#a little nero x kyrie. as a treat

[skrunksthatwunk]

devil marbly carbly ft me trying to figure out how to draw all of them in real time

(the dubstep weed jacking off shirt is from a meme i would source if i uh. remembered it sorry </3)

[abyzou-abmmaron]

Dante x Reader

Fem!Reader.

For contest: Reader is a demon hunter

——————

Prompt: You had a huge crush on the boy, Nero, but after a broken heart when he confessed his love for Kyrie, you found yourself to be going out with Dante for drinks in a weird attempt to get the boy out of your head.

Warning: A bit of angst, SFW, body insecurity, age gap

[Reader is 20-25 and Dante is 42-47]

——————

There you were again, texting Nero, ‘listening’ to his thoughts and how he loves Kyrie, he is more than happy to share everything that made him fall for Kyrie. Everything you were not.

He can’t help it, it is not his fault. He doesn’t know about your feelings, for him you see him as he sees you and nothing more, he genuinely likes you, just not as you wish he did. If he knew everything he would make sure to treat you differently to avoid hurting you, yet you are not brave enough to tell him the truth, so you stick with the love advice and cry in your room.

It got to the point where Nico realized what happened, she was such a great friend, she could smell your depression and low self esteem from afar and quickly made a move to help you.

Living with Nero and her in her van wasn’t helping at all, it made it worse, you could see how happy the boy was and that killed you. Nico loved having you around but it was killing you. She took the opportunity (called “Nero is not here, you will talk about it!” inside her head) and walked towards you, grabbing the phone from your hands.

“Y/N, I will, politely, kick you out of my van for a while!” - She said

“W-what?! Why?? You know I am not doing good an-“

“No worries, sweetheart, we are going out, girls night, you need it. I honestly don’t know what you saw on that boy, he is annoyingly angry all the time”

“He’s not like this with her…”

“Oh girl, it is worse than I thought” - Nico grabbed you by the arm and managed to make you dress up, making sure you wore no makeup so you don’t have anything to ruin with tears.

You loved how Nico just genuinely got worried about you.

After a few minutes you two got out of the van, you were put together, well dressed, it even made you feel a little better.

Entering the famous “Drunken Sailor” bar you two don’t take long to grab some drinks and hear straight to the pool table.

“Hey! Look what we have here!” - You hear a familiar voice and turn around.

“Dante!!” Nico says and runs to give him a high five. “You came!”

“You invited him?” You said to Nico, giving him a wave.

“Oh come on, I live girls night” - Dante replied. “I heard you have a broken heart to heal, let’s drink everything this bar has.”

“You fucking told him?!” You say.

“Oh, y/n, don’t worry, I did not tell him it was because of Nero” Nico said

“NICO!! YOU JUST DID!!” You scream-whisper to your friend.

Dante burst out laughing.

“Nero? Oh y/n I thought you had better taste, what did you see in him” Dante grabbed a beer and took a sip after the sentence.

“Oh lord I feel so embarrassed right now” - You try to hide your shame behind your hands. Needless to say you failed.

🪰🪰🪰🪰🪰🪰🪰🪰🪰

After a while, you three were sitting on a couch with a few empty cups on the table at the Devil May Cry, Nico was so wasted it didn’t take long for Dante to convince her to go take a nap upstairs.

It was 4 AM, you were drinking soda to stop the dizziness, Dante was on the couch, feet up on the table. He decided to break the silence.

“So… Y/N… You have a thing for Nero then. How come?”

“What do you mean?” He could hear the drunkenness from your voice.

“What made you feel like this? Nico mentioned how bad you were feeling, I kinda got worried about it, you are always so nice to everyone, you helped me a lot during missions.”

“Fuck Nero! Fuck him! Fuck this feelings! Fuck everything!” The alcohol made you a bit angry, but you did mean what you said. It’s been weeks that you were feeling bad, you just wish it could stop.

“Woah, where did this come from?” Dante laughed a bit.

“I don’t know, I’m just tired”

“Of what?”

“Of feeling like this, of always being the second option. Everyone I like doesn’t like me back, it’s been like this ever since I’ve been here.”

“Woah, I didn’t… I… I’m sorry, y/n'' Dante fixed his posture, now sitting with his elbows on his knees and facing you. “Look, you are gorgeous, funny, smart and a great friend, fuck even Vergil likes you, that man likes no one”.

“Tell him to drop his skincare routine if he really does” You say

Dante laughs.

“Oh man, see? You’re amazing y/n.”

“Thanks for the words, but I don’t believe you.” You get ready to get up when he grabs you by the arm.

“Hey hey hey, calm down kid, you are drunk, believing in what I said or not, I can’t let you walk home by yourself that way.”

“What? No. I am not going home, Nero’s there, I’m heading towards your fridge dummy.”

“Oh” He laughed and let you go. “Okay then.”

“I don’t want to see him for a while, or talk to him, but I have no better place to be or better stuff to do.” You said, grabbing a cup of water. “If I pay the rent, can I stay here?”

“You are drunk, we can discuss it after you sober up, Kid”

“Come on Dante” you are now heading towards the sofa again. “I can pay it.”

“I am sure you do, you are actually very responsible, but don’t make drunk deals, y/n”

“Dante, I am just tired, I want to make something about it, I can’t feel like this anymore I hate it.”

“Oh shit I am gonna regret this” Dante mumbled to himself while rubbing his hand on his face. “Sure you can stay for a while, until you manage to forget my dumb ass nephew.”

“Thanks, grandpa” You mocked him.

“Hey! I am not 50 yet!” He laughed.

“You want me to call you Daddy?” You did not realize the double meaning of what you just said, but Dante did.

“I might… be too old for you? That way??” Dante blushed and nervously laughed.

Just then you realized what you just said.

Blushing, you replied. “No, that was not what I meant. I was jus-“

“It’s okay, I am too much of a dirty mind”

“Wow, I got rejected again, even though I wasn’t really flirting” The alcohol and the low self esteem made you feel bad again, the situation wasn’t that deep, yet you couldn’t stop feeling this bad about yourself.

Dante felt bad for taking this the way he did, now he feels stupid.

“That was not what I meant, I was also joking… I just… You just took me off guard, that is all. I’m sorry y/n”

“Hm” You replied. It did not matter what he said, you were feeling too bad about yourself to care.

“Y/n, I mean it, I wasn’t trying to make you feel rejected”

“Yeah. I don’t know Dante. I feel like an unattractive blob right now”

Dante stood up right in front of you, putting both his hands at both your cheeks in an awkward way, making you look at him.

“Fuck I am going to regret this, but, listen kid, you are attractive as fuck! I wish I could kiss you since I’ve met you. But you are friends with my nephew, that would be awkward as hell. That boy is a pussy, ever since I realized the way you looked at him I got angry, like, what did he do to steal the attention of such a woman? It makes me feel bad that you feel so disgusted about yourself, you shouldn’t base how worthy you are based on how men want you. Yet, here I am, saying that I wish I could kiss you right now.”

“You are lying” Tears begin to form in your eyes “You are trying to make me feel better”

“I do am making you feel better, but don’t call me liar, y/n”

“I do not believe in y…”

“Can I kiss you then?”

“W-what?” You were confused and scared.

“Come on, can I? I understand if you don’t wa-“

You grabbed his shirt and pulled him for a kiss, it was your first, and he could tell by how nervous you were and how awkward it was.

That made it even better for him.

You could feel his smile and it made you stop.

“No~ Why would you stop? That was so good” His voice melted. “Can we do it again?”

“Y-yeah, we… we can”

That night you realized that Nero really wasn’t that big of a deal, but holy shit how good it was with Dante.

“We can watch a movie if you want to too.” Dante said.

“Let’s stick with the kissing please, for now, Dante.”

“If you insist”

[polarisbibliotheque]

Dante, Vergil, V and Nero quick Halloween Scenarios - Vergil Version

Guess who has a not-so-quick-scenario as well? Of course, the other brother. But it's just this part, I promise.

(I know I'm late on my Halloween posts, but my health isn't cooperating with my writing T-T)

Pairing: Vergil x Reader

Summary: Vergil wasn't the easiest of people to convince to have fun - but a masquerade ball at the city's Opéra during Halloween might change that. Even if demons decide to pay a visit.

Author's Notes: I had no idea where I wanted to go with this, I just wanted Vergil in a masquerade ball. And secret gardens. Waltzing under the moonlight.

I'm also adopting throwing him into soft/fun situations 'cause I want to see the man smile. Just like I do to Dante. I regret nothing.

The very concept of having fun on Halloween was baffling to Vergil.

It was a time when demons would wreak havoc in the human world, precisely because of its powers in all realms. The veil between worlds was the thinnest during that time of the year, perfect for rituals of any kind. Vergil always saw Halloween as a very important date to work his own spirit to achieve more power – not to “prance around in the streets like a mindless buffoon”.

Yes, you had heard him saying that before. Hearing Vergil talking like that always created a memory impossible to forget.

As you opened the doors of the Devil May Cry that night, you were taken aback by not finding Dante sitting on his chair as per usual – it was Vergil who used it, like a vampire king would remain on his throne, only lifting his eyes as the doors opened.

“Now that is something I don’t always see.” You had a smile playing on your lips, making your lover mirror your expression.

“It is something to be found only once a year. You should cherish it.” Vergil closed his book, leaning back on the chair while his silvery eyes kept focused on you. “Shall I treat you like a client or like my lover?”

“As much as I know you like working on Halloween nights, I’m here only as your humble significant other, my dear.” As soon as you approached him, you sat on the desk – much like Trish would do every time she was talking to Dante. Observing you, Vergil could appreciate that situation from time to time. “Your lover with a mission, so to speak.”

“Ah. You wish to take me to Nero’s Halloween party at the Orphanage, right? He is already aware I am not going.” Vergil gave you a witty look as he leaned on the table, still carefully watching your form. “We came to a mutual agreement it is better I stay away from the children during the ‘scariest night of the year’. If any demons attack and I trigger, they might be more scared with me than the demons themselves.”

“Well, they wouldn’t be wrong. I fear anyone powerful enough to carry the title of King of Hell.” You seemed nonchalant about it, but Vergil couldn’t stop a devilish smile to arise on his lips. He wasn’t too proud of the ‘King of Hell’ ordeal, but the way you spoke, made him feel like you had a frightful admiration of his power – and Vergil wouldn’t admit, but he loved it. “It isn’t this party, though. Kyrie invited the whole crew to a ‘Masquerade Haunted Ball’ that will take place at the Opéra tonight – adults only, starting late at night, when all children are resting in the arms of Morpheus.”

“And why haven’t I heard of that before?” Of course. Vergil would always be careful, about anything. It was an autopilot reaction already.

“Because we all know how much foolishness you think all this is.” You did your best impression of him, making Vergil do his best not to chuckle. It was a kind of jest he couldn’t refrain from enjoying a little bit – when it wasn’t from Dante. “We can all enjoy some foolishness from time to time. Life isn’t just about perfecting ourselves, Vergil. People aren’t perfect – not even demons.”

He fell silent for a while, carrying the knowing look you gave him. Vergil knew you were right, and you discussed that sort of thing during endless nights – when he couldn’t sleep, sitting by the bed, you’d be by his side, stretching your legs over his lap and talking about the deepest, darkest corners of your doubts. You both spent one of those long nights discussing perfection, a subject Vergil and you had to deal with, for it was one of the unhealthiest points in your souls.

“Am I supposed to believe you of all people are going to ignore the powers that be today only to have a little fun?” His voice was sharp, but Vergil had enjoyment written all over his silvery eyes. He did let a modest smile color the corner of his lips right after. “I know, love. I’m not trying to be perfect just… This is what I know.”

