Chapter Text
"I can still fight, but the roots’s growth is only going to interfere with our business!” that Vergil explained as he stood up walking away.
“Well, bro this is probably the smartest thing you've ever said.” Said Dante not long after and stood up slowly, probably due to the bitch-slap he took earlier, and followed on his steps. “We better hurry up, we have a score waiting for us to settle”
“Evidently”
Even with everything that occurred prior to this moment and these two are still capable of entirely making me look like their fucking third wheel. Do they not have a brain, or is it that they have a demonic one…or some kind of mix with human aspects that went entirely wrong. Damn…now I'M frustrated thinking about it.
“H-HEY, what are you going to do?” of course, like the dumbass voice of reasoning that I am, ran up to them.
After a brief moment of explanation I couldn’t keep the shock that washed over me. So catch this, the bastards are planning on leaving the human world to stop that damn tree threatening the city. Good from there. But then, they are planning on closing the portal connecting our worlds and staying behind.
“HAH, oh no no you don’t! I didn’t lose my arm, come all the way up here, TWICE mind you, fighting what was essentially my father along with you, your partners, Nico and well my…father…”
Damn Nero this has probably been your weirdest mission so far hasn’t it? I thought to myself. If I wasn’t so pumped up, I would have probably noticed Dante’s small chuckle and guessed from miles away Vergil ’s side eye from the back.
…Only after moments of finding out our relation for you to just leave us all!”
“And what do you think i'm here for kid? Somebody needs to keep an eye on your old man!” then he kept walking so as to not lose sight of the other who had been entirely ignoring the talk.
My heart was pounding really fast. I was hoping for a fact that it was the circumstances of this period finally getting to me. But…
“Wait Dante….”
It was a lot more than that....
“You cant both go and expect me to stay-“
“Its because you are here that we can go!” he turned back giving my eyes a firm stare.
…. What?
“We trust you with the stitch here, capice?”
“Hurry up brother!”
“Yeah yeah….” He then walked up taking a quicker pace. “Adios Nero, take care!”
Then he fell down, probably transforming to have support from his wings. Not even seconds later things got more interesting, ever so slightly.
“I won’t lose next time”
Well that was odd, didn’t expect him to have any words after all he’ d done. I assumed that he was preparing himself to follow Dante only to stop and take a book out. V’s book…no his book. Easy guess. Seems like he is out of secrets now. One defeat, that was all it took huh?
“Hold on to that till then!” he finished as he threw the book towards me. In the end growing into his demonic form he made his way down.
Running up to the cliff, I was hoping to try and see where they were heading. But it seems these two left faster than I thought. The only thing visible was the tree going all the way down the ground and a grand view of a destroyed city, also know as Red Grave.
From beneath me I noticed the book. The giant V engraved to the front. I stared at it as I slowly leaned my hand to grab it. As my fingers got closer to the wooden like material, I felt them shaking a little on their own. It was definitely a sensation. For an entire second my right hand felt like it wasn’t supposed to move. And yet there I was holding the book now. Only a few minutes earlier, I had no right hand, thanks to my father kindly ripping it off to take back his sword. But now that the fighting was over, it was then that my body could naturally react to this strange sensation that was missing for an entire month.
“Tch…idiots” I looked down yet again my mind switching back to them.
In the end, as I realized for the third time today that my job was over, I took a step back letting myself fall on my back and to the rocky ground. I took a few breaths in response, not expecting anything to come out of it. The sky was shining bright. I don’t think any clouds were visible, the top was far above those by now.
This time the shine felt real. With Dante and Vergil down there, the tree would be taking its leave in no time. And thus the peaceful days would be back….well hopefully.
I took the book in front of me opening it as I mindlessly turned pages. Poems, so many damn poems! Yeah there was no way I would ever be able to get a meaning out of it. To be honest the page-flipping made me notice my fingers more than the book. Not only did i have a second arm again but a humanoid one at that. The added flair kept bringing more intensity to the surprise.
After so many years of living with a demonic arm due to the face off in Mitis forest, the arm that caused my mild anxiety over the backlash from the people of Fortuna to spiral to one-hundred and afterwards made them despise me and even Kyrie for simply living with me. Even if I had saved their asses from the Order’s devious plans.
This being a conclusion to all of that, had never crossed my head. I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. I was for sure glad for looking more well…human but at the same time I was starting to get used to the devil bringer for the last five years in which I had it.
Time flew fast ever since I came back to Red Grave with Nico. Things just kept happening without me processing all of it. So this tiny break on the top of a demonic disgusting tree brought quite the nice feel. I mean, what could possibly go wrong right now?
All of a sudden everything around me shook aggressively. Great I spoke too fast. I tried to notice what was going on but soon it had become clear. Have they begun already?
In the end I tried to find a way in which I could get down. "Well looks like I'm going to die....tch" it seemed like I was going to fully give up, but I just wasnt sure yet. I mean there was....something, I just wasn't sure if I could do it right now.
