#i love dante's little taunt when he wants nero to hit him with the sword he's like come on come here little guy hit me with the sword come | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sethrine-writes · 4 years

Text

Daughter of a Devil, Ch. 17

Main Characters: Father!Dante & Daughter!Reader

Words: 1317

Warnings: Injury, Angry Reader

Story Summary: Being a parent wasn’t easy, nor was there such thing as being perfect at it. Good news for Dante, seeing as how he doesn’t have the slightest idea in hell what to do with a child. Sometimes, he was certain that fighting off a horde of demons was a far better match than keeping up with his own daughter. Well, at least he wasn’t going down without a fight.

A/N: Hey. It’s been a minute. Let’s get right into it, shall we?

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Chapter 17 - Just Another Moment (19 yrs.)

“Hey, you gonna be okay?”

You looked up at Nero who was now beside you on his haunches, watching as he carefully took hold of your wrist and pulled your injured arm forward a bit. There was a slight wince on your part, but it was more the pull of muscle that gave the painful twinge.

That last battle had been hell. Not only did you get injured by that scientist creep, Agnus, but Nero had also had a severe revelation about himself that was weighing heavily on his mind. Granted, you had been rather surprised by the anger that had taken over him during the fight, of which had been a high catalyst to his rather abrupt…transformation.

You had only ever seen such a thing happen to your father only a handful of times, the first being when you were very young and didn’t know anything about such happenings. Fear of the unknown had paralyzed you, then, warped many a nightmare until you had been able to come to terms with what you had seen. Nero's transformation, however, had left you baffled, speechless.

That, of course, hadn't gone over so well, as Nero saw your astonishment as more of a negative reaction and had taken double efforts to hide his right arm from your sight.

To make matters worse, Sanctus had Kyrie, a woman you had come to know Nero adored greatly, and he had made it his new mission to find her. His target was no longer Dante at that point, but you knew that you’d be seeing your dear father sometime soon if you helped Nero with his goal. You were basically after the same people, in a sense, so helping Nero also helped you, in the long run.

“I’m fine, I’m fine," you eased with a slightly strained smile, "I just need a moment, if you don’t mind.”

Nero studied you as you continued to breathe deeply, holding subconsciously to your left side with your uninjured arm. You were fairly certain he couldn't see how severe the injury was, which was good, but there was definitely blood seeping through your shirt.

What a hell of a moment to get yourself hurt.

“Here, let me help you up. We’ll get to a safer place for you to rest.”

You would have loved to argue that you’d be just fine after a few minutes, but you could tell that the injuries would be a bigger hindrance moving forward than you wanted them to be. There was no use in beating around the bush - at the moment, you were practically useless.

With a nod of your head, you reached up and managed only a pained grunt as Nero helped you to your feet, his arm keeping you steady as you leaned a good portion of your weight into him. He led you to a secluded area with decent coverage all around, carefully lowering you back down against a solid wall to rest. You sighed then, hoping that all you would need was a bit of rest so that the wounds could mend properly on their own.

“Well, kid, didn’t think I’d see you again so soon.”

You had never been so simultaneously furious and relieved in one fraction of a second; the feeling almost gave you whiplash.

Nero turned just as quickly with a scowl on his face, his frame blocking yours rather well from the sight of Dante. You could already feel the anger rising in your veins; it would have been worse had you not previously been injured.

“You…. What are you doing here?”

“Can’t a guy walk around and enjoy the scenery without being judged?”

You could practically hear the smirk in his words as he taunted Nero. It was obvious he had sought out the young man for something, and you had a feeling it was because of the sword, Yamato, that Nero was in possession of. Of course, this thought was in the back of your mind as the main thing running full-force at the front of your noggin was to murder your father - in the most lovingly of ways, of course.

“Forget it. We don’t have time for your bullshit.”

“Who said anything about bullshit? I’m just here to collect a couple things of mine that you seem to have at the moment.”

“Psh, fat chance, old man.”

“Again with the ‘old man’ bit, eh? Ya know, you remind me of my daughter.”

“Is that so?”

Nero’s reply was rather mocking, though the next thing that left your father’s mouth had you seeing red.

“Yeah, you know what they say. All children act the same.”

You gave Nero a minimal warning as you pulled out Rein and shot several rounds in Dante’s direction. The rounds bypassed Nero and, much to your immediate satisfaction, found purchase in Dante’s body. You continued firing at him until your clip ran dry and all that came was a small ‘click’ sound.

Through the haze of anger, you had only seen the first few shots hit him, one in the head and another three in the chest. Now that you were finally calming down, you realized that they were the only shots that hit as he had easily dodged the others. You should have gotten furious all over again, but you were now much calmer and only held a small simmer of anger for your father.

“You asshole, you left me! You freaking left me in this damn city by myself! What kind of man does that to his daughter?!”

“His…his daughter?” Nero questioned as he looked to you with narrowed, disbelieving eyes. They widened when all the pieces suddenly clicked into place, and you could only offer a halfhearted smile before eyeballing Dante with your remaining disdain.

“Hey, you were the one that said you wanted a little more freedom, squirt. Gotta learn the ropes on your own merits. That's what you wanted, right?”

You glared at your smirking father, watching as Dante wiped away the blood that had come from the already closed wound on his head. You could have sworn he was immortal; any shot you ever hit him with, purpose or accident, never seemed to do that much damage. It was infuriating, but you couldn't help but be thankful, all the same.

“I didn’t mean in a freaking city I’ve never seen nor heard about! What if I had died, you idiot?”

Dante rolled his eyes as he moved forward to inspect the damage done to your frame, taking great care not to hurt you anymore than was necessary.

“Stop overreacting. You know damn well I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you. This, however, wasn’t in the plan. You’ll be out of action for a good hour or so, squirt, so get used to lying around for a while.”

“Ugh, just…perfect!”

You looked over to Nero, calming your features while giving a small smile. “Sorry for slowing you down so much, Nero.”

“Why didn’t you tell me he was your father?”

You gave a small frown at the strange, almost hurt look on the other man’s face. “I tried once, but we were interrupted. It wasn’t very important at the time, and it never came up again.”

“Probably for the better,” Dante cut in suddenly. “If he had known, he would have probably tried to kill you, too. And you know how Daddy is when it comes to boys.”

“You know what, old man, I think I’ll have to take you down a notch,” Nero quipped before you could throw in your two-cents, his threat more than clear. It seemed to be what Dante wanted, as he gave a smirk and all but dared Nero to come closer.

“Hey, not by me!” you shouted as the two drew their weapons of choice. “At least have the decency to let me heal first without giving me another cut to worry about!”

#dmc #devil may cry #dmc dante #dmc nero #reader #reader-insert #female reader #Daughter of a Devil

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dylan-o-yumm · 5 years

Note

Submitted for your approval: I love the idea of people in Fortuna &the mainland area near it believing that Nero is some kind of cryptid, because nobody saw a devil with that appearance before (in modern times anyway). Imagine that you head to Fortuna with a video camera to seek footage of this elusive & powerful beast. But little do you realize just how close you’re gonna get to him. Think of a “meet cute” concept, even though Nero is a Devil. But you don’t mind; you’re enamored with him. ^^

(Requests like this, I swear, could be a multi chapter fic or a really long one shot. I always try to squish my writing down as much as possible cause I tend to waffle on some times. So I’m sorry if this is really crappy. I love the idea though!)