Vergil was referring to the Devil May Cry and hunting. After settling in and deciding to tackle a normal life, Dante was a bit of a reference on how to deal with it – of course, Vergil remembered how to be a functional human being, he had his parents as role models long ago and observed life going on around him for enough time to know how to live. But he never saw anyone having to accommodate the trauma and trials he and Dante had to go through – except for his foolish brother.

Dante pulled it off the best way he could, Vergil was aware of that. He criticized him all the time, yes, but he didn’t end up much better than Dante when it came to living and trying to move on. That being said, Dante had a thing for working on special holidays – Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas… It was all a good time to stop demons from going on a human killing spree, so that was what Dante always did.

That’s how Vergil ended up on the desk that night. Dante was away on various jobs through the day and Vergil stepped in to keep an eye on the shop and work with any clients that might suddenly appear.

“I know.” You answered with care, reaching for his hand on the table. Playing with Vergil’s long, rough fingers was one of your favorite pastimes. “And it’s time for you to try to know something different. To live something you haven’t lived. Besides, Dante will also be there – we don’t know when, but Kyrie managed to convince him to show up.”

“He’ll probably arrive covered in blood and excuse it as his costume for the night.” Vergil did his best not to roll his eyes while you just laughed in response. It was great to see how used they got to each other – to the point that now they could perfectly predict each other’s behavior.

“Most probably.” You had a witty look in your eyes. “Also, I am offended. Of course, I didn’t ignore the powers that be today, I just did my rituals earlier, love. Who do you take me for?”

Vergil had to laugh, even if slightly, at your feigned outrage. He couldn’t be prouder of having you by his side to call ‘his lover’: even though you were a human and working on balancing every aspect of your life to live a healthy one, you weren’t completely averse to power. Quite the opposite: you always worked to make yourself stronger, wiser and masterful of your own abilities and occult studies and thatmade Vergil go over the moon.

“All this for a masquerade ball at the Opéra?” He asked back, playing with your fingers between his. Vergil always deemed your hands a lot softer and silkier than his own, even if you begged to differ on that.

“Of course. One that I hope to share with you, Verge.” With those words, you looked at the clock and leaned in his direction, planting a loving kiss on his forehead. He allowed himself to close his eyes for as long as your lips touched his skin. “Gotta go now. Kyrie asked me and the girls to get ready with her – if I take longer here, I’ll be late.”

Vergil made only a gesture of approval in return, as you finally put yourself on the way to the door.

“Please, think about this, love. If you worry about clothes, do know that I took the liberty of finding something I thought you might like and left it on the bed.” You winked at him, already opening the front door of the shop. “If you decide to come, feel free to wear it.”

As you closed the door behind you, Vergil could only sigh. He wasn’t feeling that keen on going to this Halloween ball, but he knew that, as soon as your brought it up, he was already fated to go.

Not because he was excited at the prospect of a party – but could he ignore such a simple request from his dear lover?

**

The Opéra stood golden and proud in the middle of the city, adorned with flowers, dark green foliage and pitch-black branches – made to look like a delightful secret garden that seemed alluring but had some sort of beware written on it.

Vergil had to admit it was the kind of scenario that appeased his senses. As he slowly made his way up the marble steps, the blue devil was too entranced with the beauty of it all to notice how humans seemed to realize he was not a mortal presence – while entering the Opéra, eyes were glued on his imposing form, dressed in black and blue classic attire, the upper part of his face covered by a silver venetian mask you carefully chose for him. If vampires were ever deemed to be real, all humans present were sure they’d look like that.

The way his long black coat was adorned with thorny dark blue and silver roses wasn’t it all. The manner his ruffled white shirt appeared only a bit under his dark vest carefully embellished with silvery blue florals also didn’t do all the work. The boots up his knees, covered by equestrian gaiters discreetly embroidered with dark roses helped with the look, but there was something else.

Vergil’s eyes could be clearly seen under his venetian mask, head naturally standing tall and his posture carrying all his dignity. Wherever his steps took him, Vergil didn’t have to ask people to make room for him to walk through – they would naturally do it, his imposing presence worth more than a thousand words.

All mortals on that ball at the Opéra could ask only two questions between themselves: “who is he” and “what is he”. The ones who believed in supernatural creatures were sure they were in the presence of a vampire who decided to have fun on a Halloween night. Others believed he was a mysterious aristocrat who had just arrived in town.

Vergil, in another hand, was only focused on finding you among all those faces. Being in a social gathering like that was beyond bothering and, if any of those people decided to talk to him and ended up overwhelming his already uncomfortable senses in an unknown place where he wasn’t relaxed nor sure of his safety, Vergil could trigger something other than his demon. Something far darker that he decided to bury in the depths of his soul – and you usually had glimpses only during one of his night terrors’ episodes.

It wasn’t long until his eyes met your form – Vergil could find you in the most desolate of places, as he would deem you a light among all darkness. That light, he’d say, would always be impossible to ignore.

If Van Helsing ever had a child, surely would have been you. Even if you wore dark clothes, in charcoal black and midnight blue, your light would shine in silver white embellishments, all different kinds of flowers and vines burning bright like a star among the velvet of your flared shirt. Knee high boots made your figure even taller and elegant, your hair framing a silver mask perfectly matching his.

You talked with Kyrie and Trish, Lady and Nico somewhere else with Nero. And even though they were both beautiful, Vergil would always deem you fairest of them all. He couldn’t stop a faint smile from coloring his lips as soon as he realized you probably chose your clothes to match his – even if discreetly.

Excusing yourself, you left for one of the porches where you could admire the garden of the Opéra. Vergil wasn’t the only one to be overwhelmed in crowded places: you also felt tired after a while, needing to recharge in more quiet spaces before rejoining the party. Following you, still oblivious of the people talking about his ominous presence, he watched as you seemed at peace on your own – a beautiful Juliet admiring her own garden.

Before he could approach you, though, Vergil’s smile faded from his lips as another man called for your attention. His first reaction was to narrow his eyes as he watched you talk to that unknown creature who clearly was trying to court you while outrage filled his heart with burning anger.

In the end, Vergil was the jealous type. Who would have known?

The flames of jealousy weren’t because of mistrust on you, though. He was always secure enough that you would always be by his side, for as long as your heart desired, and he had no control over it – Vergil’s jealousy stemmed from the thought of having someone else touching you.

And, judging by the way you were reacting, touching you in a manner you didn’t want.

“I apologize for taking so long.” His voice echoed from behind you, making your heart grow lighter in your chest. The smile shining in your lips denounced how relieving his presence was. “I took some time to close the shop for the night.”

“It’s alright, love.” You felt as if your heart could jump from your chest. You weren’t keen of displays of jealousy or being seen as a property – and Vergil knew that – but some people just couldn’t take a no. It was the case you found yourself in that night. “I was just saying you were about to arrive.”

“Well, do forgive. It seems like he wasn’t invented after all.” The man who talked to you had a mocking smile on his lips. Vergil wasn’t one to lower his level because of such a despising creature, but he found himself seriously considering punching those lips in order to teach them not to mock you.

“Hmmm…” Vergil’s silvery eyes measured the man from his head to his toes, clearly leaving him as uneasy and uncomfortable as you were before your lover appeared. “A sorry creature like you should learn to pick your fights better. Be gone before I lose my temper.”

You closed your eyes, using every inch of control in your body not to smile. You were good at dissing people, but Vergil… Well, he made that an art. Watching Dante and Vergil dissing each other was a known entertainment time at the Devil May Cry – both had different vocabularies and mannerisms, but no one could deny they had style. While Dante seemed like a hard rock, steel horse-riding cowboy, Vergil sounded like a menacing vampire lord from the darkest halls of an obscure mansion in England. It was art at its finest.

“I find it so amusing how entertained you look.” Vergil had one of his eyebrows raised, giving you a side look while the man left without questioning him again. If Vergil already looked like that without losing his temper, he probably wouldn’t want to stick around to see the other version. “Or should I take that ghost of a smile you are trying to conceal as feeling flattered?”

“Oh? You think I am feeling flattered because my knight in darkest armor came to the rescue while that poor soul thought he had a chance with me?” You turned at him, finally meeting Vergil’s eyes. Although he looked bothered before, now he showed how much he enjoyed being there with you. “If that’s your thought, then you are right, my love.”

“Who would have known the most powerful human would enjoy being helped like that?” As he said those words, a caring smile appeared on his lips, making you mirror his expression.

“Sometimes, men don’t know how to take a ‘no’. Although I’m used to dealing with demons, humans are much more complicated.” You sighed, shaking your head. “It’s not the first time I have to deal with a guy like this, but your presence made it light-years easier.”

“Hmmm. That’s because most of them can’t find it in themselves to respect someone else.” Vergil turned his head to the crowd again, to make sure that man was gone for good.

“Exactly. Besides, only one person is allowed to touch me in this world.” Your answer was nonchalant while you leaned by the balustrade, taking in the air of the night.

Vergil’s silvery eyes turned back at you, a golden warmth of pride and care filling his chest. And even though he was taken aback by your sudden words, with nothing but the will to kiss you at that moment, his heart couldn’t stop worrying.

For that creature who was speaking to you wasn’t a simple human. It was a concealed demon.

**

Vergil didn’t know how it came to happen, really. He tore his eyes from you for a mere second and, just like that, you were gone. You decided to take a stroll in the gardens, listening to the music and enjoying the fresh air of the night – he had his arm entangled in yours and, as soon as he let go, you weren’t there anymore.

“Y/n…?” Your name echoed from his lips cautiously, not too loud. If you were around, you would listen – he knew you always did.

Soon, Vergil noticed another presence – one that made his hand yearn for Yamato. He moved fast in the shadows, taking the demon by surprise: the man who was talking to you previously almost lost his life, startled by the appearance of the Dark Slayer.

“I find it very intriguing…” His voice was low and cold, cutting like glass. “That as soon as y/n vanishes, you appear again, demon.”

“It’s not like I was expecting you to be around.” The man answered, shrugging as he turned to Vergil. He had a mocking smile in his lips, trying to maintain his confidence around Vergil’s menacing stare. “Sometimes we have to improvise.”

“If you do know who I am, you know how quickly I can end your pitiful life. Give me a reason not to.” Both Vergil and Dante weren’t known for their patience – and when it came to you and your safety, Vergil didn’t wait too long to act.

“Well… You don’t really have a reason to do so. Your lovely companion is just gone, it’s not like it’s my fault.” The demon did his best not to seem uneasy. Vergil’s reputation preceded him, and all demons knew better than to provoke the storm.

“Don’t make me lose the very little patience I already have left.” The son of Sparda faintly tilted his head upwards, something you noticed he usually did when talking to lesser demons. It was his hubris making him look down on weaker, despising creatures like those demons – it was one of Vergil’s faults, yes. But in all honesty, it didn’t really bother you. “If you were not expecting me, it means you know about y/n. Talk.”

“Y/n is a demon hunter.”

“There are many demon hunters in here tonight – me and my son included.” Vergil did his best not to roll his eyes. That demon seemed keen on testing his patience – and, as he said before, he didn’t have many of it left. “Even if I believe you are too weak to best us in combat, it’s only logical to go after the strongest ones.”

A quick and nervous laugh took Vergil by surprise and made him lose his track for a few seconds. Why was that demon laughing of him? Did he miss something?

“Your partner is more powerful than you believe, then.” And the man stopped laughing as soon as Vergil’s piercing stare found his. The Dark Slayer wasn’t one to take mockery lightly.

“I know how strong y/n is. The most powerful human I know.” Again, Vergil slightly tilted his head upwards. If he had Yamato within his hand’s reach, that demon would already be headless.

