#i want to get proper help because this has happened to me my entire life

[holyviolence]

omg i spent the whole day cleaning my entire apartment because my family was coming to visit and 1) so so so happy my adhd is being medicated now it's literally changing my life and 2) i FINALLLY got through to my dad about how he probably has ADHD too!!!!! he finally said Yeah i think i might have adhd. and my mom was like Me too (we've had this talk privately before, she knows she has adhd too lol) And my brother is literally transferring to a different school because he can't concentrate and isn't disciplined at his current uni. adhd family.

#literally thank goodness my brother was here to like Perfectly describe in real time what happens to adhd people when they go to college for #the first time. there's less structure and you fall apart. i used that as an opportunity. #i've slowly slowly slowly been chipping away at my Entire family btw. i've finally convinced my dad that medication is a GOOD THING. #i said You know. there's a lot in life that you feel like you Have to live with. but being on meds has made life so much easier and happier. #and that's when my dad finally said it. #:^) sometimes i like..... think about my family and how complicated i feel because growing up was super tough with all of them but now they #are all better people..... and i can't help but feel proud because as much as it is ABSOLUTELY great job for THEM for getting there But i #also feel uhhh partly responsible because i was constantly calling them out for shit. not always in the best way #but always standing up for others and challenging them on their worldviews and just casually talking about more liberal (as in free. not #politically) things. yes i do feel like if it wasn't for me my family would be worse people #i KNOW one of my brothers would be because he literally told me so. and it makes me happy. it is proof that my life is worthy and i have a #good impact on the world. it doesn't have to be a big thing i do to change things..... because i believe in the Ripple Effect #my dad is a teacher and he uses the proper pronouns for his trans students without complaint now. that has a good impact on SO many people #the trans students and their classmates who hear their teacher respect them. my brother is no longer homophobic he's bi lol and #if i hadn't argued with him about what bisexuality meant bc he was Wrong when i was 18 and he was 16... i wonder.... #my younger sister is one of the nicest kids i've ever met and i partly raised her. it feels great to see her be such a good kid #her best friend is a trans girl and when she first came out my sister was one of two people in their class who still wanted to be #her friend. #idk. just inspires me to keep being the best person i can be & always do what's right even if it makes people mad #bc no one can hurt me as much as my family has traumatized me (lol) and look what happened to them!! i didn't give up! and i see real change

[reticent-writer]

Hi Can I Ask for a Scenario of the Hashiras (Apart from Rengoku, Shinbou) With Their Father Figure Discovering They Are Blood Relatives and Being Their Real Father.

Which Was Separated From Them. I'd Love To See Sanemi Discovering That The Monstrous "Father" He Had Isn't The Real One And Obanai Discovering That His "Family" Stole Him From His True Parents And The Fact Of Obanai Discovering He Was Loved By His Real Parents.

They Deserve So Much Love Please.

I've had this picture for a while and been wanting to use it.

An: for fathers figures I go with their occupation from other fics.

Mitsuri's ff is a Baker. Giyuu and Rengoku's is a retired hashira. Shinobu's is a doctor. Obanai, muichirou, sanemi and tengen are people from their past.

demon slayer master list

✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･**･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　

Sanemi

When Sanemi was younger you would constantly visit him and his siblings, oftentimes helping his mother with his "father" when he was drunk. Sanemi and his siblings were yours.

You hated seeing how Kyogo would treat your kids, but you vowed not to say a word because Shizu did not want to tell him that they weren't his.

Unfortunately, you weren't there when tragedy struck.

You came clean when everything settled down. Genya was ecstatic but Sanemi was about to beat your ass.

"You let us deal with that asshole for YEARS and said NOTHING!" He screamed as he pounded on your chest.

"I'm so sorry, Your mother swore me to secrecy. I wanted to tell you so bad." You said, catching his wrists as he tried to punch you. You could barely see his frustrated and tear-stained face right before he pushed it into your chest.

This poor 14-year-old boy had lost his mom and siblings but at least now he has a proper father.

"I'm glad your my actual dad." He muttered as his arms fell limp.

"Me too."

Obanai

When Obanai was born he was immediately taken away from you and your wife, who unfortunately just passed from birth complications. Being in the infamous Obanai clan is hell on earth.

They didn't care that he was your son, what mattered to them was that he was the only born blood male of the entire clan.

(ya know when your family thinks that they are entitled to something you own just because they're family) Obanai grew up just thinking you were a father figure who called him son. You were always there for him especially when he was still in the clan's clutches. While he was with the clan you told him many stories, one of which is about your wife and that she was pregnant but had complications and died during labor, but you never said what happened to the baby.

Today you were watching him train, he looked a bit off, like he had something on his mind.

"Hi son, did you eat today?" You ask interrupting his training with bento boxes in hand.

"No."

"Come eat I made lunch." You beckon him over with a wave of your hand and he listened.

He sat next to you and asked, "What happened with your baby?

All you could do was look at him. It just came out of the blue. You were tongue-tied and didn't know what to say.

"My child?"

"Yeah, what happened to him? You never told me you always stopped the story after your wife died." He asked again. You had to tell him eventually, why not now?

"Well, my son was taken from me, but I still got to watch him grow up. Unfortunately, I couldn't save him from getting hurt. A snake demon didn't like his uniqueness and wanted to make him more like her, She had the clan slit his mouth."

Your words marrinated in Iguro's mind as he realized you narrated his childhood.

"I'm sorry I never told you. I was scared of your reaction."

He didn't respond, instead he scooted a little closer and laid his head on your shoulder and started to eat.

It felt like an entirety before he said something, "thank you... For everything."

Giyuu

You were absent for most of his life, he only knew you existed from letters you'd send him and his sister.

He didn't know what you did, where you lived or if you had a second family, so when he met you he didn't think you were his father. More like someone who looked out for him while he took your spot as the water hashira.

He only found out because he went to your house and found a picture of his sister on a offering table in a spare room.

"Hey who's this?" He asked and you walked into the small room.

"My daughter. I wasn't there to save her but my son is an excellent fighter, a hashira."

Giyuu just stared at you. His eyes starting to tear up

"Are you alright?" You tried to comfort him but he backed away and covered his face with his hands.

"I'm fine this room is just dusty."

"Okay." You chuckled and patted his back.

In a blink of an eye and turned to face you and hug you.

If any other Hashira were present they'd certainly tease him.

✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･**･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　

#male reader #demon slayer x reader #kny x reader #sanemi x reader #obanai x reader #giyuu x reader #reticent writes #reticent writer

[sgiandubh]

This is a thank you, not an ask. I guess I would be classified as a lurker in the Tumbler world since I primarily only read what others write.  But I did make a comment to you once and you responded so you made me feel comfortable enough that I could send this to you.  Shippers have unknowingly been helping me stay sane these past few years.  My husband has Alzheimer’s with Aphasia and I have been his sole caretaker for a long time.  Having this responsibility is not for the faint of heart. One day in early 2019 I stumbled across Outlander and like a lot of others, was in, hook, line and sinker and Jamie & Claire and Sam & Cait became part of my daily life.  Last week I had to place my husband in a memory care facility.  It was an agonizing decision and I prayed for a sign that this was the right move.  As stupid as this may sound, I think my prayer was answered.  On the second day he made a friend.  His name is Jamie.  Only in the Outlander world would this have any meaning, but we've now got a sweet Jamie in our lives.  You may officially call me crazy.  Thank you to you and all the other shippers for all the smiles and happiness you've brought to me and many others. It kept me going.

Dear @jovialchaoslover,

By all means, do not thank me, even if I felt incredibly moved and honored by your submission, on behalf of the entire OL Shipper community. In fact, I should thank you, because for all those name calling and finger pointing Anons, you get to read something as genuine, moving and personal. These moments are rare and precious (and should remain so). They make you feel useful, in a very unexpected way.

You are one of those daily life unsung heroes and I want you to know that you are probably way stronger than you would ever think. I can only imagine the kind of experience you are now going through, even if I am (like many daughters, all around the world) only too aware of the cruelty with which old age sometimes disfigures beloved family members. I have only a remote idea of my own grandmother's quick descent into dementia and death, but I do have a very direct experience of the grueling toll it took on our family. Especially on my own mother, who let everything go and cared for her until the very last moment.

With the proper care solution in place, you will find yourself with a lot of time on your hands. A spare time you perhaps forgot existed. Please (I urge you) use it wisely and never forget this is all about you. You more than deserve it and the moment is now. I may know a thing or two about emptiness and void. They are incredibly enticing and treacherous. Please try and do something for you every single day. It does not matter if it is important or completely futile: it is about YOU and changing the angle will change everything. Remember the wonderful woman I am sure you are and try to reconnect with her. I can promise you she is not very far and I bet she misses you, too.

Last but not least, let me tell you that I will never call you crazy for having shared that Jamie story with us. I think it was very brave of you and I can confidently tell you it even has a name. What you experienced is called synchronicity and it is part of the tiny and personal magic of daily life. People as serious as Carl Gustav Jung dedicated their life to try and make some sense of this. And it all started with one of his patients (he was a shrink) describing a very vivid, recurrent dream of hers, that featured a scarab beetle. At the very same time, they both saw a scarab beetle (uncharacteristically) tapping on the window. The woman was not instantly cured (psychoanalysis does not exactly work like this), but it helped both of them overcome a very frustrating communication barrier.

That Jamie story is a real synchronicity, too, because it is meaningful for you and nobody else. It happened for a reason you are the only one to understand, in time. I could talk about it for hours and link it (as Jung did) with my beloved I Ching or with a couple of dead(ly) serious German philosophers, for some extra gravitas. But I am not going to over-complicate things. You got this. You are strong and brave and believe it or not, I am sure you are also loved by many.

I also think Caitriona Mary Balfe and Sam Roland Heughan should read your ask, finally understand their magic brought solace to many, many people around the world and get their damn act together for Season 8. But that is a different story altogether.

For the rest, if you want, we will be here for you. Me and probably other kind people on this side of the fence. Anytime you want, here or in DM. It may not be much, but it is something.

PS: that may or may not have brought a #silly tear, you know.

#ask #fandom

[kayas-kosmos]

Autism Symbol Dragon.