Sitting in your car, ducking down to keep from prying eyes, you held your camera just above the dashboard. From the angle you were awkwardly sitting in, you couldn’t see through the windshield, having to watch the scene before you fold out through the small camera screen. A young boisterous male was waving a large sword around like a lunatic, using an odd spirit arm of sorts, to grab and pull demons towards him. Your eyes were wide in both fear and amazement as you watched.

You had heard of the well known demon hunter, a devil himself, walking among the humans living in Fortuna. You were fascinated, obsessed even, at just the mere thought of this odd being. You studied all kinds of demons, drowning in papers of research in your own home, trying to figure out what exactly he was and what he was capable of. You had folders of facts, answering most of your questions like; what to do if he were trying to attack you, or what his weaknesses were in order to keep yourself safe. Either way, you knew that he’d be stronger than you in every sense of the word, but you weren’t planning on getting too close to him anyway.

You knew you had to be on high alert when hunting him down, since he took on the form of a human, walking amongst people as if he weren’t a demon at all. You had to keep your distance to be safe, but you also had to get close enough to gain footage of him, proving he was a true demon. Of course, this was all for your job as a reporter, but none the less, you were beyond curious and desperately wanted to do this case.

You found him easily enough, as you were scouting the streets of Fortuna. You got a few videos of him scaling buildings incredibly fast, jumping higher than the average human… but you needed more. Something that people would be unable to explain once they saw it. And lucky for you, here you were recording him holding his own against a horde of demons and… laughing about it. He, more often that not, made sure to taunt them, bowing, even dancing as if it were all a fun game.

You heard a soft beeping sound and immediately cursed in frustration. No, not now! You pleaded, watching the battery usage on the side of the camera’s screen flashing red. You had just gotten to see what you were wishing to see and now your camera was about to die on you? How is that fair? You quickly hit end recording so that you’d keep what you had far, banding down to your small bag to get a new battery. You fumbled nervously, thinking you were going to miss out on some amazing things this hybrid of a human/demon was doing.

Managing to get the battery in and place the camera back in its original place, you frowned when there was no longer any chaos going on. The demons were dead and the man you were following was nowhere to be seen. You sighed in disappointment, knowing the footage you have wont be enough, meaning you have to track him down again and wait for him to battle demons again. which, who knows how long that would take.

A sudden knock on the glass window caused you to jump out of your seat and yelp in surprise. You couldn’t see the persons face since they were standing tall, waiting for you to wind the window down. You recognised the dark blue coat though, having just been filming it moments prior. There was blood staining the fabric and there were a few rips and tears but it looked like it was holding together. He knocked again when you did nothing but stare wide eyed at his torso, fearing for your life after seeing the things he did to those demons. You half expected him to stab you though the heart then dance on your lifeless body.

“Hello? Just wanted to ask why you’ve been following me?” He asked in an annoyed tone, voice slightly muffled by the glass. You help your heart racing as you hesitantly rolled the window down to about half way, too scared to have it all the way down, even though you were sure he could have just smashed the glass and grabbed you if he were going to kill you. You leaned forward a little, wanting to see his face and to your surprise, he hunched over, crouching a little so he too could see your face.

You stared at him with wide eyes, not expecting him to be so handsome. He had blood splattered over his nose and cheek but it didn’t take away from the fact that he was gorgeous. His bright blue eyes were practically glaring at you but you were too focused on the intense colour to care.

“Hello? Y’know, its not nice to record people without their permission, lady” Though his tone was agitated, you were sure he was surprised when he saw you too. There was something in his eyes that changed for a brief moment, as if thinking the same things you were. Or maybe that was just hopeful thinking. You slowly nodded, lowering the window more, something inside you telling you to trust him. Maybe that was one of his demonic powers, getting people to put themselves in dangerous situations because he had a pretty face. Either way, It didn’t stop you from lowering the window all the way down.

“I’m sorry. I - uh - I’m a reporter and I… wanted to get footage of the legendary devil hunter” You stutter, fiddling nervously with the hem of your shirt.

“Ah, well. He’s not here. Dante is probably sleeping in a pile of pizza boxes by now.” The boy stated, rubbing the back of his head with a hint of a frown coming to rest on his brow. Was he disappointed that he thought you were looking for someone else?

“Um… no, I meant you.” You state softly and quietly, wondering who this Dante was and why he was apparently drowning in pizza. The image in your mind definitely wasn’t a flattering one, but that wasn’t the point now. You watched as the boy’s expression softened a little, eyes widening like he was shocked at what you were saying. He recovered quickly by smirking, the curl on his lips making you instantly swoon and have to blink away the urge to stare.

“I’m just a Devil Hunter. Not legendary” He shrugged, leaning on the door casually while he peered inside, noticing your camera sitting in your lap. He knew he should have been snatching it from you and snapping it to teach you a lesson, but he was just as enamoured with you as you were him. The two of you had only just met but you were both puppy eyed fools.

“I’d have to disagree. I’ve never seen anything like you… you’re amazing, fascinating. I’d love to interview you, if you don’t mind?” You were unaware of what you were saying until the words had already left your lips, a deep blush covering your cheeks while he smiled shyly, as if he were flattered and embarrassed at the same time. You wanted to just drive away so you couldn’t embarrass yourself any further, but luckily for you, Nero found you adorable.

“Sure… Uh, you wanna go grab something to eat while you question me, reporter lady?” Both of you were blushing now, knowing full well how crazy this scenario turned out. You had only just met, and he was, what? Asking you to dinner? All thought of him killing you had left your mind and you didn’t know if you were acting stupid or if he was just a very trustworthy guy, but you found yourself chuckling a little, extending your hand through the open window.

“Y/n… and yes, I’d love to” You shake his hand, tingles spreading throughout your entire body as your skin brushed his. He smiled, feeling the same feelings you were. God, you hope he isn’t using some demonic powers on you to lure you into a secluded area to kill you… You’d only be able to blame yourself. You hadn’t read anything in your research that would mean he’d be able to do such things.

“Nero…” He told you his name and you smiled warmly, still slowly shaking his hand, gazing into his blue eyes. He cleared his throat, scratching his nose awkwardly before you quickly came too and retracted your hand. What a great first impression, You thought sarcastically. Little did you know that Nero was infatuated with you, even though he’d known you for a total of five minutes…

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ashenious · 5 years

Text

Of Vicissitudes and Woeful Sorrows (Dante/Reader)

For This Chapter: Rating: Teen and Up Warnings: Blood, DMC5 Spoilers Additional: Angst, Word Count: 5504 A/N (More At End): This....was supposed to be a, at most, 1k drabble revolving around a specific line of dialogue I wrote (which I will put at the end of the page) but it somehow exploded into a 5k story?? I can't write short stories apparently

AO3 Link: [Here]

There was hardly any points in time that you could recall where Dante wasn’t reckless; it was just natural for him to screw around and try to have fun in anything that he did, whether he was talking with a new client or fighting demons or even getting ready for bed for the night.

The amount of times you could recall where you’d see Dante raise his eyebrow in a specific way before the man did something extraordinary for no reason was innumerable, with his secret talent being casually talented at most things for no reason other than he enjoyed it.

It was always impressive to you, the casual tricks that he could do, whether it was catching himself from being thrown into a building or car and landing in a graceful and beautiful pose, pulling off a trick shot that would always hit his enemy in the face, or even just showing off when he got a new Devil Arm. The man was full of surprises and it made life very unpredictable, which was both fun and stressful.

The man was also very stubborn, and there was very little that could stop him when he put his mind to a task, even if there are other people around him telling him that whatever he was going to do was a bag idea. This made it hard to work with him sometimes, and it wasn’t surprising that he often worked alone for a job.

