraid to act on instinct too much and regret it later."
"You demons are a bunch of mutts snarling and pissing around to mark territory. It's funny to watch. But, in a way, it makes sense. You are going to have a puppy-..."
"Don't call the baby a 'puppy'!"
Nico chuckled, because it was funny that Nero didn't defend himself from being called a mutt, but was defending his baby even before it was born.
"... and you want to take care of your kin at all costs." She concluded, shrugging "You need to research this, demon boy."
Nero looked at the few clouds in the sky, trying to silence his instincts for a moment and think. Okay, maybe he could get a book in Fortuna's castle on the subject, Agnus did extensive research on demons, but the chance of finding something specific about demonic pregnancy was slim. Agnus was not interested in that specific aspect of demonic life.
"Dante would know what to do." he declared, feeling defeated for admitting that that jackass was better than him at something.
"Dante? Why him?" Nico questioned, doubtful "As far as I know, Dante didn't go around impregnating ladies like your old man did. Why would he know what to do to deal with a demonic pregnancy?"
"Let's not forget that Dante suuuure knows how to keep a secret." He said, bitterly.
"Ok… He could be a deadbeat dad too. But we have to give him the benefit of the doubt. I never heard about he having kids, and I'm sure Lady and Trish wouldn't let him run away from his responsibilities if that happened."
Nero frowned. That was true, the girls would kill him if he even tried. But Dante lived eight years with his mother Eva, who had a demonic twin pregnancy, and she could have told him something about how it went. Furthermore, Nero thought of Dante because he was the closer demonic figure he had in his life, closer than Trish and definitely closer than... Vergil ...
However, as Dante never really embraced his demonic nature until recently, he probably wasn't taught on the subject when he was a child and should not have information about that matter. He was too young when he lost his mother, he probably didn't even know where the babies came from, let alone demon babies.
"Did you try to talk to Trish?" Nico asked, thinking of alternative ways to resolve this issue. "She's a girl, she's a demon. That's all you need right now."
"Trish is an artificial demon. She wasn't generated through pregnancy and she cannot have a pregnancy either. That's the only thing she told me when I called."
Nico opened her eyes wide, not expecting that response from Nero.
"Wow." She exclaimed, truly surprised "I can't believe that you really went after someone for help. You are always so proud to do this kind of stuff."
"Pride has its limits. When Kyrie's life is at trouble, pride is not that much of a priority." He stated, in such a solemn way that it reminded Nico of V. How had she not noticed the resemblance before?
"Well... Lady, perhaps? She isn't a demon, but she's a girl that deals with demon and..."
"Nico, stop, please." He sighed "Whatever you say, I've tried. All I know is that I need to get out of here with Kyrie, as soon as possible. I hate everyone in Fortuna and they all hate me, it's better for us to leave."
"And to go where? And the kids?" she questioned, jumping to her feet.
"If I stay here, I will become a danger to the children too." Nero didn't even give her a look, probably too embarrassed by the admission of his lack of self-control. "The demon doesn't care what kind of person is getting close to Kyrie. For him, everything is a threat, even a helpless five-year-old."
'The demon'. Nico hated it when Nero spoke like that. 'The demon' was a way of distancing himself from his demonic inner self, which has grown since his full devil trigger, and he clearly hated it. It would be so much easier if he accepted his demonic self and moved on. In that aspect, Nero seemed to have much more resemblance of Dante than his own father.
"I'll stay with the children." Nico declared and Nero turned his face to her abruptly, impressed with the offer "It is not my expertise, but I can take care of them for a few weeks. I put my art aside until the baby is born, and you'll have to manage with the devil breakers that I have stocked for the next few months. Is that enough team work for you, tough guy?"
"Thank you so much! I owe you one!" he said, in a sincere grateful tone. Nero wasn't expecting that, really.
"But where are you going? To a cabin into the woods? Anywhere you go, there will be other people to mess around with your possessive self."
"Morrison called me today." He explained; Nico sat down next to him again, ready to hear the plan. "He said that the Devil May Cry headquarters is abandoned. Trish and Lady took care of the place for a while, but the two are on missions on the other side of the world and have no plans to return for the next few months. Morrison wants me to pay the expenses."
