#idk if this makes sense i just woke up and am trying to go back to sleep but this won’t leave my mind

[ntaras]

i haven’t seen a lot of bad takes on tiktok (thank god) but an interesting one i saw was how sub-zero and scorpion and kitana and mileena are destined to forever be rivals: ice vs fire and the beauty vs the beast and how you could make sub-zero and scorpion the beauty and the beast and kitana and mileena ice and fire and they’d still be the same characters.

viewing kuai liang as the beauty and hanzo’s scorpion as the beast, it fits in perfectly with the chemistry between the two. kuai liang being the beauty stems from his outlook on life: though a bleak world he still is able to push through on his own, while hanzo is the beast for his obvious temper and constant rage. and yet the beast protects the beauty.

but in the new timeline (mk1 2023), bi-han’s sub-zero is the beast while kuai liang’s scorpion is the beauty. an aggressive and “ugly” man (as in how he acts, his morals more grey than kuai liang’s) vs the beauty that is his brother: a more level headed man whose path aligns with the light.

kitana being ice would represent how kuai liang mastered his cryomancer powers: taking control of a cold element and using it for good rather than leaving everything a frozen wasteland around her (cold not taking a hold of her). mileena being fire would be similar to how hanzo’s rage spreads: it’s quick to bite and nearly unable to stop getting bigger and brighter. it’s taken control of her and through the fire she’s unable to see the light that won’t burn. she’s paranoid of the ice freezing her out, so she needs to keep burning and burning.

[januaryembrs]

Any fluffy sweet Drabble about the moon boys 🫡

SWEET MORNINGS | Marc Spector x reader

description: the boys wake up to their girlfriend making breakfast, too bad she has no clue which boy is fronting that morning

length: 1.1k

warnings: representation of DID, Marc's slight self loathing (it's Marc idk what to say). Writer has never experienced DID so I am going off the show

He woke up peacefully, which had once been a fleeting dream in itself for a man like him. He’d spent years jumping at the smallest sounds, flinching at voices and footsteps, ready to be up and out of bed within a moment’s notice. Yet, when his eyes slowly blinked out of the reverie of sleep, he heard her humming along to the radio, already half way through the song, heard her socks sliding against the kitchen floor as she whirled around the stove, and the smell of pancakes and coffee hit him with full force. 

His lips drew into a smile before he even knew it, and he was drawing the covers back, her side of the bed not entirely freezing which told him she’d been up about twenty minutes. Marc grabbed his shirt off the floor, the same one Steven used to sprinkle with sand when he had no idea about their coexistence, only two years later, it was scrubbed clean, even with a pretty, knit rug you’d bought from your apartment when you moved in. 

Tugging it over his head, he padded into the living room, where he could already see your form where you danced around the kitchen, entirely unaware of his approach. He’d been trying to teach you self defence, said you needed to learn to have a sixth sense when it came to people on your tail, because he had a tendency to worry about you more than Steven and Jake did. But maybe it was the fact he had naturally light footsteps, or maybe it was the fact you knew in the comfort of your home he would always be there to protect you, either way your guard was entirely down by the time he swooped behind you, grabbing you in a warm, soft hug, pressing kisses down the side of your bare neck and onto your shoulder. 

“Morning,” His voice was muddied with sleep, and he cleared his throat, hoping to take some of the husk out of it despite the fact you whirled around to look at him with something that told him just what you thought of his rumbling voice. 

“Morning, honey,” You said, pressing a small kiss to his lips, your hand still on the frying pan that he now realised had been filled with mini-chocolate pancakes, the batter sizzling and cracking in the oil, “You hungry?” 

Marc wasn’t really listening as he gave a ‘mhm’, too busy burying his nose in the crook of your neck and jaw, kissing lazily there as he tightened his grip on your waist. 

His gaze fell on the counter after a moment, the blueberry porridge Steven went crazy for already dished up in the little purple bowl you’d painted for him for their birthday, whirled of steam coming off the breakfast that was slowly turning a cornflour colour with the chopped fruit swirling in the centre. 

“Sorry, baby, I think Steven’s still sleeping, I can try ask him-” He started as you used a spatula to quickly flip the pancakes, their underside a golden brown that made his mouth water.

“Oh, don’t worry. I wasn’t sure who was joining me for breakfast, or if all of you wanted something, so I made a bit of everything,” You said, smiling at him as you turned the gas down and spun in his arms, batting your eyes at him with an innocent smile, “Chocolate pancakes for you, blueberry oatmeal for Steven and a black coffee for Jake since I know you guys got mad last time we had bacon together,”

“What a woman,” Jake’s voice was a growl of appreciation that Marc couldn’t help but agree with, and he was quick to lean in to steal a handful of long kisses, grabbing the soft plush of your hips with feather light fingers and pulling you towards him, “Ay, Romeo, your pancakes are burning.”

You sprung away from him like you’d heard the alter yourself, your eyes wide in surprise, “Your pancakes are burning!” 

He heard Jake chuckle and a smile made it’s way onto his face as you fretted over whether the brown was where the chocolate had melted or if the mix had singed, but Marc thought he might just eat anything you gave him because you poured so much love and affection into it he couldn't help but think it tasted divine. 

“Marc, I’m sorry, I know we have the no hogging the body rule and I got to have her all last night, but please let me have just a few bites- o-or atleast ask her to save it for me, that stuff smells delicious,” Steven seemed to be wide awake and kicking at the sight of food, and Marc sighed, reaching out with one hand to swoop your hair off your neck as he kissed the very top of your spine. 

“Steven asks if we could save him the blueberry oatmeal since it’s my turn to spend time with you,” He said gently, and he feels you smile before he sees it, the way your cheeks crinkle and pull tightly. 

“Of course I can, baby, I’ll put it in the fridge,” You said, despite the fact the man was inside the body, scooping the little circular goods onto two plates for both of you. Turning to set the plates on the table, Marc grabbed two glasses out of the cabinet, opening the fridge door with a rattle as the magnets clasped pictures of the two of you to the cooler. 

“Orange or apple juice?” He asked, pulling the former out of the side drawer for himself. 

“Orange, please,” You replied politely, grabbing some cutlery out and laying it beside his plate. 

The two of you sat down finally, Marc sliding the filled glass over to your half of the dinner table and allowing himself to just watch as you picked up your knife and fork, digging into the chocolatey breakfast before it went cold. 

He never deserved any of this, the light touches and the breakfasts and the devotion and the way you put him on a pedestal. But sitting in the slow hum of the radio, the most obscure top hundreds playlist he thinks you could have chosen, he bit into his pancake, his tongue exploding with sugary yumminess, as you told him the weird dream you’d had about him becoming some kind of half horse, centaur type man and how you wondered if he would wear jeans on the front legs, the back legs, or if you would have to have custom, four legged bottoms made for him. 

The two of you laughed, because he didn’t quite understand what had gotten him so lucky as to end up with you. He could get used to all this.

[beelanddiavolosimp-blog]

I'm ovulating a little to bad rn and want to do this

Things about the brothers I feel are sexy ASF or I think they do that's sexy asf

Lucifer

As stated before Lucifer fluffs out his wings when he c*m's like feathers falling off a bit and all.

I think he puts on his gloves real sexy like idk man

His eyes are like fuck me eyes but like they are saying they will fuck you. If that makes sense

He laughs and then gives you a sly smirk and it's honestly enough to make me feral I fear.

Mammon

He whimpers randomly if you do something too mean and just 😫

When he gets overprotective and uses his hands like grabbing your waist or your hands like ur getting it tonight

Him sleeping naked is such a hot thing to me idk like imagine him waking up the blankets barley covering his lower half F*Ck

Levi

His hands. Long slender a pretty white and definitely strong from gaming. I am LOCKED on them

He has sharp teeth IDC WHO DISAGREES and he is scared to bite anything but like use me idc

When he gets all flustered from any type of touch from you like yeah I caused that now you're getting touched even more

Satan

When he like moves his hair out of the way idk it's both feminine yet sexy like-

When his tone deepens when he's irritated or mad and is like trying to hold back. Lord.

He also has pretty hands but also pretty lips like I'm gazing at those pink luscious lips

Asmos

I kinda have to think hard on this one because I see him more friends wise but I'd say when he becomes like so desperate for your touch or attention

He definitely begs

He also will massage you and purposely move his hands in certain areas before apologizing like the MF didn't do it on purpose

Beel

When he yawns and his canines show.

When he stretches whether it's in the morning or after a workout

When he lifts you up with one arm

When he uses you as a weight for his workouts (hip thrust I hope)

When he laughs I can't explain it

THE NOISES HE MAKES WHEN HE EATS

Belphie

He uses like a sultry type voice like how geto slurs out gojos name and it itches the brain real good

When he purposely is an asshole to people who wronged you

THAT ONE IMAGE WHEN HE FIRST WOKE UP WITH THE BED HEAD

when he stretches and his shirt lifts up a little bit to show his stomach or v-line

I'm going feral and I think it shows

[sergeantbarnessdoll]

Heyyy

Do you do request? I hope you do requests.

I had this idea, and I really like your writing.

So imagine. Enemies to Lovers. Reader is an og avenger. And reader and bucky hate each other. (for some reason, idk). But she can't help but worry about him sometimes due to his trauma and the winter soldier program and stuff. But she still hates him

So, once, when bucky has this nightmare, he is shouting and grunting in his sleep. He is still laying on his bed and his eyes are closed. His eyebrows are furrowed. So the reader, she hears him and slowly makes her way towards his bedroom and starts comforting him by rubbing his head, massaging his head, whispering calming and soothing words in his ear, so that he falls back asleep into a peaceful slumber. However bucky doesn't know who it was (Since he was still kinda half asleep or something.) The reader after her work is done calmly and quietly goes back to her own bedroom. Next day bucky approaches her and ask if it was her to helped him last night or something I don't know if it makes sense but I hope you understand what I am trying to say

Thank you love ya bye

<3

(Please don't make it smut)

Care and Worry » Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier

Pairings: Avenger!Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Reader

Summary: Even though Bucky and Y/N don’t get along, she can’t help but care and worry about him.

Warnings: tiny bit of Angst, Fluff, language, Enemies to Lovers, nightmares, kissing, pet names (doll)

A/N: Thank you to the lovely anonymous person who requested this. I hope this is what you imagined.

Written on my phone. I’m sorry for any mistakes and typos.

Header made by @buckys-wintersoldier

GIF IS NOT MINE! Credit goes to the creators. I found this one on Pinterest.

For as long as you and Bucky have known each other, you two don’t get along. You two hate each other. You know hate is a strong word, but that’s how you two feel about each other. Well, a little more Bucky than you. Deep down, you can’t help but care and worry about him after everything he has been through.

You were walking back to your bedroom from the kitchen when you heard noises coming from Bucky’s bedroom who happens to be next door to yours. You walked over to his room, pressing your ear against the door. You heard him talking and making groaning noises. You wrapped your hand around the door knob and slowly turned it, only to find out that it’s unlocked. You opened the door wide enough to slowly go inside of his room. You quietly closed the door behind you. You looked at Bucky to see him tossing and turning in his bed with his eyebrows furrowed, covered in a thin layer of sweat, and breathing heavily. It hurt you to see him like this. You carefully laid down on his bed next to him and began to cautiously run your fingers through his hair, lightly massaging his scalp.

“It’s ok.” You whispered in his ear. “Everything is fine. Try to relax.” You say sweetly.

You watched as his body slowly relaxed, his eyebrows weren’t furrowed anymore, and his breathing went back to normal.

“There you go. You’re ok.” You whispered, kissing the side of his head.

You stayed there for a couple more minutes, massaging his head and running your fingers through his hair just to be sure. You carefully and quietly stood up and left his bedroom to go to your room. You knew that you were going to sleep better, knowing that you helped Bucky through a nightmare. The following morning, Bucky woke up without feeling tired for once. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he was glad that he was able to get some sleep.

“Morning, Buck. How’d you sleep?” Steve asks as Bucky walks in the lounge.

“Surprisingly good.” Bucky answers. “Which is kinda weird.” He says.

“Why’s it weird?” Steve asks.

“Well, I was in the middle of one of my nightmares when it randomly ended. It’s like someone pulled me out of it.” He says.

You looked up at him, feeling your cheeks heat up. You stood up, walking towards the door.

“I’m going to get some coffee.” You say, trying not to make it obvious.

Bucky furrowed his eyebrows as he watched you leave the room.

“What’s her problem?” Bucky asks.

“I don’t know.” Steve shrugs his shoulders. “Maybe she just wants coffee.” He says.

“No that’s not it. I always see her with coffee every morning. She’s acting different and I’m going to find out what it is.” He says.

Bucky walked out of the room and went to the kitchen to see you making coffee.

“Morning, Bucky. Do you want some coffee?” You asked, not making eye contact with him.

“No. I want to know why you’re acting weird.” He says.

“I’m not acting weird, Barnes.” You say.

“Yes you are. You’ve been acting weird since I said I slept good last night.” That’s when it occurred to him. “Wait a minute…” He mumbles.

Bucky thought back to last night. The sweetness of your voice soothing him to sleep, pulling him from his nightmare.

“I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to be honest with me, ok?” Bucky says, approaching you.

You nodded, taking a couple steps back.

“Did you comfort me through my nightmare last night?” He asks.

“Define comfort.” You say.

“I hear a woman’s voice whispering sweet things in my ear while her fingers were playing with my hair.” He says.

“It could’ve been Natasha or Wanda.” You say.

“No. It didn’t sound like their voices.” He says.

“I don’t know who it could’ve been.” You say.

Bucky studied your body language. He took a step closer to you as you took another step backward.

“What’s up with you, Y/N? You’re never this talkative with me. The only time you have something to say to me is when you’re insulting me.” Bucky says.

“There’s nothing wrong with me, Bucky! I don’t know what you want me to say!” You say, raising your voice.

You tried to walk past him, but Bucky grabbed your arm and pulled you back to him.

“You didn’t answer me.” He says.

“You never asked me a question.” You say, yanking your arm out of his grasp.

“The question I’m trying to ask you is, were you the one who helped me through my nightmare last night?” He asks.

“So what if it was me?” You asked.

“Why would you help me? I thought you hated me.” He says.

You looked down at the floor and shrugged your shoulders.

“Y/N…” Bucky says.

You looked up at him, looking into his beautiful blue eyes that makes every woman fall in love with him.

“Be honest with me.” He says.

“Ok, fine. It was me.” You say.

“Why though?” He asks.

“I uhh… care and worry about you after all you’ve been through.” You say honestly.

Bucky blinked a couple times. He wasn’t sure what to think. Besides Steve, he hasn’t had anyone care or worry about him in years.

“You care and worry about me?” Bucky asks, making sure he heard you right.

“Yes.” You answered, feeling your cheeks heat up. “We can pretend that it never happened.” You say.

You tried to walk away again, but Bucky grabbed your hand and pulled you close to him. What he did next surprised you. His lips were on yours, kissing you passionately.

“Thank you.” He says.

“Oh umm— you’re welcome.” You say.

“I haven’t had anyone care or worry about me in years and if I’m being honest, I like it, especially if it’s coming from you.” He says.

“Did Bucky just admit his feelings to me?” You thought to yourself. You weren’t sure what to say or think.

“What are you trying to say, Bucky?” You asked.

“I’m trying to tell you that I’m in love with you.” Bucky says.

“Y-You’re in love with me?” You asked.

“Yes.” He answers. “It’s ok if you don’t feel the same—” You silenced him with a kiss.

Bucky was caught by surprise, but kissed you back.

“If you shut up for a fucking second, you’ll know that I’m in love with you too.” You say with a smile.

“Go out with me.” He says softly, cupping your cheek.

“Only if you buy me coffee.” You say with a giggle.

“I’ll buy you anything you want, doll.” Bucky says with a smile.

You grinned and kissed him again.

“Sounds like a date.” You say, looking into his eyes.

“I love you, doll.” He says softly.

“I love you too, Bucky.” You say in almost a whisper.

🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵

-Bucky’s Doll

[mschimdt]

The Stripper

mike schmidt x f!reader

warnings: so much things man, m recieving, breeding kink? dom reader, stripping bro litteraly idk just read at your own risk

2.5k words

---------------------MINORS DNI-------------------

.

mikes been stressed out lately, his job as freddys going awfully, hes been working there for just over a week and the weird shit thats happened to him there is fucking insane

he caught the animatronics moving on the cameras once, blood stains everywhere (which he cleaned up) and then he met vanessa, she told him what type of shit goes down in this placr and now hes terrified, he only goes there to prove to his aunt that he can keep a job

today was jist an ordinary night, mike was doing a night shift as a security guard at freddys, he usually just slept through his shift because who the fuck wants to break into an old abandoned pizzarea?

apparently someone did, a loud smash woke him up, when he looked at the cameras, it was a group of teenagers exploring but one of them got the attention of the animatronics and is now throwing things at it trying to stop it from chasing him, he got cornered in a room, mike watched him get his upper body get bit off on thr cameras "oh shit" he whispered to himself he realized he had to leave, or he was next after those teenagers he checked the cameras once again, to see where the animatronics are not giving a shit about the people that broke in, when he made sure the animatronics were distracted, he made a run for it, towards the exit

thats where he saw vanessa, holding her gun "the fuck happened mike?" she said, aiming her gun at the hallway infront of them "s-some kids broke in- one of thems dead i sae him on the cameras!"

"shit, we need to get out of here" he was looking at her confused on why her eyes widened, he looked behind him, there was an animatronic rushing their way, "HOLY SHIT" he yelled, running for his life throigh the exit door, up the stairs, and into his car where he was struggling to put the keys in

once he managed to get them in, he quickly drove away, once he was far enough he picked up his phone and called vanessa to make sure she was okay

she picked up "hey vanessa u good?"

"yeah im fine, i dont think those kids are tho"

he spoke to her for a bit before ending the call, parking in some random area he didnt recognise , he sat there for a bit, head against the steering wheel as he processed what happens

'if i keep working there thag might happen to me' he thought

he was abut to leave the unknown area before he noticed a sign above him 'strip club huh' he thought to himself, it was still 3 am, after arguing with himself for a while, he convinved himself to go in.

he took out the car keys, leaving his car, as he walked in purple lights blinded his vision, as he adjusted, he realized the security guy at the door was asking for his ID, "may i have your ID sir?"

"yeah- yeah sure" he handed him his ID, the man read it and gave it back to him and noded, as mike walked in. there were men recieving blowjobs and lap dances

he seated himself on a couch facing the stage, where a woman was dancing, as she finished her preformance your name was called, your stage name 'play kitty' he thought to himself, what a weird choice , as you walked on, mike stared at you, not believing his eyes.

you were the most beautiful thing hes ever seen he stared at you dancing on the pole mesmerised by you

you looked at him, all the guys here were the regulars, exept him. you've never seen him here before, he had his arms crossed across his chest while he watched you

you made eye contact with him- quite a few times on accident, he was an attractive looking guy

you finally finishrd your preformance, walking off the stage, where alot of guys followed you begging you to get a room with them, but you replied "i dont do private bookings!" the guys were still pooling around youx a few leaving after they heard what u said, but a few stayed still begging.

mike got bavk to his senses 'why would a woman as beautiful as her want me when she has all these guys anyways' he said to himself, going to walk around the club to look around, he caught you walking somwhere in the corner of his eye, but he iust ignored you, he couldnt stop his breathing speeding up though, your clothes were really revealing. g string, with a string bra

he walked somewhere, and sat down. opening his phone to check with max and to make sure that abby was okay

he felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned his head around, eyes meeting your beautiful ones

"u-uh hi-?" hr said, nervousness in his voice, "can i sit down with you for a bit? never seen you here." you said "yeah- yeah sure"

you sat down next to him "so what brings you here" you said making eye contact with him, or trying to, because his eyes would meet yours for a few seconds then he'd just look away

"i dont really know honestly" his voice deep, sadness showing on it

"rough day?" you asked

"yeah kinda"

"what happened?" you asked "never mind- sorry i shouldnt be asking"

"no no its okay i needed someone to talk to anyways, uh something happened at work- something really shitty, you dont happen to know that one abandoned pizzarea? freddy fazzbears or something"

"no way! you work there? i used to go there as a kid, you said smiling "what happened there?"

"well, the animatronics are haunted or some shit, some kids broke in while i was on my night shift and they all got absolutley obliterated by the animatronics- weird shit"

"i heard they were haunted, never thought it was real, yeah right whats your name?"

"mike" he replied "whats yours?"

"my stage names play kitty- weird i know, my actual names (Y/N)"

you had a little conversation, exchanged numbers, and mike left, he was definetley coming back here

it was 5 am now, mike drove home, as usual, doing his usual things

the day after, he went to work, he couldnt stop thinking about you, thats when you texted him

"hey mike its (y/n)!"

he picked yp his phone and read the message, then he replied

"hey y/n whats up"

"u coming today ;) ?"

"probably, not sure yet gotta finish work first"

"ill take that as a maybe, see you there"

you said, it was 3am again, "fuck this" mike abandoned his shift, locking up the outside of the pizzarea

he drove back to the club, walking in again the man standing at the door let him in, recognising him from yesterday

he walked in, you were on stage, when you saw him walk in, you eyes brightened, a smirk growing across your face

you continued your preformance, having collected a little bit over a thousand dollars from the guys there

you walked off, heading straight to mike, "you came!" you said with a smile

"why wouldnt i come back? couldnt resist a girl as beautiful as you-" he just said that- 'what the fucks wrong with me' he thought to himself "shit sorry"

u smirked "whyre you apologising? ur pretty cute mike" you said, chuckling afterwards

'she just said that? what?' he thought as you both made your way to a table to sit down

"what made you become a stripper- dont answer if you dont want to its fine" mike asked

"nah its alright, i just needed a but of extra money, i live alone and one job wasnt enough, plus i couldnt bare always staying alone at night- now im never alone im just followed around by desperate guys, theyre annoying but theyre the source of my income" you said

"my shifts almost over, if you want you can come to my place and we can continue talking there? id like to get to know you mike"

"yea- yeah sure why not" he said, shocked at your question, youve barely known him for a day and youre already inviting him to come over

you packed your things up, "mike u got a car with you? my friend drove me here today and im pretty sure she left aa bit ago- she told me"

"yeah sure, gimme ur house adress ill drive us there" he said

u got into mikes car, u told him the adress. he drove yoy both there , parking outside your house

you ooened the door, letting him in, as he walkes through the enterance, he noticed the house displayed your personality very well, clean and organised " alright gimme a second lemme set this stuff up in my room, you can come if you want to" mike nodded, following you into your room, he realized you were just a normal girl, trying to get some extra money to keep things running

" so mike, you got any siblings" mike froze for a second, remembering garret "you okay"

"yeah sorry, i have 2, or 1 techinaccly" "oh! im sorry for asking-"

"no its okay, it was a while ago, he was kidnapped infront of me i was 13, he was 8"

"im sorry mike.. what about your other sibling"

"yeah abby, shes 9, im doing the security gig to keep her, i beat up a guy at a mall last year and i lost my job, and i was going to lose guardianshio over her due to my aunt, so i have to work this shitty job now to prove i can keep a job"

you put your hand on mikes thigh, mike took a deep breath, looking down at your hand on his dark blue jeans, "are you okay mike"

"yeah im fine just somethings on my mind" he said, looking down onto his lap, where your hand rested, you pretended to not notice his growing erection, -shit shit shit' mike panicked he tried to cover it eirh his hands butyou grabbed him gently by the chin, turning his face to look at you, "you need some help with that?" you said, a smirk wide across your face "w-what do you mean?" mike tried to act confused, his face turning red "with this?" you placed your hand onto the growing tent in his pants

the moment your hand touched his erection, he threw his head back, letting out a soft moan "looks like you do" you said, climbing onto his lap, he rested his arms on your hips as you grinded your clothes cunt on his clothed erection

he let out soft moans, his head thrown back, his hands squeezing your hips you leaned down to his ear "whats wrong mikey? feels good?" you said, kissing his earlobe, making your way down his neck

you reached a hand under his shirt, exploring his torso, your hand wandering up and down it

"take it off" you said, mike obeyed, pulling his shirt over his head, revealing his bare chest, light abs across his stomache, you continued kissing his neck, reaching his colar bone where you sucked and nipped making him release liw whimpers, creating a hickey, "gosh mike keep making those sounds and i wont spare you" you said, smirking across his chest, taking in his scent

he smelled like cologne, mixed with the smell of sweat

mikes strong arms wrapped aroundd your waist as you make your way down his chest , and stomache, without hesitation, you slipped your shirt off

mikes facial expression changed, he looked at your tits, then he looked away again "you can look mike its okay"

you made your way, kissing down his stomache, once you finally reached his v line you said "lay down mike, let me make you feel good"

he listened, once he layed down, you unbuckled his belt, and pulled off his pants, leaving his boxers on

you started palming his dick through his boxers, you could tell he was trying his best to keep quiet.

"dont hold back your noises baby, i wanna hear you" you said as you slipped your finger under the waist band of his boxers, slowly pulling them down, his cock sprung out free, he was big, so big, 7 inches minimum

you wrapped your hand around the top of his dick, placing your thumb on the tip wiping away the precum, "mmph" you slowly leaned down, parting your lips, wrapping then around his erect cock, you took as much of his dick as you could in your mouth, you could feel your wetness through your panties

you bobbed your head up and down, making mike release the most lewd noises youve heard a man make. and you quite enjoyed it, "o-oh my go- mph-d im close! im close!"

you just kept going at the same speed, bobbing your head up and down, you felt mikes dick twitch in your mouth, you knew he was close

he looked down at you

you let his dick out of your mouth, stroking it with your hands till he came

streaks of white painted your face and his stomache

"holy shit" was all he said, he rested his arms next to him looking down at you

"one more time? in my pussy this time?"

"yes please" as soona s you whard those words, your pants were already off , panties slipping off with them, mike stared at you completely bare "goddamn" he whispered to himself, you positioned yourself above himx slowly lowering yourself onto his dick, his strong arms held you as his length slid down inside of you

you adjusted, and soon enoughc you were bouncing uo and down his dick, the only sound in the rokm was the slapping noisea from both your bodys and the moans you both let out , your hands supporting you on mikes chest

mikes hand reached down to your pussy. fingers making contact with your slick clit, rubbing circles onto it

"shit mike im close-" "me too" he said throwing his head back to let our another moan

you came first, the knot in your stomache coming undone.

mike remembered he wasnt wearing a condom, "im not we-wearing- shit. a condom." he said oanting between each word

"cum inside me" you said, leaning down and kissing his lips, swallowing all his moans and he came close to releasing his load

he moaned into your mouth, before releasing the warm whiye liquid into your used cunt, you bounced up and down his dick for a bit morw helping him ride out his high, before you collapsed onto him.

after a few minutes, you both cooled down, he pulled himself out, watchinf the cum drip from your cum

he looked at you and all he said was "we should do this again sometime"

-------------------------------------------------------

part 2?

