Nero’s endless desire to prove himself, to be better, to become more.
[You feeling accepting yet?]
[I’ve got all the power I need, right here!]
[Kyrie… Are you sure this is what you want?]
[To this day, I hate myself for not having enough strength.]
[And if I become a demon, so be it. Anything, to protect her.]
[Why did they have to die? … I would understand if it had been someone like me … It would make sense.]
Nero needs to be someone reliable; strong and undoubtable. but more than that, to be seen and recognised as who he is, not what people think he is. the aggression and snark and hatred is an uncontrollable outlet for the sheer amount of agony he feels at never, ever being able to live with himself.
wondering why he was [nothing but a burden] to the adults around him as a child, and why every other adult these days looks at him with nothing but contempt or blind hope that he’ll fix their problems. he’s old enough to forge his own path, but he can’t feel fulfilled.
but, isn’t that what he wanted? to be more? so why can’t he seem to connect with everyone else, no matter how fucking hard he tries? Nero hasn’t changed since he was a child. not one bit. and that’s what he hates the most; the inability to sever what weighs him down from the core of his being. he needs more strength, to protect those who are truly deserving of living. not himself.
Utterly perplexed by the lack of Demon King Vergil fanfics
I know it’s only canon in the remake but I would have thought someone would have written about it regarding the original series.
I would love to see a fic like this! I would write one myself but I just do not have the time right now. My idea would be an AU where Vergil defeats Mundus instead of becoming Nelo Angelo, with some protective Dadgil fluff mixed in
Utterly perplexed by the lack of Demon King Vergil fanfics
I know it’s only canon in the remake but I would have thought someone would have written about it regarding the original series.
I would love to see a fic like this! I would write one myself but I just do not have the time right now. My idea would be an AU where Vergil defeats Mundus instead of becoming Nelo Angelo, with some protective Dadgil fluff mixed in
i am saddened that Nero gets his arm back at the end of dmc5 and have latched onto the fact he can will it to disappear as he puts on the devil breakers and i miss his normal devil bringer, so i have begun to headcanon that he does not actually grow it back but instead can manifest a spectrally arm with the same quality as his wings that takes on the shape of the devil bringer that Vergil ripped off. He has to make a conscious effort to summon it and it goes away when he's asleep or exhausted
Fandom: Devil May Cry
No ships, focused mainly on Nero and Vergil, though Dante will eventually show up.
Summary:
Weakened from his defeat as Nelo Angelo, Vergil has been in the grasp of Agnus and used to create the Angelos. Through a twist of fate he manages to get a broken Yamato early, but he's not entirely there mentally. Teen Nero has a no good bad horrible day and gets kidnapped for his trouble.
First | Masterpost
Vergil walked through the forest at a brisk pace. The boy, Nero, needed food to replenish his strength and he needed it fast.
Vergil’s memories of the events previous to yesterday were… fuzzy for lack of a better word, owing to his previous state. Though the more recent ones were slightly less so, and therefore Vergil knew this would be the third day without food for Nero, if Vergil didn’t manage to find something.
The urgency was all the more exacerbated by Nero channeling all that power, depleting his demonic energy and his all too human body not used that kind of strain.
Maybe Vergil had been wrong to stop Nero when he did. The kill might have replenished some of his energy, especially from a demon lord, but at the time the boy seemed more intent on hurting Berus than killing him and he’d been out of control, leaking power at a degree that risked killing himself.
It was really unfortunate he had that reaction to the demon meat. While not having the power of the kill itself, it still carried some demonic power. Vergil was unsure if it was the demonic power Nero had reacted to so violently, because his body wasn’t used to handling it, or whether it was just that he was too human to process it at all.
In any case the best option was to find something suitable for human consumption.
It was clear to Vergil now the reason they hadn’t come across any animals the last two days. Berus’ presence had made them flee. If Vergil had had his full faculties, he’d have known what a bad sign it was that the forest was completely silent - a little thing like the direction of the wind wouldn’t have impaired him - and he would have never let the boy out of his sight.
Even knowing he would be safe behind the wards Vergil had put up, it did not sit well with him to leave him. It could not account for everything. If the boy left the circle it would be pointless - though at least that was unlikely in his state. He could break his promise and reveal his position to an enemy. There were numerous things which could go wrong.
He had to make haste.
Carefully, he reviewed his own stores of power. He was not at his best. The ward, which was a relatively simple construct had taken more out of him than it should have. Could he have beaten Berus as he was now? On his own? Most likely, but not because his strength overwhelmed that of his opponent. Rather it would be because Berus would gloat too much and he’d not account for Yamato’s ability to cut.
She sang for blood in his hand in memory of the battle. Vergil glanced down in amusement - that was an echo of the boy’s bloodlust; Yamato was usually more tempered in his hands.