This is the autism symbol as a dragon. I did this to represent the influence my autism has on my art. This is a public domain drawing and anyone can use it for any reason.

I really like the infinity autism symbol over all others, especially the Godawful puzzle piece. It really encapsulates the diversity of our community and how unique every autistic individual is. But I wanted to do a little spin on it by turning it into a dragon to add some extra meaning. A dragon to me is the symbol of the imagination itself, since dragons are so diverse in of themselves and can look like or represent anything. But as well as imagination, I think the dragon also represent resilience and a ferocious passion.

My webcomic is absolutely full of different types of dragon. Here are just a few examples:

(Can you tell dragons are one of my special interests?)

I was diagnosed at about 3 and I've had a very mixed relationship with being autistic until recently. There was a time when I really hated having to bear the label of “autistic” and tried for years to erase that part of me because of the stigma. Being an artist allowed me to get away with being a bit weird because I could chalk it up to just being "an eccentric artist," but there was also the side of me that needed extra accommodations and help, the less glamorous side. I would often push myself to be as neurotypical as I could in these areas and I developed a debilitating fear of becoming a burden on others, to the point where it started damaging my mental health. Eventually, I developed panic attacks due to overworking myself (and struggles with accepting myself as queer), autistic shutdowns became more frequent and this lead to further humiliation and a further disgust towards my autism.

It wasn't until I became a freelancer a few years ago that I realised how much damage trying to hold myself to neurotypical standards was having on me. While being able to work remotely was a dream since it meant not having to deal with the sensory nightmare that is using the local bus service, it also meant I experienced autistic burnout more frequently. Then I came across the autistic community on Twitter, where I started to discover so much about myself and how my brain works.

I also made a lot of incredible friends through this and even had the courage to publicly come out as queer. Now I fully embrace being autistic, even the parts that society deems “unacceptable” like stimming and not making eye contact. I am happy in who I am and no longer see myself as a burden.

Sadly, there is often a discussion about whether autism should be cured or not, a discussion that should absolutely not be happening because autism is not a disease. If you "cured" my autism, you would also remove my art. My art and my autism are inseparable and one does not exist without the other. Autism has given me the ability to think outside the box and traits like my monotropism allow me to hyperfocus on a project until its completion. Having spoken to many autistic creatives throughout my life, a good chunk of our struggles do not come from being autistic itself, rather society’s refusal to accept or accommodate us. Many of us could achieve great things and truly innovate society, but there are too many systemic barriers in the way preventing us from doing so, and no amount of “hard work” or “conquering our disability” (fuck inspiration porn, seriously) can change that because individualistic solutions do not fix systemic problems. Simple solutions such as disability benefits that actually properly cover our living costs, a higher wage for carers of disabled people and proper work accommodations (including the option for remote work) would mean the world of difference for us.

Now personally, I am a bit more radical in my thinking and I believe the current system of Neoliberal Capitalism needs to be done away with entirely because ableism is built into Capitalism itself. This is what has drawn me to ideas such as anarchism and the Solarpunk movement. In particular, I try to live by the "12 principles of Permaculture" to the best of my ability. I think "Embrace Diversity" and "Produce No Waste" can be applied to living as a disabled person, since disabled people are often seen as a waste product under this system and embracing our differences means we are not wasted.

For those of you who have followed me for a while, you may have noticed that my art, like me, is weird. I love to embrace the weird and the quirky. My creatures are whimsical and bizarre. My characters all tend to be quirky outsiders. I have always been drawn to surrealism and absurdism, the work of Salvador Dali in particular really caught my attention.

Art has always been a safe way for me to explore the unusual and alien, and it has been a voice for me when speaking words fail. I use it to explore the things that frighten me and to help process a chaotic world. As weird as my art is, I think the weirdness and absurdity is a reflection of how weird and absurd our modern world is and how little sense it makes to me anymore.

There are often themes of environmentalism and the profound beauty of nature, influenced heavily by growing up in an area of natural beauty. Furthermore, the theme of "empathy for monsters" is a personal favourite. Maybe the reason why there are so many weird, twisted and grotesque monsters and creatures with tragic backstories in my webcomic universe is because I see myself in them - just weird little off-putting things that want compassion and to be understood.

As I have grown as a person, so has my art. The more I learn about my autism, the more I can open up and the better I can express myself.

On a final note, if you would like to support me and the work I do, please consider donating a Ko-Fi. It would really help me push towards my goal of finally launching my webcomic, plus it would also allow me to talk more about important topics surrounding disability, sustainable living and art/creature stuff.

Happy new year, everyone! And especially to all of my autistic and neurodivergent comrades out there.

#autism #actually autistic #neurodivergent #queer autistic #autistic artist #fantasy artist #digital artist #fantasy illustration #autism symbol #infinity symbol #creature design #dragon art #dragon artist #autistic art #autism art #permaculture #solarpunk

[gnomishcunning]

You asked someone to bite the bullet and ask abt Zevlor w a bratty partner and i am here, ate the bullet fucking whole dude. Thoughts and hcs for zev with a bratty reader? 🎤🎤🎤

shoutout to like, the eight of you who showed up in my inbox to ask. please consider this response the consolidated answer.

nsfw below the cut! MDNI

CW FOR: my headcanons bout zevlor's sex life, kink discussion, bdsm, d/s dynamics, sadomasochism, manhandling, breathplay implications, subdrop & domdrop discussion

so i mentioned this in my previous post, but for anybody who didn't witness it - i don't think bdsm is a lifestyle thing for Zevlor. he's been taking care of people his entire life, and while he adores taking care of his partner, he needs to be able to express vulnerability and relax, too.

subsequently, bdsm shenanigans are a special-occasions sex thing, maybe once or twice a month. one of you is going need to broach the subject about a session and from there, requests and preferences for the evening will be laid out, with a safe word agreed upon like, a week beforehand. for the record: he can and will be testing if you remember it

now, onto the good bits

a bratty sub and zevlor's general disposition as a dominant is effectively an unstoppable force meets immovable object hostage scenario, in the hottest and most erotic way possible

let me make this clear: he's never not dotting on you. he's kind and patient. he'll help you through your struggles and work with you to live up to expectations.

but the sweetness you've come to expect from the paladin you've fallen in love with has been put on the backburner. a better word now is mercy, because he will not let you get away with shit.

He's your Commander. it's his job to take responsibility for you and your actions, and he's going to insure you understand the full ramifications of your misbehavior

he tends to meet misbehavior with a funishment to fit the crime.

are you mouthing off? he's going to take away your ability to speak, whether that's through his fingers, his cock, or a gag. are you

ignoring him? he'll put you in a position where it's physically impossible to ignore him, whether it's bondage and shibari, or a blindfold to insure the only things you can focus on are his voice and touch.

denial is a regular tool in his arsenal. you need to behave nicely, or at the very least, submit to the funishments if you want to cum. zevlor's spent decades in tightly-wound control of himself. combine that self-restraint with the way he adores knowing how to please his partner, and he is very capable of bringing you to the very edge of oblivion, only to let it fade off and leave you frustrated.

overstimulation is another tool he utilizes, but in a very specific manner. he isn't the type to immediately increase the speed or strength of his ministrations after you'd cum, it's just...

he's relentless. he lets you cum, brings you down with a few sweet kisses, pets your thighs for a moment, and then... starts up again. he'll ring as many orgasms out of your body as he can manage, and he's not above using magic in the bedroom to make it happen. specifically: lesser restoration (and lay on hands) is among the paladin spell group (at least in 5e). have fun with that.

assuming his partner is a masochist 'corporal punishment', as he affectionately calls it, is on-board for either accidentally disobeying his orders, or playfully, purposefully disobeying. he's kind of the exact opposite of a sadist, but he enjoys the noises you make if you like it, so he's willing to compromise

he usually prefers to put you over his lap for the sake of spanking. he'd introduce a riding crop, after a very long and careful conversation about using said implement.

he'll always have you count. hells help you if you lose it

punishments, like. proper punishments, the type that make you consider the ramifications of your behavior, are only implemented after a very long and careful discussion where you communicate your desire to experience said ramifications.

unfortunately for you, he's creative, and punishments fit the crime. he's undoubtedly had some drill sargent experience, that'll rear it's head here

if you mouth off? be prepared to write lines, a dozen or fifty or a hundred

'I won't whisper filthy things to my Commander in public. I won't whisper filthy things to my Commander in public. I won't whisper filthy things to my Commander in public-'

lazying around when you promised him you'd be busy will be met with playful sparring sessions to "Get your reflexes back on track, love."

usually ending with you pinned to the ground by a hand at your throat (in a good way, you'd usually get fucked there)

if you're just being an obstinate fuck in general?

there's a wooden stool in one corner of your apartment. he can and will put you in time out, forcing you to just... sit there, and think about your thoughts, while he reads on the couch across the room, maybe enjoying a glass of while. look at you! you could've been snuggling with your hot tiefling bf, but no. you acted foolish and now you're in time out. think about what you've done.

regardless of the nature of the session, Zevlor has some staples: his mouth will inevitably find its way onto your body, whether he's teasing you with gentle kisses or bringing you over the edge with his mouth.

he still likes leaving marks behind since you can't tell me he isn't the lightest bit possessive, and it's his primary reason for never bothering with a collar. what could a little band of leather say that the ring of bruises around your neck already doesn't?

ultimately, zevlor's not really a brat-tamer. he's a brat handler. he feels no need to tame you, not when he knows you melt so easily with his attention and his touch.

now, in terms of aftercare...

zevlor's the type of dom to check in constantly, before, during and after - making sure you remember safeword, if what he's doing is okay, if you need a drink of water. this type of behavior occurs more constantly with a bratty partner, since the dynamic can sometimes obscure actual feelings and brats have a tendency to be a threat to their own health.

zevlor can also go from hot commanding officer to loving, doted partner in an instant. they're two different sides of the same coin.

his approach to centering his partner after a session is very sweet and tactile. he'd use soft praises, sweet words, and gentle touches to lure you back into your own body from that weird, floaty, no-thoughts zone of subspace.

if he'd realized it helped, he'd 100% start purring (another tiefling headcanon i'm fond of). it's deep and brassy and incredibly comforting

now, the side-effect of being in charge of legions of soldiers (including fresh and nervous recruits) is that zevlor's very efficient and effective at helping and managing the emotions of others, even if he tends to get swept up in tides of his own.

between that and how intimately he'd know the wants and needs of his partner to even safely enact a d/s dynamic (in his mind), zevlor's pretty damn good at picking up when you'd be heading into subdrop - whether it's mid-session, somewhere in the midst of aftercare, or even the day after.

managing subdrop is basically aftercare+, with the addition of insuring his partner he's a constant, constant presence. he loves and adores you, he's not going anywhere, and there's no reason to be ashamed of your desires, when they're mutually agreed-upon and enjoyed by both.

it's worth noting that zevlor's susceptible to domdrop. everyone is, but him especially - he feels his emotions deeply, especially in regards to taking care of others. he'll safeword if he's feeling overwhelmed or too out-of-control in a situation - his communication skills are too good for him not to, but. afterwards?

be prepared to put the bratty persona aside. be there for him. snuggle, reassure if you can manage words, just do everything you can to communicate how much you love him. making him focus on you, just you, is usually an effective way to interrupt the anxiety-depression-shame spiral

just keep an eye on him day-after, since the moods might linger. make sure to show him some extra affection, and maybe surprise him with something nice.