But sometimes there was a task even too big for him that he had to admit that he couldn’t handle it alone, which was always surprising to you when it happened. Old habits die hard, however, and Dante would often still try to slip off to go on his own during those jobs after something bad happened, using that event as a justification for why he wanted to work alone.

Despite the man’s stubbornness and reckless nature when it came to allowing enemies to hurt him, Dante wasn’t immortal nor was he impervious to harm that came from his careless behavior. He would often mess around with his enemies, often allowing them to hurt him so that he could harass them immediately after, even allowing them to pierce a sword straight through his chest to pin him to a wall nearby.

Maybe that’s how this situation happened, you standing besides an almost unconscious Nero as you both stood before the demon king, Urizen, with no other options to kill the over powered demon lord. You knew that wasn’t true, however, as for as stubborn as Dante was, he was equally filled with concern for the safety of his friends and family. That was why he had told Nero, V, and you to run away a month earlier when all of he, Lady, Trish, V, and you went up to fight the new threat, Nero showing up during the aftermath of the battle.

Urizen was far more powerful than he was originally told to be by V, something that can’t be given fault as the man went to the best help he could find to try to stop the lord from trying to take over the world, and yet that help seemed almost useless when they were face to face with the beast, their efforts and bodies being smacked aside as if they were flies in the garbage by Urizen. Trish and Lady were quickly overpowered by the demon, and you watched as Dante too was tossed aside in the fight.

Nero showed up not long after Trish and Lady were taken away by Urizen, and he had wanted to join the fight, despite his injuries and having just recovered from losing his arm, his anger from losing his arm driving him to want to fight. You hadn’t expected V to go and fetch him when V originally left the monstrous tree, but it wasn’t surprising that he did as Nero was among the best of the Demon Hunters in the world, and the situation called for more help.

Dante had called out to the three of you to run, however, and with the energy you had left after being tossed around by Urizen not long prior, along with V’s help, you dragged Nero away from the fight, your eyes watching as Dante disappeared behind the collapsing walls of the tree you were in as you made your way back to the outer part of the maze.

And that was the last you had seen of the man, that quick glimpse of him calling out to all of you just before he vanished, his being and words not being heard or seen in the month that you and Nero spent preparing to fight Urizen again.

It was the longest month in your life, one that dragged on and on, and one that angered you the longer it lasted. The Qliphoph tree angered you, it lingering always in the background of wherever you were, taunting you with its presence and potential for holding Dante inside.

The return fight to Urizen was one that made you nervous, but Nero’s and your anger drove you on, Nero driven by the internal struggle of not wanting to be useless, you driven by the anger of losing your love and, and both of you sick of the endless killing that was occurring at the hands of the demon lord.

The fight, however, was futile, and both you and Nero were knocked back by the demon lord, your attacks only doing bare minimal scratches to Urizen’s body under his defense. Nero had been thrown back by Urizen, his Red Queen and Blue Rose flying off somewhere by the force of the attack.

With the little amount of energy you had left from the long fight, you had caught him, bracing yourself in the ground as he came flying at you. The force of Nero’s weight landing on you pushed you to the ground, your arms trying their best to shield the man’s head from knocking into the floor.

Every ounce of you and Nero were in pain, the cuts and contusions on your bodies only growing bigger as the fight had gone on. And as the large tendrils that came from Urizen moved about and caught you, you could feel more bruises form as they squeezed you both.

You barely had any energy left to scream at the pain, but still you mustered out a little sound, your voice harsh and gritty from the amount of pain you were in. Nero, too, screamed out, his body being squeezed by Urizen, and as you attempted to look at the demon lord, you wondered if this was how you were going to go from the world: a broken and beaten pulp that couldn’t even begin to scratch the surface of revenge to the monster that killed your love.

But as the thought of the end filled your mind, a light shown down, a quick flash that shot down from seemingly out of no where and cut through the tendrils that held you tight.

You landed with a loud and hard thud, the arm around you slowly disintegrating as a moment passed. Hearing a groan from Nero nearby, your head turned to see him first, his body shaking as he struggled to turn around toward Urizen, before your head turned to the light you saw.

A demon, one of fire and grace, flew before Urizen, its warm colours contrasting the cold colours of Urizen behind it. Its skin looked of a magma, and as its wings spread out behind it, you admired its form and bravery as it exists between you and Nero, and Urizen.

“A…demon?” you heard Nero mutter next to you. You hadn’t even realized that the man had moved closer to you as you were so entranced by the new demon who had appeared. You slowly lifted yourself to your feet, your one hand coming down to grab Nero by the arm as the man wobbled in place, but still your eyes remained on the glowing demon, for the sight of it brought to you the feeling of familiarity.

“Not just any demon…” you whispered, slowly bringing Nero’s arm over your shoulder, your hand replacing its hold with the man’s belt as you held the man up. You turned your head, watching as Nero’s eyes looked over the demon, and as they lit up a little bit, you couldn’t help but smirk a bit as his face furrowed a bit.

“Dante, you son of a bitch…” he said as he slumped against you a bit. Holding the man up from falling, you could feel him slipping, the pain of the fight overtaking him.

“Nero, we need to mo-“

“Hey! I knew you couldn’t be killed so easily!” Nero called out, interrupting you. “He’s all yours! But don’t…let it become a habit…!” Hearing the man’s voice trail off, you grabbed at Nero, catching him as he began to fall to the floor, but as his body slouched more, you found yourself falling too, your body weakened and in too much pain to hold the full weight of him.

The red demon turned its head back to you, his eyes catching you as you and Nero fell to the floor. You locked eyes with him, and as you heard wings flutter behind you, you remained still and kept staring at the transformed man.

“Hey, let me grab him!” you heard behind you. Feeling a talon on your shoulder, you quickly looked up, your eyes catching sight of Griffon just before he jumped onto Nero. Griffon’s claws dug into the man, and he began his ascent. “C’mon! This way!” the bird said as he took off, his voice strained as he struggled to carry the unconscious being.

Pausing for a moment to look back at Dante, your eyes met his for a moment, yours slowly filling with tears just as you stood up.

“Win, Dante! Win!” Griffon cried out as he flew off to the area just outside. Following the sound, you broke eye contact with Dante, stumbling your way toward the back of the area, your legs struggling to agree on how to walk with so much pain filling them.

Reaching the entrance of the area, you felt your legs finally give up, your body slumping against the wall. You slid to the floor, your arms slowly turning you to face Dante and Urizen as you made your way down.

Their battle had already begun, Dante in his new form striking at the oversized demon before him with a new sword you hadn’t seen before, the anger obvious in his movements as he attacked the beast. Urizen’s movement seemed more agitated than before, his tendrils more stiff as they went after Dante.

The fight didn’t last long, and as you watched Dante walk toward Urizen, the large beast brought to his knees by the man before him, you could tell by Dante’s movements that he was playing with the demon, his shoulders up and his arms around as he got closer to Urizen. It was just as Dante approached the beast, his new sword appearing in his hand, that the earth began to shake.

Reaching around to grab anything, your arms grabbed a hold on a branch that was protruding from the wall, its base breaking from the wall as you pulled on it firmly. Smacking yourself in the face with it, you quickly threw it to the side, your one hand coming up to cover the spot you got hit as your other sat on the ground.

Looking up toward Dante, you watched as the man chased after the now standing Urizen, a bath of blood pouring from the branches of the Qliphoth tree behind it, and as the demon turned around, his body quickly became engulfed in the blood. Dante jumped through the blood as well, you calling out for him as he disappeared into the colour red.