[rainyvalentines]

Melting

pairings…clarisse la rue x daughter of apollo

description…clarisse is unable to find reader but she finds her in a weird position

warnings…none just fluff

requested…yes

w/c…591 words 3138 characters

a/n…i do apologize if this isnt the best this is my first fanfic! idk how but i randomly got motivation to write this at like 12 am. hope this is alright! 💗💗

Clarisse just came from training which lasted a few hours. She came to find you in your regular spot, the strawberry fields. As she looked around she couldn’t see you, she had started to panic and went back to the camp to check the Apollo cabin. She knocked which one of the Apollo kids opened the door.

“Do you know where y/n is? She isn’t in the strawberry fields.” Her voice sounded panicked and worried.

“I’m not sure, try to check the forest she’s sometimes out there!”

“Alright thank you.” She quickly walked off into the forest. She started to shout your name is hopes of you responding. “Y/N!”

She started to run through the forest. The next second she had heard your voice. “Clarisse..?” Your voice sounded incredibly tired as if you woke up.

“Y/N? Where are you!”

“Up here!”

Clarisse looked up and saw you on a tree branch. “What are you doing up there?”

“I dont know just felt like it”

“Come down!”

You hopped down. She held you tightly “At least tell me before climbing trees?”

“I promise I will” You reach into your tote bag and pull out a mushroom. “I found this! It reminded me of you!”

“Oh thank you princess, I love it.” She softly kissed your cheek

“You’re welcome! I also make you a flower crown!” You grab the crown and hand it to her. “I couldn’t find the flowers you liked so I hope these will do.”

“They work just fine for me, do you wanna go back into camp?”

“Sure! Can I braid your hair again? It looks a little messy now.”

“Of course” She smiled softly at you and held your hand.

You both got back to camp and it was time for dinner so you went to your table which was usually with all the Ares kids. Even though your father was Apollo, after a lot of convincing Chrion let you sit with Clarisse.

Your hands run through her hair as a makeshift brush. You start you braid her hair into a french braid since those were your favorite to do. Once you’ve finished you make sure it’s perfect before telling her.

“All done! I think you look great!”

“Thank you princess” She smiles at you. “Do you want me to walk you back to your cabin after dinner?”

“I’d like that!” You start to eat your food while everyone around you talks. It was a nice moment, being in a place you love, beside your favorite person. The weather was perfect and you had found a lot of mushrooms.

“You done?” Clarisse tapped your thigh softly.

“Mhm!”

“Alright come on sweetheart.” She stands up and holds her hand out to help you up. You both already made your offerings to the gods so you were free to leave.

As you walk away the sounds of all the campers got quieter and the night became calm. Everything felt still but alive as if in a movie.

“You alright?” Clarisse asked

“Oh yeah! Just zoned out!” You smile at her

“Alright you just went quiet”

“Sorry didn’t mean to, just thinking!”

“It’s alright sweetheart.” She kisses your cheek.

You arrive at the Apollo cabin and she opens the door for you.

“Goodnight princess, see you tomorrow.” She kisses you softly but lovingly.

“Goodnight! Love you!” You close the door and get changed. As you flop onto your bunk thoughts of Clarisse flood your mind. How did I win her?

Soon sleep floods your senses and you melt into your sheets.

[weirdsht]

Disillusioned 6 . Truth

a/n: i think my blood count is running low again so i might not be able to write for a while but idk yet. also my class schedule is literally from 9 am to 7 pm so i don't really know when i'll be able to write 🥲

tags: abuse as the norm, reader doesn't know better. unintentional self-harm(?), hints of power tripping

English isn’t my first language so there will be grammatical errors

Pls don't repost my work anywhere without my permission

Constructive criticisms and any kind of interaction are more than welcome

Requests are currently closed but my ask are still open (read navi)

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On doesn’t know how to tell Cale about the things she found out.

Well, it’s not a matter of her hesitating to tell him. There’s no way On would hesitate to tell Cale, someone she has come to see as her parental figure, such important information. Rather, it's the timing of things that made her hesitate every time.

From the moment Cale woke up things have been hectic. There are changes to their schedule and a lot more things to do. Especially now that they managed to capture some of Arm’s members.

With everyone busy running around here and there, On took it upon herself to make sure _____ doesn’t get injured.

The silver kitten can’t fully comprehend why someone would offer their all for other people to the point of being on the brink of death. Saving people is good, but one should not overdo it. After all, being alive is the best thing as Cale had taught her.

Well, Cale is also self-sacrificial but that's On’s headache for another day.

For now, she focuses on limiting the healer to use their healing abilities as much as possible and trying to find the chance to tell Cale the issue.

“Don’t worry, it's dangerous but not dangerous as in you will get hurt dangerous.”

If Cale looked at her funnily then On pretended not to notice. The important thing is she finally managed to tell him that they must talk about _____’s powers. Since the redhead must first go and attend some business, On opted to just give Cale a snippet and continue it after they get back.

And so that night, after having dinner with the cute half-rat half-dwarf Mueller, Cale and On finally had their overdue talk.

Aside from them and the other two children, Choi Han, Beacrox, and Ron are also in the room to listen in. 

“If that’s the case then chances are _____-nim’s healing abilities work like a transfer.”

Silence filled the room at Choi Han’s comment. All of them are thinking about how to confirm such things.

“We can just talk to _____ themself! They’re super nice so I’m sure they’ll tell us.”

“But maybe that will be uncomfortable for little _____”

Raon shut down Hong’s suggestion. However, Cale thinks it’s a good idea.

“It’s not like we have much option, we either ask them directly or sneak around to see evidence while they are using their power.”

And safe to say that Cale wants to choose the less hassle option, asking _____ directly.

After scamming– selling the research remains of the Magic Tower to Toonka and talking to Choi Han, Cale managed to squeeze talking to _____ in his schedule.

While the swordmaster was out to get the healer, Cale felt a sense of dread. He suddenly thought of how _____ never seems to share their story. This makes him think about the chance that maybe the healer is simply unwilling to share the information.

He may be trash but he's not a jerk who will force someone to share their story if it will resurface their trauma.

“So you have no problem telling me? Why haven’t you said anything until now?”

Turns out, _____ is more than okay sharing everything with Cale. They stated that whatever it is Cale needed to know, they are willing to share as long as they know of it.

“It’s because Cale-sunbae has never asked me? They say that if someone of my status shares something personal unprompted then it will be burdensome for the other party. It is also bad to speak unprompted, they said that it’s bad enough that punishment is due when such a misdemeanour is committed.”

Cale Henituse has a pretty good idea as to who that “they” is but he internalizes his anger and decides to focus on the task at hand. He motions for _____ to continue speaking.

“Cale-sunbae, I’m sure you’ve heard of how I got adopted?”

“Yes, what about that story?”

“That story is a lie. Why they lied about it is something I am unsure of.

I was originally from an orphanage. This orphanage is different because they sell gifted children, the children vary from beast children to children with special abilities like me.”

‘Sounds more like a human trafficking scheme, but I can't be sure.’

Cale thought to himself as he listened to _____ talk.

“I have been adopted because the Perduellios were on the verge of going bankrupt. They decided to adopt a child with special abilities so they could maximize the wealth and glory that comes with it. It is also the real reason why I am not affiliated with the Sun God church. However, it is also true that my health would not be able to handle the workload of being a holy maiden”

If _____ is officially affiliated with the church then they would essentially be a property of the church. Minimizing the profits the family can get.

“There’s also the fact that they said I would humiliate the family if I’m not under their supervision- Ah, I’m sorry! I just realized that I’m getting off-track”

“No, continue. I’m quite curious as to how that family raised you.”

Did what Cale said surprised him? Definitely. He is usually someone who does not actively seek out such things as it brings more headaches.

But oh well, _____ is one of his people anyway so it wouldn’t hurt to know about their enemies. Even if the healer isn't aware they are enemies.

“How was I raised? I was raised normally, just like how other people have been. The Perduellios gave me food, clothing, and a roof over my head. I think they were a little strict with me but they said it was because there are so many things I have to learn.”

“Strict how?”

“Instead of tutors and teachers, they used more physical ways to teach me. They said it was a little unconventional but the only way I would learn things fast.

They had a lot of unspoken rules that I had to follow. They said that usually, a child will gradually learn what those rules are as they grow up. However, they opted to punish me for every rule I broke as I am behind my peers.”

‘What a load of bullshit. That’s not normal at all.’

Cale internally sighed before asking what kind of punishment they got. _____ explained that it’s either being whipped or having hot candle wax poured on their skin, whatever the family’s biological child deemed fitting at the moment.

The healer was asked if they figured out what some of those rules were and they said they had.

They are not allowed to speak when not spoken to

They must always answer when spoken to

They must never speak to other nobles as they are a peasant

They are not allowed to have servants and must never ask any servant for help (this was why they never bothered Hans, Ron, and Beacrox)

They are not allowed to go somewhere without guards

They must only take what their adoptive family gives to them

They must refer to their adoptive family as father, mother, and big sister outside, but must call them call them by their noble titles in private

All gifts given to them must go to the family

They are not allowed to refuse to heal anyone, the only exceptions are if it's beyond their capabilities (like chronic illness)

When they heal someone the family must be informed. 

They said that there was more that they did not figure out. However, Cale thinks that all of this is just a bunch of bullshit excuses used to hurt and exploit a child that didn't know better. Then as a result, even as an adult that person still doesn't know any better.

“Human! This is not normal! Little _____ has been deceived by those trash people! You better get revenge on them too!”

Both Cale and Raon are on the same page. Even before the dragon’s comment, Cale was already thinking about what he could do about _____’s family.

However, there was another thing that concerned the redhead.

It was the way _____ was telling the story.

Aside from the usual calmness they had, they were speaking as though it wasn't their story. It was as if they were just relaying the morning news.

To some extent, Cale thinks it's advantageous for the healer to be able to separate themselves from what happened. Even if they aren't aware that what they went through was abuse.

However, it wasn't like that.

It was more like _____ has become detached from things relating to themself.

Cale would even dare say that maybe it's because they are scared to face the hurt and longing they felt.

Not that the man is speaking from experience.

“How come you had no marks on your body? Even at the City of Life the only ones the doctor saw were the wounds you had that day.”

“Ah, that is part of my abilities. Even though I can’t heal myself, my body heals wounds a little faster than average and is incapable of scarring.”

‘This… just how lucky were those bastards that they even had the perfect cover-up?’

While Cale was thinking about how to make the Perduellios disappear from the face of the world, _____ further explained how their healing powers work.

“For my healing abilities, a percentage of my patients' wounds or sickness will transfer onto me. Ah don’t worry as I will only get around 70% of whatever I am healing and it will not be contagious whatever it may be. In return, I can give them some of my vitality. I say I give around 3% of my vitality per patient and then it is multiplied when I transfer it to them.”

Cale swallows the curse words he wants to say. He feels immense frustration at the person who seems to be more concerned at the possibility of Cale thinking they’ll get the entire group sick, and not at the fact that they’re giving their health away to random strangers.

“Uhm you might be thinking that the vitality thing is the reason why I have a weak body but it's not. Apparently, I was just unlucky and happened to have a body this weak.”

Huuuu

The redhead feels as though he will curse a storm if he doesn’t at least sigh.

“Because of how my abilities work, the more severely wounded or sick someone is, the harder it will be for me to heal them. Things like small scratches or common colds would not hurt but more severe wounds might have dire consequences on my body. That’s why I can’t heal severed limbs or terminal illnesses.”

The Medicus proceeds to explain that in theory, they can heal those things. However, it might cost them some part of the same limb or their lifespan as well as some manifestations of the illness.

“Human, let's not make little _____ heal anyone! That power is dangerous for them!”

Cale agrees with the dragon to some extent. But he also thinks that they can still use it as long as it’s in moderation.

“Hmm, I guess in theory I might also be able to revive a dead person once if I get to them right after they die. Though I think I’d have a week left to live if I did that. I haven’t tested it out yet so I’m not sure…”

Cale did not need to know that. There's absolutely no way he'll let this healer revive someone from the dead at the cost of their own life.

“...Don’t. No testing out any of those things. No testing out healing terminally ill people. The same goes for people with severe or paralyzed limbs. Just don’t okay?”

_____ doesn’t quite understand Cale’s requests but agrees nonetheless. The redhead is their benefactor so it would only be right to follow his wishes even if they don't understand why he would make such requests.

What the healer didn’t notice was the way the noble’s face hardened for a second when they were talking about reviving a dead person.

Cale is definitely going to keep a closer eye on them.

Maybe even ask Hillsman to be their personal knight…

No, never mind. _____ already grew up suffocated by the amount of guards they had following them. Cale isn't evil enough to recreate that.

So maybe he'll just make sure the healer doesn't leave his side?

“As for my ancient power, you already know that it’s a water-type power. I can look at someone’s “blood flow” to roughly figure out how strong and what species they are. As to how I accurately know the species of what I'm looking at, the owner of the power tells me. He was also the one who told me to hide my power from everyone. He doesn't speak much, he just tells me what someone is when I ask for it or when he feels like it.

Another thing it does is allow me to sense any living creatures in water. This is as long as we are touching the same water as what happened when I first met Raon Miru-nim.

It also allows me to replenish someone’s energy and stamina. However, I can’t do anything about hunger. Fainting is something I can prevent, but Cale-sunbae’s condition is special as you pass out because of your abilities so I can’t interfere with that. I’m sorry.”

They looked really sorry for not being able to prevent Cale from passing out. A big part of why they can’t interfere is because if they do then they will be breaking the ancient power’s flow of work.

“Last question.”

Cale feels like he knows the answer but he still wants to hear _____’s perspective.

“Why do you still insist on giving your all for people who will never appreciate what you do?”

It’s a foreign question for the healer. Something no one has asked before. 

Something they didn’t even think about.

Even before they were adopted they have always been draining themself for others. The motion of offering themself up to others is as natural as a fish looking for water.

It didn’t matter if they were unloved or unwanted.

In fact, _____ knew in the back of their mind that no one loved them.

“I am both unwanted or unneeded. Then isn’t it only right that I present myself to be used until nothing is left of me?”

That was the conclusion they had come to.

Their life would have no meaning if they didn’t let others use them. Maybe there is, but _____ doesn’t know what could it be. Already so used to their current way of living.

“I understand now.”

That was all that Cale said to _____’s explanation of their powers. He told the healer to go back to their tent and rest.

As soon as it was just him and Raon in the room, Cale roughly rubbed his hands through his face.

Cale summarized in his head that in a way _____'s ability wasn't really healing but more like transferring. They multiply and transfer their vitality to make someone better.

The ability itself was easy to understand. Setting up measures to make sure _____ doesn’t overdo it is also easy.

However, Cale Henituse still feels frustrated.

And he can’t quite fathom why he feels that way.

[ariathelamia]

Hellhound HRT Month 8 (4 Month Wolf , 4 Month Hellhound)

Soooo… It’s me again, and there has been quite a bit that happened here so, let's get started.. (And no, I'm not gonna “write more professionally” for you!).

Okay so, I’ve been discharged from the hospital, my body has built some resistance to the high temperatures, though it’s not really able to handle the highest temperatures for too long yet. At least I don't pass out when I get too happy from eating my favorite meal anymore.

Now to something more troubling… turns out my right leg’s bone ended up growing malformed so they had to re break and fix it together again.. so i’m wearing a full on brace there, and a normal cast on the left one which luckily grew back together well… no idea what caused this kinda unequal thing but uh… not gonna complain of only having one being put back together like a jigsaw puzzle…

Coming back to the heat thing- So… i still can’t breath fire really, but i can sort of… direct the heat towards my mouth and when i bite things.. I can basically cook things in my mouth! 

The Nurses also have to be careful when trying to do blood draws… not only does my thick furr make it hard to find a vein to begin with… but… and I hate to make this sort of public in these notes… I HATE needles… And we all know what happens when I get annoyed…

So yeah I actually managed to heat up a syringe with my blood and the nurse dropped it… it broke and god… steaming blood… kinda glowy too? but the glow disappeared shortly when it cooled down. 

Now to more kinda… crazy changes… one night i just woke up… but the weird part is… even though i still had my eyes closed… I could see… and pretty well too even though the room was dark! I did open my eyes… and I could tell that I saw… more.. you know how when you close one eye, your brain kinda ignores the blacked out part and you still see just in a smaller field of view?... And when you open your eyes that field of view suddenly gets wider…imagine that feeling… just not with two eyes… but 4… that's right, you’re girl got two more eyes, slightly below my first pair… and a little closer to my ears… they are also smaller than the original pair.. like around… 3/4th of the size. It took me like.. an hour before i was able to close them… kinda weird to access muscles you never had before.

My hands are also growing slightly?... well the arms are getting slightly thicker and gaining muscles, even though all i was able to do was sit in the hospital.. I am also able to pull in my claws into my paws! No more accidental gushing wounds!

So yeah that's about all the changes I noticed!

—----------------------------------------------

[The following texts have been written in a separate notebook.]

Started this little side project to keep my thoughts in order when it comes to the eldritch kinda stuff happening… I remember when I mentioned weird dreams to Mars before… she got quite mad… not at me but at my dreams?... Idk… I am going to write them down though… because I feel like doing that is important so I can make sense of what's happening to my mind.

During those two months, the dreams of the Moon continued…

The form I have in those dreams is always pretty similar, but it’s getting more.. defined? 

My body in those dreams is like… mhh..  Like a black silhouette of my body… that's shrouded in thick smoke… barely holding shape.. like one gust would spread me in all directions… I can see… but I can't talk.. I literally don’t have a mouth to do so… at the start i couldn’t hear either but that's apparently different now so i guess.. the more i transition… the more defined my shape gets?.. questions for Mars.

Speaking off, I remember Mars warning me about some tentacle lady-... I wondered if that’s the one I kept seeing in the distance.

Though after one particular night, I KNOW it’s the one…. cause she found me… 

Her name is Nyarlathotep… and she hates my guts apparently.  I’ll try to write down the conversation as best as I can remember it…

“Now look what we have here, finally I reached you before you went “poof” again. And by the look of your eyes, this time you can actually hear me. Tried calling out to you little … thing… but you never seemed to respond.”

(I tried to say something back but… no mouth… urgh. I did however move my arms, gesturing to our surroundings…)

“Oh this? Welcome in Azathoths dream, the dream of my Mother… My name is Nyarlathotep, and YOU… you are an intruder, brought in by that halfling that dares to intrude into our domain. You humans just love to play with things you don’t understand hm? You have no idea what kind of things you are inviting into your life, thanks to HIS ridiculous idea of “help”. That damn halfling is hellbend of ruining this beautiful dream… and now you are here… but worry not, I got just the thing. " 

It was then she held out her hand to me… holding a single pill in her hand that shimmered in an eerie glow. I looked at it but then back at her. She had this grin on her face that would have made my blood freeze if that had been possible at that moment… Her presence at that moment was… similar to Mars… just… different and more concentrated… Was she the same species as what Mars was going to be? 

“Just take this, and all can be normal again. After all that fall of yours surely must have shown you that your transformation is unpredictable? You are simply not cut out to become one of us… not that you ever could… Your body is going to burn itself out and you will simply become nothing but a pile of ash… but all of this can be prevented still. Just… take…this…pill…”

To say I was frightened was an understatement… And I could feel this strange pull towards that pill… my body being drawn to it… my head moving towards it as if something was trying to make me eat the pill straight out of her hand.. 

I didn’t want to- I didn’t believe what she said, I knew Mars wouldn’t have helped me just so I ended up as ashes on the floor-... she warned me from this one-... and yet I was powerless.. my face was just in front of that pill when suddenly.. a glow shined from underneath us… Something grabbed my legs and my head and yanked me away… I could hear Nyarlathotep cursing as I was dragged into the moon itself… And as the glow started to blind me… i could vaguely make out the form of some other being… i don’t know what to make of it.. but it spoke too-... though only a few words before i ended up waking up… “Just in time… wake up, you are safe."

That's when I ended up waking up in my hospital bed… Terrified for my life.. The Fire that shines through my chest illuminated the room in a blue-ish glow… guess that's what happens when I'm afraid. I could tell that the fire was a lot cooler than usual.

But god damn was I afraid to sleep the following nights. 

I didn’t see Nyarlathotep in the following dreams… not that every dream happens on the moon but the ones that do I was just panicking.  Though… one night… I could have sworn I had felt Mars’s presence… far away… I tried to get closer but I ended up waking up after some distance… 

I wanted to call her… tell her from my dreams but guess whose phone is broken thanks to the fall… and i didn’t remember her number… in hindsight could have asked to call the library… but i also didn’t want to talk about this stuff over the hospitals phone line… dunno if they keep recordings or anything… Why am I so freaking paranoid about this!? urgh..

Anyway, now I'm out of the hospital… got an appointment next week with Erian for my 9th month check up, even though I kinda missed the 6th month one but.. bureaucracy. 

But before all that… I really need to talk to Mars… cause I would at least know a little more about that stupid bitch that keeps making me sleep with one eye open… And whatever that glowing thing was.

[End of notes]

—-------------------------------------------------------

[Meeting with Mars]

I decided to go to Mars today. Well “go” is a strong word, i wheeled there.. as in.. a wheelchair. Got me a new phone on the way. The good thing was that the card was still intact, so I was able to plan a meeting. So here I am, at the front entrance of the Thayer library, taking a few deep breaths. I wheeled myself in and approached the counter. 

To my surprise, I did not feel that scared when inside. It felt more.. home-y like. Maybe it’s just me being finally around someone that gets me on a deeper level than the hospital staff. I went up to the front desk, and reached over to ring the Bell twice, waiting for Mars to appear. Makes me wonder if she’s the only one working here? big place for one person.. hmm..

I looked around, I noticed the library had changed, ever so slightly. Arrangement of the displays, the tables shifted in different positions, and a stack of new acquisitions building up on a cart outside of the staff entrance. But one detail caught my eye, the desk that Mars normally sat at had a raised almost organic growth forming on the edges. It was a darkish purple and black structure and seemed to be enveloping her space. 

My scrutinizing of the mysterious growth was broken by the sound of a loud elevator ding. The staff door then unlocked and swung open as Mars, now much taller ducked her way into the reading room. She was nearly 13 feet and developed a boney crown around her head. Her tail was longer, and the unknown appendages on her back that twitched and articulated grew in number. Something else caught my attention, one of her eyes, specifically the top left one was yellow.. not pink. Looking closer I noticed scarring on her eye and around her neck. 

With her entry, the lights of the library dimmed but unlike last time, her presence wasn’t as heavy. The shift in temperature caused my body to steam as she turned her attention to me and looked delightfully surprised.

“Arynia! It’s good to see you again!”.

It took a second for her to process my current state as her expression turned to one of concern. 

“Oh my gosh, are you alright? What happened to your legs?”.

It took me a second to actually process the question after seeing her injuries. 

“Uh-... I had a bit of an accident while running over some rooftops and uh… fell. My new organ decided not to wait to flare up, literally, and I ended up taking a nasty fall… Just got released from the hospital the other day actually.”

I chuckled nervously, but… I could tell it didn’t help to really ease the situation. 

“ Well, long story short i… broke a couple of bones… my legs got the worst of it, probably because they were in the process of changing… and one of them grew together wrong at first- they did manage to fix it however, after getting an animal surgeon for help! Isn’t that kinda-... hilarious?... eh-... ehehe… “

Curse my ears and tail for displaying my actual emotions so well… I didn't even notice my ears were drooped down and my tail nervously clutching my midsection like some kinda belt. 

Mars couldn’t help but smile, she let out a nervous chuckle and gave a reassuring pat on the head.

“You were running over rooftops?” She giggled.

“Such an adventurous pup, but I’m glad you’re doing alright. I hope your legs heal quickly! I can promise you, it took some practice getting used to mine after I hatched”.

Mars raised her arm after giving a gentle scratch and returned to her desk. The growths responding to her presence and pulsing with a purplish light in some of the raised sections. 

“So, what can I help you with? Looking for a book?”

I shook my head and pondered on how to say what I was here for…

“Well… no, I’m actually here to uh… talk to you about some of those… Nightmares I mentioned before?... The Moon ones? Especially about that… tentacle freak you mentioned…” I shrunk together a little, the last time I mentioned that cracking moon to her… it did not go well.

“She uh… found me… or rather reached me…?”

Mars froze, her expression shifting to one of horror as she listened to me recount my dreams. She looked down at her keyboard, her eyes wide and her claws twitching. The library once more felt oppressive, the lights barely able to combat the darkness as both Mars and I were casted in shadow. Mars’s eyes emitted an intense yellow and pink glow as the growths around her began consuming more of her desk and chair. 

I nervously wheeled myself back a little. “It’s uh, good though!... I’m safe! uh… she did seem worried about me?... since she somehow knew about the accident too?... The only bad thing was that she tried to make me eat some weird blue pill right out of her hand-... b- but then some light came from the moon and I got dragged away and woke up! Nothing to worry about-.... right?”

I need to learn to shut up when nervous-

Her head shot up, glaring at me, as her expression turned to one of anger. She ran her claws into the desk, easily cutting through the plywood and leaving a massive gash. Her stare was horrifying, like she was about to lash out at me. I tried to say something but couldn’t help but stammer, desperately trying to ease the tensions of our conversation. Right as I was about to say something, she interrupted, her voice was changed, distorted. She spoke with what sounded like multiple voices at once as she asked.

“You don’t understand… do you..?”

She pushed off the desk, its construction cracking underneath her weight as she stood and glared at me. Her height and piercing glare made it hard to look her in the eyes. Despite my inability, she glared at me with no issue. I felt paralyzed, the chair creaking at the invisible force she pushed down on me with. I gritted my teeth, my chest burning like a desperate flame trying to avoid being snuffed out. It took every ounce of my strength to respond.

“Understand…. what?” I stammer. It’s odd, ever since that flame in my chest started to heat me up, I seem to have forgotten what being cold felt like… I know when I am “less warm”, but not “cold” anymore…  but right this moment I got a stark reminder of it. The tiny blue glow that was still fighting the darkness that seemed to swallow this place grew dimmer and dimmer…

“You’re in danger..”

Mars then kicked her desk, the computer tossed aside and the structure breaking and collapsing as she walked up to me. I tried breathing heavily. The closer she got the less oxygen entered my lungs. Mars’s form began to shift, her head splitting into five mandibles as her foot steps turned into floor cracking stomps. 

“You and I.. we’re different from the rest… we’re being hunted.”

Mars leans in, her back hunching as her appendages crack and raise into an agitated state. She moves in closer, the glow from her eyes becoming too intense as I try to shield them. I couldn’t breath, I tried to compose myself but I couldn’t, I struggled to stay conscious when suddenly Mars gripped my muzzle. I was forced to look at her and then… I was.. there.. the moon… I felt like I was holding my breath when I noticed Mars, standing at the edge of the moon's cracking surface. 

“I’m sorry Arynia… I.. I shouldn’t have done the ritual for you..”

I looked around, it was just us.. did i pass out? How did-... I take a deep breath in, noticing that I finally got a mouth in this darn place-, overall the “smoke” around me was taking on the shape of my real body-... or was THIS my “real” one?... 