#zevlor #zevlor x reader #zevlor x tav #bg3 zevlor #bg3

[niyabiblioteca]

i can help

PAIRING: best friend!hyunjin x fem!reader

WARNINGS: not exactly smut cuz i have horrible writers block, dirty talk, manhandling?

you’re so deprived and you have yet to receive the treatment you deserve. how could hyunjin not help you?

—————————————————————————————————————

you love hyunjin so much.

you love that as your best friend, you can always confide in him. even with the most personal or embarrassing or pathetic stories.

hyunjin has heard stories from you that most people would take to the grave, but he has made it clear in your friendship that he would never judge you and will always lend an ear or a shoulder when it’s needed.

you have taken complete advantage of that promise, hence why you’re in his kitchen for the 3rd time that week, scraping the remaining ice cream from the bottom of the tub after yet another ruined hookup.

“i swear it’s like i’m cursed hyunjin. why does your species just fail to know basic fucking female anatomy?”

hyunjin chuckles in amusement but also remorse as he watches you frustratingly take bites of the vanilla ice cream he’s bought for this occasion especially. he’s even designated a spoon for you at this point because after the amount of times you’ve ended up in his kitchen just this week, he figured you’d need one.

“like how hard is it to find a girls sweet spot or her clit or her g-spot? especially when i fucking tell you where all three are! if i have to experience a man rubbing on my fucking inner thigh again i’ll lose it.”

hyunjin listens intently, nodding and you’re honestly impressed at his ability to engage in these kinds of talks with you as if it’s so casual.

he has to admit though, this is getting old.

not the whole having you in his house talking about your problems thing. no, he promised you could always count on him and he really meant it. but the fact that all week it’s all been about how your sneaky links just completely leave you high and dry makes him feel so bad for you.

“i don’t think i’ve faked this many orgasms in my life. maybe it’s me, my vagina is broken or something. because there’s no way this keeps happening to me and i’m becoming more and more strung up by the hour.”

he let you continue to go on as he disposed of the ice cream tub and spoon for you, listening and plotting his response when you’re done. the crazy thing is, he doesn’t feel shy or weird about what he’s about to offer at all. he feels that he’s actually a very good friend for considering this because he’ll be damned if his bestie is without a proper orgasm for the rest of the week after the hell she’s been through.

“i just can’t do this anymore, hyunjin. it’s actually causing me so much stress and anger i might explode.”

you almost feel bad for going on like this because you think this isn’t even a serious issue. you just wanna have a goddamn orgasm. a real one.

hyunjin thinks it’s a very valid reason though.

“i can help you.”

literally hyunjin hasn’t said this much the entire time you’ve been over. so this definitely caught you completely off guard.

your eyes widen as you almost choke on your saliva.

“y-you can help me what?”

“ i can help you cum.”

ah. so you definitely weren’t fucking hallucinating.

you couldn’t exactly react as hyunjin grabbed your hands and pulled you out of your seat so that the two of you were standing not even two inches away from each other.

“tell me. what could i do to give you the most mind-numbing orgasm ever? what did those men do wrong?”

he put his hands on both sides of your face as he looked you dead in the eyes waiting for your answer. he was very serious about this and he was taking your pleasure seriously. that alone made your whole body hot, especially between your thighs.

“t-they were too soft with me. i wanted it rough and they didn’t give that to me.”

hyunjin gave a cute eye smile in response to that as this information was all making sense to him. he was glad he was given this insight about what makes you tick so that he could accommodate you properly.

and that he did.

not even 30 seconds after you said that, he spun you around and pushed your upper body against the countertop so that you were bent over in front of him.

he wasn’t gentle either. he had used every bit of strength and aggression to get you where he wanted you and oh did it work so goddamn well.

you whimpered as you felt his bulge press against your heat. you couldn’t see him, but just the image of his lean figure pressed against your body as his hand reached forward and gripped your hair to pull your head up made you so fucking wet it was actually surprising to you.

“mmm. this is better. so tell me, y/n. how else can i make you cum so hard that you forget about every last hookup this week?”

you were downright embarrassed of the response you managed to let out, but hyunjin felt there was no need when we was doing everything in his power to make you feel good.

“s-spank me. slap me. choke me. fucking ruin me, please.”

hyunjin let out a low growl at your tone and pressed his bulge even harder against your core, causing you to whine and push your hips back at the same time.

“please, what?”

you knew what he wanted you to say. he knew what he wanted you to say. so badly. the moment he heard it, all hell would break lose and he would give you every last inch of him if you wanted it.

“please, jinnie. fuck me.”

god, hyunjin is such a great friend.

————————————————————————

#stray kids smut #skz smut #stray kids #hyunjin smut #hyunjin

[chycoin]

HUGE SPOILER AHEAD!!!

Watch “TRASH FRIENDS” before reading. If you haven’t watched it and still read this, pls don’t say I didn’t warn you 🫠👍

Just watched “TRASH FRIENDS” and the thumbnail really made me think this was going to be an episode focusing on the way Mario has been treated by Smg4 and his friends (at least that’s how I see it) but I wasn’t expecting an episode about Smg3’s insecurities and fears (mostly insecurities)

I really was caught lacking because I was expecting something and I got the opposite lmao. I should be familiar with this guy’s content already and know that the only thing expected from these episodes is the unexpected xD, but anyways back to talking about the video.

In previous episodes we see that he gets a little bit of customers such as in the episode “You used to be cool” and “CEO OF RIZZ” but in this last mentioned episode he tries to advertise his café after Boopkins’s date works out in the end and so does the same in “SMG4’s NEWS.”

At first you think “Maybe he wants more than what he has” but after watching this episode you realize he’s actually struggling with his business and last weeks episode you change your view from his actions and see him as more desperate rather than greedy after watching this latest ep.

Constantly trying to get more people into his café and taking every single chance he can see to advertise no matter the place or time, like life depends on it.

And talking about chances ._.xD

(This goober losing the video to a basketball, I’m dead😭)

Smg4 comes to this guy’s café for his help to get his “Michael Jordan Endorsement Video” back because boi lost it and he wants Smg3’s help because their “FRIENDS”

Of course Smg3 saw this as a chance to advertise his café because HOLY SHIT MICHAEL JORDAD!!! A famous basketball player that anyone would want to have the chance to meet and that’s a chance that Smg3 is willing to take because it means his business would BLOW UP *someone throws them a chair*

Btw when Mario shows up to offer his help, I expected Smg4 to be more happy that he has his avatar buddy always trying to help him but instead…

Don’t get me wrong, I know they got a little weirded out about the fact that Mario is a regular around the Junkyard due to him eating at that location but still, that dialogue still sort of hurt me man qwp

But anyways back to my review of this episode and giving my acoustic povs that nobody asked for.

They arrive at the junkyard and after being there for 5 seconds, they find the legendary pokemon that goes by the name of “Michael Jordan Endorsement Video” (sorry for my weak ass jokes, I just woke up and my humor is a little broken rn)

After having the video on sight, Mario pulls a Yoshi and beats the crap out of the spaghetti plate where the video so happened to land on, in one go. Obviously, causing the other two to try and force the USB out of him but both failed as Mario did a BLJ through the trash and forcing 3 & 4 to dig through everything to find him.

Now… the part I was dying to talk about and hopefully I can let out my thoughts the proper way.

As the two spend an entire evening just digging through trash, they start a friendly conversation until Smg4 touches the Smg3’s CnB topic which causes Smg3 to get nervous and lie about everything being fine because he has something that every human being has unfortunately, ✨I N S E C U R I T I E S✨.

Which I understand because bruh, 3’s been seen as a bad copy of 4 who’s the total opposite of him for a good piece of his life, if not his ENTIRE existence and now that’s he’s going through a change in his life for the better, he’s going to face a lot of these insecurity episodes because he’s so used to being seen as the bad guy, the bad copy, The Villain. Always people seeing what 4 does and never looking what 3 does which got him into that dark path.

Is like the Sun and the Moon kind of thing. The Sun (Smg4) can shine the brightest while the moon (Smg3) is just a floating rock shining the least. I’ll bring this up again at the end of the review.

But yeah, Smg3 has insecurities and is more shown when they reach the entrance of Mario’s hiding spot.