But when Vergil said those words, it sank in. It was Halloween.

Like you both talked before, it was a day of rituals. You did yours to step up in your power, using the aid of spirits who roamed the earth as the veil grew thin. It wasn’t something too usual for humans – the date became a holiday for sweets and parties, but you both knew how much you could harness from Halloween.

And if you could prepare your rituals for that night, demons could do it as well.

“Hmmm.” Vergil narrowed his eyes, assessing his options. He didn’t want to make a scandal – triggering could look just like a carefully done costume for humans but fighting a demon in full demon form was bound to cause havoc and death. You wouldn’t be very pleased with that, and Nero would never forgive him for ruining Halloween.

“Finally understood, son of Sparda?” The demon had such disdain in his voice it took Vergil every ounce of self-control not to kill him with his bare hands.

“The only reason why you’re still standing is that I don’t want to create chaos among humans.” The Dark Slayer answered in a menacing tone, his eyes turning more demonic with time. He was doing his best not to do something stupid, but if his rage became too much to handle, Vergil wouldn’t think twice before triggering.

“Who would’ve known that you, of all demons, would be held back by something so stupid as humans.”

Vergil closed his eyes – that was a low blow, something to expect from a demon. But it wasn’t necessarily the humans that held him back. He knew it was something else, deep inside his soul. Something that glimmered in your eyes every time you were together, that sparkled in your lips whenever you talked to him. Something that was hidden in Nero’s voice with every insult he threw at Vergil.

It was love.

Love was holding him back. And Vergil wouldn’t allow a demon to mock it or to make him feel guilty about it – after spending so many years under the clutches of abuse, having his soul broken in Hell to serve as a mindless pawn of Mundus, Vergil crawled back only to say he would never allow it again. He survived and now he had a chance of something soft. Of something beautiful.

He wouldn’t let it go.

“What is your intention, creature? To use y/n in a ritual only to gain the strength and power you are too pitiful to acquire by your own hand?” As soon as he opened his eyes, the demon knew he had gone too far: now a different kind of silver, as if shimmering on its own, looked down at him in fury. Vergil’s teeth were sharp, starting to look like fangs. Just a little more and the Dark Slayer would show the demon he could be. “Enough with your insignificant games. I can allow a sorry excuse of a demon like you to cowardly run away tonight if I have my family to watch over. If I don’t… Hell will look like a welcoming place while I rid the world of your existence.”

The demon fell silent, frozen in place. He wasn’t expecting Vergil to look that menacing – he heard stories of the Dark Slayer but figured he would be “tamed” now that he lived in the human world. But his eyes, sharp teeth and ominous aura proved he was more than wrong: the Dark Slayer wasn’t tamed, he was asleep.

And he could be awakened at only his own heart’s desire.

“It is your choice. But I warn you: my patience has come to an end.” Vergil tilted his head again - this time a dark, horned figure seeming to loom behind his human form.

The demon couldn’t take it. It was clear enough Vergil was too much for his own power – his pathetic power, compared to the son of Sparda. The demon instinctively started tripping over his own feet, trying to get away from that man, that half-demon. It was too much of a stretch to try to use you in a sacrificial ritual to gain strength during that time of the year. It was too much to try to hurt you. He knew that now.

Vergil slowly followed his steps, making sure he wouldn’t try to run away without a proper response.

“I-I-I won’t. I will. I mean… I…”

“Use your words properly, creature!” As Vergil commanded, the demon felt a shiver run down his spine, trembling his whole body. He wanted to run away, to go back to Hell. Nothing he saw there was as menacing as the Dark Slayer – and he didn’t ever trigger.

“I will go back! Y/n is beyond the hedge maze!”

Vergil finally stopped, the demon staring at him with big eyes filled with horror.

“Leave.”

The Dark Slayer didn’t have to ask twice. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, the demon ran more than he ever did in his whole existence.

**

As promised, you were at the center of the hedge maze of the Opéra. No one even noticed what happened – no human ventured on that dark, silent place, away from the party during that night. But as soon as Vergil arrived at the center, he allowed a relieved smile to spread across his lips.

It seemed you were in a peaceful sleep, laying across a stone bench surrounded by roses and bushes of wildflowers, illuminated only by the pale moonlight. It was Halloween, yes, but in Vergil’s eyes, it seemed like you were taken from the pages of a fairy tale. A long-lost, forgotten fairy tale, reserved only to lucky eyes.

Approaching you, Vergil made sure to check your vital signs – they seemed fine. The demon probably put you in a slumber state so he could use you - your blood for the ritual. That made Vergil’s blood boil – the fact that demons thought they could use the most powerful human in such a feeble attempt to gain power on their own instead of working for it. Like he did. Like you did.

Vergil took a strand of hair away from your face, thinking how he could wake you from the spell. After some time deliberating on that silent night, he concluded he only knew one way – making Vergil carefully cup your face and place a gentle kiss on your slightly cold lips.

It took you a few seconds to open your eyes and focus on his face – adorned by the stars on the dark sky, lit only by the rays of the moon. You furrowed your brows for a few seconds, before remembering being held by the demon and put to sleep before you could even react. Realization slipped through your face, making Vergil smile in return.

“I’m glad you are alright.”

“C’mon, Vergil. This was the stupidest way I could be taken away by a demon.” You closed your eyes, sighing while hearing his giggle echo through the maze.

“It wasn’t your fault, love. We are here to enjoy the party, not to work.” He held your hand, trying to warm up your chilly fingers. “As you taught me yourself: it is fine not to be alert and on survival mode all the time.”

“As long as that doesn’t get you in ‘demon sleep time’.” You opened your eyes, watching as he seemed to be amused by all that. It was very rare seeing Vergil so relaxed and carefree – you wouldn’t complain about that. “How long was I out?”

“Not long. I dealt with the demon, but we might have to hunt him down next week.” He massaged your hand as you tried your best to sit straight. It seemed like every bone in your body was in pain.

“Hmmm. I thought ‘dealing’ meant ‘killing’ in your vocabulary, love.” Once again, you furrowed your eyebrows, receiving a side look from your lover. A rather mischievous one – something he didn’t wear often. At all.

“I might not have brought the Yamato with me.” As he declared, your eyebrows raised, and your lips brightened with a delighted smile in surprise. That had to be a first. “You invited me to a ball so we could enjoy the night together. I thought weapons weren’t the best thing to bring along.”

“They aren’t indeed.” Your smile softened as you entangled your fingers around his. Vergil allowed himself to smile a little more – there wasn’t anyone there to watch you or make fun of him for being so vulnerable. He could let that happen from time to time. “I’m glad you thought about that. Although now I’m curious on how you dealt with the demon.”

“Well, that is a story I think we can leave for the next week. When we get to work.” Vergil declared with a sigh, standing up from the stone bench and offering his hand to you – in a half-flourished bow, dramatic enough to make you giggle, but beautiful enough to go with the theme of that night. “Right now, I think we should spend our time with things that really matter.”

“Hmmm, like what, my prince of darkness? Dancing?” You had a shimmering smile on your lips, holding Vergil’s hand while he helped you get up, circling the garden concealed by the hedge maze as if you were both getting ready to a song you couldn’t hear.

“Yes, my love. Like dancing.” With those words, he took you in his arms, starting to waltz just like he taught you when you were alone – something he learnt from his mother when he was a kid and loved watching his parents showing off the big waltz moves they knew on the garden of their house during golden summer nights.

Yes, power mattered. Hunting demons, closing the gates of Hell, stopping those creatures from slaying innocent humans on the streets. But, after claiming his life back to himself, Vergil came to realize few things mattered as much as the way you smiled when dancing so freely in his arms.

[sellyoursoulforagoodfic]

Day 2: Candies

Vergil x reader

Word Count: 246

And the origin of this challenge @blackirisposts

The sight of proud, stoic Vergil carrying one of those cheap, purple plastic pumpkins children use to trick-or-treat was something so unexpected that you couldn’t even dream of holding back the laugh that bubbled up in your throat. You’d just rolled out of bed when the man returned from his short stay with Nero and Kyrie. He looked every bit as regal as usual, but that little pumpkin was so jarringly not that your brain sort of short-circuited. 

“At least you are enjoying this,” he muttered, depositing the object onto the coffee table.

Its new height allowed her to see that it was fairly full of Halloween candy. “Why do you even have that?!” you weezed.

Vergil sighed as he started removing his outerwear, his very being looking like he’d been carrying literal garbage rather than innocent candy and plastic. “Kyrie decided that you and I are not welcoming enough to our neighbors. We are to give that away to the children on Halloween.”

You raised an eyebrow. “I hope she realizes that that’s probably going to Dante.”

He just hummed.

“Still,” you pulled him close once his coat was hanging from a hook on the wall, “I’m gonna have to thank her for that image; I haven’t laughed like that in years.”

Again, he just hummed, this time as he rested his cheek on your head.

“I couldn’t get you to pick it up again so I could get a picture, could I?”

“Absolutely not.”

--

Tag because they’re great and an exception to my rule of no tags: @dylan-o-yumm​

[thedyingmoon]

DMC X Harry Potter! ( Hogwarts Houses Part 1 )

Because, why not?

So, I have this idea about a crossover, and I really want to share it here!

Enjoy!

🖤🖤🖤

Characters: Dante, Vergil, Nero, Kyrie, Nico, Lady, Trish, Patty, and V ( because, why not? )

Note: All of them are the same age - 11.

Another note: V is Dante and Vergil's awkward adoptive brother. Nero is their cousin.

Lastly: Eva and Sparda are both alive.

🖤🖤🖤

It was the gang's first day at Hogwarts, and all of them were excited to get sorted into their own houses - Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff.

Just the other night, little Dante was bugging his parents nonstop, saying he wanted to be in Gryffindor. Vergil, being a kid who wanted to be different compared to his twin, wanted to be anywhere else other than Gryffindor. V, the sweet, innocent kid, just wanted to read his book of poems in peace, and didn't care which House he would end up in.

And so, that fateful day finally arrived. They all experienced all the thrills that Hogwarts has to offer for firsties just like them. They took that big, pretty, scarlet train towards the school ( Dante almost depleted his, and almost Vergil's, budget, buying too much treats for his own good ), got on boats and traversed the lake ( V, due to him not paying too much attention, fell off the boat and almost drowned, when a suspicious looking tentacle from the dark water brought him back up to safety ), and crossed the threshold that led towards the Great Hall ( one girl by the name of Nico wondered how Hogwarts made the ceiling reflect the night sky and thought how she would incorporate it into her latest invention ).

At last, the moment they've all been waiting for. All of them were made to gather in front of a stool with a very old and tattered looking hat on top of it. The old Professor took a look at a scroll, cleared her throat, and called Dante first.

Nero, his ever supportive cousin that lived on the city next to Redgrave, cheered while chanting, "Gryffindor!" with him at least several times that it made the hat give them a suspicious look.

Now, this kid, the hat sensed, had a clearly strong aura that he definitely inherited from strong parents. He is obnoxious, one can tell. He gets what he wants, whether people around him like it or not. But, he is not entirely that bad. The hat can predict a particularly good fortune of him where he would become capable of saving others in times of great need using the strength his parents had bestowed upon him. One can only wonder, but he might become the greatest among his batch with the proper guidance so he would not stumble into darkness. The hat knew.

And so, before the hat was even placed on top of Dante's head, it screamed, "Gryffindor!" Nero and all of the students that belonged to the house of the brave lion all cheered.

As Dante took his place among them, the Professor once again cleared her throat and called a girl named Kyrie. Nero went quiet immediately. Kyrie smiled at him, giving him reassurance that whatever happens, she would still stay with him. They're childhood sweethearts, after all.