I walk up to Mars, stopping shortly behind her. “No! You have nothing to be sorry about Mars! I came to you! This is what I wanted!! You can’t believe how much happiness I feel when I look at myself in the mirror! When I see the real me… You saved me that day… I don’t know how long I could have just… accepted what I was before… if I had never gotten this chance…” 

I stopped myself from talking more… Listening to it brought up one question in my head..

“Is… is me following this path a burden to you?... I mean… just hearing me talk about this place seems to be giving you so much stress- when all of your transformation is already putting so much on you yourself-... Is it selfish for me to go on?... should i just… stop and find another way?”

Tears were building up in all four of my eyes as my voice quivered. 

“I don’t want to be a burden for you… maybe i should have just… taken that pill?... accept what i was and find some kinda way to be happy with it?...”

”Nia.. come here..”

She ushered me forward, closer to the edge of the moon. I took a step, shocked to find no pain or tremble, but a strong leg, ready to move at my command. I took a few steps, the drop off rapidly approaching and revealing the hollow insides of the moon. I was shocked, seeing more and more chunks break away. But as I turned to look in I was horrid to see something looking back. Five pink pupils glared, energy swirling as a low growl echoed into the void.

“I can’t help you Nia.. I want to, but this.. this is my burden..”

Mars shifts her gesture to the eyes as the being shifts its focus back to Mars. I follow the creature's gaze to a sadden Mars, as she sighs and grips her arm nervously.

“I’m.. breaking.. I try so hard to keep this contained, to keep myself from fully breaking. That thing down there, it’s anger, it’s hunger, it’s pain.. is mine.”

She turns to me.

“I can’t help you.. I can barely help myself. That tentacled monster.. it’s called Nyarlathotep.. It's been haunting me for months. It nearly killed me last time we met. I can’t protect you, but there might be someone who can.”

I looked at her in shock- nearly killed her?!... Is that how Nyarlathotep does things-?... 

“I didn’t know…” I sigh deeply, looking at the broken parts falling down…

“Kinda feel like a bit of a wimp now that I know of all the things you went through… and are still going through… just piling up on that with my own bullshit.” 

I turn to face her again, wiping the tears from my face, taking a bit of a shocked look at my fur covered arm in front of me… before I let it fall again to my side. “So, that person you know, where can I find them?”

I balled my paws into fists, as best as I could at least. “I’ll get better, and then you and I are gonna work on that together!” I point towards the falling debris and the glowing eyes. 

“That bitch is gonna have to face not only you but me too now, fuck being scared, i’m not gonna sit in self pity and fear, while the person that safed my life is being tortured by some faceless bitch.”

I tried putting on my bravest face… but I was still shaking somewhat… I guess fear isn’t easily combated by a wanna-be heroic speech.

Mars smiles and gives you a pet on the head.

“You have a big heart, pup, never let anything sour it.”

Mars fully turns and kneels down to be face to face, her features relaxing and returning to its standard state. As she smiles, there’s a shift, the cracking slows, the moon grows stable. 

“You’ll hate it but, she works at Erians clinic.. but she’s helped me and I know she can help you too. Her name is Amber Shepherd.”

I tilt my head and chuckle, enjoying the headpats and giving a smile back. “Ohh! That's great actually~ Got an appointment next week with erian anyway, i’ll make sure to ask for her then!”

After Mars was done ruffling through my hair, I put my hands on my sides and sigh. “So uh- this is your place then huh? Weird how I keep coming here then in my dreams, thought it might be a bit of a gathering point for beings like you… and I assume me now.. it’s… nice, if you ignore the part of a sleeping beast right underneath our feet” I said with a chuckle.

“Though I would love to spend more time with you here… I can’t help but feel hungry so… should probably get going and eat something. Thank you for hearing me out, and reminding me of why I'm doing all this.” 

“I’m happy I could help”.

The world grew fuzzy as I felt a rush and sudden release as Mars lets go of my muzzle. The pain and numbness of my legs returning as I get reacquainted with the wheel chair. Mars shifts back to her original form, her shoulders shifting as she readjust her stance. Mars smiles and turns back to her desk, the area was coated in this spiked bone protrusion. She looked a bit embarrassed and chuckled.

“Ah… that’s right.. how about you run along and grab something to eat, I need to clean up this mess.. but it was good seeing you Nia.”

I look down at my legs and sighed, nodding as I then looked up at Mars again.

“Yeah, it sounds like a plan. Would love to help ya out with that cleaning but… not really capable of that right now. It was very nice talking and seeing you again, Mars, hopefully the next time we see each other will be under happier circumstances!”

I give the huge eldritch woman a wave, and then begin to wheel my way out of the library. 

The adrenaline that pumped through me during this entire situation has made me feel like I’m starving!

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Thank you so much @dawning-mars for coming back in this chapter <3 it was a lot of fun working with you! - Arynia

[unicornjoking1111]

VOID STATE!! (Success story I guess?)

My journey 😄

Hello everyone!! So it's been a long time I posted but my highschool days are over now and took a long break for myself! In this long break I realised I was more into void state than loa! I started my journey of this community when I was in dec 16 2022. Now it's dec 11 2023! And it's going to be one year of me being in this community! I am not gonna lie but I manifested everyone I wanted by using loa and it takes persistence to do so and it was very fun and challenging which I really liked! But as I got intrested into void state I wanted started with method which I really liked and used my own little method to make it comfortable and which made me feel natural!

What is the method?

I used her method by breathing in and out to get me into this floating and calm state and affirm when I want to affirm! After the floating or calm state I started to imagine deeply (which was natural cuz I want it to be comfortable and idk why I started to imagine and proceeded to do so) this method was used in dec 8th. Now today (dec 11) I was in a very sleepy state like damn sleepy and I affirmed to get into the void.

What was my results?

So the results were the same in both dec 8 and 11! On dec 8 when i was affirming I felt like I got sucked in and all my senses were shut which amde my heart race and then suddenly I got back to my original state. On dec 11 the same thing happened but this took very less time cause it wasn't planned and I was in sleepy state so I thought "why not try it out?". The problem here is I get sucked in and get back to my reality so I have to practice on persisting on affirming and not focus on the feeling of getting sucked in. The twist here is both of them happened on the day I woke up (morning) which was really intresting to me cause I usually practiced during on night I just feel my body floating a little that's all! But it was really intresting I almost got into the void state! I believe I almost got into the void state due to the symptoms I have experienced such as everything shut down even my senses cause I couldn't able to hear and stuff and I also felt my brain got shut down a little and today my left brain did something while I got sucked in which idk. But these are the symptoms which I got!

Credits!

@Moonlighth0pe and @voidprincessblog! Moonlight gave me a lot of motivation due to her actual evidence of giving her photos as the evidence proving that the void state is legit and voidprincess for sharing this method!!

I started practicing void state in nov 20th and I see a lot of growth and progress in my journey and people who are also in this journey I would like to tell you is choose a method which feels comfortable and natural for you and do it and also when you wanna do it cause. I wasn't like "I will do it tonight everyday" (which I was before 🤣) but I started to feel when I wanted to do it and did my stuff! I got to say that it was really easy to get into it and I am so proud of myself and you should be to of how much far u have come cause this is a gift for all of us and a privilege to know this and be in this community whether loa, void state or whatever! I wish you all the best and you will be for sure the next success story 😁😁😁

(Sorry if my English is bad cause it's not my language 😅)

If there are any questions regarding this pls do send in the anonymous chat

[haleyhunwritess]

OKAY have you heard of letting someone cry themselves to sleep if theyre having sleep problems and can't sleep without their caregiver😅😅? Would you be willing to write something like that for little!reader with daddy!stucky? Maybe they had a nightmare and cant sleep by themselves so steve wants to try this but bucky doesn't want to? idk if that makes sense hahaha

𝐁𝐞𝐝𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬

warnings: FLUFF, mentions of nightmare and sleep problems, daddy!stucky x little!reader

a/n: I AM SO SOFT FOR THIS, I'm struggling to finish my assignment that's due tmr morning so I wanted to work on something else to get my mind off it, and what is better than stucky taking care of little!reader hahah

Ever since you had a nightmare a few weeks ago, you refused to go to sleep unless either Bucky or Steve were with you. For a few days, Steve was by your side whenever you asked him to cuddle you during nap time or bedtime. It was a good thing that their work schedule was so flexible that they could work from home sometimes and be there to take care of you. However, Steve soon realized that if they continue to do this then you would never be able to go to sleep by yourself.

Steve decided that they would start by only cuddling with you during bedtime, but for nap time they would leave after tucking you in, and if they were weren't home then you'd have to get yourself ready for nap time. Of course, Bucky didn't agree with this. He found it impossible to just let you cry it out until you fell asleep. Steve eventually convinced him by telling him they need to be sure you can take care of yourself if they ever have to leave you alone for a few days because of work or an emergency.

After a week or so, Steve noticed that whenever they weren't working from home, Bucky would always go home for lunch and then come back after an hour or so. At first, Steve thought that maybe Bucky was just checking up on you. However, he decided to check up on Bucky one day and caught him cuddling you during nap time. You were asleep and didn't need Bucky there but he wanted to stay just in case you woke up. He didn't even notice Steve until he called his name.

He groaned, getting out of bed and walking into the hallway to talk to Steve, "Look I know-"

"Bucky, I already told you she needs this."

"But what if she has a nightmare? Or what if she's hurt? Maybe it's not such a bad idea that one of us is here all the time." He shrugged, looking down at the ground.

"We're not having this discussion again." Steve mumbled, dragging him downstairs to drive him back to work.

Once they returned to work, Steve felt good about their talk on the way there. He made some good points that they need to be sure you can take care of yourself in case they're not around. He also pointed out that this might help you get over the nightmare, and perhaps get over your fear of sleeping by yourself. Bucky nodded along and agreed that those were all good points. Steve was proud of him. He didn't think Bucky would agree to this so quickly.

Steve decided that maybe they would go home early today, so he stopped by Bucky's office to get him, he wasn't there. His stuff wasn't there so maybe he already left but he never leaves without telling him so that was a bit odd. He tried to call Bucky but he didn't pick up. He decided maybe he should go home to check if he's already there.

When he got home, he noticed both you and Bucky watching a movie on the couch. You were lying down on top of him, all snuggled up while he had his arms wrapped around you. Bucky groaned as he noticed Steve standing in the living room next to them.

"Oh for God's sake Bucky, we just talked about this!" Steve exclaimed, as he picked you up.

Bucky quickly sat up and tried to explain himself, "No no it's okay, she couldn't sleep so we're just watching a movie until she feels sleepy again."

"Bucky we talked about this..." Steve carefully put you down on the ground before bending down next to you, "Hey bubba I think I saw Ellie Bunny sitting at the table by herself, why don't you go grab her for naptime, huh?"

You quickly smiled and nodded, running over to the table to grab your beloved plushie.

Steve sat down on the couch next to Bucky, groaning, "Look we can't keep doing this. She needs this."

"I can't help it, if I hear her crying I'm gonna go make sure she's okay." Bucky said, getting up from the couch to turn the TV off.

"I know you only wanna comfort her, and these mama bear instincts are adorable," Bucky opened his mouth to interrupt as soon as he heard the words 'mama bear instincts' but Steve continued "but she needs to be able to sleep by herself. She'll never be able to do that if you just keep coddling her. You think it doesn't break my heart to hear her cry and not go to her?"

"I-"

"This is for her own good, okay?" Steve sighed, getting up from the couch to help you get tucked back in for nap time.

After dinner, Steve decided that since you had Bucky next to you for nap time, maybe they could try to have you sleep on your own during bedtime. Bucky flat out refused as soon as heard the idea but Steve wouldn't budge.

Eventually, you tired yourself out from all the crying and fell asleep. Bucky decided that if he heard you crying at any point during the night then he'll bring you back to bed. Steve told him that that wouldn't be necessary.

In the middle of the night, Bucky reached over to Steve's side but found it empty. He quickly got up and walked over to your room. He quietly chuckled to himself when he noticed Steve next to you, humming softly and brushing his fingers through your hair. Steve groaned lightly as he noticed Bucky,

"What happened to-"

"Not a word. We'll discuss it tomorrow, go back to bed."

taglist/moots: @chrisevansdaughter @cherryflavoredchapsticck @livvinitt @marvel1984 @mustacherrylover @babyhatesreality @timidpumpkin @matchat3a @pono-pura-vida @sonalokibarnes @alex-ackerman-11 (i made this a while ago but let me know if u want me to remove you from the list🥺)

[keirawantstocry]

idk fitpacbo aftercare <3

after maybe a rough night at fits shack, fit and pac go to get stuff for tubbo, but he’s not used to aftercare so he leaves and some angst happens, but ends with aftercare and some affirmation that fitpac love and care for him <3

idk if this makes any sense

you're all good anon! i got what you were getting at. well i hope i did anyway haha

Tubbo wasn't quite sure how he felt when he woke up. Confused? Sure. Warm? Yes as well. He could easily pick out the physical sensations. The brush of fabric against his neck, the heavy arms around him. Emotions were the hard part. The faces and hearts belonging to the men whose arms wrapped around him was the hard part. 

So he ran. Picked up their hands off his body and slipped out while they were still snoring. 

They found him hours later, hunched over at his own house in front of a machine. Pac kneeled in front of him while Tubbo tried to ignore him. 

“What's up boss man?” he said in as casual a voice as he could muster. Don't think about last night. Don't think about their hands. Don't think about how it felt like love. 

“Why did you run away?” Pac asked quietly. 

Tubbo forced out a chuckle. “I overstayed my welcome. It's fine guys. You did plenty for me last night, I can handle myself now.” 

Pac's lips dropped down into a frown. “No, stop.” He took his arm. “Get up. We brought you snacks.” 

Tubbo allowed himself to be lifted up by the both of them, be sat down in am actual chair instead of the filthy floor. They brought his favorite foods, he realized distantly as he let himself dig in. He was starving. 

They both sat down across from him, watching with sad eyes. 

“Don't… just leave before we can take care of you. Tubbo,” Fit said and it was in a very low voice. Tubbo focused, honed in on his words. “It's our job to take care of you.” 

Tubbo squirmed in his seat. “No, it's not. It's not your job and that's fine.” 

Fit took him by the arm. “Tubbo. We care about you. More then fucking anything. You're our responsibility. You're our fucking family.” 

Tubbo stared at him. His throat felt dry. So very dry. “Okay,” he said softly. 

“You don't believe him,” Pac said in an all too knowing voice. 

“No, I don't.” 

Fit and Pac exchanged a look. A whole conversation in their secret world he would never be a part of. But for a second it felt okay. Because they didn't have to come. They didn't have to bring his favorite snacks and make sure he ate. 

“But I'd like to.” 

They looked back at him. “That's all we ask,” Fit said. 

Tubbo sighed, took a big bite of the food. “I'll try my best.” 

[lesbian-forest]

Idk what to name this but, wlw g/t!!!

I wrote this a couple months ago but I’m just now posting it also don’t be expecting anything good because I don’t write often (I have pt2 if anyone wants it)

Im a size shifter, though it's only happened once when I first moved into my dorm, I don't know how or why it happened but it did. I just put everything up where it was supposed to be and as soon as my parents left I got a horrible feeling in my stomach. I thought nothing of it but about a minute later I started shrinking slowly. I was so scared and confused because this obviously has never happened and ive never even heard of it happening but it did, I only shrank down to about 3 feet and so did my clothes which doesn't even make sense, not that shrinking does. I thought about calling my mom but decided not too because I didn't want anyone to see me. I was shrunken most of the night but when I finally fell asleep I woke up my normal size. I was convinced it was a dream but deep down I knew it wasn't. Thankfully I don't have a roommate, well I was supposed but they just never moved in, no idea why. Well anyways back to current day. I finally wake up already 30 minutes late then I wanted to because my alarm didn't go off, oh well might as well not go to class I thought but I need the extra credit. I throw on some sweats and a hoodie because I'm tired and don't feel like going through my cluttered wardrobe. I look in the mirror and oh my god I look horrible! My hair is so messy and I really need makeup because I'm breaking out, so I sit down and put on foundation, mascara and lip gloss because I'm already late. For my hair I just put it in two braids, I would curl it but I really don't have time. I just throw on my slippers and run out the door with my bag and phone I see people whispering about me as I'm walking through the hall, I'm not well liked here, or really even well known, even the professors forget my name which is Juliette. I finally arrive at my classroom and sit down, the professors really don't even care if I show, they don't even remember me. I sit down next to Angelina because it's the only free seat, I wish I was her, everyone loves her because she's so nice also everyone remembers her unlike me. I have a little hallways crush on her, every time she walks by I can't help but stare, she's gorgeous and we always make eye contact for a couple seconds. I try to look at the board and write stuff down. About 5 minutes of me being there I get that horrible feeling in my stomach agian, "oh fuck" I blurt out not even knowing I'm saying that out loud. Kayla looks over "hm?" I didn't know she heard me, I don't even have time to acknowledge her before I stand up and start speed walking out the door not even knowing she's following me I run to my dorm and before I make it to my door Kayla grabs my wrist "Juliet right?" "are you okay?" "Why do you know my name?" I said "Why wouldn't I?" I don't say anything after that. It's sweet of her to check up on me but this is definitely not the right time to have someone around. I pull my wrist away, go in my room and slam the door in front of her which seemed pretty rude but I really didn't want her to see me shrink. Right as im shrinking she knocks on my door "What's going on?" "Can I come in?" no no no no no no I mumble definitely not loud enough for her to hear. I'm done shrinking and oh my god this is not good I'm about 3 inches right now and Kayla's about to come in, what am I gonna do? I hear the door creak and Kayla looks in and then opens the door completely, I'm freaking out. Obviously she doesn't see me at first. I'm thinking of running out of the way but I just don't move, it's like my legs aren't working. She walks in, scans the room and then looks down, why did she have to look down?!

[theshiftingfairy]

My Group shifting « method »

I am calling this the Nemo method, because of the movie it is inspired by. The English title is Slumberland, but in French, it’s « la petite Nemo ». It is a lovely movie about lucid dreaming but also about grief, so if you watch this, be prepared to cry a lot if you are like me 😅. I actually just saw the critique of the movie were not that good, idk i really liked it.

It could also be called the red string method, which would be more self explanatory. In the movie, the characters attaches their little fingers to one another with a red string before going to bed, to find each other in the dreamworld. This is basically what we did with my friend, but with the intention to shift.

Because I am a witch I also enchanted the string we used with a sigil, to make our intentions stronger, but it is optional. (If you want me to explain how I make sigils, let me know but you can find videos on YouTube on how to do it) the affirmation I used to make the sigil was « me, my name, and my friend’s name are shifting to our mha reality ».

And to charge the item i want to use i draw the sigil on a Watercolour paper, make it artsy and just put the item on top of the sigil to let it charge. If you want to, you can draw the sigil directly on the item you want to use. Because, in my case it is a string it was more complicated to do that, but it would totally work to make matching bracelets , or matching pouches to put under the pillow . In a pouch, you can put cristals and herbs that match your intention, i think it’s a really good idea actually.

Please don’t put anything around your neck while sleeping though !

And for when we want to do this methods when separate, we each have a small red string we charged with each other energy to attach to our finger.

Everything about this method is optional, really, we just like that it makes our intention to find each other visually clear. Then, we each went with the method that is most comfortable for us. My friend loves the Raven method , affirming over and over « I shifted » works well for her (and I mean, she is a regular shifter, so sometimes simple is best, it doesn’t work with my brain at all though) Me, I hate it. I invoke thoughts of my dr that makes me feel love for it, I visualise scenarios a bit, but don’t force it too much, otherwise it feels like I am too focused on visualising perfectly and not on shifting.

We are twins in our shared dr, and we share the same room. It is a Mha dr and I have a fairy quirk. I say this because she said she saw my wings .We didn’t shift together yet, but we had very similar experiences when trying.

When we woke up in the morning and didn’t fully shift, we talked about what we heard and sensed, and it was pretty much the same. She said she saw me, and my wings in my back. I kind of saw the room we are supposed to wake up as well, and i did sensed something in my back. We both heard our mother telling us to wake up, saying there was no way she was letting us be late for our first day. We really heard her say the same thing !

[k0k1ch1111]

we know what time it is by now!

impermanent attachment quote log!

I hope everyone knows these are just things I copied for whatever reason, either funny moving sad idk

“I… might be?” Shuichi shrugged helplessly, letting his shoulders slump in defeat.

“It doesn’t make sense, though. Time loops cannot exist in real life.”

“That’s what every protagonist of a time loop says at first,” Tsumugi informed him sympathetically.

Everything was okay, and his spirits weren’t entirely crushed; only mostly.

“I… might be?” Shuichi shrugged helplessly, letting his shoulders slump in defeat. “It doesn’t make sense, though. Time loops cannot exist in real life.”“That’s what every protagonist of a time loop says at first,” Tsumugi informed him sympathetically.

Everything was okay, and his spirits weren’t entirely crushed; only mostly.

Kaito’s voice drew Shuichi back into reality, and he remembered that oh yeah, this conversation was important.

Kokichi, somebody who had intrigued him for the entire killing game, wasn’t the evil, despicable person he tried to make himself out to be

“Do you want to die?” Shuichi snapped at the boy behind him, lowering his voice to not be heard by his friends. “Knock it off, Kokichi.”

“Shuichi,” Kokichi said sweetly, slowly turning to face him. There was a pleasant smile on his face, but his words were anything but. “I am really, really mad at you right now.”You know what? Screw maintaining his composure.

“Kill me?” Kokichi echoed. “My dear Shuichi… was planning to kill me? Why is the entire Kaito Fanclub after me– what are you doing?”

Shuichi woke up feeling less rested than before.Also, he immediately threw up.

Ch4 oh when I get you ch4. /t

Kokichi was torn between figuring that oh, so he’s totally lost it and wondering what on earth happened to his favorite person in this academy.

“I’d like to see you get shot in the fucking arm!” Kaito barked at him, providing the exact opposite argument Kokichi was trying to make.

“Hey! You got shot and I got shot by your dogs. We’re matching now!” Kokichi exclaimed simply to be obnoxious. He had to cope in some way.

“But I can’t reach the one on my back,” Kokichi whined. “Unless you want me to break my arms trying to reach it?”“I’ll remove it if it’ll shut you up,” Maki offered upon her return.“You’d probably stab me in the throat or something,” Kokichi scoffed haughtily, briefly allowing his resentment towards her to shine through.

Not sure what that “time loop” business is about, though. Is Shuichi mentally ill?

“I’m building bonds by being loveable, Kaito,” Kokichi whispered back. “I’m reverse Stockholming him, so give me a bit, will ya?”

Kaito looked genuinely baffled. “He didn’t kidnap you! And I don’t think Stockholm Syndrome works like that.”“Well what do you want me to call it? Seduction?” he challenged simply to see the look on Kaito’s face. As a fun bonus, Maki’s, too. And the way Shuichi was staring at him was pretty funny, too.

“I thought it was weird when you said that,” Maki agreed simply. “But I didn’t bring it up because I thought you were delusional.”Okay, a little blunt there, but Maki wasn’t one to beat around the bush. Shuichi seemed to think this too, because although he looked wounded by her remark, he didn’t totally break down over it.

Letting him just talk about it was the best solution Kokichi could think of. Keeping everything bottled up inside wasn’t healthy (and he did not want to hear a WORD about his own habits, thank you), especially not for someone as, in the nicest way possible, sensitive as Shuichi.

But over and over again… because Maki poisoned her… her stupid arrows… Strike-9 fucking hurts, okay? It feels like your entire body hates you.

That was going to be so embarrassing to share– Kokichi Ouma! Held at gunpoint! Ugh. There might not be much damage control he could do for this one.

Kokichi automatically cringed. “She is not my beloved Junko. I would never call any woman my beloved. Also, sorry, the name doesn’t really ring a bell.”

And no, the small, reassured smile Shuichi gave him in response to this small gesture did not make his heart flutter like a stupid moth. Not the time, MOTH.

“You’re quick to trust me,” Kokichi teased.“I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you,” Kaito corrected him, looking alarmed by the mere notion. “You’re still an annoying piece of shit, and you’re still responsible for Miu and Gonta. But I don’t want to fight you if it means somebody’s gonna die.”“I’ll try to refrain from strangling you,” Maki added graciously. “At least, not until I know if you’re really the mastermind or not.”

“Well, now I just plainly feel bad…”“You would feel bad, huh?”“Wh-What does that mean?”“Ignore him. Kokichi’s just being an asshole because he knows no one is going to punch him.”

Kaito was surprised because, you know, Exisal. Kokichi was surprised because he couldn’t figure out where the fuck that thing had come from.

Kokichi was very prideful, but that wouldn’t stop him from admitting that dealing with the certified “training trio” or whatever they had going on in their stupid three-way make-out dynamic.

“Just do it!” Kaito unexpectedly shouted at him from the open doorway. “I don’t care if you’re the mastermind or not, you can’t let Shuichi kill himself. Block the damn door!”

There was no way this thing wasn’t drugged. The worst part was that he couldn’t tell if Shuichi was trying to be sneaky about it or not.

Yes, what a wonderful idea it was to antagonize the mentally unstable guy waving around a loaded firearm. What a stroke of genius on Kokichi’s part.

Oh… is that what we’re doing?” Kokichi chuckled, hoping his laughter hid how truly nervous he felt, gazing at the handcuffs. “Am I being arrested? Aww… I was hoping you’d at least take me to dinner, first…”

Third?” Kokichi gasped melodramatically. “I’m not even first? Wow, Shuichi… I thought what we had was special…”

Kokichi tried not to cringe as it carelessly clattered on the ground. She could at least try to respect one of Miu’s inventions, even if the girl herself had done little to deserve it.

He wanted Tsumugi in the ground.

Hell, he had two Electrobombs hidden in his scarf as well. Maybe he should get a sparkly purse or something– he can make it checker themed.

Fuck, fuck, fuck–

Despite how dizzy he felt, he slapped away K1-B0’s hand– or at least tried to. His aim was a tiny bit sloppy. It had its intended effect though, because K1-B0 released him.“Kokichi, are you okay?” Tsumugi asked him anxiously. “You look plainly concussed…”

“What Kokichi are you talking about?” Kokichi demanded with a glare at the robot. “What gave you the impression I cared at all?”“You…” K1-B0 helplessly trailed off, seeming to realize there was no point in arguing. “You are very confusing to me.”

“Work together with the mastermind?” Kokichi couldn’t help but scoff. “Were you dropped on your head as a baby?”

He was laying his soul bare in this thing, which meant that should anyone see this, they would know him better than he knew himself.

Yes!” he blurted out eagerly. He didn’t mean to interrupt them, but… Kokichi. “Yes, I’ll help!”

And wouldn’t you know it, Kokichi punched him in the face.

Usually that would have put off Shuichi– eyes were something he still struggled with, and people like Kokichi and Maki’s eyes– so secretive and cold– were hard to look at sometimes.

But even if his body was weak, Kaito sure wasn’t going to let that stop him. Oh no. That was like trying to stop an airplane going with your bare hands.