"And what do you have to do with the headquarters? The company belongs to Dante, we are only employed for mobile services."
"Dante is my uncle, Nico. Did you forget? With Dante's absence, I'm the legal heir of Devil May Cry."
"Oh, hell no! I don't want to be your fucking employee! Dante have to get back from that shitty hellhole and sign my paycheck because I won't accept you as my boss, asshole!"
Nico managed to make Nero laugh, and she felt fulfilled enough to light a cigarette and relax for a while. She wanted a full laugh from him, and now she got it. It break her heart to see him so nervous (even if she would never admit it).
"Ok, correct me if I misunderstood: You have to take care of Devil May Cry's expenses and are thinking of living there with Kyrie, since it's abandoned."
Nero responded with an affirmative nod; Nico let a noise of contemplation escape her throat.
She never was at Devil May Cry headquarters. When Nero met her after Sanctus' shenanigans, the two instantly became friends, but it took more than a year for Nero to stop going to Capulet every month to go on missions with Dante. Nero only stopped when Nico gave him the idea of implementing a kind of itinerant work, which would ease his commuting problems and certainly save a lot of money on train tickets; and Dante, despite not knowing Nico, loved the idea and hired her.
Before the whole Urizen incident, Nico was dying to meet the legendary demon hunter. She was going to take her first payment in person, she had even created Dr. Faust to hand it over to Dante as a 'thank you' gift; Nico also dreamed of the possibility of having Dante sign her bra at this meeting, because holy shit, her boss is the legendary Dante! Unfortunately, all hell broke loose, so Nico never got to know the headquarters, because V took them straight to Qliphoth on Red Grave, and the rest is history.
Still, Nico knew what the Devil May Cry office was like: Nero showed her pictures and always told some details of the place when Nico asked. Therefore, it was inevitable to ask:
"How are you going to explain the naked woman posters to Kyrie?"
Nero smiled at that question, seeming to relax some more. Nico smiled happily for making him laugh. She loved this stupid asshole so much, holy shit.
"I have nothing to do with Dante's office decoration, Kyrie knows that." He said, with a look of nostalgia on his face, "But I'm not going to take Dante's things out of there, I'm not his fucking maid, and his room must be full of pizza boxes, I'm not even going to step on that shit. And he will come back eventually."
"Do you really think he'll be back?"
She instantly regretted the question, because Nero's smile vanished. Dante might not be an example of a person, but the two hunters have become close in recent years to the point of considering themselves family, the newfound blood kindred was just a detail. In fact, Nero never said that, but Nico was sure he just never asked how close he was to Dante's lineage because he was afraid to discover that Dante was not his father. Nero wanted Dante to be his father, and the fact that he isn't made him suffer as much as his current absence.
"Vergil said they would come back." Nero answered in a tiny upset voice.
This statement took her by surprise, and she waited for him to elaborate.
"When he gave me Willian Blake's book. He said to keep it until he get back and threw it on the floor."
"Your daddy is a wonderful polite man." She scoffed.
"He is an idiot." his tone was dry and full of resentment "But he said he would come back, and if he intends to come back, Dante will come back too."
"If Urizen was the king of the underworld, that means Vergil is the king now, isn't he? Do you really think he will come back? Doesn't he have to stay there to rule the chaos, despair and whatever?"
"I don't know, and I don't care about their demon bullshit."
"But you have to know how it works, Nero. You are the prince of hell!"
"Fuck you, Nico!"
Nico smoked her cigarette right in Nero's face, just to irritate him, and he coughed and flipped her off. An irritated Nero was better than a sad Nero, she concluded.
She threw the rest of the cigarette on the embers of the apple tree, which had already burned to ashes.
"If he said he'd be back, he'll be back." she declared "And, well, I'm sure as hell Dante will come back."
"How come?"
"Because Dante took Lady's Kalina Ann II with him, and if he doesn't return it, I'm sure Lady'll make it a point to go down there and shoot him in the head. He should know that he can't upset this woman."
Nero laughed, remembering Lady's indignation when he said that Dante had fallen on hell carrying her newest acquired heavy weaponry.