-Part 2 🫠👍-

#smg4 #smg4 review #smg3 #smg4 smg3 #I wasn’t planning for this to be a 2 part thing

[lordhavemurthy]

i think what people tend to not understand about She-Ra (reboot) is that none of the characters (minus Horde Prime) are meant to be seen as pure good or evil. People get really pressed over how the princesses treat Entrapta (which i don't agree is right) or how Entrapta did betray them, thus making her a "morally grey character" because she has obsessions and shows signs of autism. But this isnt just something that happens with Entrapta, it happens with all of the characters. Catra and Glimmer are the next obvious, so i wont go into depth there, but for instance Adora can be very prideful. She lets the fame get to her head and isolates herself from everyone else in attempts to save the world. now, the latter isn't all her fault, Light Hope and Shadow Weaver made sure of that, but its still there. Mermista wants to be the center of attention, she wants to be the most powerful of the group and have something unique like She-Ra. Perfuma struggles to get along with people who are pessimistic or even more objective because it interferes with her "vibes." Scorpia isn't the greatest with boundaries, Frosta's a fucking child, Sea Hawk is a fucking arsonist (seriously why do we skip over that one? love him but my guy needs therapy), Angella is a coward who (despite her attempts to keep her away) sends her own daughter into battle before going out on the front lines herself, and yes, Entrapta betrayed her friends. Which, despite it being manipulated into something else here, wasn't good. She may not have understood how badly she hurt her friends (until S 5), but she actively knew that what Hordak was doing was wrong because she agreed to help the rebellion. She shows later on that while she doesnt pick up on emotional cues, she does understand what is going on, she just focuses on tech, but she gets the danger and the stakes, she knows. Let me say, however, that none of these traits, from any of these characters, make them "morally grey" (i hate that fucking term btw) it makes them human. none of us are perfect. we all have flaws, we will all hurt someone in our lives, we all make mistakes. it is how you try to rectify those mistakes, that determines whether or not your character is "good." Hordak, despite every terrible thing he did, realized he was wrong in the end, and rebelled. Entrapta apologized and sacrificed her life multiple times to save not only her friends, but the entire planet, even Shadow Weaver, who I could make a whole other separate post on, sacraficed herself so that not only Catra and Adora could live on together and save the world, but so that she wouldn't be tempted with the power that was about to be unleased. The only character i can possibly think of that doesn't have an obvious flaw (that i can see) is Bow, but he's not perfect either. To suggest so would to put in on a playing field in which no human (or complex character) could survive. So for the love of god, stop looking at it like Nate made only Entrapta "morally grey" because every character in that show made mistakes.

edit: thank you for those who made me aware of the proper name/pronouns the creator (Nate) uses now, i appreciate you!

#spop #spop glimmer #she ra #shera #catra #adora #entrapta #entrapdak #spop adora #adora x catra #she ra the princess of power #mermista #perfuma #scorpia #spop bow

[kaialone]

All Fanny Win & Lose Quotes Translated (Guilty Gear Petit)

As the title says, this will be a translations of all* Win & Lose quotes involving Fanny from Guilty Petit and Guilty Gear Petit 2.

(*Except for the mirror match quote, if one exists, because it looks like you can’t get a proper mirror match in single player.)

I thought these would be interesting to know about, since they’re pretty much the only characterization Fanny gets outside of the Petit 1&2 story modes, plus getting to see a bit of how the other characters react to her.

--

Some more things to note before we get started:

Characters who appear in both Petit 1 and 2 have identical Win and Loss quotes in both games.

The final roster also includes four “GG” characters: GG Sol Badguy, GG May, GG Millia Rage, and GG Ky Kiske.

These four characters are essentially their base form counterparts, but with an alternate moveset inspired by the first Guilty Gear game. They are given different color schemes to differentiate them in gameplay, but they are effectively treated like they are the same characters, even though they have separate quotes and story modes.

The only exception is GG Ky Kiske, who is actually Robo-Ky!

Finally, in terms of status-quo, the characters are roughly plucked from around the Guilty Gear X era - for example Dizzy is part of the Jellyfish Pirates, but Zato-1 hasn’t fully passed away yet (but is still controlled by Eddie.)

Though the stories of these games are really more on the humorous side.

Now, onto the actual translations!

--

Fanny Win Quotes

(These are the quotes Fanny herself says when defeating these characters.)

Sol Badguy: せんせいは、かんじゃさんに リラックス してもらおうと おもっているからこそ あんなにユーモアにあふれているのです。 The doctor wants to help his patients relax, that's why he's so full of humor.

Ky Kiske: すみません、せのたかくてスマートで ウィットにとんだせかいさいこうのめいい、 ごぞんじないですか？ Excuse me? Do you happen to know about the tall, suave, witty, and overall greatest doctor in the entire world?

May: せんせいはえいせいてきにかんがえて、 あたまをそっていらっしゃるのです。 …たぶん。 The doctor shaves his head for hygienic purposes. …I think.

Millia Rage: ねんのため くすり だしておきますね。 I'm giving you some medicine, just in case.

Potemkin: わたしのオデコのほうが かたかったみたいです。 Looks like my forehead is harder.

Kuradoberi Jam: せんせいのようしですか？ あしがながくて くびもながい ひかりかがやいているかたですわ。 What does the doctor look like? He has long legs, and a long neck, and he's just a positively radiant person.

Mito Anji: せんせいもあなたのように ステキなめがねをしてらしたのよ。 The doctor was also wearing lovely glasses, just like you.

Johnny: ステキなけんさばきでしたわ、 でも せんせいにはかないませんわね。 That was some fine swordplay, but you still can't hold a candle to the doctor.

Faust: ああっ、せんせい… どこにいってしまわれたのでしょうか？ Oh, Doctor… Where could you have gone?

Chipp Zanuff: ぜひ けんけつをおねがいします。 きっと ちが おおすぎるのですわ。 Please consider donating blood. I'm sure you have too much of it.

Axl Low: ごめんなさい、わたしは「はくいのてんし」 わたしのあいは みなさんびょうどうですの。 I'm sorry, but I'm a "white angel"- I love everyone equally.

(Translator's Note: “はくいのてんし/hakui no tenshi”, meaning “white angel” is a non-official term sometimes used for nurses in Japanese, as far as I can tell. As far as I’ve heard, this term might’ve come from the legacy of Florence Nightingale, particularly the 1937 movie based around her life called “The White Angel”. Obviously likening nurses to angels is a thing in English too, but I still wanted to explain the details here.)

Zato-1 (Eddie): あなたぜひ せんせいのオペを うけるべきですわ！ You should absolutely get surgery from the doctor!

Testament: せいしんあんていざいを うっておきました。 もうだいじょうぶ！ I have given you sedatives. Everything will be fine now!

GG Sol Badguy: せんせいのすばらしさがわからないんですか？ おきのどくに。 Don't you know just how wonderful the doctor is? How unfortunate.

GG May: せんせいは「ハゲ」ではありません！ 「ボウズ」ですわ！！ The doctor is NOT bald! He just shaves!!

GG Millia Rage: あなたのこころのキズ、はやく せんせいに みてもらったほうがいいと おもいますわ。 I think you'd better let the doctor take a look at your broken heart as soon as possible.

GG Ky Kiske (Robo-Ky): あなた すぐにせんせいに みていただいたほうがいいわ！ せんせい！！きゅうかんです！！ You should go see the doctor right away! Doctor!! It's an emergency!!

--

Fanny Defeated Quotes

(These are the quotes these characters say to Fanny when they defeat her.)

Sol Badguy: かんごふってのは、みな、こうだったか？ Are all nurses like this?

Ky Kiske: かんごふ というのもまた からだをはる しごとなのですね。 I suppose being a nurse, too, is quite the physically demanding line of work.

May: ボクもずっと すきなひと さがしてたからわかるよ。そのきもち。 I'm always chasing after someone I like, too. So I get how you feel.

Millia Rage: さいきん えだげが ひどいのよね。 いいくすりしらない？ I've been having awful split ends lately. Do you know any remedy for that?

Potemkin: ずいぶん かわった たたかいだったな… That sure was a strange battle…

Kuradoberi Jam: ちょっと、やりすぎたアル…って ねてるアルか？ Whoops, I think I overdid it… Wait- Are you asleep?

Mito Anji: 「まてば かいろのひよりあり」ってね がんばって さがしな "Good things come to those who wait", you know. So hang in there and keep on searching, alright?

(Translator's Note: What Anji says in the first line is a Japanese idiom that would literally translate to “waiting for fair weather at a sea route”, in case you’re curious. But it does essentially mean “Good things come to those who can wait.”)

Johnny: とう「ジェリーフィッシュかいぞくだん」では チャーミングなナース ぼしゅうちゅうだ むかしのおとこ わすれさせてやるぜ？ The Jellyfish Pirates are looking to hire a charming nurse right now, so what d'ya say? I'll make you forget all about that other guy.

Faust: 「いりょうのみちは いちにちしてならず。」 かんじゃへの あいのみに いきるべきです。 "The path of medicine isn't forged in a day." You should live only for your love towards your patients.

Chipp Zanuff: へんなねーちゃんだな？ おれはどこもけがしちゃいねーけどな。 What's with this chick? I wasn't even hurt anywhere.

Axl Low: 「はくいのてんし」はすきだけど もうちょっと おとなしいほうがすきだぜ？ I do like "white angels", but… I'd like it even better if you were a bit more gentle, eh?

Zato-1 (Eddie): モウオソイワ コイツトオレハキリハナセンヨ。 YOU ARE TOO LATE. HE AND I CANNOT BE SEPERATED.

Testament: わたしに いりょうなど ひつようない。 I have no need for medical care.

GG Sol Badguy: かんごふがくるとこじゃねぇぜ、ここは。 This is no place for a nurse.

GG May: さいきんのかんごふって ずいぶん つよいのね？ Nurses are pretty tough these days, huh?

GG Millia Rage: ボーっとしてるから…。 That's what you get for spacing out…

GG Ky Kiske (Robo-Ky): カカカンゴフ トトトトイウノモモモマタ カカカラダヲハル ㇱ、シゴトナノデスネネ。 I- I- I SUPPOSE BEING A- A- A- A- A NURSE, T-T-TOO, IS QUITE T-T-T-THE PHYSICALLY D-DEMANDING LINE OF WORK-K.

--

#guilty gear #guilty gear petit #fanny guilty gear #my translations #guilty gear translations #tumblr changed the way its formatting works while i wasnt looking #also I hadn't seen anyone else do all of these but if this HAS been done before well #just take it as an opportunity to compare and contrast

[haechvn]

Hold On

Pairing: Shuri x Reader

Warning: Angst and a lil fluff. Shuri is a little bit moody but who can really blame her

Summary/Request: y/n is a lab specialist and is sent to work in shuri’s lab after during that year after t’challa passed on (hurt/comfort) then maybe y/n was in the market when the tallokan attacked and shuri protects.

Word Count: 1.9k

Author’s Note: Takes place during Wakanda Forever so beware of spoilers. 