Before you could even feel yourself move, you had returned to where the battle had taken place, your body moving on its own at the sight of Dante disappearing. As you stood before the blood bath, you called out to Dante again, your voice carrying out further than before as you stood in the open area.

The wall slowly dispersed, the blood pooling on the floor as it all finally cleared, and stood within the middle of the bath was Dante, himself covered in red as he stared at the empty area beyond where Urizen sat. He didn’t move, his gaze fixed before him, and your own fixed on him as he stared.

After a minute, you called out to him, your voice softer than before. He jumped, his body spinning around to see you, his eyes quickly meeting yours. You felt tears gather in your eyes again, your feet slowly stumbling through the slosh of blood as you made your way toward him.

Seeing your struggle to get closer, Dante began to move closer to you, his feet lifting through the blood, and his arms raising a bit when he was close. His face softened as he got close, and despite him being covered in blood from the Qliphoth, you threw your arms around his chest and grabbed on tight. He returned the hug, his arms closing tightly over you.

The hug lasted for what seemed like forever, your clothes slowly soaking in the blood as you refused to let go of Dante. The blood slowly dripped off the edge of the area to below, and as the puddle slowly lowered under your feet, you continued your hug, tears slowly falling from your eyes the longer you held on.

It was after about 5 minutes in a solid hug that you felt Dante’s arms lighten their hold on you, slowly bringing themselves up to rub your back gently.

“Hey, we have to go…” the man whispered, his head slowly lowering to look at you. But you refused to let go, your arms only tightening on the man as you kept your face buried in his chest. “Babe, c’mon, the world might end soon; we need to go.” Hearing him speak again, you shook your head a bit, muffle a noise you made at him as you kept holding on.

Dante sighed lightly, his hand running through his hair slowly. Letting his hair fall over his face again, he looked down, his hands lowering to your shoulders for a moment before they went down lower.

“C’mon, babe…” Feeling hands under your arms, you tensed up a bit, slowly feeling yourself leaving the ground. Getting the hint, you pulled your arms up over Dante’s shoulders, quickly latching your hands together behind his neck as you helped lift yourself up, your head resting next to Dante’s slowly. You locked your legs behind his back, feeling his hands slide down to your thighs to hold you.

You heard a small chuckle above you, a small squeeze on your thigh coming from Dante as he began to move, his legs having a bit of trouble moving as he carried you.

Dante carried you down the whole way, your arms never letting up as you clung onto the man. Most everyone let out a bit of a laugh when they saw you on Dante as you both appeared before them, the group assembling in an open area below Urizen’s room. It was only when everyone started talking that you finally let go of Dante, your legs slowly landing on the floor as you pulled yourself away from him.

You kept your eyes on him, however, and as Nico presented him with the Doctor Faust hat, you couldn’t help but smile a bit at the dance Dante preformed upon placing it on his head. As he held the hat out in front of him and Nico cheered, you met eyes with Dante, a smile covering your face.

“I’ll take that.” Dante said to Nico, and then slowly he turned around, his feet beginning to move.

“Dante! I’m gonna go too!” Nero called out, quickly following behind Dante as the man tried to leave. Dante turned around, his eyes going over Nero slowly.

“Why don’t you sit this one out?” he suggested.

“Oh, and let you call me deadweight again? No thanks! I got all the power I need! Right here.” Nero replied, his voice sharp as he raised his hand up into a fist. Hearing the conversation occur, you felt a nerve be struck, your feet moving you closer to Dante and Nero.

“That’s not what I meant, you don’t understand.” Dante said as he glanced at you.

“Let him go, Dante.” Hearing the sudden voice behind you, everyone turned, their eyes spotting V nearby as he sat upon what looked like a rock. “Time is a luxury we can no longer afford. We must chase him, post-haste.” V continued, his body slowly rising up.

“Why?” questioned Dante, his eyebrow raising up at the sight. “Does this mean you’re going too?”

“I have a duty to see this through.” V said as he turned to Dante, his face filled with determination.

“Well, that’s all you have to say, Mr. Poetry.” Dante replied, him nodding at V a bit. “I’m gonna go my own way, you guys can go yours. Let’s just say that’s best for the cause.”

“Best for the cause?” you said, your voice sharp as you spoke. “You disappeared for a month, Urizen almost put you down and you’re gonna try to go fight him alone?” Seeing an eyebrow raise on Dante’s face, the man turned to face you, his mouth opening for a second.

“Look, you have to understand, babe.” Seeing the man’s face scrunch a bit, you stepped closer.

“Then explain it to me! Going to fight Urizen alone would be too reckless, even for you!” you said, placing your hands on your sides at you looked over the man’s face.

“There isn’t the time to explain now, you heard V!” Dante replied, his eyes looking over your face slowly. “I promise I’ll explain everything when I get back, but I need to go.” Turning away slowly, Dante began to walk away. Seeing his attempt to leave, you ran around him, quickly stopping in front of his path and forcing the man to stop by putting your hands on his chest.

“That’s what I’m worried about! You NOT coming back!” You said as you looked up at Dante, tears slowly forming in your eyes. Seeing your eyes water up, Dante sighed a bit, his hands coming up to rest over yours that sat on his chest. He didn’t say anything for a few moments, his eyes again going over your face, so you continued, “What if you’re walking into a trap, and Urizen gets the upper hand? What if he’s able to kill you?”

“If he’s able to kill me, then so be it! But you have to understand, this is something I need to do! Alone!” Dante replied, his voice sharper than it was previously. His hands slowly gripped yours, carefully pulling them off of his chest.

“So be it? You can’t be serious!” you about shouted back, your hands quickly grasping onto Dante’s. “You’re being careless! You think I’m just willingly going to let you walk into your own death!? If you want me to understand, then you need to explain to me why!”

“I can’t, okay!” Dante snapped back, his sudden booming voice causing you to jump a little as you looked over the man’s now angered face. His hands held onto your’s firmly, your grip loosening a bit from the outburst.

“You can’t explain, but you’re just expecting me to let you walk into your own death?” you said quietly, your voice only heard by Dante. “I just got you back, I’m not going to let you just walk into death!” you continued, your voice raising a bit as you re-tightened your grip on Dante’s hands.

“That’s how this is going to have to be! I need to do this alone, and whatever happens then that’s what happens!” Dante exclaimed back, anger very prevalent in his voice as he looked down at you.

“Dante, Nero and V are here to help you! Why can’t you just accept the help! Whatever is going on, you don’t have to do it alone!” you yelled back, the tears in your eyes finally falling free and down your cheeks. Dante tried to pull away from your hands, but as you held tightly onto him, you kept your eyes dead set on his.

“I don’t need the help!!”

“Yes, you do! You’re being so careless that you can’t even care to see that people are here for you and want to help you!” Dante paused, his arms no longer trying to pull free from your grasp as his eyes slowly lowered and turned away from yours. You could feel how tense he was, your hands tightening more on his as you felt more tears fall off your cheeks. “I want you to turn to me and look me in the eyes, dead in the eyes, and I want you to lie to me. Lie to me, say out loud, ‘No one would miss me if I were to go and die now.’”

Waiting for Dante so say something, you kept your eyes staring at him, and although you were barely able to see anything with the amount of tears that were coming from you, you could see the man’s face unchanging as he continued to stare at the floor away from you. The minute of silence dragged on, your hands not changing their hold on the man as you waited, and only the sound of you sniffing a few times interrupted the silence.