“Cats, Shuichi, same thing,” Kokichi waved him off. “He’s obviously three cats in a trench coat! That’s why he’s wearing that thing!”

“What? Are you enamored, Kaito? Have you fallen head over heels for me?” Kokichi immediately started teasing him. “Sooorry, my heart belongs to someone else.”

“Ew…” Kokichi cringed. “Everybody say thank you Shuichi for taking one for the team and not putting us through that! ♪”

“I remember biting someone,” Kokichi offered gleefully.“Of course you do,” Maki muttered disbelievingly.

“I’ll forgive you ‘cause the mental image of you with a gun is hilarious,” Kokichi cut in, his hands placed idly behind his head.

She was still glaring at Kokichi as if he dropped babies on their heads for fun, but it seemed like her dislike for him was outweighed by Kaito’s cheerful and powerful charm.

To be hugged by Kaede– oh, she was so warm.

“Hey, good on you, man!” Kaito praised him. “And if you try any more messed up things like that, we’ll whack you back into reality.”

“Fuck you mean, not holding any grudges!? Hell yeah I’m holding a grudge!” Miu barked, swiveling her glare towards Kokichi and Gonta. “What the hell was that supposed to be you shota cunt!?”

“You’re lucky my legs don’t work,” Miu seethed. “I’d come over there and shove my fist so far down your throat you’d be coughing up keratin for the rest of your life!”“Your fist probably tastes like cum and oil, because being a filthy whore and making things is all you seem to be good for,” Kokichi shot back defensively.

Shuichi stormed into the hangar, and guess what? He held us all at gunpoint!”Nearby, Kiyo choked on his drink.

“You know what? I’ll just ask him myself,” Kaede decided. “Honestly, Kokichi. You make everything so confusing all the time.”Kokichi only offered her a grin. “I know.”

“I’m expressing my artistic side in this notebook Ms. Mister Therapist gave me,” Kokichi told him cheerfully. “I’m what they call a flight risk in the industry.”

“Well, everything that comes out of your mouth tends to be pretty angering,” Rantaro pointed out coolly. “You’re pretty fond of provoking people, and with this kind of news, we need the opposite of that.”

“...noooo but also oh yeahhh whoopee. Joy. Right, Shuichi? Shu? Shui?” That boy sighed. “Man, you make a cool nickname for me or whatever but I can’t think of anything. What would I have said? Maybe… Shu? Shuchuu train? How’s that?”

how about I start fusing our names? How does Shukichi sound? Saiouma? Wait, that’d probably go to our child, nevermind…”

“Kaede’s going to freak, by the way,” Kokichi informed him, as if what just happened was totally normal and casual. “And Kaito owes her twenty bucks now. Hey, can we make out in front of him?”

“The first thing I did when you woke up was confess my love to you. I just kissed you and you’re asking me that? Do I need to propose to you, too? Yes, we can be boyfriends, Shuichi. You don’t even have to fight my seven evil exes!”

tipped you over the edge but everything else adds up. Dealing with that can't be easy, especially if no one remembers and especially if k*ito keeps saying dumb shit all the time. My degree in psychology and 42 years on the field tells me that this is baaad bad. (The censor made le laugh way toi hard)

And everyone who wasn't alive for the crap i pulled still doesn't like me anyway either because i'm an asshole or because everyone elses behavior is putting them off.

maki and kaito are really worried, so you should talk to them. also kokichi i guess. kaede says he's in love with you. if love is what stops you from killing yourself then you guys should smooch. that’s just what i think though.

miu- don't kill yourself again dipshit

Also please tell me if Kaede is right or not. I don't have 20 bucks to give her if she is, and you can do way better than Kokichi. Please anyone but Kokichi.

“HEY! You can’t kiss my sidekicks!”“What?” Maki demanded.“No, but I can kiss my boyfriendddd,” Kokichi sang triumphantly.“BOYFRIEND!?”

[piracytheorist]

Just watched episode 33 in dub and uhhhhh

I don't know, but it really feels like the dub tried to be more woke and go like "This isn't feminist enough, Yor needs to be more self-assured!" or something. Like, she actually sounds like a professional assassin, and... I think that misses the point? I mean, I feel we're supposed to see the two different sides of Yor; the meticulous assassin and the kind woman who loves her family, and how those two can coexist at the same time. Like, she'll be super kind when she kills people, and she will accidentally yeet her daughter 100 meters across the sea because of her assassin skills, and she's both.

In the original, when Sniff Jobs calls Yor a heartless woman, her voice is very calm and kind when she explains herself. In the dub her voice sounds assertive and bossy, like she's almost offended someone would dare question her morals after she killed a bunch of people.

It makes for an entirely new characterization... and I really don't appreciate the change in that route. If anything, making her more assertive makes her whole questioning of her identity and purpose as an assassin kinda moot. Like, when she tells Sniff Jobs "I killed them. I had to. Sorry about that" her "Sorry" sounds a little... sarcastic? I don't know any Japanese but in the original she sounds like she recognizes it was a necessary evil, like she wishes she didn't have to do it. In the dub she sounds like "LMAO who cares".

AND THAT'S NOT THE POINT OF YOR'S CHARACTER. She doesn't see her targets are pigs for the slaughter, or as pawns to be taken away. She sees them as people and respects them and tries to deliver a quick and painless death. It's a weird dynamic and the story is openly not excusing her but THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT. IT MAKES HER LAYERED.

I mean, when poison gas guy covers her in that cloud of gas, she says "That was so rude!" In the original you can actually believe that Yor felt that the guy's choice of weapon was uncalled for. In the dub, Yor hasn't built that trust with the audience for us to think that she thinks any of that as rude, so it doesn't make any sense for her to even say that!

And when she's hit by katana guy and spends a few good seconds wondering what's happening... she doesn't sound, well, funny. In the original she sounds a little silly yes but again. That's the point. She's having a near-death experience, and we can understand some silliness as her control slips. It's what makes her jumping to thinking about Loid's shirts and Anya's library books make sense. She's in a weird state and of course she's going to think of things she shouldn't be thinking at that exact moment.

Meanwhile, the dub makes her sound like "Oh shit I'm going to die what am I going to do"... and then she thinks about the shirts and the books and it doesn't make any sense! If she was logical and had her wits with her, she wouldn't jump to silly matters like that. It's a jarring change and it's unfortunately backed by her entire characterization in the dub, where she's more assertive and trying to look less naive and self-conscious.

And it's annoying. Hashtag Not My Yor.

Finally, there were some slight changes in dialogue that I'm not sure I understood why they happened, and that they took away some great points? Like, first, when she says she has to clean up the world, that things haven't changed and that it's more important now to do that - as she thinks of the Forgers - in the dub it's "Things haven't changed, and they never truly will". Like, bruh. Do they even care about her characterization or not. If anything, saying those lines while she thinks of the Forgers... kinda makes it sound like she's complaining. In the original, the "It's more true now than ever" makes her sound like she thinks of them as an inspiration to keep doing what she does. The "They never truly will" in the dub... makes her sound like she thinks of them as a burden.

Like, idk. Maybe I'm just taking it too far. But I really didn't like it.

And then, when she grabs the katana with her hand, she says "I don't need there to be peace" like what. Uhm. I assumed the original meant that she didn't care if she didn't have any peace, not the entire fucking world. Did I just read it wrong all this time? Did the manga and the anime subs give us a wrong translation, or did the dub translators just throw the dialogue into google translate and gave the voice actress whatever mess it threw out?

All that said, I don't blame the voice actress. She's just doing her job with what she's given, and with what I assume are the directorial choices.

But it still sucks.

[that-gay-guy-from-hell]

Bound by Blood: Reader & Sparda Bloodline (Platonic)

SUMMARY: It all started on that fateful day, the day everything went up in flames. You’ve been forced to walk a life you’d never imagined. All in the name of avenging your brothers; Dante and Vergil. Who, unannounced to you, are still very much alive and are wandering the endless wasteland called Hell; the endless wasteland you’d called “home” for over three decades.

EDIT AS OF 7/12/2023: I am re-writing this entire fic. I don't really like how it turned out plus all of the half-finished/patrial story bits I have in here are kind of not up to my standard. Please still give this a read, it took me a REALLY long time to finish this, but just know that this is going to be redone. Thanks for understanding, have a great day/night!! :)))

Requested by @loshpen! :))) 

*Slams this down like a dictionary* HERE TAKE IT. THIS IS OVER 25,000 WORDS; HOLY SHIT-- *dies*

BEGINNING NOTES: ⚠️Please read these, they are important⚠️

➖➖➖ ⧳ It is EXTREMELY encouraged to read the “General Headcanons” before reading this story; it helps things make more sense. Otherwise, you get lost and/or confused. VERGIL IS WEARING HIS DEFAULT OUTFIT FROM DMC 5 NOT THE DEVIL HUNTER ONE; he does have V’s tattoos though. ⧲Universe typical violence: Blood, guts, gore, (mentioned) throwing up, bruising, broken bones, etc.  ⧳Talk of the reader eating raw meat (idk if I need to warn about that or not, rather be safe than sorry) ⧲Talk about abuse/manipulation/torture from Argosax towards the reader; it is not super in-depth, however, it is mentioned and talked about the reader basically having Stockholm syndrome.  ⧳Switches between 2nd and 3rd person; I tried to make it seamless but it is a little rough. ➖➖➖ ⧲ G/N Reader & Sparda family; the reader is the younger sibling to Dante and Vergil, making you Nero’s “Pibling” (which is the G/N term for aunt/uncle) ⧳The reader is a year younger than the twins; born in the fall.  ⧲Little less ambiguous than I typically try to write. I needed to have something to work on for the reader’s personality and stuff, so sorry if it doesn’t line up with you per se--I tried lmao ➖➖➖ ⧲Sparda is a soft old man--just let me have this. ⧳Vergil has emotional outbursts because of what happened with V/Urizen. ⧲Dante’s amulet is silver and Vergil’s is bronze; I’m using DMC3 as canon colors, not DMC1. ⧳Since you are a part of the Sparda family, you are in the painting from the mantel. You’re placed front right--the observer’s right--next to Sparda.  ⧲I know the reader wouldn’t get over things so quickly, but (again) just let me have this. ⧳MINOR SPOILER: The Sparda when you are younger is not “Force Edge” because the proper owner, who at the time was Sparda, has control of it. So when everything happens and you don’t have your sword, it goes into its dormant state, which it then has to be forced out of (or it would’ve had to reunite with you.). ➖➖➖ ⧲I don’t personally have a good relationship with my sibling; in fact, I don’t consider them to be my sibling. So, I don’t know how siblings interact. ⧳I also didn’t have much of a relationship with either of my parents until I was in high school (because I live in America where parents are worked to death and their kids never get to see them). ⧲I ALSO have the ‘tism so I don’t know how kids typically act.  ➖➖➖ (I will remove this section once I get my Argo/Mundus H/Cs out) ⧳Argosax’s personality (or lack thereof) has been scrapped. I think them being a psychopath (in the medical sense) makes for a much better character. Argosax can easily convince others to follow their orders--opposite Mundus who does everything through force.  ⧳Bolverk has been retconned to be Argo’s bodyguard/general (basically Argosax’s Nelo Angelo but willingly or Pre-woke Sparda).  ⧲Argo’s stronger than Mundus, but Mundus’s army is more substantial than Argo’s.

THE ENDING IS NOT PROOFREAD, I JUST WANTED TO UPLOAD THIS (I’ll come back and fix it up later.)

STORY START:

“Shhhhh--” Eva weakly reached out for the crying child that was in the midwife’s arms, “It’s alright."

     After a few minutes of her rocking the new child, the room fell completely silent. Despite how joyful Eva should feel, she couldn’t help but stare somberly at her newborn. 

     A quiet creak came from the door as a large platinum-haired devil entered. It was her husband and the child’s father, Sparda. His typically brash loud voice was beyond soft and gentle as he slowly shut the door behind him, “Eva?” 

     Her eyes flicked up to him before they returned down to their newest baby. 

     Sparda moved into the room, standing next to the bed with a dejected look on his brow, “Their… condition has not gotten any better I take it?”

     Eva gave a small slow side-glance to her husband; giving him his answer.

     A loud slam caught everyone’s attention. The door that Sparda had gently shut was now wide open; so much so, that the knob was digging into the wall behind it. In the frame of the door were the couple’s first children, Vergil and Dante. Before anyone responded to their sudden appearance, they bolted into the room. 

     Dante squealed in excitement, “See! I told you, Verge!” The two were intercepted by Sparda, who picked them both up by their shirt collars.

     “Why are you out of bed? I thought I told you to stay in your room,” Sparda’s voice was sharp but still quiet, not wanting to upset Eva or wake the baby. 

     Vergil pouted, “But--” 

     “It is alright, Love,” Eva’s voice was soft as she gave a meek smile, “If they can behave then they may stay for a moment.” Although it pained her to admit it, she knew that this might be the only chance for the twins to see the baby alive. 

     Sparda hesitated before releasing the boys. As quickly and quietly as they could, they ran to the edges of the bed. Sparda waltzed over and held up Vergil while the midwife held Dante. 

     After a minute or two, Vergil spoke as he tilted his head in confusion, “Why does it look like that?” 

     “Vergil!” Sparda growled at his son.

     Eva sighed and looked down to watch the sleeping newborn as it wiggled slightly, “They are unwell,” her voice cracked as she spoke. 

     Dante smiled, not understanding what she meant, “Well, when are they gonna be better? I want to play with them!”

     Eva swallowed audibly and gave a pained smile, “Soon, hopefully…”

     Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, and soon it had been a year since the child had been born. Despite all the odds, it continued to live. There were of course several days and nights spent watching with great concern, but the child always managed to pull through. Sparda had begun to equate it as the “runt” of the “litter” and referred to them as such. It wasn’t meant with ill intent, however, Eva wasn’t exactly fond of it, but the name wasn’t far off from the truth.

     Unlike the twins, their third child’s development was closer to that of a human; both physically and mentally. Not a single glimpse of a sign of having any devilish heritage or urges had been seen. In stark contrast to the two older children who, at this age, were nearly burning down the house whenever they threw a tantrum or didn’t get their way. This child was rather amicable, putting up little to no fuss; never even throwing a tantrum to begin with. Which would reflect the way the child would deal with things later in life; the way you would deal with things later in life. 

     When you turned two, your “slow” development sparked a very important conversation between Eva and Sparda; how should they raise you? At this rate, you wouldn’t be able to start learning things until you were of the correct human age, unlike the twins who were only three and learning at a second-grade level. 

     You had also shown a severe, borderline unhealthy, attachment to Eva and were very afraid of Sparda. He hadn't done anything that would cause you to be so terrified. Admittedly, he was a little hurt that his child won't let him anywhere near them. The couple figured that perhaps it is because you seemed to be more “human-like” that it caused you to inherently fear devils and demons.

     After many long discussions and some mild arguments, it was decided that you would be raised like a human. That you would attend human schools and human activities. To be treated as such just in general life around the house and town--which meant no training or lessons from Sparda. Once they laid out what they were going to do, the twins were informed of the decision; which was rather important, since the pair were already trying to get you to tussle or adventure with them. 

     Vergil and Dante were confused about their parents' choice; why were you going to be treated so differently? Sure, you weren’t exactly like them but you had the capability to play alongside them. This was dismissed by both of your parents, as they insisted that you weren’t like the twins--that this is how it has to be. However, when your parents weren’t looking; your brothers taught you what they could. Vergil taught you basic reading and math while Dante taught you more hands-on things, refining your motor skills.

     When you turned six, the twins decided to teach you things that Sparda had taught them. Dante taught you more hand-to-hand based things while Vergil taught you about proper weapon usage. You did well, much better than the twins were expecting after what they heard. If your Father or Mother won’t teach you then they feel that it was their responsibility, as your older siblings, to do so. 

     One night after everyone was in bed, the silver-haired twins unintentionally eavesdropped on a conversation about your upcoming seventh birthday. Underneath their bedroom was a large library that Sparda often visited late at night, however, it seems that Eva decided to join him. Currently, they were lightly arguing about what they were going to give you. 

     You were already past the age that Sparda gave the twins the heirlooms from his side, which the bronze devil wasn't exactly thrilled about. Sparda continued to insist upon giving you a weapon because, “--even if you were to be raised human, you are still his kin; devils and demons alike will want, and try, to kill you.” 

     Eva, however, was well within her right to be concerned. You still weren’t showing any signs of demonic heritage and most of Sparda’s gear is too heavy for you to lift or use. Besides, "If something were to happen, Dante and Vergil will be there to protect you.” All she wanted was for you to be raised a normal human child which doesn’t include demonic weapons; especially the one that Sparda was talking about. Before the twins could hear the verdict of the conversation, they both fell fast asleep. 

==

     Time seemed to fly over the next few months and it was finally your birthday. Although none of you knew it, this would be the last of your birthdays that you spent with your entire family. 

     “Tag!” Dante’s index finger jabbed your shoulder as he pivoted around, sprinting through the leaves. 

     “Hey!!” You ran after him, stumbling a bit; however, you continued nipping at the red devil’s heels. 

     “Tch,” Vergil sat on the porch stoop. He looked up from his book, raising a sharp brow at the two of you, “How childish--!”

     A wide toothy grin decorated your face as you poked his shoulder, “Tag! You’re it!” Then you took off, high-fiving Dante in the process.

     He stared for a moment, deciding if he was going to participate; since it was your birthday, he decided to swallow his pride and play along. With a heavy sigh, Vergil shut his book with a loud thump and placed it inside the front door. A small happy smile unknowingly tugged at his lips as he shook his head, taking off after the two of you.

     The three of you darted throughout the yard as Sparda watched from the window. 

     “Our Runt is keeping up well with the twins,” Sparda turned to his wife who had just finished placing dinner in the oven, “Perhaps we are wrong to assume--”

     “Sparda,” Eva sighed, “The boys are probably holding back so they can play together.”

     He opened his mouth but decided to keep it to himself. His lips turned to a thin line as he turned back to watch. 

     “You’re it,” Vergil’s voice was monotone as he tapped your shoulder.

     You let out a surprised sputter, “How?!” 

     Both Dante and you stopped as you stared at the eldest sibling. 

     “What?” Vergil tilted his head to the side and folded his arms.

     Dante smiled and laughed, “Since when can you do that?”

     Vergil’s brow furrowed in confusion, “What?” In a cocky manner, he teleported to right in front of the two of you, leaning forwards, “Surprised?”

     The two of you nodded before you reached out slowly and poked him, “Tag.”

     Vergil’s eyes went wide, “Wha..?” 

     Dante busted out into loud laughter with tears springing to his eyes. 

     Vergil frowned in irritation and aggressively “tapped” Dante on the head, “Tag.”

     The three of you resumed your scampering (and teleporting in Vergil’s case) around the yard, slipping and falling in the leaves several times. Despite what your parents thought, the twins never held back or handicapped themselves to play with you. They were just as rough and fast with you as they are with each other… Well, maybe not as rough but definitely as fast. The game finally ended when Dante fell face-first into a large muddy section of the lawn, taking an unintended mud bath. 

     The three of you came back inside. You all left your muddy dirty clothes and boots by the door and made your way to the kitchen. Dante ran in to give both your parents a hug but was promptly stopped by Eva sticking out her hand to stop him.

     “Dante,” Eva let out a small laugh, “What happened to you?”

     “I fell,” Dante gave her a wide goofy smile.

     “You need to get washed up,” she shook her head and patted his mud-encrusted hair softly, “Definitely your Father’s child.”

     Before Sparda could question his wife, she walked off with Dante. Then he turned his attention to his remaining children. 

     The two of you sat next to one another on the living room couch. Vergil had grabbed the book that he was reading outside earlier and had picked up where he left off. This wasn’t uncommon for Sparda’s eldest to immediately jump back into whatever literature he was reading before being interrupted. However, this time was different, this time he was reading aloud.

     “ ‘Here alone I in books formd of metals/Have written the secrets of wisdom/The secrets of dark contemplation/By fightings and conflicts dire,/With terrible monsters Sin-bred:/Which the bosoms of all inhabit;/Seven deadly Sins of the soul.’.”

     “Vergil?” Your voice was soft, not wanting to upset him by interrupting.

     “Hm?” He watched you point to a drawing next to the poem.

     “Who’s that?”

     “The author’s rendition of what they think Urizen might look like. Urizen is the subject of this section of poems,” Vergil felt something on his shoulder and looked over. Only to find that you had leaned against his arm and were nodding at his answer.

     The eldest continued through the collection of poems as you intently listened along; telling you the tale of Urizen. 

     “Vergil?”

     “Hm?”

     “Is Egypt a real place?”

     Vergil laughed quietly, “Yes, it is quite far away. Maybe someday we can visit there together.”

     “I’d like that,” you smiled, “We could read this again there, too!”

     “Sure, if that is what you wish.” 

     You nodded vigorously, excited at the idea of traveling the world with your brothers--especially if you get to hear Vergil read more. 

     Vergil leaned his head atop yours and waited a moment before whispering, “Hey…”

     “Hm?”

     “I…” Vergil’s brow furrowed as he thought for a moment, he sighed, “I’m glad you are still alive.”

     If you hadn't known about your odd illness as a baby, this comment would've seemed rather menacing. However, you were well aware of how sick you were and knew he was trying to be nice.

     Your voice was loud and laced with an overflowing, almost sickly, amount of love, “I’m glad too!” You removed yourself from his shoulder and yanked his head down to yours, kissing him on the cheek, “I love you lots, Vergie.”

     He stared at you for a moment before sheepishly looking away, “I love you too.”

     The loud pitter-patter of running footsteps, made Vergil lightly push you away. Suddenly there was another sibling on your other side, jumping onto the couch with a bounce. 

     “What are you doin’?” Dante had his signature smile across his face.

     “Nothing,” Vergil answered before you could.

     “Aw, were you two waiting for me~~” Dante’s voice was laced with a knowing smugness.

     “I was!” You chimed in, managing to beat Vergil to the punch.

     Dante grabbed you and gave you an aggressive noogie.

     “Dante,” Sparda folded his arms and raised his brow.

     He stopped, “Sorry..!”

     You grabbed him and did the same, ruffling up his just brushed and cleaned hair. 

     “I don’t know how you three still have so much energy,” Eva shook her head as she entered the room.

     Vergil looked up from his book, confused about why he was grouped with you two. 

     “Now,” she gently placed two boxes on the coffee table, “Would you like to open your gifts?”

     You looked up at her in confusion, releasing Dante from your grasp, “Gifts? … Oh! Yeah!” In all your fun, you had forgotten that it was your birthday.

     Eva laughed softly before handing you the first box. It was heavy-ish and rectangular. The wrapping on it was crude and chaotic, with enough tape on it that it may as well have been wrapped in tape instead. In complete contrast to an intricately and well-tied ribbon surrounding the outside of it. A warm smile spread across your face, knowing immediately who this was from; Dante and Vergil.

     The twins watched intently as you carefully undid the ribbon and the seventy layers of patchwork gift wrap. Your smile faded upon seeing what it was, but not in a bad way; no, rather, you were taken aback. It was a photo album.

     You ran your fingers delicately across the cover which had a family photo of all five of you together. Underneath it, there was a small note neatly written in calligraphy, “ ‘Pretty joy!/Sweet joy, but two days old./Sweet Joy I call thee:/Thou dost smile,/I sing the while;/Sweet joy befall thee!’ Infant Joy; William Blake.”

     A small bittersweet feeling tugged at your heart as you gingerly opened the scrapbook. Inside there were dozens upon dozens of photos, drawings, newspaper clippings, stickers, and other miscellaneous things. Most of them had dates or small snippets of information next to them, explaining why they were placed there.

     Dante whispered to you as you flipped through the book, “You know, it was Verge’s idea to make this for ya--been workin’ on it since you were born,” his voice was playful and, yet, had a sense of pride to it. Of course, this was a teasing remark in an attempt to rile Vergil up, but you knew that deep down Dante was glad that he listened to his twin for once. 

     You tilted your head in curiosity, halfway through the book the pages became blank, “Why are these empty?” 

     Vergil huffed contently, “It is so you can fill out the rest as you grow up.”

     With a small hum you turned to give him a wide close-eyed smile, “As we grow up,” you corrected him and looked back down at the gift, “Thank you both. I love it; almost as much as I love you! I'll cherish this forever.”

     Eva and Sparda shared a small laugh at your enthusiasm over, what the twins’ would’ve considered, such a "boring" gift. 

     With overly cautious gentleness, you set the heavy book down on the coffee table in front of you. Eva then handed you the second, and last, box. It was a small square box with rounded edges. The wrapping on it was excellent and it had a small bow wrapped around it; it was from your Mother, Eva. 

     You quickly ripped through the wrapping and stared at the uncovered item. The box was a black velvet color and was unlike any other box you’d seen. Upon opening it, you (and your brothers) raised a curious brow at the contents. Inside, there was a well-taken-care-of palladium chain that had a sapphire pendant; one that is similar but much smaller than the twins’ (not yet received) necklaces. 

     “That necklace,” Eva started in, catching your attention, “has been in my family for several generations and now I'm entrusting it to you,” she smiled, “I know you’ll take good care of it.”

     You got up and went to hug her, squeezing her tightly.

     “Happy birthday, sweetheart,” she placed a small kiss on your cheek.

     As she helped you put the necklace on, the twins noticed that Father had left the room. Before they could question it, however, he returned.

     “Runt,” Sparda smiled widely, “Can you close your eyes and come here?”

     “Sure!” You did as he asked, guided towards him by your Mother. 

     Sparda knelt in front of you, “You may reopen them.”

     You stared in confusion and furrowed your brow, “Huh?”

     Held between his hands was a large, over six-foot-long, blade. His right hand was on the grip of the sword and his left hand was grasping the back edge on the other end, “Happy Birthday.”

     “What!” Dante shot up from the couch, “Not fair!”

     “Dante!” Vergil elbowed Dante in the gut, making the red devil sit back down.

     You turned back to look at your brothers before your Father spoke again, “Although you may not have a use for it now, I thought it best that you get the same treatment as your brothers.”

     “What is it?” 

     Sparda looked at you with parted lips before they curled into a smile as he laughed, “It is--or, rather, will be--your sword. Just as Vergil and Dante have Yamato and Rebellion; you will have The Devil Sword Sparda.”

     A nervous shake found its way to your hands as you reached out and placed your hands on the flat side of the blade. Admittedly the weapon was rather intimidating; I mean, Father doesn’t expect you to be able to lift that, right?

     “Dad?” You meekly looked up at him.

     “Hm?”

     “Why is it named that?”

     Another laugh emanated from the large devil, “Because it is my sword.”

     “Weren’t Yamato and Rebellion yours too?”

     “Rebellion and Yamato, were mine yes. However,” he looked down at the sword, “this is my pride and joy, the one that I still use.”

     “Then why aren’t you keeping it?” 

     “Because,” he took one of his hands and patted the top of your head, “Someday you’ll need a sword too and I believe this one suited you best.”

     “Oh,” you nodded and smiled at him, “Can- Can I ask one more thing?”

