Nemesis (Vergil x Reader) - Chapter 9
Nemesis
Pairing: Vergil x Reader
Summary: The Abyss opening is a rare occurrence. In his youth, Vergil wanted to harness its power, but never thought he would meet his greatest adversary along the way. Years later, the Abyss is once again open and that might call for some rather unlikely alliances.
Chapter 1 (Prologue) | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 (you are here!)
Age restriction: 18+ - there’s a lot of blood, violence, cursing and all those things people want to forbid younger audiences of seeing. Also, cosmic horror is a thing here. Procceed with caution
Author’s notes: *sighs* we are so back 🖤 I got more chapters ready and I'll keep them coming this time. I'm so happy hahaha anyway, time to meet the rest of the crew here on Nemesis. And Nero's about to gain an honorary guardian angel "parent" ;)
Chapter 9
In that darkness, you could only feel the cold water against your feet and the icy air wrapping around your arms.
You had learned to control those, well, you didn’t really know what they were. Visions? Nightmares? Inner turmoils? All that you really knew about them was: you would always find the broken, hopeless version of yourself – now apathetic, unable even to shed tears, with that hole still in your chest and the glass heart still unable to mend on the floor – and you would always find him – also broken, maimed, chained and with his heart violently torn from his chest, laying in shards near his knees.
Even with that certainty, you still didn’t know what that meant. Were you connected, somehow…? Or did he really affect you that deeply, to appear in hushed conversations between those versions of yourselves, muttering words of survival? Of remaining and not giving up…?
That thought made your blood boil. To think you needed him of all creatures to teach you something about not giving up. You were the one to drag yourself out of your broken city, as he beat you up in combat and left you to die. If it wasn’t for your will, your guardian angel would have never found you and given you a chance to live. And, waking up days after all that, remaining, finding some sense in your life again after all that violence…
That was you. All you. It wasn’t him. It was your will to survive, to drag your dying body somewhere only fate knew where. That was your strength, not his.
It was probably the fact that, even when you trained to be part of the Guard, you had never found someone as good – and as proud – as you. Watching him following through with his way, talking to you as if you were just a piece of annoyance in his route towards his inevitable objective, with complete control and faith in his own skills to defeat anything and everything that came in his way… It was like looking in the mirror.
And you hated it.
That was the most likely reason why he always appeared whenever you had those nightmares. If you were looking at yourself, the version you tried to keep deep down and protected from everyone else you ever met, then he was the mirror you tried to ignore: all the things in your personality you didn’t like – and that you constantly tried to keep on a leash.
It didn’t explain his broken heart and the void in his own chest. Still, it was the best explanation you had, even after all that time.
As you followed the path you knew quite well, you did your best to ignore what was going on to quickly find an exit and wake up, finally away from that awful place.
You halted your feet, though, when you saw the man on the floor: his body crumbling away, as if he was just a distant piece of memory fading from your mind, shackles nowhere to be seen; his face on the water as his eyes remained closed – hands almost like claws, trying to get himself up, but failing miserably from the lack of strength in his now strangely skinnier arms.
You couldn’t help but to stare in shock.
“I… Can’t.” His voice was but a whisper, trembling against the water, body now stopping the fight: he let go, and it seemed like he was going to fade away at any moment; almost as if the crumbling pieces of his body were slowly disappearing into the water, taken by the darkness, to be forgotten by time and eternity.
“You have to.” The apathetic version of yourself suddenly lifted those empty eyes – almost as if outraged by his action. “I got up. You have to.”
“I’m… Not you.” His voice carried a bit of anger in it, something you knew so well, but seemed to lack resolve in the end... Almost like he was letting go of the grudge you held against each other.
That wasn’t right.
That wasn’t right.
He was meant to have a dignified end. In your hands or in a fight with an enemy as brutal as him but not… Like that. Not… Humiliated, fading away in forgetfulness.
“No. You are a demon.” Your other version now had a fire in their voice you hadn’t heard in years. “If I, a human, got up after you beat me… Over, and over, and over again… You have to get up. You have to fight. You were supposed to be stronger, weren’t you….?”