And so, the hat was placed on her head. The hat saw great things inside her head. Of kindness, loyalty, strength in the midst of despair. It can clearly see her tending to those who are weaker than her, giving them food, offering them shelter, protecting them at all cost.

The hat gave what almost looked like a smirk and shouted, "Hufflepuff!" The students of the house of the loyal badger all cheered and clapped and Nero breathed a sigh of relief, as she didn't get sorted into Slytherin, where most of the snobs are. Well, she is a muggle born, so she would definitely not get sorted into that house, right?

But, unto the next one. Who would've guessed it was Nero's turn? The boy gulped and went towards the platform to take his place on the stool. The hat was placed on his head and it immediately picked up Nero's uncertainty. It can clearly see that the boy wanted to be in Gryffindor where his cousin is right now. But, it could also sense his longing to be with the girl who just got sorted into a different house. Just like his cousin, the boy emitted a strong aura. Clearly, strong blood runs in their gene pool. He can see the boy do wonderful things just like Dante, of defending the weak and saving then from evil. But, as strong as the boy's aura of clear bravery, the hat could also sense something else. Of a bond that would never get severed no matter how things and time, itself, meddle with him. He will fight for others' sake, but he would definitely fight the most for the people he truly loved - family.

Nero glanced at Dante, who grinned and nodded at him. He looked at Kyrie, who smiled sweetly at him. Oh, man, he thought.

"Hufflepuff!"

Nero's eyes widened in surprise. It was a close hatstall between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, after all. The Professor took the hat away from his head and was almost escorted into the Hufflepuff table, being dumbfounded and all. He looked at his cousin, somehow looking for forgiveness for not being sorted into Gryffindor, but Dante just smiled at him, showing no grudge, whatsoever. Kyrie, on the other hand, was beyond pleased. She grabbed Nero, made him take a seat beside her, and almost peppered him with kisses, if it weren't for the older students who started to watch them.

Nico was called next. She cheerfully hopped on the platform, grabbed the hat and wore it herself, eager to find out where she would get sorted. Instantly, the hat sensed great intelligence within that frizzy head of hers. And resourcefulness to boot. But, then, it sensed something else. Something she lacked, and that was wisdom. The hat could tell that Nico often takes chances whenever she gets them. She makes rash and irrational decisions most of the time in pursuit of her dream. The hat could also sense a bit of,... hate? But, that could dissipate in the future. Hogwarts would definitely teach her to be one of the greatest Witches when it comes to the world of innovation, all the while helping her to reign in that overflowingly dangerous curiosity, and a smudge of hate, within her. The hat knew the perfect place for her.

"Slytherin!"

Nico slapped her hip happily and practically ran towards the cunning snake's table, ignoring the snobby students who gave her strange looks. It was nothing to her. She would surpass them soon enough, she could feel.

TO BE CONTINUED

🖤🖤🖤

There you go! My thoughts on Dante, Kyrie, Nero, and Nico's possible Hogwarts Houses!

Next time, we'll know where Vergil, Patty, Lady, Trish, and V would be sorted!

I hope you enjoyed.

🖤🖤🖤

[devilsnwitches]

SSDD - Ch3 - Into the Fire

AO3 <Link - Written by Me & @lynxtigerwritings

Tags = AU Canon-Divergent / Canon-Typical Behavior

Pairings = Vergil-OFC / Dante-OFC / Nero-Kyrie / V-OFC / Nero-V

Note - READ LOVE’S SACRIFICE BEFORE THIS CHAP IF YOU HAVEN’T - Pairing V/OFC

“Are you shittin’ me? Three to four months and you guys haven’t been attacked yet? What the actual fuck?” Was the first thing Yvette said once she and Charlotte got the full story.

Charlotte had to agree with Yvette. Demons should have been swarming them the moment the deal had been made. They should’ve been prime targets for any and all sorts of attacks. That demon either had the patience of a saint, or there was something more at play. She looked over at the blue-black bird that was resting on V’s shoulder. Golden-beady eyes were steadily watching her, assessing.

The light bulb came on quick in her head. There was indeed a reason why demons weren’t attacking this kid, and it had nothing to do with the deal. “You’re Mundus’ familiar.” She turned to Yvette. “The fallen King of the Underworld. The throne is still up for grabs.”

“Well ain’t that a plot twist,” Yvette whistled, “Damn, V, you go man.”

V glanced towards his room where he’d done the ritual all those months ago. Yvette’s praise felt...good, in a way, but he bowed his head to her. "‘He who holds to himself a joy, doth the winged life destroy’." Taking every precaution had been what gotten him this far. At least that was what he liked to believe. “Xina told me you had...advice for me.”

Charlotte let out a long, slow breath. Her eyes wandered. His tattoos, the circles under his eyes, and how he held himself. It was clear that this took energy. She didn’t know what price he paid, but she didn’t doubt it was a heavy one. She glanced over at Alexina, who was quiet. They were both soft-spoken, good-hearted kids. She inhaled sharply and let it out again. “Kid...no.” She shook her head, “V.” She looked at him. His eyes were fierce. They told a story without her having to ask for a word. “I’m gonna be blunt and honest with you because I respect you. You’re one of the few people that I’ve sat with, had a conversation with, and know for a damn fact that my sister and I might not get out of here alive if we went up against you. That’s saying something coming from a seasoned witch of thirty years or so. Whatever demon you made a deal with...they fucked up. They weren’t expecting you, but they also won. Whatever price you told them you’d pay...and believe me I can take a gander...they got more than what they bargained for. What that means, is that your life is no longer going to be easy. I’m not talking about the pain and the familiars. I’m not even talking about demons coming after you. There are people who’d want exactly what you can do. That’s not to say you can’t live a normal life. You’d have to fight for that. What I am saying is that...your new normal isn’t going to be fun and games.”

The silence was heavy and she knew V was hanging on to her every word. He was an observer. He looked and listened, a lot more than most people. Griffon didn’t seem to be too thrilled with the thickness of the conversation, ruffling his feathers and trilling. He didn’t like her very much and she didn’t blame him. Lysander reputation went far into the Underworld. Just like Dante’s. Soon to be this kid. “My advice to you, V, is to learn what you got. You can harness demon energy, summon things from the Underworld, and make it your bitch. That’s not easy. Not everyone has that kind of willpower, that kind of spirit. You’re both a hazard and the most dangerous person I know. I know the Sparda brothers. They’re as dangerous as you and they’re older.”

V looked down at his hand, examining the tattoos that only barely went over his knuckles, “‘I am a series of small victories and large defeats, and I am as amazed as any other that I have gotten from there to here’.” Glancing up again he knew for sure that Alexina and himself wouldn’t continue to be so lucky to be left alone. He had read about Sparda, same as any other who was smart enough to learn history. Of course he had thrown himself headfirst into that world. “Is there anyone that can teach me? Reading will only get me so far. If I have this power, I might as well put it into practice.”

“Now we’re talking!” Griffon cackled.

Charlotte looked at Yvette, a slight head-tilt and a raised brow. There were plenty of people. They could do it, at the very least get him on the basics, a foundation. Dante and Vergil could do it as well. Demon hunters and half-demons as they were, they had been around the block. She wasn’t sure if she should lump Vergil there, honestly. Nero and Kyrie were another factor. They were part of the Order a long time ago.

Her lips pursed. They had options, but the question isn't quantity. It was quality. There was no one that’d teach him summoning, he would have to learn through trial and error. “If that’s what you want to do, then we’ll help you find someone that can,” Charlotte said after a moment. “Dante has a network of people, I’m sure there’s bound to be someone he can recommend to you to help. If not, I’ll take you.” She looked at V squarely. “If, of course, I’m up to your standards.” She glanced at Griffon. “I already know how you feel about me, chickie.”

“Oh, you son of a-” He was about to fly towards Charlotte but was stopped by V’s hand and he settled himself back down, shaking out his feathers in a miffed sort of fashion. Alexina’s lips were curved slightly, looking away from them as she hid her amusement.

“Then that is what I will take,” V nodded to Charlotte, “I appreciate you offering to take me under your wing.”

“If you’re interested in spellwork and seeing if you can turn your poems into spells, I’m totally down for helping you out there. Char does the hexes and the symbols and stuff, I’m the Latin person.” Yvette beamed proudly.

Now that did sound like an idea. It amused him that the one who seemed the brashest was the one who could speak the elegant language of Latin. “I will take that into consideration, thank you.”

Charlotte leaned back looking a little on the exhausted side all of the sudden. She could already tell that she was going to be in hell for the next few months since her sister offered Latin courses to a kid that probably could summon a demon with literally his wits alone. “You both will be the death of me. I saw my life flash before my eyes.”

Griffon cackled. “I’ll let Shortstack have that gold star, girlie.”

X

The following day, Charlotte decided that the best way to test out V was to throw him into the fire. She wasn’t literally going to toss him into a middle of a demon fight and see how he fared, that wasn’t the greatest idea. However, she was going to drag him to see how he fit in with the rest of the group and see if Nico was willing to fit him up with a weapon. A conduit or something. She doubted he could swing anything heavy. She leaned back in the driver’s seat, eyeing him from the corner. He was reading his book, but she could tell that not a single thing was not noticed.

She could already tell, this kid was the kid that teachers loathed in school. Not for his smarts, oh they’d praise that, but he’d get bored quick. He’d pick up a book and read, and not once miss a beat. “You know, your stubbornness is a treat.” She said after a moment.

“Oh?” V picked his head up and watched her curiously, “Stubborn natures are not usually praised. What sparked you to say something like that about me?”

“There’s stubborn as in stubborn idiots and then there’s stubborn as in smart. I’ve dealt with more stubborn idiots than smart ones. Believe me, you’re a breath of fresh air, V.” Charlotte smiled as she tilted her head towards him as she flipped her turn signal to turn a corner. “You watch. You listen. I bet there have been a few times where if you wanted to, you could’ve started a shit show or ended one.” She hummed under her breath. “Mind if I ask you something personal, V?”

“You may ask anything you like, but there is no guarantee I will answer,” V responded cryptically, turning his page and settling further into the seat of the car.

Charlotte grinned, seemingly pleased. “Fine, I’ll give you two questions.” Even though there was no guarantee he’d answer either of them, it still made her pleased that one of the questions he might choose over the other. “What’s your full name? I only know you as V and while that’s not a bad nickname, it’s a...very short one.”

“Indeed it is.” His lips quirked at that, not elaborating in the slightest. He gave his full name to few people. The applications for the few times he held a job and Alexina.

Charlotte’s smile widened and she let out a soft chuckle. She flipped on another turn signal. “Okay. That’s fair.” Laughter echoed in her words as her eyes crinkled with the emotion. “Your girlfriend’s hot. Nico even said it.”

V’s hand twitched on his book, and he felt his neck warm, but otherwise gave nothing away, “I half expected that to come from Yvette’s mouth, not your own. Xina is not my girlfriend, even if Griffon calls her Hathaway.”

“Familiars are jerks as in they give things away before you even get a chance to hide.” Charlotte glanced at her rearview mirror. “Vet’s a terrible influence sometimes, and admittedly talking girl last night got me all sorts of curious. Nico’s also no help in that either. Thought I’d ask first before one of them pounced on you...loudly. Believe me, you’d rather be trapped where you are than getting a massage from Yvette if she’s around.”

“I will keep that in mind.” V closed his book and set it on his lap, eyes on the area around them once he realized the surroundings were unfamiliar. “Tell me again, where we are going?”