     “Sure, I don’t see why not.”

     Your fingers moved closer to the spine of the sword, making you cringe slightly at the fleshy feeling, “Why is this one so… scary looking?”

     Eva laughed this time, even letting out a small snort of surprise at the odd question.

     “I…” Sparda had a baffled look as he stared at you, “Are you asking why it has organic material?”

     Once more, you nodded and gently grabbed one of the bony spines.

     “Because,” he pursed his lips in thought, “Because it is most closely related to me and I come from a place that has a lot of organic materials like this.”

     “You’re home..?” Neither you nor the twins knew much about your Father’s past, only bits and pieces, and you had always wanted to learn more about the strange man, “Can we visit there someday?”

     Sparda shook his head ‘no’, “It isn’t a place that I want any of you to see, it is…” he pursed his lips, not knowing exactly how to explain things without frightening you, “it is not a nice place…”

     “Oh…” You pushed down on the blue-grey scales, “Then how are you from there?”

     “Par-Pardon?” 

     “You’re really nice and kind to everyone,” you pushed down on the large emerald stone that was nestled in the scales, “So how are you from there if it isn’t a nice place?”

     Sparda didn’t respond.

     You looked up at your Father and saw that he was staring at you with an odd expression, “Dad?”

     “Sparda,” Eva moved next to you and gently placed a hand on her husband’s shoulder, “Is something wrong?”

     The room became uncomfortably quiet. Both twins were staring at the three of you and you had removed your hand from the sword, opting to hold Eva’s hand.

     Without a word, Sparda got up and left, taking the sword with him.

     “Did I say something wrong?” You looked up at your Mother.

     “No, sweetheart. I'm not sure what that's about,” she looked down at you, placing a hand on your head with a small pat, “Why don’t the three of you go play for a while? I’ll come to get you for dinner and cake later, okay?”

     Although you all were uneasy, the three of you went to the twin’s room to play for a while. Eva made her way to Sparda’s office and found him sitting at his desk, staring down at nothing in particular. 

     “Dear?” Eva’s voice was soft as she entered the room, shutting it behind her, “What’s wrong?”

     The large man looked up at his wife, “It is nothing.”

     She moved further into the room and stood beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder, “I wasn’t born yesterday, something’s wrong.”

     “It’s just,” Sparda removed his monocle and pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh, pushing the corners of his eyes, “that they used to run and hide when I’d enter a room and then to tell me that…” 

     Eva gently ran her fingers through his hair and had a sad smile tugging at her lips, “They have come a long way. Is that why you are upset?”

     His voice cracked a bit, “I know that it is rather stupid but it makes me sad…” he let out a wet huff of a laugh, “I never thought I’d have a family let alone,” his shoulders tensed as he leaned forwards, removing his fingers from his face, “let alone have children who see me as a good and kind man.”

     The petite woman watched as Sparda let out a shuddering breath and placed his elbows on his desk as he pressed his palms into his eyes; doing his best to suppress his emotions.

     “After everything I’ve done,” Sparda’s voice was quiet, shameful, “that I did…”

     “Sparda…” Eva’s fingers tightened on his shoulder.

     He looked up at his wife, tears welling up in his eyes, “Have I truly earned such words?”

     The blonde woman held her husband close, doing her best to comfort him, "A thousand times over, my love."

     They sat together for what seemed like a lifetime, intertwined within each other's arms. Neither you nor the twins were told about what happened; rather, everyone acted as if nothing odd happened in the first place. However, Sparda made sure that he tucked you in that night, gave you a hug and kiss, and told you that he loves you. A memory that you'd never forget.

==

     Over the next year or so, you began to flourish more and more. The twins were able to outright treat you the same as they do each other without having to worry about your parents getting as upset. Along with that, the townsfolk that saw you three thought that you were a set of triplets; even though you didn’t look like your older brothers. The three of you did everything together; sparred, played, ate, slept--you were inseparable. 

     “That’s not fair!” You pouted as you lay on the ground, face up, “You promised you wouldn’t do that!”

     Dante and you had been sparring, while Vergil was on the lookout in case your parents showed up.

     The younger twin laughed a bit and offered you a hand, helping you up, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

     Recently, he had developed a new ability, one which he called “Royal Guard” and he just absolutely blasted you with it. 

     “You alright?” Before you could respond, Dante gently moved your head to the side, “Uh-- Hey Verge,” he looked over to his blue brother, “Can you come ‘ere?”

     “What?” Vergil raised a brow and noticed what Dante was looking at, “Really, Dante?”

     The red twin removed his hand from you, only to have Vergil replace his hold on your face. You pouted a bit in confusion, “What? Is something wrong?”

     “Yes,” Vergil glared at his twin as he removed his hand, allowing you to turn back them, “Dante managed to leave a large bruise across your neck.”

     “What if I said I fell..?” You tilted your head to the side and watched Vergil think.

     “That might work, however--”

     A loud crash and an even louder yelp from you caught the twins off guard. You were currently pinned face down underneath something really really heavy and were unable to move. Dante being Dante started to panic and sprinted off to find Mother; only to have Vergil chase after him and try to stop him--leaving you completely alone. Admittedly, things could be worse--you could’ve been blasted by Dante’s new godforsaken ability again; however, you weren’t exactly thrilled at the moment. 

     Every muscle and tendon in your body felt as if it were on fire as you pushed up. A loud shouting cry left your lips as you finally push whatever it was off of you--at least enough that you could worm your way out.

     Your brow furrowed, “What..?” In front of you was the behemoth of a weapon, The Devil Sword Sparda. 

     Carefully, you ran your fingers along the flat part right by the sharp edge of the blade. You hadn’t been allowed to see it (let alone touch it) since it was gifted to you. Mindlessly, you grabbed the handle and tugged a bit. Sure, it was heavy when it was on top of you. But now? It felt like you could lift it. Before you were able to test it out, your Mother and brothers were right next to you.

     “How did you get this?” Eva’s voice was stern but had a very light trace of fear pricking at the edges. 

     “I-” you shook your head and looked at her, “I didn’t-- I mean, I don’t know how--”

     “It just appeared out of nowhere!” Dante chimed in, which Vergil then socked him in the arm; mumbling about how Eva wasn’t talking to him. 

     Her lips parted as if she were going to say something, but she said nothing. After a minute or so of silence, Eva cleared her throat, “We need to put this back in your Father’s office. Can you… lift it?”

     You moved to the end of the blade and picked up. Seeing that you weren’t quite able to fully pick it up, Vergil and Dante helped; which was enough to lift the gigantic blade. The three of you, guided by your Mother, carried it to Sparda’s office and placed it on the floor of the room. 

     The incident was never brought up again.

     A few weeks following, Dante and Vergil had their eighth birthday. It was an absolute blast as far as you were concerned. The three of you went ice skating, had a snowball fight, and then made snowmen; it was the most “human” fun you’d ever had as a family. When it came time for presents, Eva gifted them two semi-matching ruby amulets; the only difference was that Dante’s was silver while Vergil’s was bronze.

     However, Vergil and Dante asked a question that had been on your mind as well, “Where’s Dad?”

     Eva simply brushed it off saying, “He’s away with work right now; he’ll be home any day now.”

     Looking back on it now, you know Eva was fully aware of your father's death and was just sparing the three of you from the painful terrifying news. 

     Things were fine for a while; the three of you continued to learn at home with Eva as your teacher and trained as a trio, waiting for Sparda to return. 

     It was late spring the last time you saw your Mother. 

     Her, Dante, and you were inside baking cookies together; while Vergil was outside playing--since he didn’t care for cooking. 

     “Can one of you go get Vergil? I’d like him to come in and help decorate these,” Eva smiled warmly.

     Before Dante could even process what was said, you sprung up from your chair with a shout, “I’ll get him!!” and then sprinted out the door.

     One moment, you were happily sprinting through the house thinking about what color frosting you wanted to use; and the next, you were engulfed in flames. Your eyes widened with horror as you gazed upon horrific monsters that you’d never seen and, quite frankly, never wanted to see again. 

     The front door was closer to you than running back to the kitchen, so you continued forwards and did your best to avoid both falling bits of building and whatever these creatures were.  

     “I just have to reach Vergil. He can protect me,”  you repeated this thought to yourself as you sprinted as fast as you could. A half-choked sob left your lips as you felt your chest being to tighten from the smoke. In the end, your struggle was all in vain; you never made it down the hallway, let alone to Vergil.

==

     The twin’s swords clashed as they darted around each other; enjoying their long-awaited reunion. Vergil hit Dante square in the gut and made him fly back several feet, leaving the red devil belly up and laughing heartily.

     After a minute or two, Dante sat up with a small content sigh, “So… Not that this isn’t fun but, you got a plan to get us out of this place, Verge?”

     The eldest twin straightened his coat and looked at his brother, “I do.”

     “Well,” the red devil stood and cracked his back, “Why didn’t you say so.”

     “As you said…” Vergil avoided Dante’s eyes, “you were enjoying yourself.” 

     “And here I thought you were all work, no play.”

     Vergil glared at Dante for a moment then stood with his eyes closed, listening.

     “So, now-”

     “Silence-” Vergil’s face scrunched as he focused harder, before gesturing off to his left, “That way.”

     “O-okay..?” Dante followed his brother, “So, what was that about?”

     “Yamato can only create a portal at the highest points of the Underworld-”

     “Where would we be closest to the human realm..?”

     “Exactly.”

     “That doesn’t explain the weird thing you just did.”

     “I had to locate such a spot,” Vergil’s tone was flat, not wanting to have to explain the specifics; especially since Dante knows what he's talking about.

     “Ah, gotcha,” No, Dante didn’t have a goddamn clue as to what the fuck his brother meant.

     The two of them walked for what seemed like forever, only stopping to fight miscellaneous hordes of demons. Although it was unintentional at first, they used this time to talk about many difficult topics; starting from the freshest things and working their way back. Vergil’s mind was still a scrambled mess which caused him to have a rather difficult time recalling things the further back they went, so it took longer and longer with each topic.

     Despite that small hiccup, they reached back to where this all truly began. Admittedly, neither of them wanted to talk about it but it was important--and it’s not like they had much else to do anyway.

     Dante went first and explained what happened; how Eva hid him away and left to find Vergil, her then dying in the process.

     The blue devil raised a brow at Dante’s words which didn’t go unnoticed by the red devil, “What?” 

     “Nothing.”

     “No,” Dante shook his head, “No, we talked about this; we agreed to be upfront with each other,” at this point, the red devil sounded more akin to a parent scolding a child rather than a concerned sibling; because of how much he had to strong-arm his brother into talking.

     The eldest moved his jaw side to side in thought before speaking, “Last you told me, you portrayed a very different tale.”

     “Oh yeah? What did I say?”

     Vergil’s response was beyond quiet and Dante was unable to make out what was said.

     “Verge,” Dante carefully placed a hand on his twin’s shoulder.

     The blue devil flinched from the action before stiffening his entire body, “You heavily insinuated that Mother did not care for me; that she had no intent to…” He clenched his jaw and broke from Dante’s stare.

     Dante’s expression fell, “I know and… I’m sorry,” Vergil glared at Dante from the corner of his eyes, “but, if I’m honest, I was just doing that to piss you off,” he sighed softly, “It made it easier for me to fight you, because-- because if I refused to admit that I cared about you then I didn’t feel as bad about the whole thing... About fighting you…”

     “Tch,” Vergil slicked his hair back, an action that Dante noted Vergil did when uncomfortable, “I doubt you needed extra reinforcement with that; you seemed to be just fine with fighting me.”

     “Hey,” Dante grabbed Vergil’s shoulder, forcing him to turn to him, “You listen here,” he firmly grasped both of Vergil’s shoulders, much to the eldest’s discomfort, “I never wanted things to end like that. I never thought that you’d-- that we’d--” Dante let out an aggravated sigh as he unintentionally tightened his grip, “Don’t you think for a fucking second that I wanted to lose you or hurt you like that Vergil.”

     The blue devil did his best to avoid Dante’s eyes.

     “You are my brother, even if you did some stupid shit,” Vergil’s eyes snapped right back to his brother upon hearing that, “I mean, I did stupid shit too; but, I never thought things would turn out as they did.”

     Vergil sighed softly, “You are a fool.”

     “What’s that supposed to--” Dante let out a surprised ‘oof’.

     Vergil had pulled his brother into a hug, albeit a rather aggressive one but it was still a hug. 

     Neither of them spoke, they just stood there for a moment; holding one another. However nice things can never last as they became engulfed by another swarm of demons. It didn’t take long for the twins to have the large horde taken care of and they were back on the road. 

     After some time, Vergil decided to give his side of what happened. How he was attacked and experienced his first Trigger; how it tore his body apart and he nearly died by doing so. Only to run as far away as possible, thinking that “-both Eva and Dante were dead.”

     Dante’s brow twitched at his twin’s words, or rather, lack thereof, “Hey, uh, Vergil?” Dante’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet.

     “Hm?”

     “Aren’t you missing someone?”

     With a confused shake and furrow of his brow, Vergil stopped walking and turned to Dante, “No, Father was gone by then.”

     Dante’s lips parted slightly as he looked with great concern, “Are you sure?”

     Vergil raised a brow, “What are you on about?”

     “Verge…” Dante swallowed hard and placed a hand on the back of his neck, “We had a little sibling that you completely neglected to mention…”

     Vergil squinted, “What..?”

     “Holy shit,” the red devil’s shoulders, and overall posture, dipped with sadness “You really forgot?”

     “If this is your attempt at a joke, I do not find it funny.”

     “I’m serious Vergil,” Dante shook his head as he continued, “They were like a year younger than us--were super sick when they were born, which you very bluntly pointed out,” the red devil desperately looked for any sign of recognition in his brother’s face, “Father wouldn’t train them because Mom wanted them to be raised like a human-- Anything ringing a bell?” Dante stared at Vergil.

     “I…” Vergil’s jaw moved in thought, “I don’t know…” Before Dante could speak, Vergil put a hand up, “Just give me a little bit.”

     “Sure,” after which Dante just continued to ramble about things that the three of you did as kids or random information about you. 

     “Did we… make them a book..? Vergil scrunched his face in confusion at, what he thought, was a stupid suggestion.

     The younger twin’s head nodded quickly, “Yeah that’s right.”

     Vergil’s brow twitched as he tried to remember more, “I believe I used to… read to them?” 

     Once more, Dante nodded, “You did.”

     “I see…” the older twin’s expression was rather forlorn compared to normal, “You will have to forgive my confusion, everything is still a bit foggy.”

     The twins continued forward for another few minutes before Dante piped up again.

     “So, you didn’t see them during the fire then..?” Dante pursed his lips, “I never was able to figure if they…” Dante gestured at nothing in particular, “Ya know.” 

     The blue devil sighed, “As much as I’d like to think otherwise; if you haven’t heard from them, then they are most likely dead.”

     The younger twin nodded, “I figured-- I mean,” he sighed heavily, “I had hoped that maybe you’d seen or heard about ‘em when you were under… well, ya know-- Prince Dickwad’s control.”

     Vergil let out a small laugh before freezing at his own reaction. After a moment, he recomposed himself with a nod and returned to his monotone self, “No. I don’t believe I did, anyway…”

     The red devil nodded and swallowed his emotions. 

     Admittedly, Dante had hoped that Vergil would’ve known something about what happened to you. Hoped that, maybe, you had reached the older twin before everything happened; but that was wishful thinking. After all, you were treated like a human, it only made sense that you would have died like one as well.

     They continued forwards in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Vergil was mulling over his memories; admittedly, he was rather perturbed that he didn’t recall you until Dante reminded him. In hindsight, perhaps splitting himself using Yamato did more damage to himself than he had originally anticipated. However, that was for him to worry about at some other point; if at all.

     Dante, on the other hand, was doing his best to come to terms with everything. He had been living with the false hope of you still being alive. The only thing that was running through his mind was how he almost lost both siblings. Thankfully, Vergil was still with him; which, admittedly, only added to the fear of losing his brother again.

     A small discontented huff from Vergil caught Dante’s attention. Before he could ask his brother what was up, Dante saw what Vergil was staring at. In front of them was a large desolate building that absolutely reeked of gore--worse than they’d encountered thus far.

     “So, let me guess,” Dante half-ass pointed at the sight before them, “That’s where we need to go, huh?” 

     “It would appear that way,” Vergil took a deep breath. The blue devil wasn’t exactly thrilled about having to set foot in a structure like this; one so similar to the ones from all those years ago.

     Dante noticed his brother’s apprehension, “You gonna be alright?” 

     “I’ll be fine!” Vergil’s answer was much snappier than intended. Before moving forwards, Vergil mumbled to himself, “It is only a building, it isn’t that big of a deal.”

     Before Dante could try and comfort his brother, Vergil was nearly at the entrance. The two cautiously pushed the heavy doors open. The outpost had seen better days, that much was apparent; with every step forward Dante felt as if the pair were going to go straight through the floor--or worse, the building would collapse atop them. Despite the abhorrent smell of death and fresh kills, there wasn’t a body to be found--not even a single drop of blood. 

     While they made their way up the stairs, Vergil began to take note of how eerily quiet it was. Hell is far from a quiet place, constantly having the sounds of demons screeching and other miscellaneous sounds; here, however, you could hear a pin drop from five rooms away. It made him feel uneasy, only adding to how on edge he was. 

    ��Dante had also noticed and began to mindlessly whistle to himself. The unexpected noise made Vergil flinch heavily. The red devil stopped for a moment, waiting for Vergil to say something. After a few moments with no response, Dante continued to fill the silence with any sort of noise he could, unknowingly providing a little comfort to the eldest twin. As the pair ventured onwards and upwards, they both began to look around in a paranoid manner; awaiting the inevitable ambush.

     Dante decided to make small talk, “So… can I ask somethin’?” He looked over to his brother who was standing in front of a large decrepit, nearly shattered, mirror.

     “Hm?” Vergil’s eyes didn’t leave his reflection.

     “Is this, like, one of Mundus’s outposts?”

     Vergil shook his head and tilted his head to the side toward Dante, however, the eldest’s eyes never left the glass. He ghosted his fingers along the surface, “No--not his territory.”

     “Then who--”

     “Argosax… and this isn’t an outpost,” Vergil huffed and turned his full attention to his sibling, “This is, or was, one of their main strongholds; this one, in particular, is only a step below the main fortress”

     “You don’t say…”

     Vergil raised a brow at Dante’s odd reaction, “Don’t tell me you have forgotten about Argosax? After all, you are the one that killed them.”

     “Eh,” the red devil shrugged, “Can’t say I remember ‘em much--they were pretty boring. Plus Argo didn’t put up much of a fight.”

     The blue devil scoffed and continued forwards, Dante following a few paces behind, “Perhaps we are the only two people that would consider fighting a ruler of Hell an easy feat--no?”

     “You got that right,” Dante playfully shoved Vergil’s shoulder and had a sheathed Yamato placed right against his throat for it, “Whoa--” he put his hands up with his palms facing Vergil, “easy there tiger.”

     The eldest twin coldly eyed his brother for a moment before he took a slow deep breath and removed the sword, turning back around and continuing forwards.

     “Sorry, I uh,” Dante jogged lightly and stood beside his twin, “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

     Vergil didn’t answer but just kept walking. 

     Dante pursed his lips and stuck his hands in his jeans pockets. He wanted to say something, to continue talking, but it seemed like Vergil was done conversating for the time being. 

     Another set of stairs later, the twins came upon a large long hallway. Random bits of broken furniture and glass decorated the filthy marbled floors. The partially dilapidated ceiling was elegantly decorated with arch supports that had lavish latticework; which had large roots weaved within, destroying some of it. The walls had old craters that ranged from being small--almost fist-sized--dents to entire walls missing. Along the way, the walls were also filled with easily over a dozen doors; some were open, some were barricaded shut, and others were far from the hinges that they belonged to. 

     “This place seems much more refined than everywhere else,” Dante tilted his head to the side.

     Vergil nodded mockingly, “Yes, very good; I’m glad that you can still see.”

     “Hey,” Dante punched Vergil’s shoulder, “I just meant; like--Why is it nicer?”

     The blue devil hummed in thought for a moment, crouching to get a better look at one of the large shards of glass, “I’m not sure; but, if I had to guess,” Vergil carefully picked up the piece, moving it around and watching the reflection, “These were the living quarters for whatever devil’s served Argosax.”

     Dante made a surprised huff, “Really? I didn’t think that devils were into that whole thing,” he approached one of the normal-looking doors, “Figure they would be too focused on destruction and killing things,” he opened the door, but didn’t enter; opting to just stand in the doorframe.

     The eldest twin raised a brow, placed the shard down, and walked over to his sibling, standing behind him, “What’s wrong?”

     “I-” Dante stood with his mouth agape, a clear look of confusion across his brow, as he turned to Vergil, “You saw that, right?”

     “What are you talking about, Dante?”

     Dante looked back at the room, pausing a moment before speaking, “Nothing; guess I’m just tired.”

     The youngest twin took a step into the room before being stopped by Vergil grabbing his shoulder, keeping him from moving further.

     “Verge..?” Dante turned to his brother, who seemed paler than normal.

     “Let’s keep moving,” Vergil’s voice had an odd shake to it and his fingers were tight enough that they were digging into Dante’s shoulder.

     “S-sure..?” Dante turned and began to walk down the hall to the upward-climbing staircase, before finally asking, “What was that about?”

     Vergil looked over to Dante but said nothing.

     “Verge..?” 

     “Don’t worry about it,” Vergil looked back in front of them.

     “Was that supposed to be comforting?”

     “I didn’t think that I had to be.”

     “What a wonderful older brother I have.”

     Vergil glared at Dante before shaking his head with an eye roll.

     The pair continued forwards, the feeling of unease only intensifying with each deserted story. Vergil stopped within the confines of one of the stairwells, “Dante,” 

     “Hm?”

     Vergil looked around before looking at Dante, “Do you feel like we are missing something?”

     “What?”

     Vergil’s brow furrowed as he pursed his lips before turning his gaze back in front of them with a small shake, “Never mind.”

     The two continued to the next floor. Once at the top of the stairs, Dante stopped and looked around, “Well, now that you mention it,” Vergil looked over to him, “I do feel kind of odd; like we shouldn’t be here.”

     “Well… that’s a given; however,” the blue devil walked further, peaking inside different rooms, “that is not quite what I meant,” finally, Vergil seemed to find a room that fit whatever he was looking for, “Let’s rest here for a moment.”

     “I uh-- okay..?” Dante walked into the room. Vergil followed suit, shutting and barricading the door with a nearby cot; piquing the red devil’s curiosity, “So what’s with the sudden break time, Verge?”

     The blue twin looked around the room, “This one is safe.”

     “Huh?”

     Vergil sat on the edge of one of the dirty and tattered cots, “Sit.”

     The younger twin hesitated a moment before sitting beside his brother, putting one leg up on the bed to sit facing his sibling. 

     “Do you recall how I first confronted you when under Mundus?” Vergil’s voice was soft as his eyes mindlessly stared at nothing in particular on the floor. His forearms were resting on his legs as he rapidly tapped his thumbs together--tapping one foot in the same fashion.

     The red devil’s face contorted as he thought for a moment. Admittedly, Dante has a hard time recalling events from that time in his life. In the gap between Vergil’s fall and meeting Nero for the first time, Dante was beyond a depressed alcoholic mess leaving those memories a completely jumbled mess. 

     “Dante,” Vergil turned his head slightly, staring at his sibling from the corner of his eye, “Do you not remember?” Although his voice was still monotone as normal, there was a distant sadness to Vergil’s words.

     “I do, kinda,” Dante’s shoulders fell as he placed a hand on the back of his neck, “everything from back then is kinda hazy--just give me a second.”

     “I can just--”

     “No-!” Dante’s voice was unintentionally stern. Quickly he added in a softer voice, “I want to-- I can remember, just give me a second.”

     Vergil turned to fully stare at Dante; watching his brother’s contorted expressions as he was deep in thought. After a minute or so Dante’s face relaxed as he met Vergil’s eyes, “You used a mirror, right? Walked right out of it..?”

     “That is correct--”

     “Yeah, you were the first bastard that actually had some guts to give me a real fight…” Dante laughed, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

     A small smirk ghosted Vergil’s face as he returned to stare at the same spot on the floor, “Surely you noticed the abnormally high amount of glass here, right?”

     Dante shrugged, “I did notice but… uh- I got no idea what these places are supposed to look like; didn’t know it was weird.”

     Vergil frowned slightly, “No devil is that obsessed with themselves that they’d have that much glass--it must have been placed on purpose.”

     The younger twin’s brow lifted with confused curiosity, “So, you--or, well, Nelo--traveling using glass wasn’t some exclusive thing?”

     Vergil shook his head ‘no’, “It is a skill that can be taught; however,” Vergil’s shoulders tensed as he turned to look up at the door, “it is extremely difficult to learn and even harder to master.”

     “Vergil,” Dante sighed, “I don’t want to sound rude; but, what’s your point?”

     The eldest twin sat upright and looked over at Dante, with a harsh squint and clear scowl, “I am saying someone or something is here with us; watching us.”

     “Okay. Counterpoint,” Dante folded his arms with a raise of his brow, “What if those are all from someone who used to be here but left when Argosax died? Or are already dead?”

     “You aren’t that stupid, Dante,” Vergil stood up, his grip tightening on Yamato, “I know you can feel it, too.”

     “So what if they can do some fancy glass shit?” Dante stood up and cocked his head to the side, “We’ll just defeat them like everyone else.”

     “In our current state,” Vergil sighed, “I’m not so sure…”

     “Our current state?” Dante folded his arms, leaning back a bit, “What’s that supposed to mean..?”

     The blue devil’s eyes slowly turned to stare at Dante, “Tell me, Dante; how long do you think you or I can hold our Devil Triggers? Or better yet, our Sin Triggers?”

     Dante huffed, knowing that Vergil was right but not wanting to admit it.

     Vergil continued, “Whatever or whoever this is, they aren’t to be taken lightly. Neither of us can take on something much more than Behemoths or Lusachias right now; so, it would be very unlikely that we could survive a fight with a real devil.”

     After a minute, Dante let out a soft sigh, “Man,” Dante scratched his chin, “It’s that bad, huh?”

     Vergil squinted, asking Dante to explain.

     “I mean,” the younger twin moved his jaw in thought for a moment, “If you of all people aren’t confident about winning; then we really are fucked.”

     “I-- I do not know if you are trying to insult me or not.”

     The red devil laughed, placing a hand on his twin’s shoulder, “Let’s go find out who’s been spying on us; what do you say?”

     Vergil shook his head with a quiet sigh and a small smile, “They are most likely at the top of the stronghold; where we are going.”

     “The news just gets better and better,” Dante moved the cot from the door, “What’s next; you gonna tell me that they are immune to our swords or something?”

     “Don’t jinx us, Dante.”

     The younger twin laughed as they left the room, continuing onward and upwards. It only took two more staircases for them to reach the top.