That seemingly struck something inside of him, making the man immediately open his silver eyes – clawed hands back on the cold, dark water, ready to try one more time. With his arms trembling violently, he put an unfathomable effort to raise himself – and with that, you could now see how his body looked like.
His physique paled in comparison to when you met – not that you could see much underneath his layers and layers of carefully kept clothes when you first saw him, but you could see he was so much skinnier than before. To most people, he would probably look normal, but for a trained fighter like he was… You could clearly see he dropped a lot of his previous weight.
But that wasn’t what shocked you the most as his wobbly arms raised him from the floor, while he bared his teeth from the effort – and kept his eyes closed… Almost as if on the verge of tears, something you couldn’t believe he had in him. As he revealed more and more of his body, you saw it: how much he was marked. Covered in scars – scratches, cuts, fang marks, deep bruises from impact – littered with contusions, crying blood from so many wounds, as the very matter of his body crumbled apart; staining the dark water, threatening to wash him away.
You immediately furrowed your brows, holding back a first reaction of covering your mouth with one of your hands. You didn’t understand the nature of those dreams, and you always thought it was more of the Abyss playing with the shadow inside of you – constantly mocking your resolve, baring the weaknesses you tried so hard to cover up and protect – but it did occur to you if there were any parallels with where he was right now, after disappearing for so many years…?
If there was any glimmer of truth in those nightmares you constantly had… What manner of torture had that demon gone through, shackled away from the world during all that time?!
You thought, maybe, he was dead. Maybe he found a match even better than you – which, though deeply stinging your pride, was a reality you could learn to live with.
But… Torture? That much torture…? Enough to break, both physically and mentally, the creature with the strongest will and power you had ever met?
A shiver went down your spine like a finger of ice. You couldn’t even begin to imagine what he went through – and you didn’t know if the hollowness inside your chest was regret, sorrow or anger.
“You fight.” Your now not-so-apathetic version still stared at him with a certain spark in your eyes – and you could see that same fire mirrored in his silvery ice stare, now that he managed to raise himself to his knees. “Whatever it takes. You fight.”
“Whatever… It takes.” He muttered in a growl, now trying to get himself to his feet.
Suddenly, you were being pulled forward, all the air punched out of your lungs as a vortex took you through time and reality – and you found yourself tossed in your bed, at the Hospital, barely able to breathe.
It had been so long. The city was quiet outside and the Abyss hadn’t opened in a couple of years, but there was something. You couldn’t quite tell what it was, but something was different. Somehow, you knew it would only unravel itself to you on the next day – and the only thing you could do now was to sleep.
You only wished you had your blue shawl to calm you down that night – but it still remained at that Library, where you made an offering so many years ago to access the knowledge you needed to write your Codex Abyssae.
Apparently, it was going to be the work of a lifetime.
*
As you drove your motorcycle to the Devil May Cry shop, you kept thinking about that dream. That was the last time you saw that devil: after that, you got a call from Lady letting you know she was on her way to Red Grave City alongside Trish and Dante – they figured they’d be able to get the job done, but Nero… Well, Nero had his arm torn off by a random demon who invaded his garage and now was out for blood. And that’s where you stepped in: maybe you could hop on Nico’s van and make sure the kid didn’t do anything stupid…?
Hop on you did, Nero knowing quite well Dante had called you to keep an eye on him. The kid was fuming, and you wouldn’t blame him for it.
“What does that old guy think? I can’t handle a fuckin’ job on my own?!”
Nico just stared back at you through the rear-view mirror, since you were on your feet, between her and Nero, expertly keeping yourself stable by holding on the back of their seats.
It was a rather impressing feat, she’d have to give you that. After all… Hell on wheels was even more hellish that day: Nero was in a notoriously bad mood and, well, it looked like the whole world was falling apart around you.