“We’re getting you fitted,” Charlotte replied, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel. “We’re tracking down Nico and her van. I don’t want her hauling through the streets like they’re made of clay. I’m thinking they’re back at Dante’s place. If Vergil’s the stubborn idiot type I think he is, he’s there as well and if he is...I get to get upset about the wound he’s undoubtedly making angry.” She glanced at V. “Pop quiz time, V. What does the name Abaddon mean to you?”

Racking his brain, V knew he’d heard that before. It didn’t take long for him to narrow it down, “Abaddon, one of the Christian Angels of Death. Also known to be a demon. Rules over a bottomless pit, an Abyss. A destroyer. Destruction.”

He did his research. Charlotte tapped her fingers on the steering wheel again. Which meant he decided which demon to summon when he did his little ritual. “Okay. Now tell me a bit about Stolas.”

“Often depicted as an owl with a crown, or a raven,” V didn’t take as long to answer that as an image came to mind, “Known for astronomy, poison plants, and their herbs as well as precious stones. Not much is really known about him besides that.”

Charlotte nodded a few times, “He’s a plant demon with a thirst of trouble and worse his plants don’t usually have antidotes. Not ones that you can find anywhere, anyway.” She nodded her head towards the back of her car. “I’ve studied plants, that’s my shtick besides drawing sigils and paper origami spells. If you meet up with a demon that can do plants, don’t. I don’t even know how Vergil’s still alive. Stubbornness and pride I guess. I can’t blame him, I’d do the same thing. I ain’t dying to a plant. I think that’s everyone’s thought. Still. Things are getting worse from here, and if you’re gonna get in the middle of these battles, I’d rather you know. I have some of the cures. If you’re handy with plants, I can teach you how to make some of them, just in case.”

“By ‘antidotes you can’t find anywhere’ do you mean ‘common antidotes’?” V arched a brow at her. It wasn’t often he found himself around someone who would ramble away about something. Xina only did that when she was passionate about her chosen topic. “Xina ribs me for it, but I tend to keep my room as dark as possible. Blackout curtains and the like. So I don’t usually keep plants alive.”

“I’ll give you some extras then. Bottles I mean.” Charlotte grimaced. “Words and I aren’t..uh...good with each other.” She smiled thinly. “I’m the one that graduated high school, too, let that sink. We’re here.”

Eyeballing the building V slowly got out of the car and took a good hard long look at it. Committing it to memory would be a good idea, as he felt he would be coming around here quite often in the future to come. Right in front of them was an arched roof over the porch, double doors that were certainly worn in. In fact, the whole building looked worn down as if they were in the slums of Redgrave city, but V knew they were only in one of the several residential areas. Attached to the roof was a clear neon sign with cursive letters loudly screaming "Devil May Cry" and a man at the end with a gun pointed towards the capital D, a full-body sword on his back. “Should I be concerned?” V couldn’t help asking.

“The only thing you gotta worry about, Shakespeare, is keeping your head on straight.” Griffon appeared on V’s shoulder, peering at the building. “Nothing in there’s gonna bite ya, and there’s no shame in running away. You can always run away if you have to.”

“Never thought I’d hear the day a demon told someone to run away and mean it kindly.” Charlotte mused as she came out from the rear seats, carrying a stick of metal. “Come on. Dante’s kind enough and Griffon’s right. No one’s in there looking at you for a fight. If anything, they’re gonna be curious about you as you are them.” She gently patted V’s back.

As soon as they walked through the doors, V heard the wooden floorboards creak beneath his sandaled feet, and when he looked up from being startled by it he was greeted by an interesting sight. Two red couches to his left underneath the stairway were filled with people, the desk straight ahead of him had a man with shocking silver-white hair sitting in it, and they were all watching a familiar short woman with a trash bag in hand muttering to herself as she busied around like a bumblebee.

Before he or Charlotte could say anything, a voice at the top of the stairs caused him to look up. “Why is Yvette cleaning your place by herself, Dante?” He looked like the man behind the desk with his hair too wet to form a shape, only he wore shades of blue instead of shades of red.

V was the one to answer him, “It seems to me she’s the type of person to not allow anyone in her way.”

Charlotte was impressed. Five seconds in the door and he already called out her sister. Then again, it was probably cheating since they already met yesterday. The other boy on the couch looked over at them, his silver hair much shorter and wearing a royal blue hoodie spoke up. “Who’s the MCR knock off?”

Nico, on the other hand, was already leaping to her feet and heading towards Charlotte. “Is that what I think you got in yer hands there, Lotty?”

Charlotte’s instant response was to hold it up over her head, despite that, both girls were the same height if Charlotte wasn’t a tiny bit taller. “Uh-huh. I got rules for this one, Nico. Nothing flashy, something practical, and can be used in a fight.”

“Seriously? Yer gonna make me go borin’ with that piece of equipment?” Nico folded her arms over her chest. “Do you know how awesome I can make that thing? It’d be a work of art.”

“It’s not for me. It’s a gift.” Charlotte bargained. “Triple your usual rate. Unless...this isn’t a challenge at all for you Nico.”

“Give me that.” Nico jumped up and snatched it out of Charlotte’s hands. “Wow. I can’t believe I’m actually holding this...who's it for?”

Charlotte merely tilted her head and Nico looked right over at V. Her eyes looked all over him for a moment and then noted, “You must be Lexi’s boy.”

Griffon cackled. “Looks like they all got you pegged, pretty boy.”

Dante even glanced up at the bird’s voice. He didn’t have to look over at the stairs to know that Vergil probably shifted uncomfortably. The familiar looked….well...familiar. He looked back at Charlotte. “I didn’t shove her into doing this. She-”

“I VOLUNTEERED AS TRIBUTE!” Yvette screamed towards Charlotte, “You should’ve seen this place, Char! Horrible! You would’ve cried!”

Charlotte did a whistle as she held three fingers solemnly towards her sister and turned to Dante. “Next time instead of sacrificing my sister to the Hunger Games, rent yourself a wife.”

“I volunteer for that, too.” Yvette chirped and Vergil scoffed up above.

Dante shrugged, a smirk playing at his lips. “I didn’t do anything. She’s the one that went Tohru Honda on me. I barely said a word, let alone told her to do anything. I offered to help, but V called it.”

“Oh my fucking god, nerds. The lot of you.” Charlotte deadpanned, her attention turned towards Vergil. “How did my handiwork come out?”

“After a certain point,” Vergil put the towel he’d been using to dry his hair around his neck, “My demon healing took over. My back isn’t completely healed over, but it will be by tomorrow.” He wasn’t about to say that avoiding itching it had been a nightmare.

Nero noticed that V was gluing himself to the corner of the room, watching them. Griffon was steady on his shoulder, beady golden eyes also surveying the room as they took in the different interactions. He had a book under his arm, but Nero wouldn’t be at all surprised to look back at him and see his nose stuck in it. Nico’s question also went avoided. Either she was wrong and he didn’t know who Lexi was, or this kid didn’t know why Nico knew.

Charlotte did tell them that they had met him and that she wanted to see everyone’s reactions to him. Nero didn’t feel anything towards him, but that demon on his shoulder certainly gave him pause. He didn’t miss the look Dante made as he glanced over it. Carefully Nero stood up. He didn’t know why, but V reminded him of one of the shy orphans he sometimes ran into when Kyrie was working.

They were the ones that saw more than people wanted to admit. More ghosts in their closets and skeletons. The way V was watching him approach was much like how someone would watch a predator walk up to them. Assessing every move and every word before speaking. Like there was a game behind it. Nero didn’t do well with those kinds of games. All they told him was that the kid got hurt.

It sucked that this goth kid also looked like he was in a world of hurt. He noticed the necklace instantly. Same one the girl wore. The tattoos that were swirling in complicated and ornate designs were a little faded. Mostly around his arm that Griffon was perched on.

“Seeing something you like?” Griffon taunted Nero.

Nero instantly was reminded how he greeted his father and he tilted his head at the bird. “A talking bird.” He pretended to be impressed. “That’s a hell of a party trick you got there. I’m Nero. Who are you?”

“If you would like to see a party trick, I can certainly provide. You may call me V.” His olive green eyes crinkled a bit at the corners as a smirk tried to worm its way onto his face.

“V, huh?” Nero clicked his tongue. Playing the mystery route. He supposed he couldn’t blame the kid. Well, he was probably older than him. “This isn’t your only one?” He rapped his fingers towards Griffon.

“Ooh, someone wants to play.” Griffon trilled. “Don’t think you can handle us, little bug.”

Nero raised an eyebrow, “Was that the best you could come up with, Chicken?”

Charlotte made a soft noise in the background.

“First Charlotte wove her web and now you wish to irritate Griffon,” V was amused, and he forced himself to tear away from staring at Nero’s lovely blue eyes to address Dante, “I assume demons are a common sight around here?”

“I don’t think Lotty’s gonna win you any spelling bees. Also, you’re talkin’ to a quarter.” Nero pointed at Nico. “The only thing that’s demonic about her is her weapons.”

“Ain’t that the gospel truth,” Nico called from over her shoulder as she was heading back to her van. “I got a commission, so you boys have fun. Tell Lexi I said hi, V. She’s something fierce.”

“Shut up, Nico!” Nero rolled his eyes. “Honestly. It’s like she doesn’t get it.”

Dante watched the exchange with a furrowed brow and he leaned back. “The only thing that’s not so common to see is you, V, but Nero’s on track. I’m a half-demon. So is tall and brooding up there on the stairs. Everyone else around you is human. Well. As human as they get.”

“I was referring to more...unusual sights,” he glanced at Griffon but continued his smirk at Nero and patted his shoulder as he went by, “Outside.” He didn’t say anything else, going back for the door. He had been itching for a safe place to release his third, and if Nero wished for a party trick, then this was the perfect opportunity.

Silence. Nero was the first to shrug it off and head outside. Charlotte also decided to go, mostly out of curiosity and to see what this “party trick” was going to consist of. She was pretty sure her sister and Dante weren’t far off. Nico wouldn’t give a damn unless she saw it from her van. Vergil was also up in the air, but she could presume he followed if to confirm whatever suspicions he had.

Plenty of space was a wonderful start. V also wasn’t too concerned that it was daylight, as it meant people were more than likely at work and wouldn’t stare out their windows at the ruckus. It wouldn’t be for long, either, he had nothing for it to attack, but he could not deny he was eager. In all reality, this would be the first time he saw Nightmare the same as everyone else. Griffon had only told him of it.

Turning around, V decided to start off the show with shrugging Griffon off his shoulder and then flourished his arm out towards the group, his tattoos breaking off in particles and swirling before Shadow roared and pounced on the ground, shaking herself off from being cooped up.

“That’s two,” Charlotte muttered under her breath.

Nero had a feeling there was more to this. Like there was tension that started to crackle in the air. Anticipation made his blood roar in his ears like he was getting ready for a fight, even though there wasn’t one to be had. “Come on.” He grinned ferally. “That cat’s not everything you got.” He called out towards V. “Don’t hold back on us. This party’s just getting started.”

Something in Nero’s grin made V feel lively, and the smirk turned into a genuine smile. As he raised his arm slowly above his head he spoke, “‘He who kisses the joy as it flies, lives in eternity's sunrise’.” A snap. An explosion of black particles. The cool rush through V’s body that replaced the near-constant prickling made V close his eyes in blissful relief.

Nero wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but there were two surprises. One: V’s hair was suddenly stark white. It almost made Nero take a step back in surprise. A quarter demon like himself? Yet, he made a deal with a demon so...that wasn’t possible. The second thing was how large this familiar was. Stocky, like it was made of nothing but stone, but it’s body pulsed and swirled with dark energy and matter. As though it was created from it. A large purple eye was glowing in the middle of where the head should’ve gone. It was deep inside of the shoulder and it barely made any noise. Nero could…get this feeling this creature was confused. Who did it attack?