As the tears slowed down, and as Dante slowly turned to look at you, you could see that his face had softened up, his brow still furrowed but his eyes no longer had the anger in them that they had just prior. His mouth opened for a moment, with not sound coming out before he closed it again. You could see his mind working, and as his eyes looked over your whole being, you continued to wait.

It was only when Dante looked over to where Nero and V were, the two far away with the rest of the group, that you also broke your sight. You glanced at the pair into the sides of your sight, and saw them facing away from where you and Dante stood. You only looked for a second before you returned your gaze to Dante, whom kept his eyes on the two in the distance.

“…Nero, V!’ the man called out suddenly. Jumping a bit at the sound, you slowly let one hand go from Dante’s, and brought it up to wipe your face slowly before looking over to the men in the distance. “Let’s go, this way.” Dante said. Sniffing again, you hesitantly released Dante from your grasp, your eyes slowly going back to the man’s face.

“You’ll…be careful, right?” you whispered at Dante. The man nodded, his eyes looking to you after a moment.

“Yeah…and I’ll explain everything when I get back.” He said. As Nero and V neared you both, Dante turned around, his arm going up to give you a backwards wave as the three took off to fight Urizen.

You felt terrible, your eyes were still letting some tears fall from them as the group walked away, and your heart hurt to see Dante walk off again. But you knew this was what needed to happen to save the city and the world from Urizen’s destruction.

You slowly turned around, only fully turning away from the area you were watching when the group of men disappeared, and you returned to the rest of group, your head reeling with wondering why Dante could have needed to go fight the demon lord alone. You knew Dante would tell you everything soon, and his words were your only comfort as you made your way out of the Qliphoth tree with the others.

Except, that explanation would never fully come from Dante, and as the Qliphoth began to shake the ground as you, Lady, Trish, and Nico tried to escape, panic began to set into everyone. As you all ran back to the van, Dante appeared from above, landing just behind Lady and Trish as you tried not to fall over when you reached the van.

His appearance was quick, one only lasting a few minutes as he explained that his brother, Vergil, had returned and that he needed to go stop him. It was shocking, hearing that Vergil was back after all these years, with no sign of him being seen in such a long time.

Your eyes stayed on Dante the whole short time he was near you, and you didn’t say anything as he spoke. Watching as a weapon appeared over your shoulder, you saw Dante catch the Kalina Ann II that was sitting inside the van earlier. As he looked over it, Lady tried to complain about her weapon being rented out, but Dante quickly shut her down before telling everyone to leave.

It was as the man was walking away, you standing in the door of the van, that you called out to him, your voice softer than you meant. He turned his head to you, your eyes meeting only for a moment.

“…I lov—” The van lurched forward, the door slamming in your face as Nico yelled at you. You tumbled over, your arms barely catching onto the shelf next to you as you tried to adjust to the movement.

The van rolled down the Qliphoth, the ground shaking an incredible amount as everything began to collapse. Hearing Nico shout out her window as the scenery flew past outside the window, Trish turned around from where she stood in the front, quickly commanding you to open the door.

You obliged, throwing open the door by the handle, and you gasped when Trish about threw herself out the door. You quickly grasped onto her arm, confused at what she was doing until she yanked Nero into the car, his breathing erratic as he and Trish pull fell to the floor on the Van. You fell to the floor near them, the movement of a whole body coming into the van suddenly pushing you back along with the bouncing of the van.

“Where’s Dante!?” Nero called out before he did anything else. He looked around the van sporadically, almost like he was expecting Dante to appear suddenly.

“He’s got this! We gotta go, now!” Trish yelled out, her body slowly lifting up as she tried to reach the door of the van.

“So, this guy Vergil, you know him?” Nero asked, his voice lower than before.

“Vaguely, yes.” Trish replied as she pulled herself to her feet slowly. You mirrored her, quickly pulling yourself up from the ground with the help of the nearby shelf again. It was just as you had gotten your footing sound that the van hit a large bump, the entire vehicle shaking and sending you back to the ground again. This time, instead of sitting up, you just remained on the ground, your arms pushing on the walls nearby to keep you from sliding about.

“Dante said that guy’s my father… What the hell’s going on, Trish!?” you heard Nero say. Lifting your head a little, you saw Nero, his face showing the same anger and pain that his voice held in it.

“His logic is sound… I had a hunch myself.” Trish admitted, her eyes turning down and away from Nero as she spoke.

“This doesn’t make any SENSE!” Nero screamed, his arm flying behind him to hit the van, the crash hardly being felt by the entirety of the van still shaking violently around everyone. There was a moment of silence after Nero hit the van, his hands coming up as his body hunched forward.

“I know you hate Vergil,” Trish finally said, looking back at the man as he leaned over the nearby jukebox. “But you can’t kill your own father.” Looking at Trish and then at Nero, you could see the pain in Nero’s movements, his hands clenching the top of the jukebox as his shoulders and body tensed up.

“She’s right!” Lady said at Nero. “You’d never recover from that.” Seeing the man not turn nor see any relaxation in his figure, Lady continued speaking slowly as she tried to rest a hand on Nero, “Now you can put all this behind you—”

“Nico! Stop the car!” Nero screamed out suddenly, his arm coming up and swinging Lady’s away as he turned around and threw himself toward the front of the Van. Trish stopped him, however, and you quickly scrambled to your feet as you tried tto move near the front of the van.

“No chance! After all this, are you insane!?” Nico yelled at Nero, her head only turning around for a second to see the enraged man being held back by Trish still. Trying to walk past Lady, you stumbled a bit, bumping into her and grabbing onto her arm as you tried to catch your footing again.

Nero stood in the center of the van, his movements quick and stiff as noises of frustration left him, his body turning quickly and sharply as he looked around at the van.

“Fine.” Nero finally said, his movements slowing down a little bit. “I’ll go by myself!” It happened in a second, and it took you a moment to react, but as Nero threw him at the door and to outside, you cried out, your arms reaching ahead of you as Trish grabbed you, quickly holding you from flying out as she herself reached out and called for Nero as well. Lady, too, reached out the door, her eyes only catching a small bit of Nero as he disappeared up the Qliphoth tree.

You could barely hear anything as the wind flew over you and into the van, but you could feel your eyes letting tears fall into the gusts of air as you watched Nero disappear. You called out to him again, your ears unable to hear yourself as you felt despair overtake you at the thought of losing another piece of your family today.

Soon, Trish pulled you and Lady inside, her hands resting on your shoulders gently as she saw you cry. She tried to reassure you that they would be back soon, and that Dante and Nero were more than capable of helping each other out and keeping the other safe.

But even at her comfort, and even with Lady holding you as you watched Nero descend from the remains of the Qliphoth tree after its collapse, his eyes refusing to look at yours as he returned alone, your tears did not stop. You pulled yourself free from Lady’s hold, her arms hanging in the air for a second as you ran toward Nero, your own breathing now erratic as you neared the man.

Still, he refused to look at you, and as you stopped right before him, your tears finally ceasing their presence, your eyes heavy and swollen and unable to continue to cry.

Nero explained what happened, his voice soft as he spoke. You listened intently, your eyes never leaving him as he spoke, even as Lady, Trish, and Nico walked up next to you. As he finished talking, you slowly lifted your arms up, gently taking a step forward toward Nero as you tried to meet his eye.

He refused to look though, only lifting his arms a little bit instead. You stepped all the way forward, slowly wrapping your arms around him as you firmly hugged him. Nero tried to speak again, stopping when a small strangled noise left your throat as you hugged him, your face buried in his shoulder. His hands finally rested over your back, gently holding you as you continued to stand, unable to cry anymore at what had happened.