I am working on a few rn but KEEP SENDING REQUESTS. We didn’t just have Shuri star in her OWN MOVIE for y'all to be ignoring her. You guys should be ashamed. Don't play with me, play with yourself.  Enjoy my loves!

“Shuri, I get what you are trying to do but are you sure recreating the herb solely in a lab will give you the same results? Aren’t there any cultural lines you’d be crossing or something? Maybe we should ask the Queen about this first,” you quipped as you steadily chased Shuri around her lab, hoping to get her to reconsider her next steps with the current experiment. 

It has been over a year since the sudden passing of her older brother and the only life she has been able to live is that of a mad scientist - nothing more and certainly nothing less. Of course she still took proper care of herself but her only desire was to find a way to crack the code that could have saved T’Challa’s life. That pain is with her everyday so to combat that, she has put together a squad of the most brilliant minds in Wakanda to help her efforts and that is where you come in. Working alongside the Princess as a Lab Specialist, who is an expert in working with organic matter and analyzing foreign and home-based substances. Truth be told, Shuri adores her entire team but values your opinion and work above all. Maybe it's because your eyes keep her up at night. But in this situation, no one's words were really as important as her own. At least, that’s what she thought. 

“I know what I’m doing,” she seethed stentoriously, speaking as if every word was its own sentence. Stopping abruptly and turning around for you to greet her rigid eyes, her jaw clenched and the veins on her forehead looked like they wanted to break free. Shuri did not want to have this conversation with you again because as more time passed, the more her patience with this project wore thin. Why does everyone still view her as a child? Why can’t her plans be good enough? Every cell in your body told you that you had yet again irritated the Princess. 

“I'm tired of everyone questioning me as if I am not the smartest woman in the world! Go to the market like I requested and pick up the items I asked you to so we can go back to experimenting and stop all this talking. That’s an order.”

Scoffing at her disrespectful tone, you continued on, wanting the Princess to fully think through the ramifications of what lies ahead. She may be royalty but she was also your friend so to hear her speak to you this way without any regard of how you may feel made your heart crack just a bit. You had done your best to be there for her during this very difficult last year and always offered a shoulder to cry on but she has unknowingly begun taking her anger out on you. Her taut voice introduced many onlooking eyes peering over to the previously quiet conversation the two of you were having. Crossing your arms in front of your chest, you held your ground.

“How long will this go on for? You constantly treat your colleagues like we are nothing but mere pets to you. Didn’t you bring us in so that we could help you find ways to solve your problem? That is what I am trying to do here and I don't understand why you can’t see that. I just want you to be safe,” you let out with your voice slightly cracking, exhausted from arguing and the constant back and forth. Sure you kept her on her toes from time to time but this just became too much. Thinking about what could happen if she ingested the curated herb and Bast forbid something went wrong. You wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself. No. You can’t let your mind go there. 

Not letting her answer your questions, you bowed to the Princess and spun on your heels, signaling your exit from the lab with your coat rustling behind you. Quickly rushing out, you could hear her sigh and beckon you towards her but your head was held high as you trekked forward. You didn’t wish to be disregarded any further and the Princess clearly needed some time to think. 

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

“That’ll be 12 Wakandan dollars pwease,” said the young girl selling herbs, plates and bowls with her mother. Dots and stripes dance on her face and her smile reminds you of the one Shuri used to carry. It has been so long - too long so maybe this will bring that back to her. 

Thanking the girl and her mother, you start to head back to the lab but not without appreciating the breathtaking beauty of the culture in Wakanda. Such peaceful and vibrant people to match the ethereal aura of this wonderful nation is something that can only be witnessed with your own eyes. In the distance, you made out the figure of a certain Jabari leader smiling widely and waving his enormous hands at you. M’Baku has really proven himself to be a formidable and dependent member of the Wakandan civilization. Just as you lifted your hand to greet him back, you heard the girl and her mother that you bought from scream in anguish.

Whipping your head around, all you could see for miles was water exploding out of thin air. Everywhere started to flood and all the stores and their owners began disappearing before your eyes. Clutching the materials that Shuri requested, you tried your hardest to outrun the waves if that is even possible. You can’t even swim so trying to head towards the water was completely out of the question, especially once three foreign figures rose from the shore. Just like in those cliche horror films, you naturally lost your footing and all you could think was Wait. Atlantis is a real place??!! 

Scared for your life, you gathered yourself up and continued onto the palace until the sweetest melody you have ever heard entered your senses. Dropping everything from your grasp, in a trance you found yourself facing the mysterious figures again, this time in the direction of a man adorned in gold, jade and what is that? Vibranium? However your thoughts were no longer your own and all you wanted to do at this present moment was obey the orders of the singing siren before you. Chaos and destruction ensued around you but all you felt was peace. An eerie peace that sent chills down your spine but whisked your mind away from any current circumstances. Your mind knew he was about to kill you. 

On your way down to kneel in front of this unknown enemy, your name was shouted out at you from the heavens above. The voice held fear and grievance in it and it snapped you out of your hypnosis. It was the Princess. Up above in a ship with what looked like Nneka, waving you down endlessly in hopes to get your attention. Even during her most vulnerable moments, Shuri looked absolutely glorious. Maybe it’s the way her curls fell forward as if they were reaching out to you or her deep charcoal eyes that seems to call you hers. Either way, with the world crashing down around you, you still couldn’t help the butterflies in your chest every time you laid eyes on her. 

Before you could register what was happening, her figure dove out of the aircraft and was headed straight towards you. It seems as though she cracked the code. Landing stealthy with her back turned towards you, her black panther suit seemed to glow in the sun. Decorated in gold and silver from top to bottom, you couldn't hold in your shock. Shuri had always said that the black panther died with her brother but it seems as though she was terribly incorrect.

“Namor. I guess this makes me your enemy now,” she stalked towards him as he slightly trembled in surprise. 

Shuri’s languid movements reminded you of her brother but much more graceful and slightly less calculated but magnificent nonetheless. Intense blows were exchanged between the both of them as you scampered away to find safety in an attempt to avoid the crossfire. Namor eventually catapulted himself away from the Princess and made his way towards the Royal Palace. Getting ready to run in his direction, the Black Panther halted and turned to finally face you. 

Your heart was pounding profusely as she neared you and her helmet disappeared. Her eyes held the story of everything she had been through yet she still carried on like royalty, with such poise and dignity.

She’s here. She’s here. She’s here. She really came here to save me.

You have never seen the Princess kneel before, especially not in a public place so your eyes went wide as she went down on one knee and grasped your hands. Her chest was going up and down at an alarming rate and the grip she had on you started to burn. 

“I’m so sorry I-. I had hoped you were-. Ugh! I can’t believe he almost-,” her words failing her at every opportunity. Tears dropped onto your joined hands and her back shook with her cries. When Shuri had received a distress signal, she had no choice but to take the incomplete herb in an attempt to even the playing field with the submariner. It scared her even more to know that he was attacking the market, the same place she had sent you to in a fit of rage. She couldn’t even believe she used that tone on you of all people so the thought that that might have been the last conversation between you two - no. Not again. She shook her head over and over, not daring to look you in the eyes because she didn’t deserve your kindness. From the outside looking in, Princess Shuri was losing it and this new mantle she now carried was already beginning to be too much for her. 

“Stand up! You are a Princess,” you bellowed, your heart breaking at the sight. Though you shared the same frightened feeling as her, she needed someone to be strong for her and who better than you. 

"We can have this conversation later but your people need you. Your country needs you. Show them who you are, Shuri. Then come back to me.” You couldn't believe you were here offering this kind of counsel to the Princess. You two have really come a long way.

Her head snapped up, curls dancing across her forehead, showcasing her cherry red, tear-filled eyes. She really thought she lost you. 

Quickly gathering her strength, she called for Nakia to “beam us up” and take you to safety. As you are being lifted up, her arms softly wrap themselves around your torso while your chests are conveniently pressed up against each other. Shuri’s eyes haven’t been able to leave yours and they are saying all the things her lips and insecurities wouldn’t allow her. You nod and offer a small smile, knowing that that’s the best thing you could muster up in the moment. Her eyes traveled between yours and your lips over and over. She licked her lips out of nervousness and tried to see if her actions would be accepted before she leaned forward to close the gap between you two. Just as her ready lips grazed yours, Okoye’s voice screeched and pierced through her earpiece. 

“My Princess! The Royal Palace is underwater!”

#oop we love a good cliff hanger #shuri black panther #shuri x reader #shuri imagine #black panther x reader #black panther imagine #shuri angst #shuri fluff #marvel imagine #black panther fics #shuri x y/n #black panther wakanda forever #black panther #black panther smut #shuri smut #black panther angst #marvel #marvel angst #marvel fluff #marvel smut #shuri x namor #mcu fanfiction #mcu imagine #princess shuri

[graciecatfamilyband]

The Info-Dumpers who Love Characters Website is totally sleeping on the best Info-Dumping Character of All Time:

Jade Daniels, the 17 year-old half-indigenous girl from Stephen Graham Jones’ My Heart is a Chainsaw.

In everyone’s defense, character-driven slow-burn literary fiction that is also a slasher (stab stab 🔪🔪🩸) is a hard genre to sell. Many of us who love one part of this equation don’t love the other.

But Jade has captured my whole chainsaw ♥️, and I CANNOT be normal about it. Jade has never met a person at whom she wasn’t willing to spout random facts that they have exhibited no interest in. She can bring ANYTHING back around to connect to her hyperfixation which is, coincidentally, slasher movies. And she is the most vivid, alive, real-to-me protagonist I have ever encountered. Because of the way she hyperfixates and info dumps, not in spite of it. (Which surely says something about me but again, I am among friends on this webbed site!)

Jade makes completely normal, totally hinged choices like:

(When we the audience are first introduced to her) Going up to a group of construction workers having a trash fire in the middle of the night and being like, “If we were in a slasher right now, this is what the plot line would be. Also, have some random slasher movie facts.” (Their response: Are you okay? You seem like you are not okay.)

Writing extra credit essays for her history teacher about the tropes and conventions of the slasher genre. For four years. Not what he asked for, but what he got. (These essays are included in the book and are a godsend for those of us who are not already slasher fans! They literally help the reader understand the story beats as they unfold, while simultaneously giving life to Jade’s voice and helping us understand what makes her tick.)