“Goddamn.” Nero whistled. “You certainly weren’t kidding when you said that you can do tricks.”

Charlotte pursed her lips together. Three. Everything came in three. “This kid.” She muttered fondly. “Is going to be the death of someone, I swear.”

V was absolutely in awe of the massive creature in front of him when he turned to look at it. He felt it’s confusion and he subconsciously hushed it, reaching out and laying his hand on what looked like a rocky arm. Coarse. Warm. He was fascinated and glanced up, examining the purple eye. Having Nightmare out was such a rush but he smiled ruefully, knowing it couldn’t last. Patting it, he allowed it to return since it had nothing to do. “That…” he released a long breath and turned back towards Nero, “Was Nightmare.” He motioned to the panther with glowing red designs on her fur, “Shadow.”

“It looked like one.” Nero quipped as Shadow paced herself in front of V before weaving around his legs. Nero could tell that the familiars were attached. Extremely attached. He didn’t doubt that if any of them made a move against V, they’d be in a world of hurt. Especially after Nightmare’s little show and tell. “You look like you’re halfway between passing out and in pain.”

“My, you are quite astute,” V placed his hand over his chest, taking a deep breath as the prickling pain was settling down. It wasn’t nearly so bad with Shadow out, and really he was grateful Alexina enjoyed his panther familiar so she could be out more often. “I am more...dizzy from relief. It has been nearly four months and Nightmare has never been out.”

Nero frowned. There was a question on the tip of his tongue, but he had a feeling asking it would only lead him in circles. “Let’s go back inside, and you can stop hogging the corner. Just in case someone else wants to pretend that it’s the corner of invisibility. You only make me feel bad.”

“You joke like your Uncle,” Vergil sighed, making his presence known.

“It means he has a good sense of humor. Don’t knock it because you don’t,” Dante teased.

V watched as Yvette, who was holding the door open, giggled madly at the exchange. Shaking his head, he stroked the top of Shadow’s head and followed everyone back inside. Though he did pause and look at Charlotte, “What are your thoughts now?”

“My thoughts are that you are a fucking terrifying person,” Charlotte said bluntly. “And how you haven’t been a target lately changed. Someone’s bound to feel that, and take it as a challenge.”

“Well now. That’s good. Business was getting slow, thought the demons finally got bored.” Dante swung his arms back and forth. “Prepare for the worst like the Abaddon fellow. And that Stolas. You and I got a score to settle with him later.”

Charlotte wasn’t sure if rolling her eyes would mean anything, but she did so anyway.

“That is another reason why Charlotte brought me here.” V explained once they were all inside and heading for the couches, “My familiars can protect Xina and I, but I have no training.”

It hit close to home. Nero felt like the world suddenly was showing him a mirror. He thought of Kyrie back at the orphanage that she was working at. They were far enough that any demon could take her at any moment. She took self-defense because Credo and Nero couldn’t stand the thought of her getting hurt, but anyone could be taken off guard. It only took one. One second. One moment.

Nero already knew that if his Uncle or his father didn’t, he would. “Fuck.” Nero hissed after a moment, throwing himself down to the couch, crossing his legs in midair. “I’m doing it.”

“Whoa-oh. Hotshot thinks he can teach us new tricks, huh?” Griffon leered. “What makes you our number one pick of the week?”

V held his hand to Griffon, watching Nero intently.

There were millions of reasons that Nero obviously shouldn’t take him on. Life experience, not a witch, had no idea how to do anything with familiars, weapon variety, fighting styles, there were plenty of reasons not to. Instead, Nero looked at V square in the eye. At the same time, there were reasons to help.

Nero eyed Griffon and instead of addressing V, addressed the bird. “Number one pick of the year.” He pointed out before turning his attention to V. “Because of anyone in this fucking place knows anything about what you’re going through. It’s me and my father, and my father’s injured and while he can recover in a day, I’m sitting right here. I don’t got a lot under my belt, that’s true, but I got enough to get you back to Lex safe. I got enough to help you protect her because I know that if one drop of blood leaves her, you’re guilt-ridden for a month.”

An inhale and V gingerly touched the tooth necklace. He had made a guess, but that confirmed it. “‘The people who consider you weak have not yet noticed the wolf hiding behind your eyes, nor the flames inside your soul’.” The poem fell from him without any trouble at all, “I accept your offer, Nero. We should perhaps talk next about places to train. Keeping my energy flares as far away from her as possible would be ideal. You understand.”

“Yeah.” Nero did understand. He turned towards Dante who was watching them with a complicated expression. He didn’t bother to question it. “You good with us using your back yard ol’ man?”

Dante rolled his eyes, “Sure thing, whippersnapper.”

Yvette cracked up in the background.

Nero paled, he forgot that Dante wasn’t one to lay down and take it, “No wait-”

“You kids can be on my lawn if you need to,” he continued, as though Nero didn’t say a word.

“Oh my god-” Nero wanted to fucking die.

“I’ll toss a newspaper at you every once a while,” Dante’s grin was feral as Nero looked completely done with this conversation, “Vergil do you remember back in the good ol’ day-”

“OH MY FUCKING GOD PLEASE!” Nero threw a pillow at Dante and wasn’t at all surprised that it was caught. “I get the MESSAGE!”

Vergil pinched the bridge of his nose as he listened to Yvette wheezing, her cleaning tirade completely halted as she stopped to laugh to death, “At least someone enjoys your jokes.”

Charlotte pursed her lips together, “I vaguely find myself in between horror and amusement because I suddenly can feel my age.”

“You are not-” Nero rounded onto Charlotte. “Following his line.”

“Oh please, I have enough confidence in myself to not embarrass you to death.” Nero looked relieved for five seconds. “I’ll do that to you on the battlefield.”

Yvette pointed at Charlotte from her position leaning on the wall, “She will roast people on the field!”

Griffon trilled, “Not unless I shock them first, shortstack.”

V shook his head, “Not that sort of roasting. I understand the reference.” He chuckled when Yvette chirped a ‘yay’.

“Nerds.” Charlotte deadpanned. “Violent nerds. All of you. I thought you people were supposed to be sweet. Goddamn.”

“You went to the wrong school,” Nero retorted.

“I must have. Fuck me.”

“Well, we got that all straightened out and taken care of.” Dante looked pleased. “If you need any help Nero, we got you covered.” He turned towards Charlotte. “You keeping an eye out?”

“So far nothing.” Charlotte shrugged. “Either they’re cowards, or this is gonna bring them out of hiding.”

“Then we’ll see you sometime later.” Dante turned to V. “You know that’s a good question. How are you going to sneak out on your girl anyway? It’s rude to leave her hanging.”

“There is no sneaking involved. Xina was the one who suggested I take their advice in the first place. Their advice was training. So here I am.” V leaned back, getting more comfortable.

“She has a good head on her shoulders.” Nero looked at V. “I’m glad to know you two aren’t the types to not tell each other shit. I can already tell you how bad that can go down.”

“Yeah yeah, dramatic effect, near death love confessions. Not that won’t happen an-” Griffon was cut off.

Yvette was quite surprised when V was not the one to silence his familiar, but it was Vergil standing abruptly that caught everyone’s attention.

“Secrets between lovers leads to death.” The hiss was cutting and the words dripped acid, but if they were aimed at anyone it was himself. Vergil turned on his heel and his strides were long and swift towards the door, snatching his coat from the hooks, “I am going out.” Was his only explanation before the door clicked shut behind him.

The silence was uncomfortable, but no one had the heart to refute it. Not even Griffon for all the wise-cracks that he made. Charlotte stared at the door, her expression complicated. Only for a moment before she finally decided to also leave. Either to follow him or to get away from the silence was beyond them.

Shadow, on the other hand, seemed to have an idea. She leaped on the couch and draped herself over Nero’s legs, stretching herself as long as she possibly could before melting against his lap.

“I didn’t realize I was destined to be a demon pillow,” Nero said dryly but gingerly ran his hand through her fur. It was...shocking at how soft the fur was and the energy that crackled underneath her. It wasn’t painful, not at all, but it most definitely reminded him that she was more than a panther. “Good girl.” He muttered under his breath as she purred louder. “I think I’m stuck.” He admitted.

Dante huffed a laugh before walking out of the room. “Need me to haul those out for you, Yeti?” He asked, pointing at the trash bags she had collected.

“Don’t call me that,” Yvette muttered even as a smile played at her lips and she tied off the one in her hands, all of the trash picked up by now, “Sure, you can show me where the bins are.”

V listened as the two made their way to do their own thing, and he crossed his ankles in front of him as he arched a brow at Nero with Shadow. They were left alone now. “She likes you.” He decided to start off.

“Never thought of myself as a cat person. Dog person sure, but cats? Never really had a chance to go up against one.” Nero said as he rubbed Shadow’s ears and she headbutted his hand to get him to rub more. “She’s a lovebug, isn’t she? All that affection. It’s like you and Lex don’t spoil her, and I know better than that.”

“I’ve heard plenty of people say they don’t like cats because they are evil or something of the sort,” V waved his hand dismissively, “I prefer cats over dogs myself. Our apartment doesn’t allow pets, but since this is...awfully convenient,” he traced over his own tattoos, a mischievous little smile on his face this time, “Xina has been extremely pleased she gets to have Shadow who’s the size of a dog but a giant ball of love.”

“What am I, chopped liver?” Griffon pouted. “You make it sound like Hathaway holds no love for me V. Rude. I get the feather scratches.”

At that, V actually laughed and he reached his hand up, scratching under Griffon’s chin, “Indeed you do.”

Nero’s lips curved into a smirk. “Lex has a soft spot for animals and she adores you because you can talk.”

“That is not my only shtick hotshot.” Griffon stuck his neck out further for V to scratch. “I am an extremely good wingman too. They’re stubborn.”

Chuckling again, V continued to scratch Griffon absently and looked to Nero’s demonic arm. He hadn’t a chance to really take it in, “If you use your claws I’m sure Shadow will adore you.”

“You mean my nails or…” Nero trailed off as he looked at his demon arm. It had been a while since he had a stranger look at it. Kyrie hadn’t minded, which had been a fucking surprise to him. For V to point it out, he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. He switched hands but was careful for it, just in case Shadow didn’t like it. As he gently used his nails to scratch Shadow, he was pleasantly surprised when he saw a tiny hint of tongue stick out. Well now. There was a pause. “Pretty terrifying looking isn’t it.”

“Your arm? I don’t think so at all.” V shook his head, resting his hands in his lap and watching Nero with interest, “Though I will say I am confused why you have that and neither Dante nor Vergil do. Is it because you are a quarter?”

“I think so.” Nero shrugged. “My theory is that both Dante and pops can do a Devil Trigger and go full demon. Since I’m a quarter, I don’t think I have that ability and this is kinda...you know...the only reminder I got that says ‘yeah you got demon blood in you’.” He shifted his weight carefully underneath Shadow. The familiar was pretty freaking heavy, but he wasn’t about to push the cat aside yet. “It happened when I got injured a long time ago. It’s...it’s a hard story. That’s why I get it when you said you wanted to protect Lex. I couldn’t protect Kyrie. Almost lost her. It took a long time to get over it, we still wake each other up sometimes with nightmares about it, but...the orphanage keeps us busy...and demon hunting most definitely keeps me busy. Yet the reminders are still there. She used to sing for the Order. One of the best singers. You’d get along with her famously I think.”