My demonic wings, yeah I could feel that I had previously grown a pair of wings. Well, a demon form too. But I couldn't be sure of keeping it for long enough like Dante and Vergil do, so the wings should do the trick. However, I had to wonder, was it going to be as easy as it was before? The reason I did it before was due to the situation being dire. Right at this moment, I'm not even sure if I should be worried!
"Can I do this or am I going to die like some kind of deadweight?" I sneered as I turned my back walking casually. Not even a second later and my eyes can be seen widening up shaprply. Deadweight.....DEADWEIGHT? Oh no no no there ain't no shit ass way i-
"ARGHH" then I rushed like some child towards the cliff jumping up high steeping far from the tree. Then soon I focused all of my attention to the proof that I am not going to die by a damn tree my father decided to garden one day. Or in other words...my powers.
And then it happened. The feeling of a blue energy filled me. I was in control of the gravity in the sky, at last. Which would only mean one thing, the wings are back! I flew away from a certain rocky area and was probably somewhere in the middle of the tree. As I kept on like this with ease, I decided to take time to stare at my new skill. I don't think I knew what I looked like with my new demonic features in general. Which had me curious and....worried.
But then of course a certain rock just had to hit me. Soon i felt the wings from my back dissapearing me. Hopefully I held on to a rocky cliff surrounded by small branches.
"Great, what now?" I stared above. I wasn't going to be safe here for long. Somehow I had to activate that power again.
But then another thought begun filling my mind. Down near the tree, could there be more demons, since they would want to protect it from being destroyed?After all Dante did say that he would take care of things from his side. But here? I am the only one that can do something.
So as it seems, sooner or later, I'll need to use that! But one question remains.... How did I even managed such a feat in the first place? Did it happen naturally or the burst of the moment had caused it? Well, I couldn't believe myself either, but I had to give a chance to the technique of calming down for once. That taking into consideration I were left with not that much time to think stiff thoroughly. Calm, angry, whatever I picked now, I had to do this, at any cost.
So in the small time I had trying desperately to forget everything around me, I closed my eyes. Blackness covered me all around. However all I needed was to find that flame. That flame that pierced through me the moment I got my newly found powers for the first time. It had to be somewhere in there wouldn't it? In the end I found myself thinking of multiple things at the same time. All the important aspects of my memories since I turned eighteen flashed before my eyes.
However it all circled back to my newfound family members. Dante and Vergil, the fact that my literal grandpa was seen as a god by the people in my town. I just couldn't get off my mind from this entire situation. Even to this day, my demon heritage makes me feel so confused about everything. There is so much I don't know yet and I am more than fed up to stay unaware of everything anymore.
Suddenly I left my hands of the rocky area unafraid of was was going to happen. The flame inside me was already raging. So I knew that there was no need for worries anymore. With a proud smirk I saw the blue energy surrounding me. I won't lie at first it startled me a little, but the transformation was quicker than my thought process. So I just welcomed it gracefully. It was a new power. My own power. The absolute power with which I could save my loved ones. The power no one, even if they tried hard enough, could take away from me this time!
~…~
The light in the sky was noticed by a few demons. More specifically there was one which looked like some kind of ugly big squirrel.
“What is this light? I cant properly get the right sniff of it from up there ugh!” it seemed to had been trying hard enough to use its small hands and open its gliders to fly.
“H-hey aren’t you all forgetting about good old me? Come on, I need to get there to before they take all the light for themselves.” It spoke again as a horde of demons begun rushing to it.
“Quite the significant creature aren’t you? Acting as if light is something affected by your touch.” The beast turned its head to stare at a building searching for the source of this voice. It noticed a cafeteria and the chairs outside, most of them fully melted by all kinds of demonic fluids. There was a certain chair standing still even if it was in terrible shape.
“But if you can excuse my interference” In it was sitting a young man holding a cup in his hand as a small plate was still on a small table. Or what remained of it at least. “I wouldn’t insist you make your friend’s mistake and follow it!”
“Look what we have here? Don’t you know that humans are dying one by one in these streets!”
“That shouldn’t mean that I cant have even a small amount of leisure time, considering how long it took me to even get here!”
“Well, if I wasn’t so eager to see that light I would kill you on the spot! Just so you know puny human!”
The young man chuckled as the demon spoke its last words as he took a sip of his drink. In the end the beast made its way away from him. Where it faced a few rocks seemed to had been falling from a building on that side.
“Your mutated body has no chance of winning this fight. You know that, yet your pride as a demon seems to blind you from that fact.”
The demon seemed shocked, as if this human shouldn't be aware of the mutations that upper demons make their lessers go through to see where their limits stand at.
“Do you maybe want me to list off other reasons as to why you don’t have a chance?” he stared at him with his eyes filled with a certain determined light.
“Urgh, you don’t speak like that to the great-“ then all of a sudden an entire building begun crumbling down on top of the beast as its blood spilled the entire area. All expect for the man who was quick enough to open an umbrella and cover most of his body.
“Here’s another one: Your perception skills….They suck!” he explained yet again taking another sip with his free hand.
“Couch, Couch!” the boy coughed in annoyance. “His blood got spilled in there, damn.”