“Ei, I’m here to help, Nero.” You, though, decided to keep a little calmer. Not that you were calm inside, but Nero was the gasoline at the moment, and he just needed a spark. “Dante will probably have handled everything by the time we get there, I think Lady just called me for… I don’t really know. She does that from time to time, you know.”
“Insurance, maybe….?” V practically appeared by your side like a lurking shadow: you had nothing against the guy, but he could be a little less… Ominous. His sudden appearances had made you jump out of your own skin a couple of times already – probably because he was so quiet, you forgot he was in the back seat. “Apologies.”
His answer was almost a whisper to you, a little too close than you were used to. Then again, you weren’t too used to people being close – and Nico’s van wasn’t exactly the most spacious of places.
“Lady callin’ insurance for a job of hers…?! Ha! That’s cute!” Griffon, on the other hand, was all the noise V didn’t do.
“Eh. Hunters. I think they do get lonely from time to time.” You shrugged, turning to Nero and placing a hand on one of his shoulders. He immediately furrowed his brows, and tried to keep looking cool – you were caring, just like Kyrie was. And that was so… Strange. “I get it, kid. I’d be fuming if Dante sent Trish or Lady, or even you, along my way ‘cause he’s worried I wouldn’t be able to handle a job on my own. Next time I saw him, I’d make sure to punch that pretty little face of his. But everyone has a different way of showing they care.”
“Pretty little face…?” Nero side-eyed you, finding a little smile playing on your ever so mysterious lips as you took your comforting hand off his shoulder. That raging fire he had inside him subsided… Just a little.
“What can I say? Dante’s a handsome bastard.” You crossed your arms, laughing alongside Nico as Nero wrinkled his nose and kept his eyes on the road.
“I wonder if you’d think the same of his brother.” V now had a smart look in his sea-green eyes, sporting an enigmatic smile on his lips. You furrowed your brows.
“As far as I know, they are twins, can’t have fallen too far apart from the tree.” You shrugged. “But you know, all beauty in the world can’t save a rotten heart. From what I heard of Vergil, it wouldn’t be able to change the fact he has a corrupted soul. Almost like Sauron and Melkor, you know…?
“Sauron I know, but who the hell is Melkor…?”
“Silmarillion, Nero.” V answered before you ever could, now avoiding looking at you. Almost as if his eyes couldn’t face yours again. “Sauron’s ‘mentor’. Both beautiful like the stars in the sky, but inside…”
“Their hearts were corrupted like the venomous fangs of Ungoliant.” You completed in a knowledgeable manner, having Nero and Nico exchange looks.
“Who the fuck is Ungoliant?!” As the two asked in unison, you were all about to explode in laughter and bantering – since you and V were the two bookworms and Nico and Nero only knew the superficial stuff – but the virtuosa immediately stopped the van in the middle of the road.
The street was blocked by so many demons, you couldn’t even count. The barrier in the distance, presumably where Dante and the ladies were fighting the ever so mysterious Urizen, could only be reached through that path.
“Can you run them over…?” You lowered your head next to Nico’s, while the gunsmith nervously put another cigarette on her lips.
“I can try, but that’d be a baaaaaaad idea…” She huffed a cloud of smoke, making Nero immediately start coughing. “Van probably wouldn’t handle it. Not that amount of demons.”
“Hmmm. We don’t have time for ‘trying’.”
“Hey…!” Nero got up from his seat as soon as you held your silver sword and opened the van’s door. “What are you doin’…?”
“You get to that thing, I’m gonna open a path for you.” Looking back at him, you winked, having a small smile on your lips. “Don’t worry, Nero. I still wanna punch Dante’s pretty little face. It’ll take me some time, but I’ll meet you there…” You pointed at the barrier covering the skies ahead. “Whatever there is.”
“Be careful.”
It was the last thing you heard from V before jumping off the van that night.
And you did your job well: killed all those damn demons blocking the road so Nico could speed through, taking Nero exactly where he needed to be.
When you found them again, they told you the news: Urizen had Lady and Trish, Dante was punched into oblivion, and, for the first time, the crew was defeated.