     Both twins pushed hard against the large double doors at the top of the steps, opening them just enough for the pair to slip by. They found themselves in a large waiting room of sorts. Directly across from them was another huge set of double doors. 

     The room was in an odd mixture of both good and poor condition; the room itself was relatively undamaged--no holes or what not, however, it was inundated with corpses and blood--which is what caused the rotten stench.

     Marble flooring covered the space, which was so covered in filth and gore that it was impossible to tell what color it was intended to be. The walls were plain and relatively similar to the rest of the building; except for the one that housed the unopened doors. That particular wall was covered in rocks and miscellaneous gems. Which seemed rather out of place, as if someone had stuck them there after the wall was built. 

     Vergil’s eyes flicked up to the ceiling. Its base was covered in cracked grimy tinted glass which was broken up by several dome vaults. In each dome, there were different murals. As he looked harder, he realized that: A.) it was also not original and poorly done, and B.) the “paint” was demons' blood. The different murals were crude interpretations of different events, but he couldn’t quite make them out.

     As Vergil tried to get a better view of the artwork, Dante was looking at the extravagant furniture and decor that littered the room. In the middle of the right side, there was a large stone table with several wooden chairs--a few of which were broken; both the table and chairs all seemed to be hand-carved, covered with various creatures and symbols. On the far left of the room was a large wood desk; that, once more, seemed to be hand-carved--it looked similar to Dante’s. This was enough to pique the red devil’s curiosity. 

     Dante sauntered over to the desk. Once he got closer, he noticed that there was an odd stack of thin paper-like items on it. Carefully, he moved the items around and tried to make out any of the scribbles.

     “Hey Verge,” Dante turned over his shoulder, “Come take a look at this.”

     Vergil slowly looked down from the ceiling and strutted over to his sibling.

     “Does any of this mean anythin’--or are these just someone's failed art project?”

     The blue devil pushed Dante out of the way and spread out the items of interest across the entirety of the table. He leaned forwards with his hands on the edge of the desk and began to pick through the papers.

    After a few minutes, Vergil answered,  “These are all made on dried demon hide,” Dante gave Vergil a look of surprise, “They are all very well done, some of the best work I have seen...”

     “I didn’t know you could make paper from demons.”

     “It’s more akin to leather rather than paper.”

     “Still is weird.”

     Vergil hummed in acknowledgment and moved some of the pages together before sighing, “There is a small paragraph here,” he ran his index finger along the area with writing, “However, the diction is very broken and the language isn’t consistent; using both Greek and Latin.”

     “Is it anything important?”

     Vergil hesitated, “I’m unsure.”

     “Can you try and read it?”

     The eldest sibling nodded then cleared his throat, stopping every few words to translate more, “ ‘ "Father, father,/where are you going?/Oh do not walk so fast!/Speak, father, speak to your little child,/Or else I shall be lost.". The night was dark, no father was there,/The child was wet with dew;/The mire was deep, and the child did weep,/And away the vapour flew.' .”

     The red devil raised a brow, “Isn't that--?"

     "William Blake's work? Yes."

     "You didn’t by chance write these, did you?”

     “No,” Vergil shook his head and stood up straight, “I never wrote this one down; not to mention I was never allowed to accompany Mundus to any “meetings” with Argosax--none of my belongings would be here.”

     “Hm, wonder why?”

     “Why what?”

     “Well,” Dante placed a hand on his hip, “If you were Mundus’s prized knight, then why didn’t he take you with him? I mean, I would’ve if I were him.”

     “I-” Vergil’s face contorted with sudden confusion and realization, “I don’t know.”

     Dante shook his head, “Anyway, so why is there random poetry here? Argosax just decided to learn about human literature?”

     “I don’t know that either; this is the first time I have seen human works that weren’t written down by myself,” Vergil’s eyes peered over the table, “It is rather off-putting that it is Blake’s work as well; there are hundreds of thousands of poets to choose from…”

     “Yeah… I mean- I don’t want to sound mean but are you sure Urizen or V didn’t visit here?”

     “Urizen and V did not visit here; I assure you,” the blue devil looked over to the unopened doors, “I think our break time is over.”

     The younger twin looked over at the doors, joining Vergil’s stare, “You feel it too, huh?”

     “Mn,” Vergil gave a curt nod, “Whatever is behind that door; is what’s been spying on us.”

     “Welp,” Dante traipsed over to the doors, “Little help?”

     Vergil shook his head, “I am going to get a peak at what is on the other side first; then we will decide our course of action.”

     “What?!” Dante’s face scrunched as his mouth was agape in confusion, “Vergil, you are the one who keeps preaching about how powerful this thing is. You going over there by yourself is-- is--” he pinched the bridge of his nose, “stupid!”

     “Us just breaking down the door without understanding what we are up against or what we are releasing is impetuous,” the eldest folded his arms, “I will be fine, it is just a peek.”

     “But what if--”

     “If I am not back within a minute,” Vergil went to place a hand on Dante’s shoulder but stopped, opting to lightly punch him instead, “Then break down the door.”

     “Verge this is a little too heavy for--”

     “You are a son of Sparda; a devil imbued with the fire of hell itself,” Vergil gave Dante a smug smirk, “A wooden door shouldn’t be much of a challenge.”

     The red devil sighed, “Alright- Alright… Just, hurry back.”

     Vergil gave him a small nod before disappearing into a cloud of smoke.

     Once on the other side, Vergil was met with a muddy bronze-colored devil--just sitting in the middle of the room. The devil’s eyes were closed and its hands were placed on its thighs; as if it were meditating. The moment Vergil tried to move, however, the devil’s eyes snapped open. They were of a bright magenta hue and had streaks of the same color running down their face which joined up with a line that went across their throat--mimicking a slit throat.

     It stood up, locking eyes with Vergil. Their body was riddled with battle scars and had a mixture of browns, blacks, and purples throughout. Its entire form was much more akin to Vergil's or Dante’s Sin Trigger’s, making Vergil scrunch his face in bafflement. 

     The more he looked, the more strange this new devil became. Notably, the devil had cloven hooves; a feature that Vergil had only ever seen on one other devil. His eyes widened, taken aback at the sudden realization of what he was looking at; however, before Vergil could return to his twin, the eldest was teleported to an unfamiliar location. It was akin to that of Malphas’s void that V had been placed in; however, there were no gates, no menacing feeling, just a room filled with junk..?

I couldn't decide what I wanted the reader's SDT to look like, so here is a compilation of all the different sketches/two fully rendered works.

     Dante paced uneasily behind the door, tapping his fingers against the grips of Ebony & Ivory, grinding his teeth together, “He will be fine; I just--!”

     He froze and his eyes widened, he could no longer feel Vergil’s presence, “Son of a Bitch!” Dante holstered his side arms and Triggered then crashed through the doors--making them fly off their hinges. 

     The bronze devil caught one of the airborne objects and threw it back at Dante; who sliced it clean in two. He de-Triggered and looked around the room for any sign of his twin. Panic began to set in as he tried to figure out what happened; Vergil wouldn’t have left Dante here, right?

     Before Dante could delve into those thoughts, the feeling of his feet leaving the ground brought him back to reality. The bronze devil had hit the red devil far off into the doors that lead into the waiting room he had just been in.

     With a groan, he sat up and got to his feet, “Damn it, Verge,” his eyes met with the devil’s, “Where’d you go?”

     Crouching down slightly, Dante readied his Devil Sword and dashed at his attacker. The devil curled both sets of its leathery wings around itself, using them to take the brunt of Dante’s Devil Sword’s power; before expanding them back out, sending Dante flying back once more. 

     “Tch,” he quickly caught himself and sprinted at the devil once more, cracking the ground in his wake. 

     It grabbed Dante’s blade, which sliced into its palm. It looked at the wound in confusion, as if it didn’t understand what happened. Using their free hand, the devil tried to grab Dante but he managed to teleport out of reach. The bronze devil stared down at their injured hand, seemingly enamored by the pooling blood. 

     Not wanting to let up, Dante attacked again--using Trickster to get closer and take the devil by surprise. This, however, didn’t go as planned. His opponent flicked their head toward the direction Dante had teleported and, using one of its forward-facing horns, skewered him through the thigh.

     “Shit,” Dante pushed away on the devil’s head, attempting to break free; however, an odd blue glint caught his eye and he stopped.

     Before the younger twin could get a better look at the odd object, the devil yanked Dante off its horn. In a flash, they slammed him into the floor, creating a large crater with Dante’s body. They attempted to gut Dante using its claws; however, they were stopped by Dante’s Devil Sword being laid across his body. Using his free hand, Dante grabbed Ebony and shot his attacker between the eyes--at point-blank range.

     He waited for the devil’s body to go limp but it didn’t; no, it just sat there, looking down at him. The bullet was lodged deep in its head and was bleeding but they were still alive. Getting frustrated with this fight, Dante triggered. 

     The bronze devil hissed quietly and jumped up in reaction to the sudden molten hot temperatures of the red devil, which allowed Dante to do the same. The bronze devil grabbed the bullet from its forehead, looked at it with an odd curiosity, and then flicked it at Dante; with the same velocity that it would have if it had been shot from a gun. 

     Of course, it missed the younger twin. Shaking off his confusion, he re-engaged with the devil. Dante’s wings flew out behind him as he lunged at the devil. It put up its forearms and caught the sword with them. Although it wasn’t as deep as it would’ve been against any other devil or demon; the sword sliced into the meat of the arm. 

     A strange huff of a growl came from the devil, as it locked eyes with Dante. Despite the fact the devil had no lips, the younger twin couldn’t help but feel as if it were smiling at him--mocking him. In frustration, Dante pushed harder into the devil’s arms and that’s when he felt it.

     “What..?” Dante sprung back and looked at his forearms; large deep cuts that mirrored the ones on his opponents decorated his arms and were bleeding heavily, “That’s a new one.”

     The bronze devil cocked its head slightly and flared its wings outwards; now it was definitely mocking the younger twin. 

     With a small growl, “Fine,” Dante stuck his sword into the ground and pulled out Ebony & Ivory, “Let’s try this on for size.”

     The red devil kicked up into the air, hovering several feet above the bronze devil, and rattled off several rounds. If it had been any other devil or demon, Dante knows that all of his shots would’ve landed; however, only a handful of the bullets managed to knick the devil’s hide. Despite the devil’s sheer size, it was much more attentive and more of a contortionist than he’d anticipated. 

     Dante shot off Ivory several times in hopes to distract the devil from the slowly charging Ebony in his left hand, “Here’s a lil’ somethin’ for ya’,” Dante yanked up Ebony and fired--not allowing his opponent any time to react… or so he thought.

     The moment he pulled the trigger, his target disappeared. A chill ran up Dante’s spine and, before he could process what was going on, the devil was behind Dante and grabbed him by the wings, holding them by the base. The devil spun around in the air and threw Dante into an upper part of a wall. The younger twin let out a strangled gasp as he felt the air leave his body and de-triggered. He fell from the high-up spot face down onto the floor. Slowly he stood back up, stumbling a bit and taking deep uneven breaths. He tossed his coat off to the side--not that it mattered much since it was pretty tattered at this point--and revealed that his entire back was raw. Large slices ran along his spine where his wings were attached and were bleeding profusely. 

     Not knowing what else to do and steadily becoming more and more exhausted, Dante summoned his sword back to his side and used his Sin Trigger--healing his wounds. The bronze devil took a step back and tilted its head in confusion before Dante was back upon them with blinding speed. He stabbed the sword through the devil’s middle; not caring that it made his own insides burn. They let out a sputtering gasp and grabbed at Dante’s neck and face; wedging their claws in between his scales, pulling them off. The two struggled for a while before the son of Sparda was finally tossed off to the side. 

     The bronze devil looked around for a moment quickly concluding that it was outmatched. They stuck out its hand to the side and waited. Although Dante is only a few short steps away from feral when in this form, he froze upon seeing what was within the bronze devil’s grasp.

     Their fingers tightened around the sword’s dingy crimson grip as they placed the back edge on their shoulder. However, the sword wasn’t the only thing that Dante was in shock over; no, there was something else. Hanging onto the grip was Vergil, who teleported to his twin immediately upon returning. 

     Dante was in such shock that he could no longer hold his Sin Trigger. The bronze devil lunged at the pair, missing only by a hair because Vergil grabbed his twin and teleported to the story below. 

     “Are you alright?” Vergil looked over his visibly exhausted twin.

     With heavy breaths and a half-hearted laugh, Dante smiled, “That’s supposed to be my line.”

     “They seem to have given you quite the hassle.”

     “Eh, I’m just tired.”

     “Tch,” Vergil shook his head, “We don’t have much time-”

     “Verge,” Dante’s voice cracked, “Why does that thing have The Sparda?”

     “Not just that,” Vergil reached into the edge of his coat and pulled out a large book that had an old faded happy family pasted right on the front cover, “They also had this.”

     “What-” 

     “I don’t know exactly what’s happened; however,” Vergil looked up and saw cracks beginning to form, “We need to figure it out and fast.”

     Dante copied his brother’s stare before returning to him, “So what-- They were “Nelo Angelo-d”?”

     “Do not call it that,” Vergil snarled at his sibling lightly, “If it were that easy then I would’ve taken care of them myself.”

     “Then what happened to--!”

     The ceiling caved in and both brothers jumped back. Vergil quickly tucked the book into his coat and readied Yamato.

     “Wait, Verge,” Dante grabbed his brother’s shoulder, “Careful what you do,” his eyes locked with the magenta hue of the bronze devil’s, “I got stabbed by myself when attacking.”

     Vergil side-eyed Dante, “How odd, that--!”

     The bronze devil lunged at the twins, who split apart in two different directions. Dante pulled out Ivory once more. The bronze devil snapped their attention to the red assailant and swung The Sparda. Dante rolled out of the way and knelt at the end of it, firing a few shots. However, the bronze devil wasn’t done; it followed through and pivoted around on its hooves. This opened The Sparda into its scythe formation, which was perfectly in line with Dante’s body. 

     “Shit,” Dante leaned back and hit the floor with his shoulder blades, still having his knees in a kneel. His turquoise eyes watched as the blade just barely missed his body.

     Dante spun up around and onto his feet. Wondering what the plan was, he looked around for Vergil, only to find that he had disappeared again. Another aggressive lunge came from the burly opponent which Dante swiftly sprung upwards, landing on the (now-closed) Sparda’s spine. 

     A smirk tugged at Dante’s lips as he squatted down, placing his forearms on his knees, “Man you’ve gotten big, huh?” The devil pulled The Sparda back up, forcing the red devil to dismount, “You know, it took me forever to learn how to properly use that thing; surprised you already figured out how to open it--!”

     He instantly reacted to the devil’s teleportation by doing so himself and stood with a hand neatly placed on his hip.

     “I don’t want to fight you,” Dante’s brow twitched, using his free hand, he summoned his Devil Sword, “You don’t have to do this.”

     A small, but noticeable, hesitation came from the bronze devil before it re-engaged with Dante. The two exchanged blows. Dante noted that it was almost eerily similar to how the two of them used to spar as kids. Suddenly, he got an idea. 

     He made sure that he was correct about the pattern that the bronze devil was using before dodging at a very particular point, the same one he used to take advantage of when you were kids. 

     “How’s this?” Dante unleashed Royal Guard, sending the devil flying back onto its ass. 

     It laid there for a moment as it stared at the ceiling. 

     The younger twin’s brow scrunched as he tried to remember what he’d say to you after accidentally hitting you with his ability, “Sorry… You alright?” Dante pursed his lips waiting for a response.

     The bronze devil slowly leaned up, tilting its head at Dante. After a brief moment, they stood up with a shake of their head and readied The Sparda again. 

     Dante squinted as he readied his sword, thinking to himself, “Where the hell did Vergil go? He’d better have left for a good reason, I’m getting sick of this.”

     The two of them exchanged blows again. It seemed to go on forever until Dante, in his exhaustion, slipped up and got slammed by the back edge of The Sparda; flying off into a nearby wall. 

     “Damn,” he groaned as he sat up, “I’m getting too old for this.”

     They walked over to Dante, staring down at him with their wings flared out; debating what to do next.

     Blood splashed onto Dante’s face as he watched Yamato peirce right through the devil’s hide. Vergil yanked Yamato downwards before removing the blade, causing the bronze devil to hunch over and hold its middle. 

     “I see,” Vergil wiped the blade against the wrist of his coat, cleaning it. Carefully, he placed it back in its scabbard, “You can only reflect attacks that you see coming, how enlightening.”

     The bronze devil turned its head to the side before teleporting. Vergil pivoted around and blocked the devil’s attack. The eldest twin jogged over to his younger brother, tossing him the book. In return, Dante tossed Vergil Ebony before the blue devil turned back to the problem at hand.  

     Vergil reapproached and snapped his fingers, summoning his doppelgänger. The pair separated, Doppel shot upwards while Vergil did his best to keep the bronze devil’s attention. A grimace found its way to Vergil’s face as he used Yamato to block a heavy-handed swing from The Sparda. Sparks flew from the blades as they slid across one another.

     Doppel attempted to repeat the same attack that Vergil had done before; however, the bronze devil dodged it and grabbed Doppel… or would’ve grabbed them if Doppel wasn’t an apparition. Vergil used the distraction to skewer the devil once again, this time pushing even harder into them with Yamato. The blade was deep enough that the tsuba was against the devil’s spine. Vergil’s feet were placed on the legs of the devil and he was leaning his whole body weight into the attack. 

     The bleeding devil flailed about, shaking its body vigorously and trying to claw at its back to grab their attacker. Unable to shake the annoying blue devil, they fell backwards, attempting to crush Vergil. Although it was unexpected, Vergil had enough time to use his Sin Trigger. This, in turn, protected his body; however, the floor was a different issue. The pair went straight through the structure and were now a few stories lower. 

     Vergil shoved the bronze devil off him, removing Yamato. The two stood staring at one another, waiting for the right moment to-

     “Hey! Assholes!” Dante jumped down, fumbling his landing slightly, “You trying to kill me?”

     Vergil’s eyes didn’t leave his opposer, however, the same cannot be said for them. Currently, its eyes were fixated on the book in Dante’s hand which the red devil noticed. 

     He held the book up in one hand, “Lookin’ at this?”

     It tilted its head.

     “Verge found it in the little pocket dimension you stuck him in- That’s what it was, right?”

     The bronze devil looked away from Dante, staring at a random point in the room. Although he couldn’t be sure, from the odd reaction, Dante felt as if the bronze devil was confused--perhaps even trying to place the book or the twins.

     “Let’s see,” Dante licked his finger and began to thumb through the pages, selecting one at random. With a loud cough, he began to read, “ ‘Today, we all went to the beach. It was fun-’,” The devil snapped back to attention and lunged at Dante, only to be stopped by Vergil. 

     Seeing this violent reaction, the red devil stopped only to have Vergil yell back at him, “Keep reading.”

     The younger twin nodded, “ ‘-and I learned how to make a sand castle. Vergil kept making them with me and Dante kept destroying them; so mean.’,” Dante snickered to himself. 

     Vergil’s hold broke, allowing the bronze devil to continue its course. Dante managed to teleport out of the way and onto the opposite side of the room, using Vergil as a mid-way blockade. 

     “ ‘I asked if mom wanted to swim and she said ‘no’. Then I asked Dad, he told me he couldn’t swim. So my brothers and I offered to teach him. Mom laughed.’.”

     A low guttural growl emanated from deep within the devil’s throat.

     “Keep going, Dante,” Vergil and the bronze devil traded blows again, all the while, Dante kept reading. 

     He flipped to a new page, “ ‘Vergil and Dante came to get me from school today. They got to meet all my friends. Tristen said that they were weird and I punched him in the nose. There was a lot of blood and Dante told me to ‘beat his ass’. We all got yelled at when we got home. Worth it.’.”

     The devil swung The Sparda and nearly sliced Vergil’s tail in half. 

     “Let’s see, uh…” Dante flipped further into the book but stumbled upon something unexpected; entries made after the fire, “Vergil, give me a minute.”

     Although the eldest wanted to banter with his sibling, he was much too focused on the fight. 

     Dante’s eyes widened as he scanned the later pages. Things continued as normal, however, there was a turning point about ⅔ of the way through. There were no more drawings, no more newspaper clippings, no more stickers. The once-happy thoughts and quippy comments were replaced with ramblings about how much they wanted to go home; how much you wanted this to end. Dante’s eyes rapidly flicked across each section, a mixture of both despair and anger becoming more and more apparent with each entry. 

==

     You had been wandering for what seemed like days on end. In the beginning, you’d tried to summon The Sparda or call out to your Father, in hopes that he’d save you. Days on end were spent screaming and crying out for someone to find you--to wake you from this unending nightmare. But no one ever came, no one could even hear the whimpering lament of this lost child.

     Your body was growing weary and your limbs felt like lead as you began to meander slower and slower. At one point, you found a small out-cove and stopped in hopes of getting some rest but found yourself quickly attacked by those creatures again. So, you’d run until you lost sight of them. The incessant sounds of snarling nightmarish demons filled your ears, only to be broken up by the calling out of your long empty stomach.

     Everything hurt: your eyes, your lungs, your head, your legs; every single inch of your body was exhausted. The lack of water only drained your muscles further, adding painful cramping to each inch of your legs; but you had to keep going. However, despite this sentiment, you couldn’t pick your feet up anymore and collapsed on the ground.

     A burning sensation brought you back to. You tried to flip yourself over but found that you were unable; something had a hold of you. Panic quickly spread through your body as you struggled against whatever had you. With each movement, the pain became worse and worse; all you wanted to was scream but nothing came out. 

     What happened next was a blur. You remember feeling both as light as a feather and as heavy as a boulder. Whatever had a hold of you no longer did, rather, you had a hold of it. When you became fully aware again, you had a rock in your hand that was coated in blood. Pinned beneath you was a dead (Riot) demon. Its head and neck were barely distinguishable from the ground underneath it, smashed into a thick red pulp with bits of scales and other organs inside. 

     Terrified and revolted, you threw the rock at the mangled corpse in fright and stumbled upright, taking a few steps back; only to fall on your behind from a growing agonizing pain in your middle. Slowly, you looked down at your body to see what type of damage had been done. Your fingers shook as you lifted your tattered shirt.

     Deep dark bruising had covered your entire body, however, it seems that your ribs and abdomen had taken the brunt of the damage. Each breath felt like someone was carving up your innards, making your chest tighten. If you’d had any food or anything within your stomach, you would have thrown up from how painful everything was; however, you were running on empty. 

     With a shaky and unsteady hand, you slowly touched your middle and winced. All you could think about was wanting to go home; curling up in bed with your siblings or with your parents. You began to cry once more and curled up into a fetal position on the ground.

     After some time, you calmed back down and found yourself blankly staring at the nearby corpse. Slowly, you inched towards it; not standing but rather scooching over to it. Cautiously, you poked it and waited for it to spring back to life or something to happen; however, it just laid there. You grabbed its hand and looked at the claws on it. 

     If you couldn’t summon The Sparda, you needed a weapon. Despite your fear and the putrid feeling inching its way up your throat, you twisted the creature's fingers. Loud cracking and popping filled the air until you had several of the claws separated from the body. 

     You then had a horrible thought, “Is this edible?”

     A grimace of disgust found its way to your face as you looked at the dead demon. You were starving, sure; but were you really going to eat that? Loud growling from your stomach answered your question for you. Closing your eyes, you used one of the claws to slice open the creature’s bicep and obtained several strips of flesh. 

     You opened your eyes cautiously. Your arms and hands were stained a sticky dark red-black and you had obtained what you needed. Another loud impatient growl came from your gut. A part of you wanted to just eat the raw meat but you were much too repulsed to do so. With your prize in hand and your repurposed claw-daggers, you slowly stood up and wandered off; trying to find one of the many open flames of this strange place. 

     Upon finding a small flame, you used one of the claws to hold the cutlets to cook. The environment smelt of brimstone and rot, however, the smell of the meat was quite pleasant. Perhaps it was because of how starved you were but you swear that it smelt of something between a steak and fresh chicken that had been seasoned with copious amounts of various peppers. Your mouth began to water, it smelt so good.

     With a deep breath, you closed your eyes and placed a piece in your mouth--gagging instinctively. After several attempts, you managed to eat a full piece. It was tough and rubbery but it at least tasted as good as it smelt. After finishing your few pieces, you rested a while; letting the food settle. Once again, you found yourself crying and wanting your family; your Father in particular kept coming to mind.

     “Why did he leave us?” A hiccup left your trembling lips as you held your painful middle, curling back up into a fetal position on the ground, “Why wasn’t he there to protect us?”

     You cried for some time before taking a blackout nap. When you woke up, thankfully, nothing was trying to eat you and your middle seemed to have healed to some degree. With a deep breath, you stood and continued your aimless meandering. 

     Nothing interesting happened for some time. You had become quite the vagabond. You’d quickly learned how to survive in the harsh environment; living off of demon flesh and hell ice (for water). Although you never forgot about your family or the human world, you’d become rather comfortable here; a distant part of yourself wondered if this was where Sparda grew up. 

     As time went on, you began the early stages of--what could only be described as--a metamorphosis. From your elbows down, you had several rows of thick bronze scales, the same with the skin from your knees down. At first, you were scared and tore them from your skin. This quickly became much too painful for you to bare and you stopped trying to get rid of the re-growing scales. 

     Around ten you had developed scales throughout most of your body. Your hands and feet were completely covered in them now and had sharp claws instead of nails. You’d given up on clothing--or, rather, had none. After which, your body quickly developed scales on your chest, lower back, and entire hips; protecting you. 

     Your teeth had become much sharper and seemed much too large for your prepubescent mouth and would regularly cut your, still human, lips with them. The upside was you no longer had to cut the meat from corpses or had to cook it; you could consume it straight off the bone.

      Finally, after almost three years of wandering, you’d found something. A large building that was crawling with demons. Despite your uneasy feeling, you had an intuitive feeling that this could be your way home, at least, maybe provide an idea of how to do so. 

     For a few weeks, you watched, waited, and schemed. Every few days, the demons would leave in mass and then return no sooner than a day later. So, you used that time to break in. Of course, there were still guards but that wasn’t an issue. You quickly killed every demon that crossed your path; from Empusas to Sargassos to Plasmas; nothing was too difficult for you to kill. 

     You’d made it to the deepest parts of the building, it was a throne room of sorts. There was a large seat in the middle of the far wall that was covered in scorched burn marks. The room itself was decorated rather elegantly and was tidy--something rather hard to come by in the Underworld. None of this concerned you, however; you just wanted what you came for. Making quick work of the room, you pillaged the entire space, digging into every nook and cranny. There was nothing. Frustrated hot tears welled up in your eyes as you realized this was a huge waste of time. Before you could leave, another horde had entered the room. 

     You turned to them and gave the group a once-over. It was a fairly large pack of random demons, nothing you hadn’t seen or couldn’t handle; but, there was something else--something nearby that felt much stronger than anything you’d faced so far. 