“I would enjoy meeting her.” V nodded. He said her name with honey-sweet affection and it warmed his heart. “Xina isn’t my girlfriend, but maybe someday. That’s a secret you get to know. My name is also Vitale.” He ignored Griffon’s squawk and how Shadow twitched her ear. “I don’t tell many people that.”

“Yeah, Lex was pretty secretive about your identity as well. Pulled out all the stops to make sure she didn’t even say V.” Nero watched him for a moment. “She said to me that she was sick when you made the deal.” He paused in scratching Shadow’s fur. “Was she really near death or was that you jumping to conclusions?”

V licked his lips and took a deep breath, “I prayed to the Gods first, for a miracle. I knew if I made a deal with the devil it had to be because there was no other way. So that is what I did. The night I made the decision...she wouldn’t have made it to see her favorite thing. The sunrise.”

Nero let out a slow long breath. Griffon was even oddly quiet about it. Solemn. “You’re an interesting guy, V.”

[redqueennero]

Wrote a thing. Basically a more structured version of how Shiro would fit into 5.

...

May make it her canon verse idk.

“OK, so I know you and I hate talking about my daddy and his research...but I found something real interesting in his papers last night.” Nico waved the papers at the hunter, who tried to bat them away.

“I have no interest in his work - unless it’s to kill it.”

“Come with me to his lab and you’ll probably get to swing at something.” She slammed the papers in front of him and jabbed them with a finger. “I can’t go down there without you - you know that!”

Nero sighed in annoyance. “Nico, we’ve been down there already.”

“I know, I know - but there’s another super secret lab within the lab. L-Look, right here.”

“You’re getting over excited,” he pointed out and looked at the scrawl she was poking at. “The game room? That stupid room with the weird die? What about it?”

“You - and Dante - followed the game path to the lab, right?” Nico watched him nod. “W-Well, opposite that is a secret door and another lab, the game was designed to distract or kill intruders - to keep them from the other lab.”

Nero relented and scanned the page she had kept poking at. “This doesn’t really tell us what’s in it, whatever he had there could already be gone.”

“No harm in looking, right? Please?”

“OK, OK, I’ll take you,” he relented with a sigh.

X

The trip down to the old lab surprisingly didn’t take them long, Nero had cleared most of the straying demons out and what was left didn’t dare to challenge the young hunter. They made their way to the castle and through the familiar lab he’d shown Nico before, and once they were at the game room she practically skipped over to the opposite wall to inspect it.

“Here!” She slapped the wall. “There’s a door behind here, hit it real hard, yeah?”

Nero tilted his head curiously. If the door and the wall hiding it were still intact, did that mean one of Agnus’ crazy experiments was still alive in there? Could it have found another way out? “Come stand behind me, just in case.”

He waited until Nico was behind him before slamming the spectral of his demonic arm into the wall; it surprisingly caved with ease with the door, and he had to quickly grasp Nico’s arm to stop her charging ahead. Nero nudged her back behind him and drew Blue Rose, watching the dust settle and cautiously stepped into the new opening. Any other time, he would rush in, but he had the other woman to protect and he’d mostly learnt from past mistakes about rushing in. The narrow hallway opened to a small lab that was mostly taken up by a huge cylinder in the middle, filled with a light green liquid and figure inside. 

“What the-?” He lowered his weapon, Nico peered around him briefly before rushing forward to inspect it closer.

A gasp of awe as the woman pressed her hand to the cold glass. “She looks just like you - did you have a sister?”

“No - I don’t -” A shy turn away. The figure with his features - although more feminine  - was very naked. “I don’t recall having a sister.” 

Nico let out a thoughtful hum as she circled the tube, eyes scanning every inch of the machine, following wires and eventually wandering over to a small desk in the corner. “Huh…”

“Huh?” Nero went over, anything to keep himself from glancing at the tube. “What’s ‘huh’?”

Nico picked up the notebook she’d been scanning, leather bound with crumpled pages. “She’s you.”

“We’ve established she looks like me.”

“No dummy, she is actually you!” she turned, briefly startled by him suddenly being so close. “Daddy managed to get a sample of your DNA and made her; she’s only female because he took a chance at changing the chromosomes as part of the experiment...a chance at another daughter…”

Nero’s eyes softened at Nico’s heartbreak in her own eyes. “Nico…” 

She shook her head, eyes suddenly filled with determination. “She’s coming with us!”

“She is?” Nero watched her approach the tube again, trying to find a way to open it.

“Yup! She’s coming home with us - can’t leave our little sister here!” She put her fists on her hips. “You’re gonna have to break it.”

“W-Wait, you’re ok with her? This isn’t weird for you?”

“She’s not my clone,” she deadpanned. “Are you really going to feel any better just leaving her here? Even if she’s out of sight, will she really be out of mind?”

Nero hates it when she’s right - and she is, leaving that version of him locked away in the lab didn’t mean he would forget about her, if he was truthful with himself...he’d probably come back for her. “Fine!” he huffed, placing Red Queen against the wall as he shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it to Nico. “Hold this and stand back.”

The tube is more fragile than it looked. Nero swung a little too hard and had to quickly drop his sword to catch the girl as the water rushed over him.

“Smooth,” Nico teased, draping the jacket over the girl and checking her pulse. “She’s alive.”

“Great.” Nero shook the water from his hair. “Let’s get her home.”

X

Kyrie’s eyes widened only briefly at the newcomer before she jumped into action, ushering Nero to place her in the spare room - apologising to Nico for now kicking her out of it - and rummaging through her old clothes for anything that might fit later; Nero tried to calm her down while Nico watched the whole thing with a beer in hand and smoke ready to be lit.

“I’ll sit with her,” Kyrie offered softly. 

Nero shook his head. “We don’t know how she’ll react when she wakes, I’ll watch her.”

“He’s right,” Nico assured. “She’s got that freaky arm of his, too, wouldn’t want you getting hurt.”

Nero would be offended if he didn’t know she was joking, but still snorted. “Go, Nico will fill you in,” he urged and watched them leave before taking a seat at the side of his clone’s bed.

It was another hour before she woke. Nero’s Bringer glowed softly with hers as she stirred and blue eyes opened slowly while turning her head to look at him, as though she was aware that he was there with her.

“Hey.” He smiled softly. “You feeling ok? Can you talk?”

“Yeah…” her voice is horse and he offers her a glass of water, watching her carefully sit up and look around before she drinks, bed sheet pressed to herself to keep her modesty. 

“I’m Nero.” She opens her mouth to reply, but stops short. “Can’t remember your name, huh? That’s ok,” he assures and watches her eyes fall to his Bringer and then to her own. “It’s not as scary as it looks, I promise.” He grabs hers with his and they glow softly again. “You can trust me, ok?”

“OK, I will.”

“Great.” He stands. “I’ll send Kyrie in with some clothes and we’ll eat.” He waited at the dining table with Nico, watching Kyrie dip in and out of the spare room before they both emerged; his brow rose at the long shirt and baggy jeans his clone was now wearing, and Kyrie’s sheepish smile.

“Seems she only fits in your clothes.”

Nico grinned. “Little sister looks good either way - but what about her hair?”

Now that he’s really looking at her, he sees her hair flowing down to the back of her knees; she scratches her nose shyly. “I’m your sister?” she asks Nico.

“More his sister than mine - I guess you’re my step sister!” She leaned against Nero. “Does that make you my little bro, too?”

Nero shoved her playfully. “Don’t sweat the small stuff, just sit down and relax.”

“She needs a name, we can’t keep calling her ‘little sister’.”

“I like Shiro,” Kyrie offered with smile. “Don’t you?”

Nero nodded and looked to his clone. “Do you?”

She smiled. “I do. Thank you.”

X

Nico saw the majority of the bonding process; the way Nero was as tentative with Shiro as he was with Kyrie, the way he treated her with kid gloves despite her proving over and over that she was just as capable as he was; she saw the mannerisms they shared, how they were both quick to anger, how they could move together in battle without so much as a glance at each other. Nero treated her as his genuine sister, a real family that he had longed for; from the outside, it looked strange - a little too close for normal siblings - but from the inside he was just a brother that adored and protected his sister. When Nero decided to cut his hair shorter Shiro did the same, mirroring his old look with the softness of her features; he gifted her his old jacket when Kyrie made him a new one and passed down the clothes he didn’t wear anymore, and she didn’t mind.

They were one big happy family.

Until that day…

Shiro follow Nico inside when Kyrie called them for dinner, but something made her pause halfway into her seat - an energy that she couldn’t quite put her finger on; Kyrie called for Nero again and Shiro rushed back into the garage in time to see her brother tossed into the shelves and a cloaked figure holding the Devil Bringer.

“Nero!” Shiro tried to roll him over, but he refused - fixated on the figure until it disappeared through a portal and he passed out. “Nico, give me a hand here!!” Shiro made a tourniquet with her belt for his arm and the pair hoisted him into the van to the hospital. Shiro stayed with him the majority of the time, only leaving for the nurse to change the bandages or for quick jobs; it was on the return from a job that she found his bed empty and a man with black hair smirking back at her before jumping out the window.

“Shit,” she cursed, following him out and kicking the walking stick out from under him with a swipe of her foot. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

“Easy.” Nero grabbed her shoulder. “He knows where that bastard is - the one that…I gotta go.”

“Like hell you do! You’re not even fully healed - you only woke up this morning!”

“I’ll be there assisting him,” the newcomer assured, getting back to his feet.

“Leading him into a trap!” Shiro spat. “I’m going too, since you’re going to be so bullheaded about this.”

“Sis…”

“Do you think I can look Kyrie in the eye if I let you go alone? I’m going. No arguments.”

The stranger, ‘V’, led them to Redgrave, a city with a giant tree and a lot of demons. Nero held himself just fine as they made their way up, but he felt slightly better with Shiro by his side; she voiced her suspicions of V, of how he knew too much and yet said so little - coming and going as he pleased, but Nero brushed them off, only thinking of revenge.

“Dante’s here, too,” Nero murmured from the ledge. “We can’t let him have all the fun.”

Shiro shook her head. “I have a bad feeling about this…”

“It’ll be a piece of cake, c’mon!” 

“Ne-...dammit…” She followed after him, surveying the room while Nero rushed in as usual, cocky and sword blazing. Dante seemed out cold, as were two other women in the room.

The pair fell into line together, moving and swinging without tripping over each other or getting in each other’s way, but neither could get a hit on Urizen. A tendril shot towards Nero and Shiro blocked it with her sword, only for the tendril to arch up and behind her, grabbing her by the ankle and whipping her into the air before slamming her down again with enough force to make a small crater. 

“Shiro!” She didn’t move. Nero began to panic and things suddenly moved slowly; the tendrils wrapping around him, Dante freeing him, V pulling him out of the room as the doorway collapsed. “I can still fight! I can still get Shiro!”

“Dante will protect her!” V assured. “But, for now, we need to regroup.”

X

Nero found it difficult to look Nico in the eye and admit he’d lost Shiro. It was a blow to his heart and pride that he’d rushed in so recklessly and risked Shiro as well as himself. Nico yelled for what seemed like hours and then stormed into the garage for a smoke and tinker with something on the desk; Nero gave her some time alone before daring to join her, peering over her shoulder.

“...making something good?”

“Making something GREAT,” she corrected around her fourth cigarette. “If we’re going to get Shiro back then you need something as great as that old arm of yours.”

He let out a brief chuckle. “You going to stick a new arm on me?”

“Yup,” she deadpanned and turned in the chair, grabbing his stump and forcefully moved it around. Nero didn’t complain and figured he deserved the man-handling. “It’s going to hurt like a bitch, but I can do it.”