To say you and Nero were furious was an understatement: if it wasn’t for V to keep you calm and remind you the best course of action was to regain your strength to defeat Urizen, you probably would have marched in to kick his ass and be transformed into an unthinking servant of the demonic soon to be king just like the ladies.
Frustration was the mildest of feelings stirring in your heart – and you understood the kid, furiously throwing things around and cursing at the very sight of anything and everything that vexed him, just like you did when you were on your training to be part of your city’s Guard.
And when the time came to face Urizen again… The Abyss.
It was your turn to finally lose your cool – and for Nero to step in and be the voice of reason.
“Of ALL the times that gate to the pit could’ve opened…!”
In a matter of fact, it was the very first time Nero saw you fuming. He had seen you angry, yes, but not like that.
“This cannot be a coincidence!” You turned around, pointing at Nero in the garage, eyes burning with pure fire. You indeed looked the part of someone who believed in all the craziest conspiracy theories and was now watching them unfold right before your very eyes. “The dream! It was exactly on the day Urizen kicked our asses! And now the Abyss opening right when we’re ready to take the fight back to him…! It can’t be a coincidence!”
“Dream? What dream…?” You lost Nero on your furious blabbering – and you refused to elaborate.
After all, your dreams were your own.
“It’s been a month, Nero. A month! The Abyss could’ve opened again all this time, but it didn’t!”
“Hey, I know, but yellin’ around ‘bout it doesn’t help!” Nero was shaking his head now, trying to get near you and stop your infuriated pacing around the garage. He wasn’t very successful, though. “How does that thing open anyway? Is it like, one of the Gates of Hell?”
“I don’t know! No one knows!” Now you just threw your arms upwards and let them rest on your waist, staring at Nero as if he wasn’t making any sense. Well, you weren’t making any sense to him. “That thing doesn’t follow any of the rules we know, of Hell, of demons, of anything!”
“You’ve been researchin’ it your whole life, how come you don’t know?”
Nero almost regretted his question when you stared at him as if he was Urizen himself.
He considered stepping back a bit, just to be sure you wouldn’t try to hit him with something.
“I’ve been researching that shit my whole life precisely because no one did it before! There’s so little information, scattered around everywhere, and most of it is in demonic texts and literature you’d only find in Hell.” You barely noticed how you stepped in his direction and Nero stepped back again, ready to find a blanket in the van and throw it over you to calm you down like a vicious wild animal if he had to.
He would never lay a finger on you: Nero was very aware of the fact that he had demonic blood in his veins and, even if you were one of the strongest humans he knew, he could seriously harm you – no matter how good his intentions were.
“I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been in Hell and I don’t intend to go there. I still haven’t concluded if the Abyss is a deeper layer of Hell or another thing in itself, and it showing up doesn’t have a pattern at all – or I’d have picked it up already!” You huffed, stopping your advance and making Nero stop as well. “It destroyed my city, much like Red Grave, and I’m not keen on letting Urizen walk away with that shit! But the Abyss had to give signs of re-opening now, of all times?! And on a neighboring city, even?! What are the odds of that being just an unfortunate coincidence?!”
“Hey, I know a thing or two ‘bout havin’ your city destroyed by power-hungry demons, ‘k? I’m not too keen on lettin’ that bitch walk away either!” As Nero yelled back, it seemed like his words were the blanket both of you needed to calm down and really listen to each other. It finally downed on you that, even if divided by years, your experiences hadn’t been that far apart from each other. “I know you’re angry, alright? I am too! Bitch ripped my arm off and used the Yamato to destroy and kill a whole fuckin’ city, just so he can sit there, bored, killin’ anything that tries to take his sorry ass from that throne! And Dante… He’s gone! I thought that could never happen, but he’s gone! He…”
With that, it was Nero’s turn to huff and rest his hands on his waist, turning away from you – he was too tough to cry, or at least that’s what he wanted you to think. He wasn’t a kid, he was a devil hunter, and he could get that job done. You had to trust him to do that, and he wouldn’t be able to conquer anyone’s respect by crying.