     Fearing the oddly dangerous presence, you made quick work of the demonic horde and bolted out the door. Upon reaching one of the lower rooms, the evil you felt earlier made itself known. A large grey skeletal devil stood in your way. In his right hand, was a large Viking sword, and on each side of him there were twin white wolves that had heavy chain collars. A chill ran up your spine and your stomach began to turn. For the first time in a long time, you were afraid. 

     As you tried to scrabble for a way to escape or a way to get past him, one of the wolves lunged at you.

     Quickly you dodged out of the beast’s way only to find the second to be right in your face. You sliced at its face with your nails and cut it through one of its eyes, but it didn’t flinch. A loud crunch echoed through the room as you felt its teeth tear into your arm, right through your scales--breaking your bones. You grimaced and, in your anger, used the hand of said broken arm to grab the chain around its neck. With all the might you could muster, you threw the wolf into the first; knocking them off to the side. 

     Feeling the same terrifying devil’s power right behind you, you teleported out of the way and watched as the bony devil’s sword struck the floor where you had been standing. Your mind was reeling. It had been a long time since you had teleported and you were unable to control it. So, despite your best and most desperate effort, you couldn’t replicate it again to escape. 

     The wolves had stood back up and went for you once more, but you managed to sidestep both of them and used one as a jump pad; springing yourself at the skeleton. If you couldn’t leave then you are going to die trying. This action took the devil by surprise and allowed you to wrap yourself around his back. Your hands dug at his skull as you tried to pull it from his body; which, despite it not having a physical representation, was stubbornly strong. 

     Growing tired of these games, he grabbed you from his back and held you up; reading his sword. You struggled and growled, scratching at his arms and kicking wildly, waiting for the end of your journey. However it never came, rather, you found yourself stumbling forwards. It seems you had teleported again and, this time, you were right where you needed to be to run for the exit.

     Confused as to what just happened, the devil did a double take before sicking his wolves upon you once more. The entire time you ran down the hall the twin wolves were practically nipping at your heels. Distantly you found yourself wondering if they were toying with you, enjoying the thrill of the hunt as you had done many times before--perhaps this is a sick form of karma? 

     Things came to a head when you reached the foyer of the building. In the room stood a fiery devil. You froze, inadvertently allowing the dogs to catch up with you. They tackled you to the floor and began to bite at your body while their claws dug into your middle. You shouted loudly as you did your best to fight against them, biting and scratching at them in return, but you were unsuccessful. 

     Unexpectedly, the dogs stopped, looked to the side, and removed themselves from your body; leaving you face up on the floor.  

     A part of you thought you had died, that this nightmare was finally coming to an end. In reality, however, the fiery devil had dismissed the dogs back to their owner and was standing above you. Although you know you should’ve been afraid, between the large wings and the gentle warm feeling their body gave off; you felt as if you’d met an angel. Then they began to speak in a language you didn’t understand. 

     “Bolverk,” they turned to look at the bony warrior from before, “Where are the others?”

     “Lord Argosax, I-” he turned to look down at you, “I had sent a troop in to dispose of this vermin, but none returned.”

     Their voice tilted in disbelief, “Really now?”

     Your heart was racing as you sat up, a part of you wanted to run and hope to make it but you knew that this flaming devil was different somehow. Besides, you needed a moment to heal your wounds. 

     “You,” they turned to you, speaking in a tongue that you did understand, “What were you even attempting to gain by breaking in here? There are easier ways to die, I assure you.”

     An aggressive furrow decorated your brow as you tried to speak, unsure of yourself since it had been many years since you’d done so, “Fuck you--!”

     Instantly, you were kicked across the ribs and into a nearby wall. Blood dribbled out of your mouth as you fell back to the floor, laying face down.

     “Such a shame,” a sound of footsteps and slight sizzling told you that the fire devil had moved beside you, “You would’ve been quite the addition to my cause.”

     Everything went dark. Then you took a deep gasping breath, despite your current situation of being impaled, you were still very much alive.

     You slowly got up, moving to a push-up, sitting on your calves, kneeling, then stumbling to a stand leaning against the wall. A glint caught your eye as you looked down, the bony devil’s Viking sword had been plunged through your chest cavity, straight through your heart. With a grimace and a groan, you pulled the blade from your body and held it at the fiery devil’s neck; a crazed look in your eyes and a thunderous growling from your chest.

     You’d expected a fight or some sort of violence, however, that couldn’t have been further from what happened. 

     Rather, the fiery devil lightly ran its finger along the blade, “What a feisty brat,” if they’d had a mouth, you’re sure they would’ve been smirking, “No wonder you managed to make it in here; a power like that is quite rare,” they grabbed the sword and melted it, “To make others feel the attacks that are done against you... I only know of one other devil that could pull that off.”

     Although you were radiating confidence, you couldn’t have been more doubtful of your skills. Right now, you were completely and hopelessly outmatched. As the fiery devil melted the sword, your shoulders tensed as you heard a noise to your left; dodging instinctively. 

     One of the wolves had been sent after you again. You grabbed the wolf’s scruff and bit down through it; piercing its hide. It yelped and thrashed about but you dug your teeth further into its flesh, gripping onto it hard enough to pull its front paws off the ground. 

     “Bolverk,” the flaming devil stood and looked to the swordsman, “Call off your dog; I wasn’t in any danger,” they turned their attention to you, “Can you release Geri?”

     Your lip twitched as you let out a low rumbling growl. After a moment of thought, you did as you were asked. 

     “Good, you are smarter than I thought,” they moved in front of you, “Now, what is a child of Sparda doing here?”

     Another low growl left your lips at that name, Sparda. You’d conditioned yourself to hate your Father, blaming him for everything that you’d been put through. 

     “This is Mundus’s fault, isn’t it?” They took their forefinger and placed it underneath your chin, tilting your face up to look at his, “You’ve been here since Sparda’s demise, haven’t you?” 

     You recoiled your head from his touch and took a few steps backward.

     “My name is Argosax; I’m sure Sparda told you a story about how evil myself and Mundus are, didn’t he?”

     “I don’t know and I don’t care,” your voice was low and your eyes remained on their face, unblinking. 

     “Well then,” Argosax took a step towards you, “If you’d allow me, I would like to know more about you and what has happened; perhaps I can help you attain your revenge--that is what you are seeking, right?” Their voice was gentle however it had a sinister feeling deeply woven beneath it.

     “Revenge…” your brow softened ever-so-slightly, “No.”

     They sighed, “If you are looking for your family then I’m sad to say but,” they placed a hand on your shoulder, “they are all dead.”

     Your gut dropped and your eyes widened as you shook your head ‘no’ backing up till you hit the wall, “No, you are wrong; they are still alive, I just need to get to them.”

     Argosax clicked his tongue quietly, “I am afraid that they are all gone; the fire took them. The fire that happened because of Sparda--for Mundus to send a message.”

     You ground your teeth and clenched your fists tight enough that your palms began to bleed, “Because of…” your lip twitched as you felt a hot burning sensation fill your body. 

     “Mhm,” Argosax bent down slightly and was at face level with you, “Don’t fret; I can help you obtain all that you desire,” your eyes snapped open, noticing that the room had become engulfed in magenta-colored flames--courtesy of your angry outburst, “All I ask in return is for you to swear your servitude to me,” they stuck out their hand, waiting for you to seal the deal. 

     Admittedly, you were hesitant but you weren’t stupid; it was either accept this deal or Argosax would kill you. What choice did you truly have? Cautiously, you reached your hand out and grabbed theirs. Marking the worst mistake of your entire life. 

     Over the years you had lost all of what little humanity you had retained; you couldn’t even remember how to speak anything besides basic Greek or Latin. The training was harsh, borderline unbearable, but you kept going. Your intense hatred for Sparda pushed you over the edge and there was no returning. 

     Quickly you had become the strongest devil in Argosax’s ranks, only being surpassed by them and, their right-hand knight, Bolverk. Your heritage was quite apparent even just by looking at you. No human parts remained, you were fully outfitted in your (Sin) Devil Trigger. Although it wasn’t exact, your form had many similarities with your Father’s, many distinctive things--such as his hooves, knees, or horns.

     Because of how strong you’d become there wasn’t much left for you to learn, so Bolverk and, to some degree, Argosax began to train you. The brutality from the two was like nothing you’d even been through. Perhaps it was because they wanted you to be a perfect warrior or perhaps it was rooted in their deep-set hatred for Sparda; regardless, they tortured you more than they taught you. 

     Any little mistake would put you in what was nicknamed “The Chamber”. Within those four sound-proof walls many vile things happened to you, from things as simple as being starved for weeks on end to much more physically abusive things; you’d been through it all. During this time, Argosax did most of the more extreme punishments. 

     However, despite that, you retained your respect for Argosax; whether it had to do with the deal or an odd form of Stockholm syndrome, you weren’t sure. Every time they’d punish you, you’d almost get off to it; it was as sickening as it was alluring. In your endless torment, you’d convinced yourself that Argo was doing this out of love, out of compassion, for you and your situation. Something that they played into. Telling you that they loved you and that you loved them; however, none of that was true. It was all just to keep you within their pocket and use whenever they needed.  

==

     “Dante!” Vergil shouted at his twin, snapping Dante out of the horrifying implications in the journal before him, “Any time now-!” Vergil rolled out of the way, barely missing the bronze devil’s attack.

     “R-right, sorry!” The red devil shook his head and shut the book, “Vergil, you know Greek right?”

     “Of course,” Vergil growled loudly, shooting Ebony at the aggressor's eyes; unsure of what else to do at this point. 

     “Well, I think--”

     “Just get to the point!” 

     “They don’t know English anymore.”

     Vergil let out a low nearly inaudible whine as he landed near his twin with a small stumble, “So what, you want me to read?”

     “Not read, just talk.”

     “If you don’t think I haven’t tried that--”

     “Tell them Argosax is dead.”

     A small confused tilt adorned Vergil’s brow before he shook his head with a sigh, “Fine. Not like we’ve got much else to go on.”

     The bronze devil waited for the twins to attack again; radiating a sickly amount of cocky confidence. 

     Vergil slowly approached and spoke calmly, “Are you waiting for Argosax to return?” It took a step back in confusion at Vergil’s words, “They are dead and have been for a very long time.”

     With a loud huff, the devil responded in a low, rough voice, “No, they will return; who are you to tell me otherwise?”

     The eldest twin shook his head, “As far as I or anyone else is concerned, Argosax has been dead for nearly two decades; they’re nothing but ashes in the wind.”

     “No!” Its voice reverberated throughout the structure as it slammed The Sparda into the ground, “They can’t be-- No one has that kind of power.”

     Vergil raised a brow and folded his arms, “Really now? Are you aware that any of us could beat Argosax or Mundus? The three of us are much stronger than any of them; surely you knew that you could’ve defeated Argo yourself..?”

     The devil took a step back and looked between the twins, “You speak as if you know about me; when you have no clue who I--”

     “ ‘So Fuzon call’d all together/The remaining children of Urizen:/And they left the pendulous earth:/They called it Egypt, & left it./And the salt ocean rolled englob’d.’. Does that ring a bell?”

     It took another few steps back, “I-- How,” it shook its head, “Are you mocking me?”

     “I don’t mock, I only wish to remind you of yourself; of your humanity.”

     “I am no human,” it placed a hand back on the grip of The Sparda, “Humanity has no place within me, Lord Argosax told--”

     “Then where did your items in your pocket dimension come from? Where did the book that Dante has come from?” Vergil gestured to the devil’s forehead, “Where did that sapphire pendant come from?”

     It said nothing.

     “I understand if you have taken issue with our Father but,” Vergil sighed, “Our Mother, Eva, had nothing to do with that day; it wasn’t her fault. So why denounce her side?”

     The devil yanked The Sparda back out from the floor and spook in an aggressive manner, “You do not know anything, I was shown the truth,” it lunged at the twins, who split apart and dodged the attack.

     “By whom? That manipulative bastard Argosax?” Vergil’s voice became louder, “Perhaps I could tell you the truth that Mundus showed me? The fabricated story of how Sparda was responsible for our Mother’s death and for us three being split apart.”

     It swung the sword wanting nothing more than for Vergil to shut up, “Silence!”

     The eldest’s voice was filled with an ever-increasing aggravation and vexation. Now, lost within his own thoughts he had stopped speaking in Greek, “How that traitor Sparda shouldn’t have sullied demon blood with a human womb?! How he could’ve used a child with some grit?!”

     Dante’s eyes widened upon hearing what his brother was saying. All he could do was stare in disbelief and with mouth agape in shock, this was no longer aimed at their youngest sibling; no, Vergil was being swept away by his own memories.

     Vergil darted at the devil, leaving a cloud of dust and cracked tile where he stood, “Do you honestly think that Argosax wanted anything more than a puppet? A pet with the name Sparda attached to it?”

     The pair interlocked swords and ground against one another in a hold. The blue devil’s eyes had a crazed expression; a mixture of a primal devilish wickedness and a deep-rooted terror that sent a very distinctive chill up Dante’s spine--the same feeling he got seeing what happened to his brother after Mundus.

     In Vergil’s anger, he unintentionally used his Sin Trigger and snarled at the bronze devil, “Argosax was no different than Mundus; they were playing savior to a disgraceful weak half-human offspring,” Vergil stood eye to eye with the bronze devil, “Tell me, do you still remember yourself or have you lost it with all that putrid shit Argosax told you?!”

     They froze at Vergil’s sudden overwhelming anger, giving the blue devil a chance to tackle them to the ground, pinning them.

     “I know you can understand me,” his wings flared out behind him as his tail flicked around, “Answer me!” His claws dug deep into the bronze devil’s arms.

     The pinned devil opened its mouth but said nothing. Despite Vergil piercing their hide, it didn’t use its power to make Vergil hurt; no, it just laid there and stared. After a few minutes, Dante slowly crept closer and peered over Vergil’s body to see what was going on. 

     The blue devil’s claws had dug far enough into the bronze devil’s flesh that his fingertips were inside their arm. Despite this, the pair just were just staring at each other. The bronze devil wasn’t struggling or trying to move; the only thing it did was wince when Vergil shoved his claws further. 

     Another few minutes passed. Dante had begun debating if he needed to step in and separate them, however, this was quickly answered.

     A loud snarl of a cry came from Vergil as he de-triggered. His eyes were filled with tears and he had enough running down his face that they were collecting at his chin, dripping down onto the pinned devil. He wanted to say something, anything, but only managed a weak, “Please,” that was followed by a voice crack. 

     Dante placed a gentle hand on his twin’s shoulder, “Vergil…”

     “Ver-gil?” The twins could see the gears turning in the devil’s head as it tried to place the name before its gaze slowly turned to Dante, “You are Da-nte then..?” It turned its gaze back to Vergil, and with a slight pause, it let out a low exhale, “My brothers..?”

     Vergil’s fingers tightened on the devil’s arm, making it flinch, “Yes.”

     The younger twin grabbed Vergil’s shoulder again, this time sternly, “Verge, stop--”

     “How-,” The devil’s gaze flicked between the two, “How are you still alive? More importantly,” the devil sat up, making Vergil sit on its lap in the process, “What are you doing here? If Lord Argosax truly is dead then the Underworld will be in ruins; you two are in immense danger.”

     Dante stared at Vergil for translation, but only got to hear Vergil’s response… That was also unintelligible to the red devil, “Who do you think killed such vermin? We aren’t in danger, only lost.”

     “Lost..?”

     With a nod, he let out a heavy wet sigh hoping to re-compose himself, “Yes,” Vergil carefully removed his fingers, a thick line of blood connecting him to the open heavily-bleeding wounds, “We are trying to get home and Yamato can do so but-”

     “You need a place close to the human world?”

     Vergil nodded and stood up, assisted by Dante. He looked up, “I don’t know if this place will work anymore…”

     The entire top six floors were missing and you all were staring at the open sky.

     “Ah, sorry about that,” you sighed, “I can escort you to another pinch-point if you would like?”

     “There aren’t any others close by.”

     You laughed and stretched out your wings, “I am faster than you’d believe.”

     “Ehem!” Dante put his free hand in his pocket, still holding the scrapbook in the other, “Care to share? Or are you two like shit-talking me or somethin’?”

     You stumbled over your words a bit, still struggling on how to say your brothers’ names, “I first want my book back, Dante,” you stuck your hand out, waiting.

     “Uh…”

     Vergil wiped his blood-stained fingers off on his coat, “They want their book back.”

     “Oh! Sure thing, here,” Dante placed the book in your hand; which you held up and it disappeared, returning to your small dimension of valuables. 

     “So…” Dante walked over to his coat that, thankfully, had fallen with the floors but wasn’t any more damaged than it already was, “What’s the plan?”

     Vergil straightened his coat, “They are going to take us to a new place; this one is no longer suitable for Yamato to work.”

     The younger twin sighed, “So, how long is this walk going to be?”

     You scooped up both brothers, holding one in each arm, as they wrapped themselves tightly to your neck. 

     “Verge,” Dante looked to his twin.

     “Hm?”

     “We sure this is a good idea? I mean, they were just beating the shit out of both of us..?”

     Vergil did a slow turn to the red devil, “I destroyed an entire city and threatened the entire human race, again… Then you decided to come down here with me… How is this any different?”

     “Fair, I umphf-!”

     You abruptly turned to the left, making both twins jolt violently within your arms, “There,” your wings stretched out wide before you neatly dug your heels into the ground, “Hold on tight.”

     With that, you flew straight up and felt both brothers tighten their grip tenfold. You took a moment to stabilize yourself since you aren’t used to having all the extra weight. Then, there was a thunderous clap. Both twins flinched at the ungodly loud noise, especially since neither of them was used to such noise from flying. Although you’d told Vergil that you were fast, breaking the sound barrier wasn’t exactly what he imagined. 

     It didn’t take long for the three of you to find the new pinch-point. Once again, it was a structure within Argosax’s domain. You landed on the roof and placed your siblings down. Both of them were dazed and Dante actually had leaned over to throw up (which he had nothing to purge so he just dry heaved). 

     You gave them both a curious look, “Are you alright?”

     Vergil looked at you and unknowingly yelled in response, “What?!” 

     “I see, never mind,” you waved a hand in dismissal and waited for the twins to return to normal; however, the three of you were paid some company.

     Both brothers readied themselves but, once more, you raised a hand, “Allow me, the two of you need to return to a stable condition before you leave.”

     The horde was nothing more than a sneeze of a challenge to you. You didn’t even need to use The Sparda; no, all you needed was your hands. It was times like these that you had grown to cherish during your time here in the Underworld; times where you could let loose, to rip and tear without any repercussions. You took only a minute to desolate the horde, finishing by ripping out a Fury’s throat with your teeth. 

     You turned to your brothers, gore still hanging in your mouth, and waved shyly. The expression on both of their faces was a mixture of impressed and horrified--Dante was mostly just horrified. You sucked the bits of flesh that were in your teeth into your mouth, eating them.

     “That’s,” Dante stared at the floor unable to look at you, “I’ve seen some gross shit but--”

     “It is the way of the world down here,” Vergil ran a hand through his hair, ��Eat or be eaten.”

     “You ever have to..?”

     “No,” Vergil shook his head, “Nelo did not require food.”

     “Huh, really? How’s that work?”

     Vergil turned to his twin, “Perhaps I can explain more at a later date. For now, we have a more pressing engagement.”

     Dante nodded, “ ‘Suppose you’re right.”

     The twins walked over to you, who was currently gnawing on the last Fury’s corpse. A quiet “Ehem” from Vergil caught your attention and you stopped eating.

     “Sorry,” you stood up, “Are you two ready to go?”

     Vergil raised a brow with folded arms, “You mean us three? If you think we are going to leave you down here then you are mistaken.”

     Your eye flicked between the pair, “I do not know if that is--”

     Vergil huffed lightly, “This isn’t up for discussion, as the oldest child and the one who is making the path home; I have the final say,” his arms relaxed to his sides, “You are coming with us.”

     In an almost shy manner, you wiped your face using one of your forearms; doing your best to clean yourself, “Can you make a portal that can handle all three of us? Yamato’s original use was only for one at a time.”

     A confident smug smirk tugged at Vergil’s lips, “Trust me when I say,” he removed the blade from its scabbard, “I can do much more with Yamato than anyone knows.”

     Dante moved to stand next to you, grabbing your hand, and he mumbled quietly, “You’re gonna like the human world, I promise.”

     Before you could respond, Vergil sliced open a large plus-shaped hole; opening a large portal. He looked at the two of you before grabbing Dante’s free hand, “Tread lightly and keep close to me.”

     The two of you nodded, making sure to keep hold of one another, and traversed through the portal. 

     Once on the other side, the three of you found yourself in the middle of a snowy pine forest. You hissed loudly at how ungodly bright it was and covered your eyes. Dante stretched his arms up with a loud groan and then flopped face-first into the thick snow.

     His voice was muffled as he laid, unmoving, “Nap time.”

     Before Vergil or you could protest, Dante was already snoring. 

     Vergil let out a content sigh, a small smile adorning his face, as he sat down in the snow. You joined him, cautiously sitting in the snow. After a few moments, you tried to relax and allowed your wings to lay flat behind you on the snow, sending a shiver up your spine.

     After some time, Vergil ended up curling up in the snow; which, a half-asleep Dante proceeded to smother by wrapping himself around his twin. If this had been any other situation or context, Vergil would have gutted Dante on the spot--that is if Vergil allowed himself to sleep in the first place. However, both of them were exhausted from who knows how long they’d been traveling. 

     You, on the other hand, were wide awake. Sleep had become something you couldn’t afford to do when working under such circumstances. A small sad, almost envious, feeling pricked at the edges of your mind as you watched the fast-asleep two-person pile. 

     They slept for several hours and Dante at one point even offer (and beckoned) for you to join their cozy pile; however, you shook your head. Keeping them safe was all that you had in mind; something you’d wanted to do since they were taken from you. 

     Once fully healed and mostly rested, the twins decided to figure out what the next course of action would be. 

     Dante sighed, “What I wouldn’t give for some food right about now--”

     You stood up, “I can get something! I’ll be right back.”

     Vergil snickered slightly, “That’s not what he means, however, that is a nice--”

     It was too late, you’d already run off into the woods.

     “Hey!” Dante went to chase after you only to be stopped by Vergil grabbing his arm.

     “They are going to bring back food,” Vergil shook his head and spoke quietly, “What that food is or what that means, I’m not sure.”

     “Let’s just hope that doesn’t mean that they are going to hunt humans…”

     After a moment of silence, Vergil reached to his lower back and pulled something out, “Here,” he held out Ebony, “I do not wish to use this any longer.”

     “Alright,” Dante grabbed the gun and put it back in its holster, “If you ever wanna use ‘em again,” he winked, “Just lemme know.”

     Vergil rolled his eyes. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, Dante resting his eyes and Vergil looking over Yamato for any damage or filth to clean. 

     “Hey, Verge, why can’t we just use that again,” he gestured to Yamato, “to get back to Red Grave.”

     “I need to know where we are to use Yamato correctly,” Vergil mindlessly tapped his fingers on the scabbard. 

     “So we need to find a town or something then…” Dante sighed as he flopped face up into the snow, arms spread out, “Wonderful.”

     Vergil turned over his shoulder to look at Dante, “I do not see what the problem is with that?”

     The red devil’s brow furrowed, “Really?” The eldest gave no response, “Verge, we look like shit, we are covered in blood, and who knows what else-- we probably smell horrid- and we are traveling with an over seven-foot tall devil,” his eyes went back to staring up at the sky; however, instead of the sky, his gaze was met with a dead Elk. To say Dante jumped would be an understatement.

     The blue devil raised a brow, “I see you’ve returned?”

     You nodded. The dead creature was supported by your arms, however, your teeth were still deep within its neck.

     “Dante,” Vergil turned to his now calm sibling, “Can you make a fire?”

     “Sure, I--”

     Instantly, there was a small magenta fire in front of them and they turned back to you; who, even if you couldn’t properly emote it, they could tell was smiling.

     The twins helped you cut apart the meat, you’d long forgotten how to properly process an animal. Then using The Sparda’s spines, you hooked the meat up over the fire to cook. 

     “Alright, I gotta ask,” Dante looked at you as he cocked his head in curiosity, “Why didn’t you have The Sparda before..?”

     “Because I couldn’t summon it between realms, my pocket dimension is different and transcends such physical limitations.”

     Dante stared at you in confusion before Vergil translated for him, “Ah, I see.”

     As the meat cooked, the twins and you shared stories; both good and bad. Admittedly, this was the most you’d spoken since your last time seeing the twins; the most you’d spoken in over three decades. 

     The venison was unseasoned and cooked unevenly but was still rather tasty. It took you a few tries to get it down, not because it was bad or anything, but because it was much different than a demon’s meat.

     It was nearly midnight by the time you’d all finished eating. Dante and you ate most of it, Vergil isn’t used to eating more than a few scraps but he made sure to eat a decent chunk. You snuffed out the fire and put The Sparda away, as you did so the twins had curled back together and were sleeping. All you could do was stare at them. 

     As the weeks went on the three of you hadn’t found any sign of where you were, only seeing a few unoccupied hunting tree stands and abandoned campsites. Dante and Vergil had begun to re-teach you how to speak English (or rather remind you.). It took a while for you to re-grasp the language but you were able to finally communicate with both siblings, no longer relying on Vergil to be your translator. 

     At one point the three of you found a small lake. In a blink, Dante was nude and was easing his way into the cold bath. His arms were held close to his body with his fists in front of his chest, shivering heavily and saying various things; such as, “Holy shit that’s cold,” 

     “Are you going to join him?” You asked a very unamused Vergil.

     “Are you?” 

     The question caught you off guard, “Am… I?” You paused in thought for a moment, “It has been so long since I’ve seen water like this,” you let out a low growling laugh, “I don’t know if I remember how to swim.”

     Vergil began to strip off his blood-soaked clothing, placing it in a neat pile next to Dante’s disheveled mess, “Then that makes two of us.”

     Your head moved back a bit in surprise, before you could question him, Vergil moved to join Dante in the lake. 

     The blue devil’s shoulders shot up to his ears as he hissed from the freezing temperature. Dante was already comfortable enough that he was swimming around. A wicked smirk decorated his face as he snuck over to Vergil and splashed water up at him. Vergil’s body arched from the sudden icy feeling, cursing Dante in the process. 

     The younger twin’s laughter died down when he got a better look at Vergil’s bare skin, “Hey,” his fingers lightly touched Vergil’s back, who instinctively flinched away, “What..?”

     Without meeting Dante’s eyes he mumbled, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

     Unsure how to help, Dante grabbed his twin into a vice grip of a hug; despite the eldest’s protests.

     All the while you watched from the shore. Slowly you’d inched your hooves into the water, but you hadn’t moved since then. A part of you wondered what Vergil had meant by telling you that he might not know how to swim either; combine that with the abhorrent scarring on his back, and you were more than confused. 

     “Hey!” Dante yelled over to you, “You coming in? The water’s nice~!” He let out a hardy laugh.

     You looked down at the rolling liquid, unsure if you should. That’s when you felt something push you. When you whipped around, you saw that Vergil’s doppelgänger was behind you and it pushed you again. 