X

“I thought I was going to have to pick you out of his...tummy teeth.” Nero tilted his head at V. “You seen Shiro?”

“Not yet, there’s a chance she might still be in the Quliphoth. We need to tear down the roots to get there.”

The van leapt down from above, skidding to a halt. “I know - I know I’m late! Shut it! The roads were all clogged!”

V watched the pair converse after batting the remains of a demon at Nico at her demand, and Griffon settled on his shoulder with a ruffle of his feathers. “You don’t really believe she’s in the Quliphoth, do ya?” 

“I don’t. She’s most likely pollen now, but I need to keep him on side.”

“Oh, that’s sneaky, heh heh. Just so you know, when he does find out and wants to kill ya, you’re on ya own.”

“Noted,” V hummed and said his goodbyes before parting from the pair. He had no intention of finding Shiro for them and he was certain she was dead, all that mattered was the Sword of Sparda and finding Dante.

It seemed like a long time before he bumped into Nero again; having defeated the Elder Geryon Knight, V soon ran into more trouble in the form of a flaming demon. It had long legs built for speed, a slim body and one arm was just a whip.

“I guess she isn’t dead,” V mused and sent Shadow out first, letting the feline pierce the body while Griffon shocked it; as they attacked, the red skin glowed and burned hot - suddenly blasting out a wave of fire that wiped the pair out instantly. V stumbled as the whip arm flew at him, only for it to wrap around Nero’s Devil Breaker to block the attack.

“Exceptional timing.”

“You’re welcome.” Nero sliced the whip. The demon screeched and the whip trembled as the end regrew. “Well that’s...gross.”

“Indeed. If you can lure that thing away from Griffon and Shadow’s cores, I can revive them to assist.”

Nero huffed. “Can do, but I won’t need it.” He rushes in, sword swinging, gun blazing and Devil Breaker firing.

V watches carefully while he stands near the cores; the demon is trying to skip around Nero to him - intentionally targeting him - and Shadow has to pierce the body multiple times to get it to stop. It’s then that Nero sees pale skin underneath as the red scales of the demon try to heal over from the attack.

“It’s like with Lady…” he muses. “V, do that again!”

“If you insist.” He gestures and Shadow attacks, her body turning into a blade and cutting through the scales once more; Nero grabs the jagged edges before they can knit back together and pulls hard, revealing Shiro inside and catching her as she collapses. “I guess that’s one part of your mission accomplished.”

“Yeah…” He presses his forehead to hers and gently lifts her into his arms, doing his best to shield her nudity from V as he does. “I better call Nico.”

They sit on a bench as they wait. Nero had covered Shiro with his jacket while V called Nico from a phonebooth, and when he’d joined the other he found Nero cradling her in his lap, chin resting on her head; V sat on the other end of the bench, gently tapping his cane on the ground while Griffon perched on the back of the bench between them.

“She means a lot to you, doesn’t she?” V eventually murmurs. “She’s lucky to have you as a brother.”

“Lucky? She wouldn’t be in this mess if I hadn’t…” Nero took a breath to calm himself. “Shiro is my only blood family. I care a lot for Kyrie and Nico...but Shiro is me, and I need her just as much as I need them.”

“She’s you?” V questions, but the van pulling up keeps him from getting an answer.

Nico rushes out and Nero explains everything while laying Shiro on the spare couch. V sits on the steps of the van and converses briefly with Lady before leaving again, but not before gifting Nico with a piece of demon he collected; he parts ways with Nero once more traversing the underground station with ease until he comes across a larger horde of demons than he expected, all of which seemed to come from a strange portal.

Just as the horde becomes too much, just before V can snap his fingers to summon Nightmare, he hears the familiar roar of an engine; an arch of flames cuts through them, a spectral bringer snatches one of the larger demons and swings it into the others to give V more space. Shiro lands with a crouch in a pair of jeans and a grey shirt, sword over her shoulder as she stands and gun hanging loosely at her side; she’s barefoot, but doesn’t seem to care as she plants one into the chest of an Angelo and kicks it into a train carriage.

         “I was looking for Nero, how the hell did I end up with you?” she sneers.

“Hello to you too, toots,” Griffon huffs, and then yelps as Shiro snatches him from V’s shoulder and tosses him at Scissor, following that up with a gunshot to its face. Once the horde is cleared, Shiro drops to her rear to catch her breath.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have rushed to catch up so soon.” V stood near, just in case something tried to ambush them while they were resting.

“And let you lead my brother into another trap? Nu-uh.” She reached out and scratched Shadow under the chin with a talon. “That’s no offence to you, though, beautiful.”

Griffon ruffled his feathers. “Why can’t you be that nice to me?”

“Cats are for petting, birds are for eating.” She shot him a dark look and he edged down the back of V’s vest. “Call me toots again and you get to taste lead.”

“We’re on the same side here,” V assured softly. “I want to defeat Urizen too.”

She stands, brushing the dust off her jeans. “I know, but I can’t help but think there’s something more.”

X

Nero asked her to stay by V - maybe he thought things would be less dangerous around him and his familiars, maybe he still felt guilty about not being able to protect her three months ago; Shiro didn’t hold it against him, but agreed because she just couldn’t trust V. She had to figure out what he was up to.

“Do you need a break?” she asks, watching him leaning on his cane more than usual. He’s getting weaker with each battle, she can tell, and she wonders if Nero noticed it too.

“Thank you…” V eases himself onto some rubble and gazes past her. “The Sword of Sparda isn’t much further...I can feel it.”

“Then what? What’s the plan once we find it?”

“Take it to Nero, he can defeat Urizen with it…”

A huff. “You don’t sound so sure.”

“He’d prefer it if Dante did it,” Griffon stated from just above them. “But since he’s gone, Nero’s the only one who can do it now.”

“What about me?” she snapped. “Do you think I’m not strong enough? Who has been keeping your ass alive since the underground, hm?”

“That’s not…” V trailed off. “I didn’t mean to offend, but I think Nero would like to keep you from this as much as possible.”

“Nero doesn’t get to decide that.” She turned and stormed off, leaving V to trail behind her.

They found the sword, and Dante nearby moments after. Shiro was amazed that he was still alive all this time, while V uttered something about the sword masking Dante’s presence; she was debating whether she’d have to carry the devil hunter when movement caught her eye. Griffon yelled for V to stop, Shiro lunged to grab him and the sword missed Dante’s face by a hair; the older hunter tilted his head and jumped to his feet, stretching while Shiro snatched the sword back and lifted it threateningly.

“Nero, no need for that,” Dante stated calmly, grabbing her wrist and turning her - surprised to see a young woman looking back at him.

“I’m...I’m Shiro…” She flushes. “Nero’s told me a lot about you…”

Dante stares at her for a long minute before one corner of his lips turns up and he nods. “Yeah, I remember seeing you with him, now. Go easy on V, he’s paying my bills.” 

“R-Right…” She watches him stretch again while Griffon flutters around him, and chuckles when the hunter tosses the bird aside; she offers him the sword with a bright smile and he takes it while patting her on the head.

“Stick by V a little while longer for me, ok?”

She’s not sure why she suddenly feels the need to seek his approval or praise - perhaps she was just starstruck from all the stories Nero and Nico had told her - but she nods and lets him tuck a finger under her chin to study her again.

“Shiro’s a pretty name - and I’m sorry I got distracted back then.”

“Back then?” she asks, but he heads off before she can get an answer.

X

They’ve finally caught up to Dante at the upper echelon of the Quliphoth; Urizen had slipped away from the hunter in the throne room, but the group was determined to keep fighting - Nero especially, arguing with the elder that he has more power, he can fight. He can win.

“I’m done babysitting,” Shiro stated. “I’m going too, V’s on his own if he wants to see this out.”

Nero shook his head. “You should stay here with Nico.”

“Hey, I don’t need babysitting,” the gunsmith spat. “Plus, Lady and Trish are here.”

“You’re not the only one with a score to settle here; I get you want to protect me as your sister but-”

“You’re my clone!” he snapped. “Not my sister!” Nero’s not sure why he said that so suddenly, perhaps he was trying to shock her into staying put - but there was no malice behind his words, no hatred in his eyes. Only guilt once the facts had left his mouth.

Shiro didn’t have the expression he was expecting. Eerily relaxed, if a little hurt by the sudden outburst, but she simply took a breath and nodded. “I know.”

“Y-Y-You knew?” Nico stepped closer to her, torn between giving her space and wanting to hug her tight. “How?”

“The day I woke up, I wondered how I was looking down at myself. I don’t know how, but I have a lot of Nero’s childhood memories.” She gave Nico a sad smile. “Didn’t take long for me to get curious - I went through your stuff. Sorry.”

“No, it’s ok. I’m sorry we kept that from you…”

Blue eyes casually shift to Dante and they share a long look. The hunter knew she was there, hidden away, but had become distracted by Sanctus and forgot to go back for her; he gives her a guilty wince and she just shrugs. Que sera sera. 

“Now, I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve got a score to settle; I’ll see you at the finish line!”

X

It’s a day of family drama.

V is Vergil.

Urizen is also Vergil.

Vergil is Nero’s father.

Shiro can understand Dante’s hesitation to let Nero go further with him, the hunter even gives her a confused look when she tags along instead.

“He’s not my old man,” she states. Biologically, yes he was, but Shiro was Agnus’ creation. His daughter. Shiro knows Dante doesn’t accept her reasoning, but allows her to follow along.

It’s bitter-sweet for her when it comes to the end of the familiars; she’d liked Shadow, tolerated Griffon and admired Nightmare’s powers. Still, she continued on, just behind the famous devil hunter, and did her best to aid him when he fought his brother; she was continuously batted aside just as easily as when he was just Urizen, and it was only when Dante forced her to sit did she accept she wasn’t strong enough.

“Nero’s my son?” Vergil questions during a lull in the battle, eyes glancing at Shiro. “She’s mine, also?”

Shiro brushed him off. “I’m just some mad man’s experiment…”

Dante wasn’t having that. “No matter your origin, you’re Nero’s blood - his sister - that makes you Vergil’s kin too!”

She rose back to her feet. “If you’re saying that because you don’t want me to kill him either, don’t worry. I just want to punch him a lot for making me a slave for three months. I want to punch him for what he did to Nero - you can have the finishing blow.”

“That’s coming sooner than you think!” 

The twins lunged at each other once more, only for another demon to get in the middle of them; Shiro knew instantly it was her brother, she stared in awe at his new form and realised she had a long way to go to keep up with the Sparda lineage. This was no longer her fight - or Dante’s - and they watched father and son battle until the Quliphoth shook.

Differences put aside, the twins decided to go into the demon realm and sever the roots; when Nero tried to stop them, they both back handed him. Dante went on ahead, saying a quick goodbye when Shiro rushed to her brother’s side, and Vergil took a moment to study her; a small, approving, smile graced his features and he tossed V’s book to them. 

“I’ll be returning for that. Thank you, both of you…”

X

Nero and Shiro sat on the roof of the van, staring into the distance where the Quliphoth once stood. The sun was setting, but the air was still warm.

“Do you think they’ll come back?” Nero wondered aloud and Shiro nodded.

“Once they’ve settled their differences.”

“Let’s not be like them, yeah? If you’re pissed at me, tell me.”

“I’m not pissed at you. You’re my brother, I love and admire you.”

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “Not even a little bit? Not even for before?”

“You didn’t mean it.” She rested her head against his shoulder. “I made my peace with what I really am months ago.” His arm wrapped around her and she stared at the now human limb. “That growing back is still fucking weird though.”

They laugh together and Nico sticks her head out of the window to look at them. “Hey, we got a job before we head back home.”

Peace and quiet ruined. Time to go to work.