“I’m…” you started to say, stopping a moment as you sniffled, “…I’m so glad you’re okay, Nero…” Nero rubbed your back gently, and you felt his head finally turn to look at you, before it turned to look at the rest of the group.

You only hugged Nero for a minute before you let him go, your hands coming up to rub your face slowly. Once you felt your face feel more presentable to show, you turned around, slowly looking over the girls nearby.

“…are you ready to go home?” Trish asked after a few seconds, her eyes turning from Nero to you. You nodded gently, slowly wiping under your nose as you began to walk to her.

“Yeah, I am…I need to clean the store up a bit since I’m going to have quite a bit of time to focus on deep cleaning now.”

A/N Continued: This whole thing was written around me typing out '“You’re so careless that you can’t even realize that people care about you! So I want you to look at me, look at me dead in the eye and lie, say out loud “No one would miss me if I were to die.”' I re-wrote the argument between reader and Dante like 4 times so HOPEFULLY it isn't too awkward This is a complete work I guess. Who knows, if DMC6 ever comes out and tells what happens to the 2 dorks in hell, maybe I could keep this going. Or just make an AU/do a story on what I think happens? Idk, I could pick this up right as Morrison talks to Trish and Lady in the store...

#Devil May Cry #DMC #Dante #Reader #Fanfic #Myfic #My Story #DMC Fanfic #Dante/Reader #Text post #Read more #Angst #Second person

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lulusoblue · 6 years

Text

So I read the English summary of the Deadly Fortune novelisations of DMC4 and found these tidbits interesting. Chances are there’s people who already know this stuff but what the hell:

Nero

Is supposedly around 16-17 years old by the time of DMC4 (or at least the novelised version).

In-universe, Nero was named for the dark blanket he was swaddled in when discovered. Meta reason is the devs wanted to change his name from Rodan because they felt it sounded too intellectual after changing up his character, and Nero stuck.

All of the other reindeer children taunted Nero by saying he was the bastard child of a prostitute, because he was left at Fortuna’s orphanage as a baby and nobody knew of any pregnant woman in the city whose baby just disappeared. It’s a small island.

Credo and Kyrie’s parents took a liking to Nero because his white hair reminded them of the one they worshipped (Sparda). They died during the first demon attack on Fortuna City, and it was this event that caused Nero to lose any faith in god and become an atheist.

Nero joined the Order because he looked up to Credo and wanted to follow in his footsteps. Credo also taught Nero how to sword fight.

^ This point is interesting because it changes how you can view Nero’s relationship with Credo. It’s no longer “big brother thinks little sister’s boyfriend is a dick”, it’s actually “surrogate big brother figure is tired and wants Nero to stop being a little shit and sit up straight during a sermon goshdangit”. Also, Nero, an atheist teenage dirtbag with a gun (see below) and a bad attitude, is still a knight of the Order because of nepotism.

The Order doesn’t like that Nero uses a firearm because Sparda wasn’t depicted using firearms. Nero knew this and built Blue Rose anyway (which actually has a reason for double the bullet other than because it looks cool. still looks cool)

The blue ghost/spirit that projects behind Nero during his Devil Trigger isn’t Sparda or Vergil: it’s Nero’s soul.

In the novel, when Nero has been stabbed by Agnus and is knocking on death’s door, he has a dream sequence where he talks to an unknown man (psht yeah right it’s Vergil) who asks him what his soul wants. Nero says “you first” and Unknown (Vergil) says “Power.” Nero shrugs and says “yeah same I guess”

^ Real talk though, with this and the in-game monologue Nero gives when he gets Yamato and activates his Devil Trigger for the first time, there’s a similarity and a difference between him and Vergil. Vergil sought power to surpass his father, while Nero seeks power to protect the one he loves (Kyrie).

Starts his own demon-hunting business at the end of Deadly Fortune, and receives a Devil May Cry neon sign from Dante for said business. Both of these we see are canon if we judge from the DMC5 trailer.

Dante

Doesn’t keep hold of his devil arms for long, he usually sells them to a dealer to help pay off his debts (which is a nod to the anime it seems)

“Hitting up a couple of tourist sites” IS what Dante ended up doing instead of taking out the Order right away. Looking for what Fortuna had on/thought of his father, sure, but goddammit Dante.

Doesn’t really care about confirming if Nero is Vergil’s son or not, he seems fine knowing that there’s another potential descendant of Sparda in the world.

Actually had Gilgamesh, Pandora, and Lucifer prior to the events of the game. Trish stole them to gift them to the Order as Gloria to get bonus points in trust.

Obtains and uses said devil arms before defeating Echidna, Bael, and Berial. He performed the greatest scene ever (the Lucifer attack) on a very confused Berial instead of the Hell Gate.

Presumably still in debt from his bad luck in the anime series.

Sensed Nero’s power from Fortuna Castle when Nero’s DT first activated, apparently enough to trigger his own DT for a split second. The reasoning given seems to be that it’s a power felt by others of the same blood/bloodline.

Knew how to use Yamato by just imitating what he remembered Vergil doing. Comments on himself using Yamato at one point saying “not bad for an imitation”, so I can only imagine how many pieces the last Hell Gate would end up in if Vergil had done his own handiwork.

Vergil

Was as Extra™ in his flashback interaction with Sanctus as most people write him to be. Like he actually asks Sanctus “Who will you worship if someone proves themselves stronger than your Saviour? Because lemme tell ya I wanna be the very best like no-one ever was, to surpass my father is my real test, to kick my brother’s ass is my cause” etc.

^ He was also like 17 or something when this happened so his Extra™ potential was arguably close to its peak.

Bad news: we still don’t have a clue who he banged for Nero to be conceived, so we don’t get an idea of what kind of badass demon-hybrid impressing human(?) woman got Vergil’s fancy.

Good news: we still don’t have a clue who he banged for Nero to be conceived, so fanon can still go nuts until maybe next year.

Kyrie

Around a year older than Nero.

Had to be the one to tell the remaining residents of Fortuna what had actually, presumably because no-one was going to believe anything a grumpy teenager with a demon arm said on this island.

Most people believed what Kyrie had told them (some information being given to her from Nero to fill in gaps).

There were a few people who actually called Kyrie a liar about what the Order was really planning. These people went on to believe that the Order died protecting the island from demons. (These people are what I personally call Losers)

She and Nero are confirmed to be living in an apartment together by the end of the novel.

Kyrie went on to help people recover from the demon attack while Nero was starting his demon hunting business.

Kyrie encourages Nero not to hide his demon arm anymore, which he was hesitant about for fear of public rejection.

Cinnamon roll too good for this world, too pure. That’s not in the novel I just wanted to clarify this fact.

Lady

Actually got Dante for the Fortuna job because their Nelo Angelos were kill-stealing from her. This happened for a while.

Instead of bringing just the one roll of cash, in the novel she goes the next step: she brings ALL the money from the job and just deducts from the total for things like damages, having to hire boats, getting Lady to assist in protecting the civilians, and for the fact that things escalated the way the way they did.

Trish

Stole some devil arms the Order had in storage. Even if she and Dante ended up with that one roll of cash, at least they have stuff to sell to make up for it.