     Dante noticed and began to laugh harder as Vergil had a warm smile tugging at his lips. Slowly but surely the apparition made you enter the water. It wasn’t warm per se, but your body was hot enough that the temperature of the entire lake shifted up several degrees. The twins both washed themselves as you played with the water like a small child. You’d set your hand on the top and slowly push it down, feeling the surface of it give way to your scaled digits. 

     Having already finished cleaning himself, Dante swam over to you and splashed you. In shock, you shot downwards; submerging yourself. Under the water, you saw so much that you’d never seen before. Little fish that were playing with each other, small crabs that you put your hand out to and they pinched your fingers, several different types of vegetation, and many colorful stones. You felt something tug the end of your wing and resurfaced, seeing that Dante and Vergil were staring at you.

     “Thought I made you drown, heh…” Dante placed a hand on the back of his neck, “Sor--!”

     You used your wings to splash him--and Vergil by accident. The three of you engaged in a water fight, splashing and rough-housing with one another. It was fun, right up until the three of you heard a loud crunch from the embankment.

     A large polar bear was standing at the edge, watching you. Curious as to what it was, you got up and out of the water; despite both siblings telling you to stop. Upon reaching it, you stuck your hand out to pet it when it bit you. Enraged at the sudden act of aggression, you killed it. Then, you stared at the body horrified at what you’d just done. You flipped your gaze to your brothers who stared back, Dante was the only one that had any expression and he was just as horrified as you. 

     Vergil walked out of the water and placed a hand on your shoulder, “It is alright, accidents happen.”

     Without another word, you placed a hand on the dead bear, petting its soft blood-stained fur. Carefully, you incinerated the carcass. The twins got dressed and the three of you headed back on your way, never bringing up the incident again.

     Another week passed and the three of you finally found a small town.

     “Alright,” Dante said, getting up off the downed tree that he’d been using as a resting spot, “You two stay here and I’ll go get some info.”

     “Are you sure you do not want me to accompany you?” Vergil raised a brow.

     “Nah, I’ll be fine. Besides,” Dante looked over to you, “Someone needs to stay with ‘em.”

     Vergil’s gaze joined Dante’s and watched as you were intently watching a caterpillar as it inched along, your wings flapping a bit in excitement. The two smiled softly. Although you were a rather twisted version of the child they once knew, seeing you partake in such innocent things made them both feel happy.

     A short pause later, Dante slapped Vergil on the shoulder, “Alright, I’ll be back later,” he leaned over and whispered just loud enough for Vergil to hear, “Try to keep them from killing anything or anyone, yeah?”

     “Of course,” the blue devil folded his arms, “I am still the eldest, I know how to take care of my siblings.”

     “Had me convinced otherwise--”

     Vergil jabbed Dante in the gut with his elbow. 

     The younger twin left, waving goodbye to you--who was much too enamored with the small bug to notice. 

     “That is called an Arctic Woolly Bear caterpillar,” Vergil meandered over to you with his hands folded behind his back, “They are quite common in North America.”

     You looked over at him, “Is it dangerous?”

     He shook his head, “No, they are harmless,” gently, the blue devil picked up your hand, “Open your palm and do not shut it,” you watched as he placed the small fuzzy bug in your hand.

     A quiet purring could be heard from you as you watched it crawl on your hand, Vergil still holding the underside in case you accidentally shut your fingers. 

     “They do not have these in Hell… I wish they did.”

     Vergil laughed softly, “I know, I am quite knowledgeable about how things work down there.”

     “How?”

     The eldest twin’s face fell into a somber frown, “Here, let’s let the little creature go first,” he grabbed it from your hand and placed it back where he had grabbed it from. He sat on the ground, gesturing for you to do the same, “I cannot tell you everything just yet, however,” he paused and stared at the ground in front of him, “I can tell you about my time serving Mundus.”

     You tilted your head, “I remember you mentioned something about that when we were fighting.”

     He nodded, “I was forced to serve Mundus after I foolishly tried to defeat him, alone,” you watched as Vergil’s brow furrowed further and further with each sentence, “I knew it was a bad move but what other choice did I have?”

     You grabbed one of his hands, giving it a gentle squeeze.

     He gave a small half-hearted smile and took a minute before continuing, “In my arrogance and desire for power, I ended up being defeated by Mundus. Who proceeded to take my humanity from me, entombing me within armor made by Machiavelli…”

     Your body stiffened, “In the Nelo Angelo?” 

     “You know of it?”

     “I was taught about Devil Arms and Machiavelli’s work was somewhat of an obsession of Lord Argosax.”

     “I see,” Vergil’s posture slumped forwards a bit, bringing his shoulders to his ears, “I spent nearly ten years trapped like that.”

     “I am surprised that we never met.”

     “Mundus was smarter than that,” Vergil’s voice was quiet, almost meek, “Seeing Dante and his amulet half nearly broke the hold it had on me, but after so long I…”

     He went silent. You wanted to know more but you could also see how distressed your brother had become, even if it didn’t look like it from an outside view. So, not knowing what else to do, you manhandled him into your lap and embraced him; holding him tightly and wrapping your wings around the two of you--cocooning you together. 

     Although you couldn’t fully understand the pain and suffering that the eldest son of Sparda had gone through, you could relate to some degree. At first, he pushed you away and tried to escape, which he could’ve done if he had wanted; however, he didn’t. No, Vergil wanted to be comforted--to be held--but was much too proud to admit it, especially to Dante. 

     Vergil’s cursing slowly turned to soft sobs. His shoving turned to a vice grip, grabbing you as tightly as possible. All the while, you were purring and telling him that things will be alright now. You made small circles on his upper back, mimicking what Eva used to do when any of you were upset. Underneath the fabric, you could feel the scarring you saw earlier; the deep chasms that turned his once identical body into something so far off from his twin--something that secretly pained the eldest twin. 

     After some time, Vergil’s cries ceased and he just quietly sat within your gentle hold; relishing in an affection he had long since forgotten. He quietly murmured something against your chest, “I’m glad you’re still alive.”

     A pang of bittersweet shot through you, those words that were said to you many times when you were young. Words of endearment. 

     Softly, you whispered back, “I’m glad too,” you gently squeezed him, “I love you lots, Vergil.”

     He let out a wet half-hearted laugh, tears welling at the edges of his eyes, “To think this was something any of us could only have merely dreamed of for so long,” his fingers gently grabbed your hand, intertwining them, “to be back together as a family.”

     “I wouldn’t trade you both for the world,” your voice was low and soft, doing your best to sound as human as possible, “All I wanted was to have my brothers back…” now it was your turn to let out a huffed laugh on the verge of tears--or what would be tears if you could cry in this form, “I threw everything away in the pursuit of avenging the two of you--and Mother.”

     “It’s almost poetic that the most hot-headed of the three of us would be the only one not to blindly follow something to the point of destruction,” this, of course, was in reference to Dante; a child who would regularly get in massive trouble for doing things he shouldn’t be doing. 

     The two of you shared a small laugh before a third voice broke the conversation.

     “Hey! I’m back!” Dante waved to you as you unfurled your wings, letting Vergil out. 

     “Well,” Vergil stood, folding his arms, “Where are we then.”

     “Here,” the red devil handed him a map, “Up in Northern Canada, I guess.”

     “I see,” Vergil looked over the large North American map, finding Red Grave, and sighing heavily, “The trip through the portal will be rough and long, it is quite a distance to travel.”

     “Eh,” Dante shrugged, “I’m sure we’ll all be fine.”

     Vergil looked back at you, who had stood up as well, “Are you ready to go home?”

     You looked at the ground for a moment in thought, “Home…” Before nodding slowly.

     “Alright,” Vergil looked over the map one more time before handing it to Dante, “I will take us back to the house.”

     “Why not Devil May Cry?” Dante raised a brow, stuffing the map inside an inner jacket pocket.

     “Because I don’t know where that is,” he unsheathed Yamato and took a deep breath. 

     As the blue devil opened the portal, you moved towards Dante and grabbed his hand, whispering, “I don’t want to lose you.”

     The red devil’s eyes widened as he turned up to you, unsure how to vocalize the sudden warm feeling in his heart; so, he squeezed your hand hard and smiled.

     Vergil slid Yamato back into its scabbard, “Let’s go,” he stuck out a hand, which Dante grabbed tightly. 

     The three of you walked through the gap in dimensions. A portal created by Yamato is essentially a pocket dimension with extra steps; however, it can be used to transport the one who opened it as well--not just the items within. 

     It took what felt like a few minutes for the three of you when, in reality, it took nearly an entire day to traverse such a wide span. Once on the other side, the three of you stood within the destroyed remnants of your childhood home. You were the first to let go of your siblings and began to wander towards the mantle. 

     Upon it was the family painting. It was burnt beyond recognition. Although Eva was almost perfectly preserved and the twins’ were semi-damaged, Sparda and yourself were tattered to the point of not knowing what you looked like. You carefully reached toward the canvas and placed your fingers on the place you used to be. Perhaps it is some sort of pathetic irony that the only one who died in that fire is the only one whose portrait wasn’t damaged. The only one who was truly a saint amongst devils. 

     “Hey,” Dante gently touched your wing, making you flinch and pivot around, “Are you okay?”

     You froze at the odd question. Were you? After everything that’s happened, are you still truly the same sibling they used to know? The same child that was eternalized in those oil paints? Or are you some sort of out-of-place and unwelcomed creature? Do you really belong up here with humans or should you still be in that crumbling building, waiting to be rescued by someone who will never come? 

     Dante grabbed your hand, “Let’s go to my shop, it is where I’ve been living since I was a teen,” he smiled softly, “I’m sure you’ll like it.”

     A small whimpered huff came from you as you tightened your fingers around your brother’s. 

     “Wait,” Vergil folded his arms, “Perhaps it would be best for Dante to go first and see who is all at the shop? I do not wish for your first interaction with your nephew to be one of violence.”

     Nephew?

     Dante nodded, “Fair point, alright-- Fine, I’ll go make sure the ol’ beaut is shining and perfect.”

     Vergil rolled his eyes, “If it is anything like it was when you first moved in,” he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “It is a disaster.”

     “Hey, it wasn’t that bad and besides,” Dante let go of your hand, “It was your fault it got trashed in the first place, Verge.”

     “Are you sure about that, Mister “Let me kick down my own doors”?” 

     “The shop was ruined already-- Look we can debate this later, I want to go get this done and finally get some good rest.”

     “Fine, just,” Vergil grumbled, “be careful.”

     “Aw, what was that oh sweet big brother of mine? Urk-!” Dante grabbed his shoulder which had a small blue sword stuck in his bicep.

     The youngest twin waved goodbye and, once he turned back away from you both, used his Devil Trigger to get to the shop faster. 

     Once he got within the city limits, Dante de-Triggered and began to sprint down the sidewalk. The air was nice and cool, making Dante’s run feel rather rejuvenating; plus, it had begun to rain. It was late and not a soul was in sight, so Dante used Trickster to move even faster. He couldn’t wait to get home, to show both Vergil and you the shop. He joyfully hopped up the stairs and knocked on the doors.

     No response.     “Huh…” He peered around the corner and saw that the foyer lights were on, so he knocked again. This time, however, it was fast and hard; making sure to be as loud as he could without breaking the door. 

     The door slowly opened just a crack and a sleepy man's voice simply said, “We’re closed.”

     Dante laughed, “Well, then, guess I’ll have to come home tomorrow then.”

     There was silence. The door didn’t move, staying open just a crack. Dante could hear the heart rate of the man spike upon hearing those words. As if he were afraid to see, the door inched open; revealing a very disheveled-looking Nero. 

     “Man, I thought that I needed a haircu--umphf-!” Dante felt the air leave his lungs.

     Nero grabbed his uncle into a tight hug, gripping handfuls of Dante’s jacket. Hot bitter tears ran down his face as he sobbed into the red devil’s neck. 

     Dante lovingly clasped his arms around the young man, “I missed you too, Nero.”

     “I thought that,” his voice cracked, “that you weren’t going to come back.”

     “And leave you to carry on the family business all by your lonesome? Not a chance,” he pulled back out of the hug, firmly holding Nero’s shoulders, “Look, I know that I have no right to ask you but, can you do me a favor? Just for tonight.”

     The teal devil’s voice was apprehensive, having a feeling as to what was going to be said, “What?”

     “Verge is with me,” he heard Nero sigh, “The two of you can settle things tomorrow… I need the shop to be calm tonight, please?” 

     “Why?” Nero didn’t mean to be so blunt but he couldn’t help but be a bit salty.

     “Because,” Dante smiled, closing his eyes, “I’ve got a surprise family member for you to meet; I think they’d be called a ‘Pibling’..?”

     “You and Vergil have another sibling? Since when?” 

     “Since they were born.”

     Nero punched Dante’s shoulder harshly, “Very funny asshole.”

     “Just promise me you’ll be nice? Please?”

     “Alright, alright,” Nero sighed and wiped the few stray tears from his face, “So where are they?” 

     “I gotta go get ‘em. Unlock the garage door, yeah?”

     “Sure,” Dante turned to leave before Nero called out to him, “Wait!”     Nero stepped out of the shop and stood face-to-face with Dante. 

     They stood in silence for a moment before Dante softly sighed, “I promise I’ll be right back,” Dante ruffled up Nero’s hair.

==

     Vergil sighed, resting on the partially still intact staircase, “It was an accident.”

     You gave Vergil a sorrowful stare, “Have you told Dante about--”

     “No,” the blue devil’s voice was sharp, “and you are not to tell him either,” he sighed and placed his forearms on his thighs, “Nero has been through enough, knowing that his mother did that… It would only make things worse.”

     With a small nod, you looked up at the sky. It had begun to rain. The water was cold as you watched it fall, this had been the first time you’d seen rain since returning to the human world. You flinched for a few minutes from the droplets hitting your scales, however, you got accustomed to them bit by bit. After some time, you stood up and spread out your wings, watching the water roll off the tips and onto the desolated flooring of your childhood home. 

     Vergil watched from his seat with an amused smirk. Once again, the fact you seemed to be so innocent and child-like despite what happened piqued his interest. Upon seeing you shake off like a wet dog, he couldn’t help but laugh. 

     Noticing your brother’s odd reaction, you stared at him and watched as his face became flushed with embarrassment, turning away. Much to the blue devil’s ease, Dante appeared before you could question him. 

     “Alright kids,” Dante was standing in his Triggered form, his hands on his hips, “Let’s go, shall we?”

     Both Dante and you stared a Vergil, waiting for him to Trigger. 

     After a few moments, Vergil stood up, “Fine…” A flash of cornflower blue filled the room and there stood Vergil in his regular Devil Trigger.

     Dante wolf-whistled, “Been a while since I’ve seen you like that--Lookin’ good tiger,” he winked just to top off the corny line.

     “Silence,” he glared at Dante, making you laugh slightly.

     The three of you took off, the red devil leading the trio. It was difficult for you to travel at such low speeds, which made you almost hit both brothers several times during the flight. Often you’d find that you’d need to stop and wait before continuing, giving yourself small gaps to fly in. The twins found it rather amusing and even made a few jokes about how “Everyone has issues with finishing too fast” or things along that line--even Vergil made a few, much to Dante’s surprise. 

     The three of you landed in the back alleyway behind DMC. Both brothers de-Triggered and Dante bent over to pick up the roller shutter door. 

     “Welcome home, kids,” he smiled widely and placed his hands on his hips.

     Nero stood in the garage, leaning against one of the workbenches, but stood up straight upon seeing the three of you. 

     Vergil was unable to look Nero in the eye, a strong feeling of guilt eating at his mind. You didn’t take all of two seconds before walking into the garage, ducking under the door, and walking up to Nero. Curious, you bent down to look at him closer. His eyes were wide and he was fighting the urge to grab Blue Rose from his side. 

     You curiously tilted your head and stared at him, “You’re smaller than I thought you’d be.”

     Nero’s brow furrowed as he sputtered, attempting to figure out a response. 

     Carefully, you reached your hand out and ruffled Nero’s hair, “Soft…”

     Dante snickered loudly, reveling in the embarrassed expression on Nero’s face.

     The teal devil finally managed to say something, “What the fuck?”

     “Hm?” You titled your head to the other side, still petting the top of his head.

     “H-Hey! Knock it off!!” Nero unintentionally stuttered as he tried to look angry, which was completely ruined by the bright red tint of his cheeks. 

     “Oh! Sorry,” you removed your hand and stood back up straight.

     “It’s fine, I guess,” he cleared his throat and regained his regular composure, “So, your Dante and Vergil’s sibling then huh?”

     You nodded, “You’re Nero, right? Vergil’s son?”

     “Tch. Right,” he glared at the blue devil from the corner of his eye, “His son.”

     “I’m sorry-- maybe, your donor would be better? I didn’t mean to upset--”

     Dante wheezed super loud and doubled over in laughter, making you turn to view your brothers.

     “What is so funny?” You tilted your head.

     “It’s nothing,” Vergil shook his head, “Dante is just immature.”

     “Hey,” Dante stood back up, wiping tears from his eyes, “That’s harsh. You can’t tell me that isn’t funny.”

     “It’s not,” Vergil’s tone was flat.

     “Ehem,” the three of you turned to Nero, “Can we go inside? It’s late and I have a contract in the morning.”

     “A con-tract?” You cocked your head to the side, “For what?”

     “Uh… I don’t know if I should tell you. Seeing as your all,” Nero gestured up and down your body, “like that.”

     “Like what?” 

     “I--”

     Dante cut in, “Nero’s got a demon hunting job in the morning, it’s what he--and I--do for a living.”

     “Ooo!” Your wings fluttered a bit in excitement, “Can I come?!”

     “Can you-- what? Shouldn’t that be--?”

     You laughed softly, “If you are worried about offending me, I assure you,” you leaned down and made eye contact with him, “I have killed more demons than any of you in this room and, moreover, eaten their corpses,” you tilted your head and had a happy tone to your voice, “Only good demon, is a dead demon.”

     Nero stood with a pale expression. 

     Your elated state fell, “Did I say something wrong?”

     Dante grabbed your shoulder, “Nope, he just thinks that you’re gonna kill us three too.”

     “Oh no,” you shook your head, “We aren’t demons-- we are devils, there is quite a large difference.”

     “R-right,” Nero swallowed hard.

     “Welp,” Dante smiled widely, “Why don’t we go inside and relax for a bit?”

     Coyly you nodded, embarrassed that you’d just freaked out your own nephew. The red and teal devil both went in the door, leaving you with Vergil.

     Using one of your wings, you nudged him and gestured to the door with a nod, “Come on, let’s go inside.”

     He went first and you followed, ducking under the frame. A sudden overwhelming melancholic feeling shot through your body. The shop was relatively clean; which, compared to how Dante left it, the shop may as well have been spotless. Both twins and Nero had moved further into the shop and were talking amongst themselves; you, however, were standing at the dividing line between the main section of the room and the small off-shoot that had the bar. 

     All you could do was stare, unable to move from your spot. Perhaps if you had the ability to, you would’ve cried. 

     “So,” Dante put a hand in his pocket, “How long have we been gone anyway?”

     Nero pursed his lips as he stared at Vergil for a moment, “Nearly two years.”

     “Holy shit,” the red devil stood in disbelief, “I-- I gotta call Trish and Lady in the mornin’... They’re gonna freak.”

     “Yeah,” Nero’s eyes finally left Vergil, “They are supposed to stop by in the morning to pick up a contract Morrison left tonight, you could surprise ‘em then..?”

     “Good idea pipsqueak,” he ruffled Nero’s hair, getting some venomous cursing in response, “So, my room still mine or you’d move into it?”

     The teal devil gripped Dante’s forearm, trying to pull him off, “I didn’t touch your shit.”

     “Ah, alrighty,” the younger twin removed his hand and placed it on Vergil’s shoulder, “Let’s go, Grandpa, it’s way past your bedtime.”

     Vergil frowned but said nothing, much to Dante’s disappointment.

     “What about them?” Nero pointed to you, who had moved ever-so-slightly into the foyer and were playing with the jukebox’s buttons (thankfully it still didn’t work fully).

     “They’ll join me and Vergil,” a devilish smile filled Dante’s face, “Actually, you two wait down here--I’ll be right back.”

     “Wait-- and he’s gone,” Nero pursed his lips and sighed. He turned to Vergil who still couldn’t look him in the eye, after a short pause, the young man walked over to the desk and opened the top drawer, “Catch.”

     Vergil grabbed the object that Nero threw, it was Vergil’s poetry book.

     “Been keeping it in case you two decided to return,” now it was Nero’s turn to not be able to look at the other, “Figured I should after what V told me about you.”

     Vergil pursed his lips, “Thank you, Nero.”

     “Yeah, whatever,” he scoffed, doing his best to keep his emotions in check, and walked over to you, “What are you trying to do?”

     “I remember always wanting one of these when I was a kid,” you tapped the silver decoration on the top edge, “Sparda used to talk about jukeboxes quite often,” a bittersweet feeling filled your heart at the thought, unsure how to feel about your Father, “Told me for my sixteenth birthday that he’d get me one that I’d always fixated on,” you sighed, “But that was a long time ago, I doubt you care for stories like those.”

     Nero leaned against the bar counter, “Actually, it is funny hearing about how much of a normal guy Sparda was after being raised in a cult that obsessed over the old man.”

     “A Sparda-based cult? How stupid,” you laughed and turned to Nero, “He was just a devil, nothing more.”

     “That’s what I thought,” Nero smiled.

     A loud thump caught everyone’s attention. At the bottom of the stairs was a large pile of blankets and pillows. Dante was trotting down the staircase with a juvenile excitement on his face.

     “Dante,” Vergil raised a brow and folded his arms, “What in the world is this about?”

     “Well,” Dante walked over to the couches and grabbed the cushions from them, placing them on the floor, “I always wanted to have a sleepover when we were kids, but,” he grabbed some of the pillows he’d thrown, “was never allowed to or able to.”

     “You’re joking, right?” A skeptical brow adorned the eldest’s face.

     “Nope,” the red devil smiled and began to fold some of the blankets, continuing to make the nest of plush on the foyer floor, “I just spent two goddamn years in Hell and almost died countless times,” he closed his eyes and smiled wider, “and I would’ve died without having even one sleepover. So,” he tossed the last few blankets near the pile, “before I kick the bucket, I am having one.”

     “And you are expecting Nero, myself, and them to join you?”

     “E-yup!” Dante placed his hands on his hips, “Come on it’ll be fun.”

     Nero’s lips turned to a flat line, “I don’t want to agree with Vergil, but, what the fuck?”

     “I’ll do it,” you raised your hand slightly, “Although, I don’t sleep,” you began to mumble a bit, “The two of you always looked so cozy, but I didn’t want something to happen to you so…”

     The red devil walked over to you and grabbed your hand, “Well then let’s change that, hm?”

     He led you to the center of the nest and gestured for you to lay. Carefully, you did so and laid face-up with your wings tucked behind you, trying to give the others as much room as you could.

     “This is pointless,” Vergil grumbled, moving his jaw in thought, pouting ever-so-slightly.

     “No,” Dante smiled, “This is comfortable,” he flopped onto you, laying flat across your body

     You laughed and placed an arm around Dante’s shoulders, holding your brother close.

     Eventually, Vergil broke. With a heavy sigh, he hung his coat on the stair railing. He laid down beside you, his back facing you, to which you grabbed him and pulled him close.

     Nero shook his head, “Nope, sorry, I’m gonna pass.”

     “You sure?” Dante looked up at him, very obviously half-awake.

     “Yeah. I’m sure alright,” with that, the young hunter turned off the shop lights, “I’ll see you all in the morning,” he stood with mouth agape before closing it with a shake and going up the stairs. 

     A few hours passed. You were feeling tired, at least, you think you were feeling tired; it had been so long since you’d slept that you weren’t sure if that’s what it was. Both twins were fast asleep and Vergil had turned to face you in his sleep, grabbing onto you tightly. 

     A deep bittersweet melancholic happiness tugged at your heart. Deep inside, you feared that this was all an elaborate nightmare and that, soon, this would all disappear; making you lose your family once again.

     Creaking from the staircase pulled you from your thoughts. Before you could react, you saw Nero standing over you.

     “Hey,” his voice was quiet and meek, “I uh…”

     You removed your hand from Dante and patted the empty space beside you, which Nero immediately laid in. 

     Another hour passed and all three of the white-haired men were asleep. Nero’s actions echoed that of his father’s; starting with facing away from you and now he was gripping onto you as if he were going to be ripped away from you. Your eyes felt heavy and you were fighting the urge to close them, but you couldn’t help it. The loud purring from your family and the warm bundle that the group of fire devils created was enough to push you over the edge into a deep sleep.

     The sound of a phone ringing woke you up, slowly blinking awake. A groan left your lips as you felt something (or rather someone) heavy laying on you. 

     Dante was still on top of your chest but he felt heavier for some reason. He felt much taller too. Both Vergil and Nero were still latched onto you, however, they’d settled to grab your arms instead of your chest. They, too, felt much heavier and larger.

     An unexpected loud voice rang through one of your ears, “What on Earth?” The eldest shot upright, “You..!”

     “Mmm, Verge,” Dante mumbled, his warm cheek was placed against your chest and he had drooled in his sleep, “What are you shouting for?”

     “Dante, open your eyes.”

     When the red devil did, he pushed up and stared down at you with wide eyes. 

     Quickly, he stood up and grabbed a free blanket, “Here, wrap yourself in this before the kid wakes up.”

     Confused, you tried to pull your arm free, only to have Nero grip you tighter. 

     “Here,” Dante leaned back down and wrapped your body in the cloth. 

     That’s when you realized what had happened. Your skin was no longer covered in scales --your teeth were no longer too large for your mouth --your hands were no longer clawed.

     No longer trapped in your state of survival.

     You were what you once were all those years ago.

     Human. 

ENDING NOTES: Poems quoted:  ❥The Book of Urizen; Chapter II, IX, Preludium: William Blake ❥Infant Joy: William Blake ❥The Little Boy Lost: William Blake--changed slightly; replaced “boy” with child. ➖➖➖ I hope y’all enjoyed this. It took me SOOOO long to finish this. Not sure if I’ll do something like this again, I couldn’t switch between writing this and then writing some “x reader” stuff (because it would bleed into one or the other.).  Please let me know if y’all liked this or not! I’d love to hear feedback!  Thanks again for the request and I hope everyone has a great day/night! :))))

Want to see more like this? Check out the book on AO3 or check out the Masterlist for Tumblr!

THERE IS ALSO ART THAT GOES WITH THIS BUT I AM TOO FUCKING TIRED TO DEAL WITH THAT RN LMAO IT IS SO LATE AND I HAVE SPENT SO LONG ON THIS (Not that I'm complaining, I enjoyed writing this; it just took so damn long lmao)

If anyone is interested, there is a chapter on my AO3 of all the scrapped content from this fic. As you could/can probably tell, there was so much stuff I wanted to put in this and just either didn't because of time or scrapped because it became too overly saturated with the stuff. Please give it a read, it actually explains some stuff that I left in (like the ceiling paintings for example).