Regardless of what the twins would do, Nero knew that life continued: his girlfriend was pregnant and he would have to do something about it.
So that's what he would do.
(***)
30th October - 16:35
Capulet City
When they arrived at Devil May Cry, Nero let his backpack slip off his shoulder and fall to the floor with a dull thud. To say that he was shocked was an understatement: Devil May Cry was flawless! No dusty floor or pizza's box lying around, and the place even smelt like flowers!
What the fuck?
"Nero!" he heard Patty's shrill voice and saw her appears from upstairs. She ran to meet him, unceremoniously embracing his waist "Welcome!"
Embarrassed, Nero patted Patty's back awkwardly, looking at his girlfriend Kyrie over the girl's shoulder with an 'it's not my fault' expression. Kyrie cast him a deadly jealousy look, and no one who knew the angelic Kyrie would imagine that she was able to look at someone like that.
Patty released him, sprouting a cheerful smile as she took two steps back and finally payed attention to Kyrie. She looked her up and down, as if judging every bit of the woman who took Nero's heart. She took a few moments to look at Kyrie's belly and soon understood that she was pregnant. Not intending to distress a pregnant woman, she smiled at Kyrie and held out her hand in a clearly sympathetic gesture.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Patty Lowell, Nero's friend and Dante's business partner."
Nero cleared his throat, begging Kyrie not to make things difficult with a pleading stare. The girl still looked at him angrily for a few moments, but eventually turned her attention to Patty, smiling heartily and also extending her hand.
Nero sighed, relieved.
When Nero first came to Devil May Cry and met Patty, he was extremely surprised. He never imagined that Dante would have a feminine presence in his life besides the demon's huntress Lady and Trish, and he certainly hadn't expected to meet an normal teenage girl in Devil May Cry. Patty didn't had any powers, she was an snobby rich girl with a serious love for doramas and cute things; she walked around Devil May Cry headquarters hanging stuffed animals on the wall and getting irritated when Dante messed up everything or didn't make enough money on his gigs.
Dante never quite explained where Patty came from, but Nero knew that they met during some past mission, when the girl was still very young, and they became friends. Dante took care of her for a while until her mother took her, but she still visited him regularly, and he, despite being a little annoyed with her girly stuff, loved her with all his heart. Dante and Patty's relationship was very reminiscent of Nero and Nico's relationship, at least in part of the brotherly irritation and love. Patty was the only reason Devil May Cry had not bankrupted yet, because she did miracles with administrating the little money Dante made.
Business apart, Patty instantly acquired a crush on Nero when she met him. Dante made fun of it for weeks when he realized, but Nero always acted as if he didn't noticed, talking about Kyrie whenever Patty was too close, praying that the girl would not put him against the wall and he would have to hurt her feelings. He didn't want to create embarrassment for Dante if he turned Patty down, because that would create a strange atmosphere in Devil May Cry. But Dante didn't cared about that at all, in fact he found all this unrequited crush very funny and loved to watch Nero dodge all Patty's advances.
Despite Devil May Cry not being completely empty, the place still didn't fell like his territory. It would take a little bit of living there to him to claim the office as his home. Therefore, Patty wasn't seen as an threat by 'the demon', and he knew she would leave before dawn.
Still, it was good to see a face that reminded him of Dante's normal life. He was glad Patty was still around, maybe things could go back the way they were before.
"This is Kyrie" he introduced her when the two shook hands "My girlfriend".
"Fiancée." Kyrie corrected him, and Nero felt a shiver run down his spine.
Okay. He wasn't going to argue, because he wanted to ask Kyrie to marry him before all that Qliphoth confusion happened. And although it was much more of an imposition of engagement than an actual request, he had nothing to complain about it. "Fiancée" sounded perfect!
"Uh ... Yes, fiancée." He agreed and then desperately tried to change the subject "Patty, what are you doing here? Is Dante here?"
Since his devil trigger finally activated, Nero was able to sense the presence of other demons in a much more efficient way than before. Therefore, He knew Dante wasn't there, but it didn't hurt to ask.
"Dante hasn't returned." She said, looking down, saddened "But you know how thing works, right? If I don't take care of Devil May Cry, nobody does! And he owes me a birthday present, so he'll have to go shopping when he get back, and won't be able to waste time cleaning…"
Nero simply understood between the lines: Patty also wanted Dante to come back and was getting everything ready for him. She also had hopes.