Deciding the New Girl At School has all the qualities of a Final Girl, the slasher film trope in which there is one girl left alive to confront the killer and stop the slasher cycle.

Trying to warn the New Girl At School that she is going to be The Final Girl, by putting a VHS copy of the 1971 slasher Bay of Blood and all of Jade’s slasher extra credit essays in her mailbox. With a note. A note that says that she is going to be The Final Girl in a slasher cycle that seems to be starting up. (Jade is just trying to help! So helpful.)

Of course, the core of this novel is: What is going on with Jade? After all, she actually wants a slasher cycle to start in her town. (She also wants the slasher cycle to be stopped at the proper moment, to ensure that the vengeance of the slasher is balanced by the justice of the Final Girl.) She does not see herself as a possible Final Girl, but she is willing to help the richer, prettier, more appropriate classmate who she thinks is that girl. Why, why, why?

To be clear, the novel does not posit that something must be wrong with a person to be intensely, obsessively interested in something or for that thing to be horror- even slashers! But Jade’s behavior is, like I said, not entirely hinged, even for a slasher fan. Something must be up.

The novel gives us all the clues we need to peel back the layers of what’s really happening, and when truths are revealed, everything just *clicks.* Themes are introduced and then reinforced on multiple levels. There is a bear. 🐻 (The bear is the not the slasher.)

And throughout, Jade gets to be fully-human and fully seven-fucking-teen. Even though she is on the cusp of adulthood, she is still a child, and a wounded one at that. (Her wounds in no way fucking diminish her.)  Her judgment is often impaired. Her actions are often questionable. Her hair-dye jobs gets so bad, even she thinks its gross. She is so alive, and so deserving of love. 🥹 

I love her.

I would fight for her.

I desperately want to make soup for her, and let her tell me about the Scream franchise (I do not care about the Scream franchise), and give her a safe place to sleep. Even if doing so makes it way more likely that I’m about to get murdered.

Jade Fucking Daniels. My chainsaw-hearted, info-dumping hero protagonist. I salute you, my final girl.

#my heart is a chainsaw #jade daniels #stephen graham jones #info-dumper extraordinaire #my most alive protagonist ever <3 #my final girl #i just CANNOT be normal about this one #i'm rereading and #it's making me FERAL #*vibrates* #no spoilers for don't fear the reaper please! #story-telling #books #letha mondragon is also a fantastic character fyi

[jungkookslipring]

I Will Never Make You Lonely: CH 2

Summary: When your life is falling apart, your 8 best friends are there to lift you up

TW: mentions of de&th, su!c!de, su!c!de tendencies, su!c!dal ideologies, depress!on, anxiety, crying. If this is in any way triggering I’d steer towards more of my happier works. 

If you or someone you love has thought of or acted on suicide, there is help and there is hope 

Call or text 988

Genre: angst, hurt/comfort, non-idol AU

PSA: this is no way represents the artists. While their birth names are used in this story, this is in no way a reflection of the artist or artists in real life.

AU: this chapter is a little more lighthearted, but I wanted to add the trigger warnings just in case.

there is a tickle scene in here, so if it's not your cup of tea you are more than welcome to skip this chapter.

Ch 2

The last seven days have felt slow and dreadful, and all you could do was work. You were currently in the fourth week of your final quarter with midterms coming up soon. Although your friends have their own school work to worry about, they are starting to become worried about you. You haven't shown any signs of emotion since you received that phone call.

You would spend 12 to 16 hours each day reading, writing, deleting, and editing. However, when it was time for bed, you couldn't sleep. And even if you managed to sleep, you would have very vivid nightmares. As a result, more than half of the time, you would keep yourself busy by burning through homework assignments and projects.

Sometimes the guys would bring you food, drinks, or snacks because they knew you wouldn’t do it yourself, and you were now approaching a no-sleep streak of almost 72 hours. You truly didn’t know how you were still functioning, and they didn’t know either. One evening you were sitting at your windowsill, reading yet another case study. You closed your eyes for a split second before your heart nearly jumped out of your butt when Hyunjin, Han, and Minho burst into your room. You stared at them with your hand over your chest.

"What. the actual fuck is happening?" you ask trying to catch your breath. Hyunjin grabbed your textbook and Han grabbed a hold of your hands.

"Friday night movie night! Don't tell me you were going to skip!" Han said full of energy. Right, movie night. On any given day they would jump on your bed and quite literally drag you away from whatever you were doing so you could all binge-watch movies until the early AM, but Chris had warned them to leave you alone because you were studying. That didn't work out so well.

"If you want to study you can, we just thought you deserved a break," Minho said kindly. Han stood there swinging your arms side to side, patiently waiting for an answer.

"You haven't taken a proper break for days, y/n, and sleeping doesn't count as a break, which we know you haven't gotten a whole lot of either," Hyunjin said as he thumbed the dark circle under your eye gently. You exhaled and closed your eyes. All the shock mixed with not getting any sleep was not only mentally draining but also physically.

“I’m fine, I don’t sleep a whole lot anyways,” you said, shrugging it off, but if you spent the rest of the night studying, you were going to collapse, and the boys knew that. They suggested that you take a nice hot shower and meet them in the living room for some much-needed best friend time. Seungmin was already on a mission to get my shower bomb that made the entire bathroom smell super citrusy and lit a candle to provide a little bit of light so that the overhead light wasn't so bright. After the shower, you walked into the bedroom and saw a pair of folded pajamas that were warm from just being pulled out of the dryer and placed on the bed. You felt so much love for those boys. There was a gentle knock at the door once you were dressed.

“Come in,” you called out. The door cracked open as Minho poked his head in the door frame. 

“I made soup if you would like any,” he said sweetly. You gave him a smile as you whispered “Thank you”. He had sad eyes and a kind smile, he knew (they all knew) how hard you were taking everything. Minho slowly pushed past the door and walked up to you. 

“Aigoo…” he whispered as he cupped your face, studying your features.  

“You must be exhausted." You nodded and looked down at the floor.

“Would you like to eat? Even if it’s just a bite or two?” he asked. You nodded slowly as he carefully took a handful of your sweater paw and led you out of your bedroom. As you stepped out of the hallway into the kitchen, you noticed that the boys were scattered in the living room. They were having soup while the TV was on low volume, making sure not to be too loud. When you walked in, they greeted you with sweet smiles. Minho handed you a bowl of soup and led you to the couch. Changbin patted the spot between him and Han, inviting you to sit. You weren't sure which movie they had picked, but it managed to distract you. After you finished your soup, Han took your bowl while Changbin snuggled you close to his side. Han came back and stroked your hair while cooing at the both of you.

“Our baby,” he said sweetly.

“She’s not a baby, she’s older than you,” Changbin jokingly sassed at Han. Han put a hand over his heart and made the most extra gasp he had ever made. You giggled and patted Changbin’s hand.

“I’m older than you too you know,” you say while trying to hide a smile. Everyone in the room burst out laughing as Changbin gave you a look of betrayal.

“By two months!” he squawked at you as he began to poke your sides. You giggled as you buried yourself further between Changbin and the couch cushions, trying to get away from Changbin’s hands.

“Oh no, you’re not going anywhere missy!” Changbin laughed as he pulled you onto his lap. He held you in his arms as he squeezed your side with one hand.

“Bihihin quit ihihihihit,” you giggled trying to fold in on yourself. Your arms were trapped under his so your whole midsection was exposed while Han grabbed a hold of your ankles to hold you down. You squeaked when Chris got on the couch, plopping himself right next to your hips, and pressed his fingers into your tummy, turning your giggles to laughter. 

“Awww there’s that laugh we love so much, tickle tickle tickle,” he teased as his eyes turned into beautiful little crescents. 

“YOU GUYHAHAHAHA YOU GUYS ARE SO BAHAHAHAHAD!” You threw your head back on Changbin’s shoulder as you continued to squeal while the boys cooed at your reaction. As the movie played on, three of the boys tickled and teased you while the rest looked on with adoration. It was heartwarming to see you smile again since they had missed it. After a few minutes, Chris and Changbin stopped tickling you, and you resumed cuddling with Changbin while Han kept your feet on his lap and tapped a beat on your calves. The group ended up having a movie marathon, with occasional pokes and squeezes from Changbin and Han.

As your favorite movie played on, Changbin noticed that you were starting to fall asleep on his chest. He began to play with your hair, alternating between massaging your head, rubbing his hand up and down your back, and gently running his fingers through your hair. The soft touches on your head and back and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat helped you fall into a peaceful sleep. Once you were asleep, Changbin nudged Han and pointed to you, indicating that you were out. Han quietly cooed at you and signaled everyone else that you were asleep. By the time the last movie had ended, it was almost 9 p.m., and Chris suggested that everyone should rest. Changbin picked you up and carried you to your bed without waking you up. He tucked you in, gave you a soft kiss on the forehead, turned off the lights, and closed the door.

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

Stay tuned for CH 3!

taglist: @felixmainacc @felixburneracc @myforevermelody143 @dunno-wut-to-do @itzsana-kiddingmenow

#stray kids #stray kids x stay #stray kids fluff #skz fanfic #stray kids tickle #stray kids x reader #stray kids imagines #stray kids hurt/comfort #skz #skz scenarios #skz imagines #non idol au #stray kids college au #college au #hurt/comfort

[lord-squiggletits]

Another thing that gets me about Pharma's situation is a personal headcanon related to the way real life militaries work (I used to be really into the US military, don't throw tomatoes at me I stopped wanting to join it a long time ago) is that it's considered pretty much standard protocol to retrieve the bodies of fallen soldiers unless it's absolutely impossible. A literal "nobody is left behind" attitude.

Now granted, the LL isn't really acting in a military capacity because the war is over.

But I like to imagine that part of why Pharma felt so betrayed was because standard Autobot procedure would've been for any known missing/lost soldiers to be checked for, to try and find their body to confirm their death if nothing else. But the Autobots just left Messatine and left Pharma alone without even bothering to check if he lived or died. So to Pharma, it feels as if after all his years of serving the Autobots dutifully, they couldn't even do the bare minimum duty of looking for his body to confirm his death or god forbid give him proper funeral services.