“You’ve known him longer than I have. I’m feelin’ the missin’ spot he left behind, you gotta be feelin’ it too. But if Dante was here, he’d tell you to do your thing and contain the Abyss, and leave Urizen to him.” Nero turned his aquamarine eyes back to you, still glistening a little bit, but now hard with resolve. “You’re the only one in the crew that knows more ‘bout that thing, you’re the one who’s gotta do it. You can leave Urizen to me. I can do it.”
Furrowing your brows, you looked down to your feet, not wanting to keep staring into Nero’s eyes for too long. Something about that stare made you uncomfortable – it reminded you of the moment your city fell, of that silvery gaze that had no mercy, but also held so much resolve… Nero had that same kind of resolve. Differently than Dante’s, that burnt like fire, Nero’s was cold, stark, sharp like a blade.
“I know you can, Nero. I’m not doubting you.” You finally sighed, raising your head again and looking back at the kid – now with his head a little tilted, almost like a confused puppy. That almost made you laugh: Nero had a ruthless sharpness inside of him, but that was almost always immediately balanced by how much of a human heart he also had. “You don’t need me to help you, I know that. I just… I thought Dante didn’t need it too. Lady. Trish. And now, all the crew is gone, and there’s only you. I… I don’t think I can protect you, or that you aren’t strong enough to pull off this job, it’s… I… I don’t want to lose you too, kid. That’s all.” You sighed, now being your turn to look somewhere else instead of Nero’s surprised eyes.
None of you expected so much honesty from your side, but there you were.
“I just have this feeling that, if I’m there, things will go better and you’ll be safe. And what happened to Dante won’t happen to you too, ‘cause I can handle things. I can fight, I can save people. And… Dante isn’t here to judge me, so I can say it: I’d choose to keep fighting by your side and leave a whole city to the Abyss, ‘cause you’re Nero and I know you. And I want to make sure you will be ok.”
For a moment, Nero finally didn’t have words to answer you. He just kept staring, with those aquamarine eyes having waves and waves of different emotions – anger, confusion, love, comfort, joy, sadness, safety. He didn’t know what he was feeling, he just knew it was different, from everything he had ever felt. With Kyrie, he knew love and kindness, but it was a different kind of love. She was his soul, his heart, the light that made him know the right path to follow.
But you…? Ever since he met Dante, he felt supported for the first time, but you seemed like an ever present protector, ready to catch him when he fell, making sure he’d be able to keep on that path his heart lit up for him. He knew he could call and you would listen, you would say the right words for him to steel his heart and his resolve, conquering every challenge along the way.
You were his guardian angel.
“I’m, I…” And, apparently, Nero turned into a blabbering mess whenever his heart was too aware of that. He had to take a deep breath and remind himself to keep his cool – after all, you deserved to be the guardian angel of a badass punk. “I’ll be ok, y/n. The Abyss… It’s like you said, it can’t be a coincidence. This is your life’s work, and there’ll be somethin’ for you there, somethin’ only you can do. I don’t wanna be the one holdin’ you back after all this time.”
“You’re never holding me back, kid.” You had a half smile on your lips, knowing quite well how Dante calling him a dead-weight had affected him.
You were sure Nero would stride inside Hell itself to find Dante, grab him by his shirt and scream ‘WHO’S THE DEAD-WEIGHT NOW?!’ before dragging the man out of there. It’d be poetical, even, but also stupidly dangerous.
“I, hmmm… I can handle Urizen. You should go to the Abyss emergency. Me and Nico… We’ll be fine.”
“You promise?” You had somewhat of a parental look in your eyes, making him almost feel like you were asking him to call you from a friend’s house to let you know he arrived safely.
“Yeah. Promise.” Now Nero had a genuine smile on his lips, some care sprinkled in his soft eyes. “You promise me you gon’ be fine...?”