And hope was the only thing they all could do.
(***)
Undefined date - Undefined time
Hell
When they reached the cave, Vergil acted as if everything was normal, entering the place and sitting on the floor as if no bizarre demonstration of power or thunderous release of hormones between them were happening. Dante, more nervous than he could admit, felt his head getting heavier and heavier, as if he was feverish. For the first time in a long time, he felt ashamed and uncomfortable with the desires he was starting to feel.
Vergil was clearly close to a full heat, Dante could feel it in the air. Although both were dirtier than they have ever been in their lives, Vergil's pheromones stand out and a musky sweet odor that spread through the cave the more his brother moved. Dante wanted to pin him to the ground and do… many unspeakable things.
He swallow, cleared his throat, and tried to speak.
"Vergil... I..." He did try, but he could not put his feelings into words.
Vergil stared at him, and Dante analyzed his appearance: He looked a little more flushed than usual, but apart from this small change, nothing seemed to have modified in his stoic expression.
"Vergil, we need to talk." Dante said eventually, hoping Vergil could help him start a conversation.
"No, we don't."
No such luck, apparently.
Dante frowned, feeling slightly irritated with Vergil. He hated it when his brother made these demonstrations of unreasonable superiority, but this time, perhaps due to the alpha-omega dynamics, irritation hit him more strongly.
How dare my omega humiliate me in this way?
"This is not a request."
Not knowing how it worked, Dante used his alpha domination against Vergil: his voice sounded deeper than conventional, and Vergil made an expression of disgust and indignation, looking at him with pursed lips. Dante was surprised that Vergil showed him any kind of attention, but he understood that this was because he ordered it; Dante was the winning alpha of the courtship, and Vergil would have some kind of submission to him during his fertile period, whether he wanted to or not.
Oh, how wrong Dante was…
In a matter of seconds, Vergil stabbed Dante's abdomen with the burning blade of Yamato. Dante coughed up blood, grunting from the pain he felt, but smiled as his stare met Vergil's predatory eyes. Apparently, his twin had not liked the order very much.
When Dante's knees hit the floor and a curse word left his lips, the blood dropped down his mouth to his neck. Vergil retracted Yamato, wiping away the blade's red blood with the hem of his own robes before sheathing her.
Dante covered the wound in his belly with his hands, feeling his blood stain his filthy gloves even more, but he knew the pain was temporary. His body was already healing anyway: in less than five seconds, he was intact again. He got up, looked at his bloody hands and groaned.
"What the hell, Verg? You sure like to impale me all the time, don't you?" Dante shook his head, dismissing those irrational thoughts of submitting Vergil. He was still human, fifty percent human, and he would not let demonic shit like that harm the relationship he was building again with his brother. Not a fucking chance.
Vergil raised an eyebrow at the question, and it was only then that Dante realized how his sentence could have a double interpretation. Dante cleared his throat and lowered his face; not wanting to let Vergil see him flush with embarrassment.
However, his older brother prevented him from moving, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look him in the eyes. Vergil's stare was menacing, like a lion ready to pounce his dinner.
"You're too pathetic to be the alpha who won the combat, little brother." Vergil concluded, sliding his thumb in Dante's blood that was now dripping from his chin "You don't even know what to do in such hierarchy. Pathetic."
Without interrupting his stare, Vergil brought his bloody finger to his mouth and licked it clean.
Dante, dumbfounded by his brother's sexual display, as well as by his body's own reaction (he could feel his inner demon practically vibrate when he saw Vergil lick his fucking blood), pushed Vergil away from him. Startled, Dante tried to get away from his brother and end up tripping over his own feet, falling ungraciously on his butt.
"What the fuck!?" He was hyperventilating.
Vergil smirked at him, finding Dante's reaction funny and arousing. Yep, that's his little brother's place: at his knees, just for him.
"An embarrassed alpha? Now I can say I've finally seen everything in my life."
Dante felt his whole body heat up; his ears seemed to be on fire, his face was hotter and blushing even more. Who would have thought: Dante, the shameless one who always flirted with every living being on earth, was embarrassed by Vergil's lewdness.