Devil Arms

This I did not know because I have yet to play DMC3. Devil Arms form out of two methods, if I understand this right:

The defeated demon recognises they have been bested, and willingly offers their power to their opponent in the form of a weapon. (This is supposedly seen with the likes of Cerberus in DMC3)

The defeated demon knows in their heart that they have been bested, and gets transformed into a weapon unwillingly. (Lucifer is said to be an example of this in the novel)

#devil may cry #devil may cry 4 #nero (dmc)#dante (dmc)#vergil (dmc)

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yeehawdante · 4 years

Text

Heaven on a Landslide pt. 10

May 3rd, 8:08 p.m.

The office was silent, almost empty save for Dante who was nodded off at his desk, a bad habit of his when Penelope wasn’t around to drag him to bed. The silence was broken by Morrison’s distance whistling, growing closer with every passing second until the door was opened. Dante pulled the magazine down from his face just enough to look at him, letting out a sigh.

“You could’ve at least knocked Morrison, never know what you’re gonna walk in on,” Morrison eyed the obvious love bites that trailed down Dante’s neck and disappeared under his collar with a chuckle.

“I’ve got a pretty good idea,” he fanned himself with his hat and gazed around the dark office, “where is the little lady anyway?” Dante let out another sigh, tossing the magazine onto his desk.

“Just went out on a job yesterday,” that definitely explained why the office was in such disarray. Penny usually kept the office somewhat clean, or rather forced Dante to clean up after himself for once.

“Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news…” He walked over to the worn out leather sofa, “pick your poison, which you wanna hear first?”

“Just speak,” Dante let out a yawn.

“Bad news it is,” Morrison took a seat, “Lady Patty’s feathers are ruffled. See, she wants to invite you to her birthday party, but your phone is disconnected,” Dante chuckled sarcastically.

“You’re a smart one, Morrison. You notice the electric and water are out, too?”

“I expected nothing less,” Morrison wasn’t sure how Dante got along those years Penny wasn’t around. Seemed like she could only be gone for an hour and something would go wrong.

“So, what’s the good news?”

“Oh, I got a gig. Cash, up front,” the legendary devil hunter sat up straight, interest clearly peaked.

“Cash up front? This, I like. The water needs turning on and those toilets need flushing before Penny gets back and kills me.” Morrison rose from his seat and tossed an envelope onto the cluttered desk.

“Water, gas, and power...comin’ outta your cut. You’re a real agency now.” Just as Morrison lit his cigar, the office came to life. Music flooded the room from the jukebox, soft yellow light illuminating the room and amplifying the mess, and the air conditioning mercifully kicked on. The phone immediately began ringing, and Dante lifted the receiver to his ear with a smile.

“Devil May Cry-”

“Dante, Dante!” The white haired man grimaced at the shrill voice of Patty shouting into his ear, holding the phone away from him and giving Morrison an incredulous look, “do you have any idea how many times I’ve tried to call? Like a zillion!” Morrison chuckled, “Oh my god, tonight’s my birthday party! Yeahhhh!! I’m turning 18, not a little kid-” Dante slammed the phone down with a sigh. Thank god Penny wasn’t home, he’d been getting another whole earful.

Dante groaned when the phone rang again, yanking the cord out of the phone and revelling in the silence for a moment.

“Okay, Morrison, I’ll take you up on that gig. But only if you can get me out of that hellish birthday party.”

“Consider your RSVP declined,” Dante pumped his fist in the air. As if they were waiting for their queue, someone came walking through the door as Morrison said, “meet your new client.” A thin man adorned with tons of tattoos leant against the wall, a book in hand and a cane in the other. He looked like someone from one of the bands Penny listened to when she was younger.

“Listen, I’m gonna find Lady and Trish. Bring them in on this,” Dante tore his eyes away from his strange client to glare at Morrison.

“What? C’mon, you don’t think I can handle this gig on my own?”

“It’s a big job...Big job, Dante. You’re gonna need the help,” and with that, Dante was alone with the dark haired man.

“So, what’s your name?” The man didn’t look away from his book as he walked over.

“I have no name; I am but two days old…” before Dante could make any sort of snarky remark, the man closed his book and smiled, “just kidding, you can call me V.”

“Okay V…” Dante leaned back in his chair, “why don’t you tell me everything about this job?”

…

So it was true, Vergil was back. Dante knew deep down, of course, Nero wouldn’t be around if he wasn’t. But to actually hear it out loud, that didn’t sit well with him. He sat with his chin rested on his hand, tapping a finger against his leg. He couldn’t stop running through it in his head, picking at the details to expose one tiny flaw in V’s story that would tell him that dramatic bastard was lying to his face but no such luck.

V stood by patiently, leaning on his cane as his eyes scanned the pages of the book in his hand. Dante finally spoke up after a long beat of silence.

“I’ll help you...but under one condition,” the tattooed man’s eyebrows raised slightly, “my partner can’t know about this.”

“Partner?”

“Penny, she’s out on a job right now but-” Dante sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Something about V’s expression shifted, seemingly dumbfounded before looking somewhat bitter. Dante decided the reason wasn’t important for the moment. “She can’t know,” it made his stomach twist uncomfortably when he thought about lying to Penny. But the guy was the father of her son, and a long time ago she even loved him, he couldn’t let her carry that weight of hurting him. It was better she didn’t know.

“Vergil’s lover, I see why you would want her to remain unknowing,” Dante narrowed his eyes. Ex lover...and how did he even know that? He scrubbed a hand down his face, somehow one of the hardest things about his asshole brother being back was having to keep it from her.

June 15th, 10:06 a.m.

Penelope surely knew what V was by now, and a small part of him ached with regret in knowing she would despise him from them on. That didn’t matter anymore, for he truly doubted that she would emerge from the fight against Urizen victorious. He mentally shook himself, he had more pressing matters to attend to. The devil sword Sparda was close. He couldn’t allow himself to remain distracted any longer.

After a bit of travelling and facing a few new threats, the sword’s presence had grown incredibly strong. V came upon the dancing demons his feathered companion had mentioned earlier, watching them gruesomely worship Sparda in the midst of a puddle of blood. He actually smiled when he looked up to see the Sparda lodged into the wall above, satisfied that something had finally gone the way he planned.

“Whoa, this is like some kind of ritual shindig, isn’t it?” Griffon flew closer to the masked demons, catching their attention,”You guys got the dance fever for Sparda, don’t you?” They were suddenly much more interested in the poet and his demon pet, closing in on them hungrily. “Whoa, easy on the dance floor there, partner.”

“I’ll be taking that back,” the tattooed man pointed at the legendary sword with his cane before turning his attention back to the demons in his way, tapping his cane against the palm of his hand. “You know your endless worshipping isn’t making the Sparda any happier.”

The masked atrocities proved to be more difficult than V had anticipated, even managing to get a few hits in with their strange and unpredictable movements. But eventually the eyesores were eradicated and the only thing keeping him from that sword was a root. He plunged his cane into the opposing root with a grunt, the collapsing of the tower thundered all around him and he watched the sword plummet to the ground with a clang. His breathing grew unsteady with anticipation as he tossed his cane aside and approached the weapon. His thin fingers wrapped around the hilt, and he sucked in a deep breath through his nose as he tried to lift it. He rose to his feet, willing his arms to lift the damn thing but they shook pathetically under the stress. The sword dropped back to the ground as he panted.

“It seems this sword is still too strong for me…” Griffon appeared at his side.

“So close though, so close.” He hovered in front of him, “you’ve got a lot of heart, kid, you really do, but you’re a bit of a sissy in the strength department,” the demon bird cackled but cut himself off quickly, “hey, hey, no offense, you know.” V knew what he had to do, he just wondered if he would be too late.

“Penelope’s child, Nero...he has the strength,” a sudden roar from his less chatty companion pulled his attention away from the sword.