“Promise, kid. You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.” As you did with all the things you were serious about, you bowed slightly with your head, as if promising over your own heart. “If you need anything…”
“I’ll call, I know, I know… Stop worryin’ a bit!” And now he sounded like a teen who was already tired of hearing their parent asking them to call for the hundredth time, rolling his eyes as he started following you around to gear up.
And that was how he and Nico headed to Red Grave, as you took your motorcycle and rode to the opposite road, ready to stop whatever was going on with the Abyss that time.
And stop it you did. It wasn’t an easy fight, since another Hell Puppeteer came out and, this time, you had to kill it on your own. Once again, there was nothing that denoted the presence of the blue coated demon – as if he had just disappeared into thin air.
You took your time in the city, after the Abyss closed, thinking about that dream you had… The last one you saw him. How broken, completely falling apart he was. Barely able to put himself on his own two feet. Bleeding, scared, with flaky skin drifting into the water – as he was nothing but a memory that would soon fade, remembered only by yourself.
It made a crumbling sting rumble through your heart. He was a demon, yes, but he deserved better. He was an honored adversary, knowledgeable, powerful, strong and cunning… He didn’t deserve to die like that. Crumbling in humiliation and forgotten by time. You felt not only sorrow, but anger… Towards whatever it was that treated him that way.
Not encountering him at the Abyss and fighting to keep him away from it was rather… Empty.
But Nero wasn’t wrong when he said you were the only one that should be there when the Abyss manifested that day: you found, nearby what was once one of the edges of the opening, shards of a broken blade… And what seemed to be a golden fabric.
That fabric, you knew too well, though: it was part of the garments of the Officials of the Guard in your city, especially the High Guard. What that thing was doing there, so many years after your city disappeared from the map, after everything was lost in forgetfulness… You did not know. You kept the broken blades and the fabric; but even now, almost two years after the Qliphoth incident, you didn’t know their source.
And the dreams? They subsided.
The only ones you had were with Urizen, during the month you and Nero kept training to get back to Red Grave. The demon king was always quiet, observing… Bored. As he always was. But the Qliphoth roots would attack, his energy would shoot you like beams and arrows, almost as if heeding you to stay away. Whenever you got too close, it felt like a pair of hands pulled you back, almost as if kicking you out of your own dream.
You deemed it strange – after all, out of everyone in the crew, you were the only one who hadn’t had the chance to fight Urizen; so how could you even know how he looked like? You concluded it was probably something made up by your own mind, from hearing Nero describe the demon during your training.
The only other strange dream you had, differently from the Urizen ones, was with V, out of all people. And that was the very first time you had one of those dreams with someone you actually knew – you didn’t have that sort of connection even with Dante.
“You helped me up once.” You heard his voice in the dark, furrowing your brows as soon as you realized who was speaking. V, the mysterious guy who followed you and Nero around the day Urizen defeated you, was quietly speaking in that cold darkness – icy water under your feet, nothing but void and shadow all around you. “It’s only fair I help you too.”
“You don’t have to.” Your words were cold, still hurt and bitter, almost like a whisper.
“I want to.” And his were warm. Soft, even.
When you finally found yourself, that vision you always wanted to avoid looking at, you had to stop in your tracks for the very first time and figure out the waves of emotions crossing your troubled heart.
You were sitting on the cold floor, a little more comfortably, still staring at the dark water – but, this time, V was sitting next to you: one hand resting on your back, while you were covered by his long leather vest, sheltering you at least a little bit from the biting cold. His sea-green eyes were as soft as his voice and his cane was forgotten far away from him – almost as if he unconsciously let go as he ran towards that image of you.
V…? Out of all people…?
You barely knew him.
As you were washed over by waves of shock and confusion, there was also… Comfort. Warmth. Something that made your chest fill so much, all that water wanted to collapse from your eyes in a sob you didn’t know when you would be able to stop.
What was that about…?
Maybe it was the warmth of his words. Or the care of his touch on your back. Or the kindness in his eyes. It was too much, and your body wasn’t used to that. It was used to pain, cold, harshness and discipline.
But that… Made your heart weep.