"We are brothers!" He shouted, ignoring his inner devil, who was still happy that Vergil was acting sexual towards him – That's fucking sick, stop being a weirdo ,devil-me! "What's going through your head? Are you nuts?"
"I see nothing wrong with what is going through my head, and I know that certainly similar things are going through your head from below." Vergil took a step forward, standing right in the middle of Dante's legs, and placed one foot above his lower abdomen, making sure that Dante was, in fact, excited by his presence "Nuts, you say? Hmm… Yeah, I'd enjoy that very much."
Dante's brain seemed to have short-circuited, and he simply concentrated all his strength not to moan as his heart raced even more. Vergil's pheromones still made him feel more and more mesmerized by everything that was happening, but his human side screamed in the back of his head that he had to stop this nonsense right now!
As if listening to the prayers from Dante's human side, Vergil took two steps back and walked away, entering the cave even more. Dante remained mesmerized, enjoying the way Vergil's thighs brushed against each other with each graceful step.
STOP, DEVIL-ME!
"Rest, Dante." Vergil ordered, sitting on the ground as far away from his brother as possible "I promise I won't irritate you for your incompetence as an alpha anymore. After all, my heat should only arrive for real in a week or so, and until then I decide how I will supply your lack of commitment."
"My incompetence…? Come on, Verg! What part of 'we are brothers' you didn't understand?"
"Brothers or not, we are demons and this is natural among demons. Stop holding on to moral precepts that don't apply to our nature, little brother."
Unceremoniously, Vergil laid down on the cold, damp floor of the cave, casually placing his hand in his abdomen, as if feeling a little pain. Well… One thing was certain: Vergil was really an omega, even if he acted all dominant towards him.
"Why didn't you tell me you were omega?" He asked, trying to gain some answers now that they were still thinking clearly. Of course, he was surprised and dumbfounded by Vergil's nature and behavior, but he did want answers.
"This isn't the kind of thing that needs to be declared, fool." Vergil argued, closing his eyes, feeling tired and annoyed "We feel the dynamic and we know it. If you are too ignorant to interpret your nature and feel it for yourself, I am not the one to blame."
"I've never felt anything different about you until now!" Dante defended himself, crossing his arms..
This statement, however simple, completely changed the air between the brothers. Vergil took a deep breath and calmed himself, blinking a few times as he considered that new information.
"Oh." he concluded, as eloquently as a brick.
"What do you mean 'oh'?" Dante complained. "You'll have to be more expressive, bro. Not that it's something you can do, but..."
"That means you only acquired your demonic maturity on the Qliphoth. It makes sense that you haven't felt the dynamics before."
"Uh?"
"Ironic… And you dare to condemn me for being monosyllabic, Dante?" Vergil scoffed, and Dante could swore the way he spoke gave him butterflies.
Why does it seems that his brother had become sexier with each passing second? That's not fair!
"You only accepted your demonic side when you used the Rebellion, the sword that unites man and demon, on yourself." Vergil explained, as if he was teaching something too difficult for a child to understand "I accepted my demonic side when I was eight, when I activated my devil trigger for the first time. You disowned your devil self, even after I did used the Rebellion on you years ago. So you never matured fully."
Dante frowned, not liking Vergil's explanation.
"A round of applauses for the super hyper mature Vergil who learned everything as eight-years- old, what a prodigy!" He ironically clapped "Dante's wacky woohoo pizza man who didn't get to do his homework until he was forty!"
"As hard as it is to believe, I'm not ridiculing you for that." Vergil seemed a little irritated by his brother's irony, as always "I'm just stating a fact. But I thought that..."
Vergil fell silent, biting his lip as if thinking carefully about his next words. Dante waited, curiously.
"I thought that after Temen-Ni-Gru you would have awakened. Completely, I mean."
It was big fat lie. Dante was sure Vergil would not say that, he clearly changed his mind and brought up the Temen-Ni-Gru thing again. But he was getting some answers, so he choosed to enter his brother game and see if they could get somewhere with this conversation.