“It speaks!” Griffon taunted slightly, and V noticed the demon cat was peering over the edge of the cliff. He got to his feet and managed to drag the sword with him to see what Shadow was bringing his attention to. He followed the demon’s gaze, the sword almost dropping from his hands at what he found.

“Dante…” Griffon didn’t waste any time flying down to investigate. The man’s usual white hair was practically dyed red from all the blood, along with his clothes. Thunder rumbled up above as a smile crept on V’s face, there was some hope after all.

V jumped down to where the legendary devil hunter was, grabbing him from his almost deathbed of Qliphoth roots and laying him on his back on the ground. Griffon perched next to the unconscious man, letting out a near delirious laugh.

“I don’t even have the words, I-He’s alive, he’s alive!”

“The devil sword Sparda was concealing Dante’s presence,” V gazed down at the sword in his hand thoughtfully.

“How does one friggin’ guy have so much luck, huh?!” A clang sounded through the otherwise silent area when V suddenly let his cane drop to the ground, pulling his companion’s attention away from Dante.

“Uhhh, V?” Griffon started to panic when V gripped both hands around the Sparda’s hilt, dragging the sword closer to Dante, “no no no, get a grip on yourself now, c’mon!” His words had no effect on the poet, his emerald eyes seemingly alight with fury.

“If only you could defeat Urizen,” his voice was hardly above a whisper, “If only...no.”

“V? No, no no…”

“If only you never existed,” his breathing had become labored under the stress of wielding the sword and the pure anger flowing through his veins. He used all of his strength to lift the sword over Dante’s head, “then I-”

“Don’t do it V!” Griffon rose to flutter above Dante’s unmoving body, “no, no no!” Just as V moved to impale the sword through the man on the ground, Dante’s eyes shot open and V’s movements came to a harsh halt. V quickly planted the sword in the ground beside Dante’s head, doing his best to smile even though he’d been two seconds away from ending him.

Dante tilted his head slightly, his gaze flicking to the sword mere centimeters away from his face. He sat up with a grunt as V collapsed to the ground behind him.

“For a second there I thought you were gonna shishkebab me,” V almost rolled his eyes, of course Dante’s first words are a joke.

“I know how stubborn you can be. I thought it might be the only way to wake you,” he didn’t even try to sound like he was telling the truth.

“What day is it?”

“The 15th...of June.” Dante let out a long sigh, grimacing slightly before chuckling.

“A month?” He grunted as he struggled to his feet, stretching his arms over his head, “no wonder I’m so stiff.” The distinct sound of wings fluttering approached fast, Griffon suddenly right in Dante’s face as he stretched out his stiffened muscles.

“Right, sunshine, now put a fire under it. We gotta get going ‘cause that annoying pimple Nero is making a beeline for Urizen. And if he gets there, he’s gonna-” Griffon squawked in surprise when Dante suddenly gripped him by his throat, tossing him away, “smashed like a bug!” Dante turned around to face V.

“Hey, this is my gig. Leave Nero out of this-” Dante paused, and V could practically see the gears turning in his head as he pieced missing parts of the puzzle together. “If Nero’s going for Urizen, where’s Penny?” V pursed his lips.

“Where do you think that stubborn woman is?” Dante glared a hole through the thin man in front of him, veins standing out in his neck.

“So...you’re telling me that not only is my girlfriend’s son getting himself killed, but so’s my girlfriend?” He approached V slowly as he spoke, his jaw visibly clenched. The man in front of him gave him an odd look, narrowing his eyes questioningly.

“Is the boy not yours?” Dante rested against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.

“No,” he said firmly before letting out a sigh, shaking his head, “why’d you let her get involved? We agreed she needed to be left out and now she’s out there face to face with him!”

“If you could defeat Urizen...then she would have never felt the need to get involved,” V rose to his feet, “she’s been eager to avenge you.” He retrieved his discarded cane, “But Urizen is much stronger than we ever could have imagined... Our last hope Nero was completely useless,” V was lucky Penny wasn’t there to hear him talk about her son like that, Dante could still recall all the swords she’d thrown at him for the smallest remarks against her precious brat.

“And with the way Penelope spoke, her son is much stronger than she,” V let out a bitter laugh, “so I can’t imagine she will be of much use either,” Dante uncrossed his arms, rubbing the back of his neck.

“She’s...she doesn’t give herself enough credit. She can hold her own,” he was saying it more to reassure himself than V. He shook off the worry digging into his chest, “all right, enough’s enough.” He walked over to where the Sparda was stuck in the ground, lifting it with an ease that V couldn’t help but envy, “can’t let a boy do a man’s job,” he rested the sword on his shoulder.

“Hey, wait...I’m not done talking yet-” V’s strained voice was cut off when he stumbled to the ground. It seemed he had used up his last bit of strength to wield the Sparda for that short time. Dante stopped to look at him for a moment.

“Okay, you get some rest. By the way...I guess I owe you one.” Dante continued onward, he couldn’t say he was surprised Penny got involved but...god did he hate how stubborn she could be sometimes.

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Penelope was sent flying back by a gigantic explosion, freeing her from the tendrils slowly choking the life out of her. She rolled backward until she slammed harshly into a wall, hissing when the impact sent white hot shocks of pain up her spine. She looked to her son, who had fallen unconscious as she coughed and sputtered.

“Who dares interfere?” Urizen boomed, bringing the wounded woman’s attention to her savior. An unfamiliar demon hovered in front of the demon king, something familiar resonating from him. The fiery creature was easily dwarfed by the demon in front of him, but somehow he managed to give off a much more intimidating aura. Tendrils shot through the air toward the winged demon, only to be caught and torn from Urizen’s oversized body. “What creature stands against a king?!”

Penelope struggled to her feet, her muscles screaming in protest but she needed to get her son to safety while she still could. She gazed up into her rescuer’s back, now that her brain had regained its oxygen she felt she could think clearly. Her heart hammered in her ears as she realized she recognized the demon’s presence, almost collapsing once again when everything became clear. She covered her mouth with her hand, something between a sob and a laugh clawing up her throat as she backed up towards her son as best she could with her limbs trembling so violently. But for the first time in a whole month, it wasn’t fear that had her shaking, it was pure, unbridled joy. She lifted her unconscious son onto her back, unable to fight off the smile tugging at her lips. She blinked away her tears as she looked up at Dante.

“It took you long enough,” she backed up toward the exit, seemingly unable to tear her eyes away from him, “don’t take much longer, you hear me? Win for me,” Dante turned his head slightly to look at her before she sprinted out of the room, a new burst of energy sprouting from the new hope she felt swelling in her heart.

The ground started to shake violently as she ran ahead and she nearly lost her balance, Nero’s weight only adding to the difficulty of her movements. She pushed on despite the struggle, pressing forward until she came upon a familiar van. She breathed out a sigh of relief when Nico came bursting out the door, big brown eyes blown wide.

“Holy shit, you two look awful,” Penelope chuckled.

“It’s good to see you too,” she grunted, carrying Nero inside and placing him on the couch. She collapsed on the floor right next to the couch, taking a much needed breather as Nico stood by rather anxiously.

“What happened? You’re bleedin’ all over the place,” it was only then she remembered she had been impaled. She waved Nico off with a tired smile.

“It’ll close up in a sec, just need...some rest,” she leaned her head against the couch behind her and closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath. She was lulled to sleep by her son’s steady breathing, her last thought being how grateful she was that she was lucky enough to even still be hearing it.

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