The boy, Vergil frowned… It had come as an unpleasant surprise to him that he didn’t know Vergil’s name. He had not even considered that Dante would never have mentioned him. Did Dante hate him so much that he would deny him? How much time had passed since his defeat as Nelo Angelo? How long had he clung to the barest scraps of life? Was Nero even a son, or was he a grandson?
His head turned in the direction he knew his brother to be, to that meagre connection that had somehow still held through everything, even as Mundus stripped him of all else. His clingy little brother holding on, never leaving him be - or so he thought. Perhaps, after all, it was the other way around.
He sighed. It was useless to ruminate on, he had greater priorities.
After Nero had sickened from the demon meat, and when he’d still been severely weakened this morning, Vergil had considered trying to portal them to the town where he raised the Temen-ni-gru in hope that Dante still lived there. Even if he didn’t it was at least a city and food would be easier to come by. There was a big but however. Vergil had not actually seen the aftermath of that event. He needed to know a location to fix in his mind to cut the space between here and there. If he fixed on something that didn’t exist anymore, he risked transporting them to Limbo, which in the best of times was an annoyance and a waste of time, but as it was could prove fatal to Nero.
No, for now their best course of action was still going to Dante as directly as they could. Following his senses relied on nothing but Dante’s continued existence.
That was one certainty at least.
Something caught his eyes, a small bit of brown fur caught on a bush at the height of his hip. He cast about for other signs. He found relatively fresh prints along a deer trail winding itself around a hill. Finally some progress.
Oo o oO
Lady was gonna murder Dante. First he didn’t want part of the Red Grave job, now Lady had had to take a detour to clean out a demon nest after some assholes thought summoning demons was going to get them anything but grossly murdered. Lady hated that type of people, they never learned and now they were dead. And they had nearly taken their quiet little town along for the ride if Lady hadn’t passed by.
According to the survivors she’d talked to after she’d cleaned up the trash, there had been a bigger demon too, but it had continued into the forest after eating most of the summoners.
The path was easy to follow in the swathe of trampled forest. It also revealed that the townsfolk had not been exaggerating when they called it big.
If Lady had to tango with a fucking Demon Lord because Dante couldn’t be assed to pay his phone bill then Lady really was killing him. She’d have to figure out how of course, her so called friend was hardier than a demonic cockroach.
As least the path was clear enough that she could actually follow it on her bike.
Not like the trail from Red Grave she’d been following. After exiting the city the witness accounts had become very sparse. A farmer had had uninvited guests in his hayloft, but had wisely kept clear and only seen the pair from a distance.
Someone else had had their ornery prized bull near die from anxiety in its pasture. On top of that it had hurt itself trying to escape the fencing. It was possible it would have to be put down. She’d overheard in a local pub, when she’d stopped for lunch. They’d been discussing who could have done something so cruel and how, but the answer was obvious to Lady. Locking an animal in with a demon with no escape and especially a lone flock animal with none to stand with or soothe the anxiety afterwards? That would do it.
But aside from that she’d had no leads. And Dante’s phone was not connecting. She’d had half a mind to drive all the way to Babel to give him a talking to, and to yell at him for that kid! She was almost halfway there anyways, it wouldn’t take long on the highway - but then there was the other job. And no matter how much she would enjoy yelling at Dante and to drag him along as he should have been from the beginning, because there was a bloody kid involved! His kid most likely! She could not ignore an active demon attack.
Which brought her here riding in the trampled track of something stupid big and dreading what she might find on the other end.
The track veered suddenly in a new direction. Long deep marks in the ground marked an increase in speed as well. Lady grimaced. Bloody demon had found prey. She stopped and got off her bike. Ironically, the demon’s speed made the track worse. The longer strides made for longer between the tight packed dirt.
She turned her bike around facing the way she’d come - in case she needed a quick exit - and checked over her gear, making sure every gun was loaded, grabbed extra ammo from the compartment in the bike and swung Kalina Ann over her shoulder. She took a deep breath and faced the path forward.
She would have really liked Dante to watch her back right now. Whatever, he could cry about missing a real fight once she told him about it.
She started walking.
It was maybe a ten minute walk before she came upon the demon - the notably dead demon.
Lady covered her mouth and nose, the whole area was rank with its decay. She stepped closer inspecting it. Demons decayed quicker than things belonging on this plane and judging by its current state it had been killed yesterday.
It was indeed huge, boar like, judging by the tusks protruding from its rotten snout. Clawed, relatively human shaped hands big enough to grab a person, armor which pointed towards some level of intelligence. A severed tail, with a snake head lying a bit away from the rest of the body, which was even further along in decomposition, consisting mostly of bones by now. It was cut off before the main body died.
Cut off.