"Let me get this clear: you think that after you lovingly stabbed my guts when we were eighteen, I would magically understand everything about alphas and omegas. Well, bro, you could had been clearer. It's ok to use words and everything..."
Vergil rolled his eyes, irritated by the "Dante" way of conducting an argument like that. But Vergil felt tired, because of all the spare and imminent heat. He wanted to conclude this conversation as fast as possible and go to sleep.
"I already told you that this is not something that is told, it's something that you feel." Vergil angrily defended himself "If you didn't feel anything, why did you try to avoid my fall?"
Dante blinked, surprised by the question. What the hell that had to do with anything?
"Come again?"
"Why did you try to prevent my fall to hell?" he repeated "You held out your hand, you wanted to avoid me falling."
"Did you hit your head at the fight right now?" Dante seemed more and more confused with the course of this conversation "I tried to stop you from falling because you are my brother! That's what brothers do, dumbass!"
Now Vergil was the one who looked surprised, as if that obvious information changed all his conclusions.
"So..." Vergil cleared his throat, clearly thinking of how to ask his new questions without giving much information "Why did you take care of Nero?"
"What does one thing have to do with the other!?"
"Answer me."
Dante sighed and shook his head. His brother was so stubborn, and that was frustrating.
"Nero is your son, so he is my family too! And 'caring' is not quite the right word, Nero literally greeted me for the first time with a double head kick. He was already a teenager when I met him."
"Hm..." Vergil murmured, thoughtfully and still a little sleepy.
Dante was increasingly confused; Vergil was so difficult to communicate! And, well, Dante's body actually wanted to 'communicate' with Vergil in a different way.
"Look, Verg, I think we really need to talk about it and all, but you will need to get away from me." he concluded, shrugging "It's kind of difficult to be near you right now."
Vergil wasn't an imbecile. He realized Dante was having a hard time staying away from him. Even if he was not quite ready for an alpha yet (his cramps started, but he wouldn't be out of his mind to mate until the end of the week), Dante clearly looked like a teenager who had just had his first contact with an omega: dilated pupils, pink skin, all hot and heavy, and demonic features escaping between his human features (for now, only the slightly sharp canines sprouting at the base of his bottom lip).
He was really worked up.
"Sit closer to the entrance." Vergil ordered, adjusting his posture as he leaned his back against the cave stone, trying to prevent himself from sleeping for a bit longer.
Dante followed his advice, sitting almost outside the cave, looking ahead and avoiding Vergil's gaze as he reflected. The draft helped Dante not to inhale Vergil's pheromones from a distance, despite pushing his own pheromones to the omega.
Vergil was the used to it, however, and he was sure he would maintain his dignity. At least for a couple of days…
"Who is Nero's father?" Dante asked, after a morbid silence that formed between them.
Vergil's whole body shivered. He certainly didn't think he would have this conversation with Dante. Even though he had wanted fight to death with him and changed his mind because of Nero's plea, he wasn't ready to talk about Nero's heritage. Nero and Dante had some kind of friendship; his son even came to Qliphoth to save his brother, so clearly the two had a good relationship. Dante should already know the truth, shouldn't he?
But of course Dante didn't know. Because Dante was a complete fool, as always.
"When did you meet Nero?" Vergil questioned, trying to cover more ground and learn somethings about Nero's and Dante's past.
"Five years ago, in Fortuna." Dante replied, impatiently.
Fortuna Island. Well, that means the boy didn't go far.
"Aren't you going to answer my question?" Dante insisted, not wanting to share more about his past if Vergil didn't open his goddamn mouth.
Vergil looked to the bottom of the cave, not wanting to look at his brother while having this conversation.
"When we met at Temen-Ni-Gru, I..." he swallowed, remembering all the suffering he had felt at the time and feeling an ache in the bottom of his throat, but doing his best not to let his feelings show through his voice. "I had already left a new heir of the Sparda in the world."
"You already had the kid and still fought me!?" Dante asked, astonished and a little bit pissed off "Didn't you think of the baby's future at all? Do you even care about your son?"
"Spare me, Dante." he harshly interrupted, not in the mood to be scolded by his past mistakes "Losing to you was never an option. Nero was safe, and I would be back to pick him up as soon as my business in Temen- Ni-Gru were over."