Incidentally, this headcanon will be the premise for a "Pharma gets brought onto the Lost Light as a prisoner instead of getting left on Messatine" AU fic. With the justification being that Magnus hears about the Delphi situation and is like, wait you guys just left but the Autobot Code says we have to look for the body blah blah and I guess he acts annoying enough about it that someone goes looking for Pharma's body and finds him still alive.

INCIDENTALLY-incidentally, I think the most likely canon answer for "whether Pharma fell or flew to his death" is that Pharma fell. We see on screen that the Red Rust's symptoms activate within minutes of being triggered and that it renders victims practically nonfunctional after only a short amount of time (limbs and the entire body slowly disintegrating). So if Pharma had transformed, he would've activated the rust and died very quickly, especially since he wouldn't be able to go back to Delphi and access actual medical equipment.......and had his hands cut off so he was physically incapable of tending to himself anyways.

Pharma has thrusters on his heels that probably wouldn't require transformation to activate, so my headcanon is that Pharma was able to cushion his fall enough to not die, but probably still broke his legs and was in too much pain/practically immobile and couldn't crawl to find any help. This would also align with Pharma saying that Tyrest found him "sleeping in the snow" and Tyrest calling Pharma "a disease waiting to happen", implying that Pharma was infected with the Red Rust but hadn't actually triggered its effects yet.

#squiggposting #pharma apologism #you know one time when i was a kid i jumped too high off of a ladder on the playground and hit my feet too hard #the amount of pain i felt from the impact going up my legs and into my hips was literally the most painful thing i'd felt until that point #i was like gasping and heaving and just crawled under an overhang and curled up and waited for the pain to pass #later on i learned some more facts about how people die from falling to their death #did you know that if someone lands on their feet from falling too high #their thigh bones can be thrust up into their torso and they die of internal bleeding from their bones impaling their organs #anyways. in my mind that's what happened to pharma minus him bleeding to death. lol #though since pharma describes these events so euphemistically as him 'sleeping in the snow' #one must wonder if he literally did die and tyrest somehow used the magic of luna 1 to bring him back #also idk if the nobody left behind is just a usa thing. it's probably not #i just know that it's a point of pride for the us mil as like a comaraderie thing and a bragging point

[heronchildlove]

Ok, so I don't have the energy for a proper fic but I can't get this idea for a "drama student moonlighting as a live model for art classes to get some extra bucks" Matthew au out of my mind and it's gonna drive me crazy if I don't share it, so here it is. Under the read more cause it got a bit long:

Thomas heard Alastair is attending that specific art class but he is too nervous to go alone so he begs James to go with him.

James is all "Tom, I can't draw a straight line, WHAT am I going to do in an art class????"

He goes anyway because Thomas is his cousin and he isn't going to let him down and just resigns himself to drawing the worst fruit bowl any human has ever seen.

Except the teacher walks in accompanied by the most beautiful guy James has ever seen instead and he barely gets to register this is a life drawing class because he is too busy gawking at the guy and omg he just winked at James and his entire brain short-circuited.

The guy's name is Matthew and he is a drama student and he is very happy to be there and be able to help and of course the guy is an actor, James thinks, he looks like a renaissance painting and sounds like an angel.

The teacher sends the guy into a back room to get ready and James tries to pull himself together and pretend he knows what he is doing as he tries to set up his paper and charcoal. He was going to ask Tom for help but he is already busy trying to start a conversation with Alastair and he doesn't want to interrupt them but it's ok he thinks he has got this.

That is, until Matthew comes back in a robe and, and on a cue from the teacher, takes off the robe and does his first pose, and James thinks he is hallucinating because it seems like he isn't wearing anything under the robe.

Oh. My god. He isn't wearing anything under the robe.

He pokes Tom and very vehemently points that out and asks what the fuck happened with the fruit bowls and Tom just looks at him like he is crazy because of course there are no fruit bowls, he had told Jamie it was a live model drawing class.

James is pretty sure Thomas DID NOT tell him that and, even if he did, how was he supposed to know that meant it would be a nude model class????

Worst thing is that aside from some initial awkward giggling no one else seems to really care there is a guy naked in the middle of the room aside from James.

And yes yes he knows the human body is natural and there is nothing wrong with being naked and it's for anatomy practice and the artistic view and all that but James is 1 very much not an artist and 2 still very much attracted to the very naked guy in the middle of the room.

In fact there is nothing about him that takes away from the impression he is the most beautiful guy James has ever seen or will ever see again in his life.

James decides he is going to be the slowest artist to ever exist and spend the whole class on Matthew's face and not look down in any way until it all finishes.

(Though Matthew makes it pretty hard when the teacher gives him a break and he decides to stretch his arms out over his head for a bit).

James has never been happier for the end of a class than when the teacher announces that's it for today and that they can go and thanks Matthew for helping them out because it means Matthew is finally putting the robe back on.

James puts all the things Thomas had lent him away as fast as he can and wants to drag Thomas by the arm so they get away from there as fast as possible but of course Thomas is stalling so he can talk with Alastair a little more and James wonders if aunt Sophie and uncle Gideon would be very mad if he strangled their only son.

But as he is starting to consider just dragging Thomas away for real he hears a "hullo" and when he looks to the side, Matthew himself is there smiling at him and he gets torn between short-circuiting again and worrying that Matthew is there because he saw James ogling him and is about to slap him for it so he immediately starts apologising.

Matthew doesn't get why he is apologising and there is no way James is explaining that so he says it's his first class like that and he felt awkward for staring (which is true).

Matthew chuckles and says he wouldn't be trying to be an actor if he minded people staring at him. Specially other beautiful people with artistic souls.

James wonders if he is crazy or if Matthew just called him beautiful. He tries to deflect by saying he is also sorry for the atrocious drawings he made of Matthew because he isn't an art student and is just there to give his cousin moral support.

Matthew says it can't be that bad and tries to get James to show the drawings to him but that is one mortification James has no intention to go through, thank you very much.

The teacher calls Matthew back to discuss something for the next class and Matthew tells James he is going to keep helping out for the next 2 weeks and he would love to see him there again.

James gives a non-committal answer and vows to himself he is absolutely never ever setting foot on that class again.

(But when Thomas asks him to go with him again next class, the fight he puts up is just for show.)

#giggling kicking my feet up can't stop thinking about them #heronchild #james herondale #matthew fairchild #tlh #the last hours #tsc #the shadowhunter chronicles #fanfiction #sort of #original #nanda writes #modern au

[neon-lights-and-glitter]

Lips Of An Angel- Epilogue - Nothing Has Been Easy

Summary- A summary of the next couple of years for you and Jack. Nothing in your and Jack's relationship has been easy, so why would trying to start a family be any different.

Word Count- 4.9k

Warnings- Infertility, mentions of divorce, very brief mention of cheating.

A/N- I tried to write this so you could read it without reading the rest of the series, but I do recommend that you do otherwise there might be one or two parts thats a little confusing. Thank you so much to the anon who asked for this, I think this might be my favorite thing I've ever written.

“You may now kiss the bride.” 

You and Jack smiled at each other before pressing your lips together as both of your family and friends cheered. You both pulled away before smiling at each other again. You walked hand in hand back down the aisle. 

You and Jack were led into the room where you had been getting ready earlier in the day. Jack helped you change from your wedding dress to a comfier dress for the reception. Jack took your hand.

“Come here.” Jack led you gently to the couch that was in the room, sitting down before pulling you down gently onto his lap.

“Jack.” You warned. “We don’t have time to do anything.” You told him giggling as you sat down on his lap. Jack laughed softly and shook his head.

“I know, that’s not what I want.” Jack gently placed his hands on your hips. “Well, actually, that’s not entirely true, I do want that, but there’s stuff that I wanted to keep between us, so I didn’t say it in my vows, but I want to tell you now.” Jack told you, leaning back on the couch.

“Because you haven’t made me cry enough today.” You teased, both of you laughing again. You had both already made each other cry with your vows.

 “I just wanted to tell you how happy I am that even after everything we’ve been through, you still choose to forgive me. I know our relationship wasn’t the easiest, and I know I didn’t do anything to make it easier. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you didn’t come back that night, but I’m glad you did. I don’t know where I would be without you. As much as I would have gotten remarried to you that night, I’m glad we’ve spent the last 4 years taking things slow and focusing on trusting each other again.” Jack told you, making your eyes water and try to blink away your tears, not wanting to get yelled at your makeup artist for ruining your makeup again.

“I love you baby. We both hurt each other, and I know that doesn’t make things right, but if there was anyone I want to spend the rest of my life with its you. We both wanted to make our relationship work and we did. I would have come back any night, I never had the intention of leaving forever. I didn’t want to. I’m completely okay with everything that happened because it made me realize how much I want, or need, you in my life.” You told Jack, his eyes starting to water as well.

“I love you so much.” Jack told you, leaning forward to press a kiss to your lips. “I will admit, I’m glad I got to marry you twice.” 

“I would marry you every day if I could.” You said, reaching up to run your fingers through his hair. 

“Are you sure we can’t be a little late to the reception? I just want to be alone with you.” Jack asked.

“I do too, but I think they might be waiting on us already, I mean it is our reception, I feel like we’re required to attend.” You told Jack who pulled you closer to him. “After tonight we have a week alone, I think we can make it through a couple hours.” You said, leaning forward to kiss Jack again.

“I can’t wait to have a proper honeymoon this time.” Jack said and you both laughed softly.

“Me too, I’m glad we did things properly this time, not that I regret how we did things last time, and maybe it’s just where we are in our relationship, but I feel a lot better about things this time.” Jack admitted and you nodded in agreement.

“I am too, as much as I loved getting married to you the first time, this time feels better, things are going to work out this time. As much as I say I’d marry you every day no more weddings after this one.” You joked.

Jack sighed softly as he woke up, he had been dreaming about your wedding night a lot more often recently and he wasn’t quite sure why. He laid in bed for a moment, trying to fall back asleep before he finally realized you weren’t there. Without opening his eyes, he reached out for you, trying to pull you back into his chest. The bed was empty. Jack could tell no one had been on that side of the bed in a while, it was cold. Jack opened his eyes, another confirmation that the bed was empty as all he started at was an empty pillow and a blanket that had clearly been moved to the side.