This was not the work of a human. Even with the flesh sunken in and the skin shriveling it was obvious those wounds came from a sword.
She had a moment to wonder if Dante- or perhaps even Trish - were involved after all, when her boot hit something solid on the ground.
Curious she bent down and retrieved the half-buried thing.
It was a gun, a curiously large two chambered revolver actually. Lady’s lips quirked up in amusement as she studied it. This was certainly not one of Dante’s, but it was definitely meant for hunting demons, though she’d never seen anything the like. It was rather limited in the amount rounds it could fire (only three) and wasn’t really viable as your main weapon, but an interesting solution to the issue of tough demon carapace if you didn’t have the kind of aim she or Dante did.
She brushed off the dirt, revealing swirling etchings, one of them, a rose inlaid with blue. A well-loved weapon, it couldn’t have been left behind willingly.
She glanced around, further taking in the mess of the impromptu arena. Over there, she stuffed the gun into one of her pockets and jogged over to the remains of a fire. Crouching down she rested her hand over it, before picking up one of the greyed remains of embers. She crushed it in her hand; it still retained some heat.
There weren’t many people who could take down a demon like this, in fact before today Lady would have bet she knew all of them personally, but some spunky Sparda-descended kid and his demonic kidnapper? Now that would also do it.
Grinning, she brushed the ash off of her hands. She was perhaps not as far off track as she’d feared.
Oo o oO
Nero was bored out of his mind. There was nothing to do. He’d laid out his shirts and jacket near the fire to dry and he’d already turned them once. Even that had been an effort.
And to make matters worse his arm kept itching, stupid plant- he scratched harder and suddenly something gave way. Nero froze. Ever so slowly he raised his left hand into view until the thing held in his hand was visible. Nero’s breath hitched; it was a large flake of dried up skin. His skin had not felt that dry, had it?
Dread ran coldly down his spine, and ever so slowly he lifted his right arm. Hadn’t enough shit happened already? It had nearly been melted off! Please please please. All the while it still itched. Nero didn’t know when he’d closed his eyes, but he had to open them now. Come on, it couldn’t be that bad?
Slowly he cracked open a hesitant eye, then his eyes flew open in horror. Red scales. He was about to scream, but a rustle had his attention snapping in the direction of the river and he slapped both hands over his mouth to contain the noise.
The tips of claws - claws, fucking claws - from his right hand pricked his left cheek. His vision blurred, blood rushed terrified in his ears. He couldn’t breathe. What was happening to him? Was it the poison? Was he turning into a demon?
The rustle was a human woman, and Nero nearly cried out for help, but then he noticed the gun in her hand, and the cry shriveled and died in his throat. The more he looked the more he saw that this woman was armed to the teeth and comfortable with it. She was cautious and alert her mismatched eyes gliding somehow just over Nero without seeing him.
She had to be a demon hunter - after Berus, but Nero turning into a demon might be the next best thing. Fuck. He hunched into Vergil’s coat, mentally begging her to just leave.
Finally she turned around, and Nero was about breathe a sigh of relief, but then he saw a familiar hilt sticking out of one of her pockets: Blue Rose! And he must have made a sound because she spun around, aiming right for him.
Nero’s jaw trembled looking into those steely eyes. If he were turning into a demon, perhaps it was for the best if he was put down, before he hurt anyone - but he didn’t want to die and he didn’t have the strength to run. He closed his eyes, feeling tears run down his cheeks and over his hands - there was less sensation in his right hand. He braced himself.
Footsteps walking away, had him finally open his eyes and lower his hands. She was going. She hadn’t seen him after all.
He looked down at what remained of his right arm. Thick red scales protruding between patches of dry human skin, all the way up to his elbow. His hand was still mostly human skin though reddened and inflamed, but his fingers ended in claws - it itched mercilessly. He tucked it close to himself and grabbed his elbow with the other hand to stop himself from scratching.
Above all else he didn’t want to make it worse.
Oo o oO
Lady shook her head as she walked briskly, she could have sworn there was something, but no matter. She had a plan.
She reached her bike and pulled out her map. She grinned grimly. It was just as she suspected. Her finger traced a straight line from Red Grave City to Babel cutting straight through this forest.
This was about Dante.
Lady was not about to let anyone use a kid to get to him. Her finger stopped right where the line crossed the edge of the forest: there.
-
Dun dun dun, are you ready? I am not. I suspect next part will be harder to write. I was really not nice to Nero today, oh poor boy XD
As always I would love to hear your thoughts, take care <3
nero wip!!! i love his dt design so much and that he’s birdlike/angelic in contrast to the rest of his family. i feel like it reflects his personality.
nero wip!!! i love his dt design so much and that he’s birdlike/angelic in contrast to the rest of his family. i feel like it reflects his personality.