"But you did it. Lost, I mean."
"Questionable conclusion. Your victory was by mere luck, and my mistake can't be considered a 'lost'."
"So haughty, so difficult!" Dante scoffed "How the hell are you the omega one? I think your ego is bigger than all the alphas' ego together!"
"Do not stick to simplistic definitions of demonic dynamics, brother." Vergil frowned "Don't simplify me."
"I wouldn't dare." Dante grumbled "There is no one more difficult than you in this world, big brother."
The two remained silent for a few minutes, both extremely irritated with each other. Dante was the first to take a deep breath and break the silence, trying to resume the serious matter they were discussing.
"So... you choose to have Nero in Fortuna." he concluded, earning a brief throat sound in confirmation from his brother "Why?"
"The Order of the Sword." He explained, the sleepy feeling clouding his mind and making him spill everything to Dante without much care of the consequences "Nero had our blood, the members of the Order would eventually notice it and I believed they would protect him; in case it was necessary to leave him in Fortuna. The desire to be near my son was petty; I could not have Nero by my side until I defeated Mundus, since we were still on a run. I'd never risk his life like that."
Dante couldn't believe what he just heard. So that's why Vergil tried to obtain Sparda's power and did all that Temen-Ni-Gru nightmare? To defeat Mundus and, by consequence, protect his baby? That... well... That's certainly something new. But Dante didn't want the conversation to go to this mushy subject, so he tried to change its course:
"That means you were afraid of losing to me, weren't you?" He asked with a grin, happy to tease.
"Don't be ridiculous." Vergil snapped, looking to Dante's eyes for now.
"But you were wrong." Dante sighed "The order did recognized Nero as a descendant of Sparda, but they didn't protect him. They used the kid, and he suffered a lot. That order was up to no good, Verg."
Dante saw a brief hurt stare in Vergil's eyes, but his brother turned his back on him, again, lying fully on the ground one more time. Vergil clearly didn't want to be seen emotional unstable by his little brother.
And Dante found it cute.
CUTE? COME ON, DEMON-ME! STOOOP!
"I knew they're lunatics." Vergil murmured in a sad tone "I explored that island before choosing an acceptable place for Nero's hiding place. But I still thought that anywhere else on Earth, Nero would have been killed as fast as people discovered that he was a demon; he'd be killed as a child. Even though the Order used him, they kept him alive. And that's enough."
"Why? Why would you condemn your child to a life of suffering? I knew you weren't very familiar orientated when you ripped his arm off, but... Why didn't you ask for my help? I could have helped!"
Vergil laughed in disgust at that statement.
"You couldn't even take care of your own shop." Dante tried to interrupt Vergil, but he kept talking "The plan was simple: If I didn't succeed obtaining father's power and Mundus defeated me, I knew that if he discovered any rumor about Nero, he wouldn't believe it enough to come to Fortuna to investigate, because the Order were considered lunatic even throughout the underworld. Mundus would conclude that was a fraud. In other words, if you took care of Nero as a baby, Mundus would find out fast and kill you both in a heartbeat. Nero was safer at the Order."
Dante was pissed of that Vergil didn't trust him enough to open up about his plans when all that bullshit happened, but he had to agree: it made sense. Nero sure was safer at Fortuna, because being by his side, at that time, meant that demons would attack any minute; not that this aspect changed in his life, but... Oh, well, now at least Nero was a big boy that could take care of himself. And Dante couldn't keep Nero away, he liked the kid too much to do that.
"Also, I knew you would eventually find Nero and would protect him if needed, as it obviously did happen." Vergil concluded in a small and tired voice.
"I didn't know he existed. I went to Fortuna and lil'teen Nero was there, destroying everything. It was a coincidence." Dante said, shrugging and feeling a little nostalgic.
Vergil shook his head in denial.
"Even though his demon was not awake, the blood calls." He explained, his voice sounding dizzy, as if he was about to sleep any minute "You'd seek him when time comes, and you did."
"That's bullshit, I just..."
"You appeared suddenly when Nero was about to be crushed by Urizen. You felt it, Dante. I know you felt the urge to protect him."