“May I…?” His words were quiet, as his free hand reached for the shards on the floor – as the years went by, you were trying to put it together, and it was almost looking like a glass heart again; now in bigger parts, needing to be glued together into a whole and back into your chest… But it felt safer to keep it like that: half-broken and outside; not full and on the inside, as it should be.
It was cold and lonely, an emptiness that could never be fully filled, no matter how much warmth was extended to you… But it was safer. Anything other than that… The thought made you shiver in fear. At least you knew what that felt like – you wouldn’t know how it would be with a mended heart inside a broken chest.
As soon as his hand was close to touching the nearest big shard, your eyes shot up to him – both yours and those of your image; their eyes a lot more scared and vulnerable than you would ever let come through. V’s eyes met your vulnerable ones, still with that disarming softness in them.
“You have to fight. You taught me that.” He now had a kind smile on his lips, extending to his sea-green eyes. “No matter how painful, no matter how harrowing. But…” And he looked down to those half-assembled shards, waiting for your bony hands to get them together again. “You can’t fight without this. There’s so much power in the heart, and only a foolish demon would think otherwise.”
You looked back at your own vulnerable self. You were expecting them to whisk V’s hand away, to bark like a wounded dog and protect that only thing you had left; make him go away without hurting you one more time.
But you did nothing.
You just closed your eyes, quietly allowing him to do something you would never allow anyone to do in a sane mind.
His fingers were so careful, almost as if holding the most precious of jewels. He didn’t treat those shards as fragile, but as a sacred object to be treasured and treated with respect and reverence – and that took all the air out of your chest, as your eyes started to overflow. You looked at yourself in shock, finding the same reaction you were having at the moment – and, at the same time you wanted to yell at him to stop, you didn’t.
The shards came together as a puzzle, gently cradled by his careful hands – and softly placed into your bony, cold fingers when he was done.
“A heart is indeed a heavy burden.” V had a kind smile as he looked back into your eyes with that comforting warmth that was both welcoming and frightening for someone like you. “And you don’t have to carry it in your chest right now – I don’t. And I’m afraid… It is going to take me a long time to learn to carry it. But…” And he placed his warm hand over your cold ones, making you flinch with the touch. That, though, made him smile – even if his eyes carried a certain note of melancholy. “It is never too late to learn. We are strong enough for it. We can fight.”
“Who are you…?” You had your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, while your voice had a hint of offense in it – after all, you met him only once. Who did he think he was to say those words… And to treat you with such kindness? The other version of yourself kept looking down at the mended glass heart and his warm hands in yours, as you whispered those words in the dark.
And, for the first time, he listened.
V immediately turned his head towards you – and you widened your eyes as he did that. The demon you always saw was never able to see you, only the other version of you, and same with Urizen – being the broken one who kept fighting him and getting up, over and over and over again. They never saw you, but V… He heard you. And he looked at you.
Caught like a deer in headlights, it was almost as if you yourself rejected it and didn’t want to be seen – once again kicked from your own dream, waking up in your bed completely breathless.
It was the last time you saw V. Since you were dealing with the Abyss when Nero headed towards Red Grave, you only heard through him, Nico and the ladies what happened - V reunited with Urizen and formed the whole: Vergil, Dante’s notorious twin.
And, to undo what Vergil’s demonic half stupidly did with the Qliphoth, they were now stuck in Hell.
Almost two years after, and you were heading to the shop. Still no sight of Dante – and you would never stop blaming yourself for going to the Abyss instead of helping Nero that day; at least, you would’ve been able to see Dante one last time.
If you never saw him again, if he never came back from Hell… The last job you did together, now years ago, would be the last memory you had of him.
And that bothered your half-mended heart more than you could put into words. Perhaps it would’ve been better if V had left if broken, so you wouldn’t miss Dante that much – or, at least, you would know how to suppress it better.
With a sigh, though, you arrived at the Devil May Cry. The crew was already waiting inside, and you had no idea what they had in store for you.
It had better be worth such a long ride.