Chapter Text
Urizen lays on his back on the blood-soaked earth, breaths wheezing out of him painfully.
Dante supports V as he approaches, worry panging through him with every trembling step. "All right, bud. It's all you from here, but you listen to me, all right? I meant what I told Urizen. That mom looked for you. That I did. So, just.... Don't forget, okay?"
Vergil smooths his thumb over Dante's knuckles before letting go. "You have my word."
"Good."
"You may want to step back with Nero." V manages, crawling his way onto Urizen's chest with no small amount of struggle. "I cannot promise there won't be some manner of... reaction."
Dante shakes his head. "I'm not going anywhere. Not this time."
The smile on V's face is momentary, replaced by determination as he mutters lines of poetry under his breath. Dante can't help his smile. Vergil's always so damn dramatic. It has to be genetic.
Also, "reaction" was an understatement.
Dante feels hands at his back as he blinks blue-white spots from his vision, Nero's hands, and he climbs to his feet. A touch of Quicksilver and Dante is back where he started, dragging his big brother against his chest. He expects to be stabbed for it. He expects to hear Vergil snarl his name with annoyance like he always used to.
He doesn't expect Vergil to hug him back.
Vergil grips him tight, allowing himself to be pulled down when Dante's newfound strength fails him. He cradles his little brother's head protectively, his chin resting on top of Dante's hair. It's been decades since he and Dante were this close to one another without a sword through the other's chest. Vergil soothes his brother when his shoulders shake.
"Vergil."
"I'm here, Dante. I won't leave you again." He meets his son's eyes over Dante's head. "Nero."
He fidgets. "Yeah?"
"Come here."
Nero joins their embrace somewhat awkwardly, but Dante makes him welcome with a wet chuckle, squeezing the boy in between them.
They break apart only by necessity, retreating to the nearest exit from the tree and staring over the cracking abyss. Dark clouds roil from the roots, beckoning forth the underworld's forces with the taste of free air.
"You remember the plan, Nero?" Vergil asks, his voice soft.
"Yeah, I remember. Doesn't mean I have to like it. You guys promise you're coming back?"
Dante ruffles his hair. "Promise, kiddo."
With pride in his gaze, Vergil tips his head to Nero. "You have my word, but if that does not comfort you," He takes Nero's right hand, turning his palm over to place his favored book in it. "Watch over this for me. May it remind you that you are not alone."
Nero stares down at the book, tears welling up in his eyes at the same time the ridges of his devil breaker begin glowing and cracking apart. His hand, human and whole, holds his father's most prized possession aside from the Yamato. Overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of recent events, Nero can't stop the helpless sob in his throat. He just got his family back, and now they're disappearing again.
Vergil tips his chin up with one finger, icy eyes softening on him. "Be brave, my nestling. We will return."
The kid flushes red to the tips of his ears, furiously wiping tears out of his eyes like it'll hide just how much the promise means to him. "I'll hold you to that."
"Please, do."
"We're counting on you, kiddo." Dante squeezes Nero's shoulder, a genuine smile on his face. "Be safe."
As they part ways, Nero holds Vergil's book close to his chest. "You, too."