Vergil's explanation made him stop and think about it for the first time. When he absorbed Sparda and Rebellion and woke up his inner demon fully, Dante simply acted on impulse: within seconds, he was between Urizen and Nero, defending his nephew. The demon was in control, and Dante let him act. No... That's not true. Dante was in control. He and his demon finally became one, and he simply embraced his other side and let him guide his actions, saving the boy from certain death.
"Even if you didn't understand at the time, the same force that made you save Nero in Qliphoth made you go to Fortuna." Vergil explained, as he didn't have to know all the story to understand that this was what happened "It's an inner force that you don't comprehend, but it exist. You felt Nero's sorrow, and your instincts guide you to help him."
"Did you feel Nero's suffering too?"
"Every day." Vergil replied, softly and sleepy "But I was so blinded by my own sufferings that I let them mix. It isn't very pleasing to be under Mundu's power… It hurts, a lot. I felt Nero's pain and mine, combined; until I stopped feeling anything apart from my own pain. Mundus destroyed a lot within me, and I only rose in essence after you defeated Urizen and I resurfaced with his and V's union. Mundus' corruption completely destroys anyone's essence; Nero did not cross my mind a year after my fall and, because I no longer felt his pain, I believed he was dead. Until I, or what was left of me, forgot about him completely."
Dante was astonished: Vergil sure talks a lot when he is sleepy!
"But you found him and took his arm off to regain Yamato."
"I was so corrupted that I didn't feel Nero as my child. I noticed Sparda's blood on him, but I didn't felt our connection. I believed that he would be only yours. In that moment, all I wanted was to destroy you and your entire existence on Earth. Family or not, I saw Nero as your cub, and I hated that you had everything and I had nothing left."
Dante reflected on his past, and it seems that a lot of it made sense at that moment: after Vergil's fall, his life deteriorated. He felt agonized, but he attributed the feeling exclusively to the loss of his brother. When, years later, he fought with Nelo Angelo and was sure that he would have killed his brother, his pain got even worse. Of course, he associated this feeling with mourning, but... Nero would be entering adolescence at that time, wouldn't he? And, consequently, feeling even more the lack of family members and suffering all the turmoil of emotions that a teen orphan should feel. Dante did not only suffered his pain, he also suffered Nero's pain.
"I... I think I understand what you mean." he said in a tragic sigh.
These were difficult years, washed down by Jack Daniels and excessive melancholy, hidden behind the sarcasm mask that deceived many people – minus Lady, Trish and Patty; the girls always managed to see his true self behind all his sarcastic posture.
When Dante met Nero, it was as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He felt happy, something he had not felt in years. He initially believed that the feeling came from finally overcoming Vergil's death, from being able to deal with it better now that he found his nephew. However, from what Vergil now explained, it had something to do with blood bond between relatives.
Which is weird, because he didn't have this kind of bond with Vergil, and kindred with a brother, specially a twin brother, was tighter than a kindred between uncle and nephew… Wasn't it?
Dante wanted to ask, but at that exactly time he heard a deeply sighing and saw his brother snuggling on the floor. The eminent heat exhausted his brother, probably, and Dante knew he shouldn't ask more questions.
He looked at his sleeping brother's back for several minutes, enjoying the way he breathed peacefully. It was a miracle that Vergil felt safer enough to fall asleep in his presence, and even though he didn't say anything about it, he knew that his job was to protect the omega from any demon who might try to disturb them. And that trust already meant a lot in their relationship. Maybe things could change for the better?
Dante felt hopeful and smiled, wanting to pet Vergil's dirty hair, but knowing it would result in a painful stab. He had to keep his distance and watch for any enemies ahead.
While he watched the hell's ground, he concluded something: Vergil hid many things about his past from him, and decided to take all the suffering that could have been shared with him, if Vergil had stayed by his side. But things seemed to be changing, little by little, but they were changing. And Dante would not allow Vergil to run away again, not anymore. When he go back to the surface (because he was going to come back), Vergil would go with him.
The two would finally build a family with Nero. The kid deserves that. They all deserved to be happy, after an awful life they have lived.
With that conclusion in mind, Dante waited and hoped for the better.
Because hope was the only thing they all could do.
... To be continued...