 Jack rolled onto his back and ran his hands through his hair. As tired as he was and as much as he wanted to go back to bed, Jack decided to get up. Jack checked his phone to see what time it was, seeing that it was 3:28am.

Jack sighed softly before walking out of the bedroom and down the stairs to where he now saw the living room light on. Jack turned the corner quietly, seeing you sitting on the couch, hugging your knees to your chest. He couldn’t see if you were currently crying, but he heard your sniffles, a sign that you had at least been crying recently. 

“Are you okay?” Jack asked quietly as he approached you, sitting down on the couch next to you. You nodded, laying your head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you closer.

“Yeah.” You sighed softly.

“Why’d you come out here?” Jack asked.

“I just couldn’t stop thinking and you were sleeping so I didn’t want to wake you up.” You explained and Jack sighed.

“Baby, you should have woke me up. Are you still thinking about the appointment earlier?” Jack asked and you nodded.

“I know what you’re going to say but yes.” You admitted. Jack sighed softly and pulled you gently into his lap.

“I just don’t want you to stress yourself out about it more then you already have. I know we both want a family, but I promise you, one way or another it will happen.” Jack told you.

“I just want to know why it hasn’t happened yet. They said there was nothing wrong. Nothing stopping me from getting pregnant, nothings stopping you from getting me pregnant, so why hasn’t it happened yet?” You asked.

“I don’t know baby, I don’t have any more answers than you do. There are other things we can try, and if that doesn’t work, we have other options. We will have our family one day I promise.” Jack told you, rubbing your back as you started to cry, Jack hugging you as close to his chest as he could. He buried his head into your neck, letting his own tears fall as he cried with you.

You and Jack had decided shortly after your one-year wedding anniversary that you wanted to start trying for a baby, but it was a year later and so far, you had no success. 

The last year had been one of the toughest times in your relationship with Jack, even after everything you had been through.

3 months into trying and you weren’t pregnant, but neither of you thought twice about it. 

6 months into trying and countless pregnancy tests later, they were all still negative. Jack was by your side every time you took a test, reassuring you that it was okay. It just wasn’t meant to be that month, but maybe next month was the month. Jack would hold you as you cried. Even shedding a few tears himself.

Even though Jack had been nothing but supportive, 6 months into trying was also when you both started to distance yourselves from each other. Jack would spend countless hours at the studio, or doing interviews, playing shows, anything that would distract him. Somedays he would leave before you woke up in the morning and come back home after you were already in bed.

Though you weren’t handling the situation any better, you would constantly try to find some way to busy yourself. You no longer joined Jack at the studio, the weekly date nights you used to have with Jack became monthly date nights, if that. Some nights you didn’t even face each other when you slept. Which might not seem like a big deal, but you could count on one hand the number of nights you and Jack didn’t cuddle before this.

9 months in and you realized that you could be holding a baby in your arms by now, but you weren’t. You weren’t even carrying one in your belly yet. That’s when you really started to think about it. Did Jack blame you for not being pregnant yet? He would never blame you, he knew you had no control of when you got pregnant, but that didn’t stop you from thinking that he did blame you. You knew that you blamed yourself so why wouldn’t he? Jack had also started to blame himself at this point, also thinking you were blaming him, but you weren’t, you never would, you couldn’t when you were too busy blaming yourself.

9 months in was also when you noticed a change in Jack when you took a pregnancy test. How hopeful he would get when you told him you were taking another one. You also saw how that same hope would leave his eyes when it came back negative. How even though you could tell he was upset, he would still smile and reassure you that it was okay, maybe next month, trying was the fun part anyways. You saw how the smile didn’t reach his eyes and it started to affect you more than anything else has. 

You stopped telling Jack when you would take pregnancy tests. You couldn’t handle seeing the disappointment in Jack anymore. It hurt you more than your own disappointment did, and that was saying a lot. 

Jack knew though. He saw the pregnancy tests you tried to hide in the trash can in your bathroom, or the pregnancy test boxes disappear from the cabinet. The fact you no longer wanted Jack there when you took the pregnancy tests hurt Jack more than the disappointment he felt when the test was negative. Every time you took a pregnancy test, you were together, why did it change now?

12 months in was when Jack brought up the idea of going to a doctor, and you agreed. At first, he was hesitant about bringing the idea up, he wasn’t sure how you would react, but you agreed. You would do anything to give Jack the baby he had wanted and talked about since you met him. Of course, you wanted a baby just as bad as Jack did, you were the one to bring up the idea of starting to try to conceive a baby. The second the words came out of your mouth you saw the way his eyes lit up and you saw how happy he got at the idea of you two starting a family.

Jack made a few calls and within a couple days you were both seeing the best doctor he could get you into. You both wanted answers, though once you didn’t receive any, you were both conflicted. Sure, it was good news that you could get pregnant on your own, but you didn’t know why you hadn’t. You wanted a resolution, a way that you knew you would have a baby. All you got was an overview of your future options and a suggestion to try for a couple more months before you try any of those options. 

13 months in and 1 month after your appointment and you were taking yet another pregnancy test. You didn’t even want to know how many you have taken at this point. You set the test face down on the counter as you set a timer on your phone. You tried to busy yourself for the next 5 minutes, rearranging things on the bathroom counter, which had been rearranged several times over the last year. You couldn’t help but glace over at the timer every 30 seconds.

You weren’t even sure why you were taking another pregnancy test, you had no symptoms, your period wasn’t late, but you had hope. The same hope you had every month that maybe this month would be different. The same hope that you were losing every time you looked at another pregnancy test and it was negative.

After what felt like the longest 5 minutes ever, your timer went off. You took your phone in one hand, and the pregnancy test in the other without looking at it. You walked into the bedroom, sitting on the side of the bed now holding the pregnancy test in both hands. You sighed before you flipped it over. 

Negative.

You felt nothing and everything at the same time. You stared at the test for another minute, emotionless, thinking that it might change, but it never did. You didn’t stop yourself from throwing the plastic stick onto the ground, watching it break into two, just like any hope you had left. Watching as the plastic stick broke was when you felt everything and let yourself burst into tears. 

Jack had decided to come home early that night, about 45 minutes after you had taken the pregnancy test. Of course, you hadn’t told him that you took it so when he walked into the bedroom, trying to find you, and he saw you sobbing, he was confused for a moment, instantly rushing over to you.

“Hey, why are you crying, tell me what’s wrong?” Jack asked, his eyes landing on the broken stick on the floor. He knew instantly what was wrong.

“I’m sorry.” You managed to let out in-between sobs, Jack hugging you close to his body as you held onto him tightly. As much as you would have never admitted it, you needed him in that moment.

“You don’t have to apologize, this isn’t your fault.” Jack told you, rubbing your back as he whispered reassuring words into your ear. You didn’t feel like you deserved him in that moment. Here he was comforting you over something he wanted just as much as you did, yet he never let you know how much it hurt him too. 

Jack comforted you for as long as you needed it, until he heard your sobs slowly get quieter. Even then he never let go of you until you pushed him away.

“I’m done Jack, I can’t do this anymore.” You told him, standing up from the bed, grabbing the pieces of the pregnancy test off the floor and throwing them into the garbage can.

“What do you mean? Do you want to take a break from trying?” Jack asked and you shook your head, walking back towards him.

“I’m done with us. I can’t keep fucking doing this to you or to me every month. You deserve someone who can give you what you want, and I can’t so I’m done.” You grabbed a random bag out of the closet as Jack stood up to follow you.

“Wait, let’s talk about this. If you want to stop trying, that’s okay. I know it’s stressful, but we need to sit down and talk about this, I’m not letting you leave.”

“No. You want a happy family, and that’s not what we are anymore. We barely see each other unless we’re having sex or I’m crying and you’re comforting me. Maybe our date night, but even then, it’s just awkward conversation because neither of us want to address the fact that I haven’t gotten pregnant. I know you, and I want you to be happy, and I know you will be happier if you get the life you always pictured.” You told Jack, throwing random stuff into your bag just as quickly as Jack was trying to get it out.

“You don’t get to make that decision for me. I am happy with you, even when we were going through the worst of our relationship, the cheating, the lying, everything, I was never happier with anyone else then I was with you. You can’t tell me you don’t feel the same way because we wouldn’t have kept coming back to each other if you didn’t. I don’t want anyone else. I don’t care if you never get pregnant and we never have kids, but there’s things we can still try. We have options. We can’t just give up now.” Jack argued.

“But you aren’t going to make that decision so I’ve made it for you Jack. I’m doing this for you. You say you don’t care now, but what happens in 15 years when you hate me because you gave up the one thing you’ve wanted you’re entire life. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not find out.” You were happier with him than anyone else, but how could he feel the same way about you.

“I’m never going to hate you, I never could. What about all the work we put into our relationship? Are you just going to throw the last 6 years away?” Jack asked as you finally zipped up the bag you were packing.

“I’m not going to let you give up on something you’ve wanted your entire life just to be with me Jack. I’m sure you can find someone who loves you just as much as I do, and that you’ll love as well who will be able to give you what you want. I’m sorry I can’t be that person for you. You know I wanted to be.” You told Jack.

“I told you, I’m not letting you leave me again, not after we worked so hard to make our relationship work. The most important thing in my life is you, I don’t care about anything else as long as I have you. You can walk out that door and I don’t care if you go get a hotel 5 minutes down the road, or fly halfway across the country, I will follow you because I’m not letting you leave me, not because of this.” Jack said, watching as you thought about your decision.

You couldn’t leave Jack, not after everything you’ve been through with him. Did you fully believe that he would be happy with you without kids, no, but you also knew there was other options.

“I’m sorry.” You repeated your words from earlier before you dropped your bag to the ground and took a couple steps towards Jack who immediately grabbed you, not wanting to let you go and risk you changing your mind. “I don’t want to leave you, I can’t.” You told him. 

“Hey.” Jack said, using one hand to tilt your chin up towards him so he could look into your eyes. “Nothing has been easy for us, but that’s okay, I don’t expect for it to be, but I will do my best to make it as easy as possible and always be there for you. Do you think we should take a little break from trying so hard to have a baby? The doctor said stress isn’t helpful, and I think we’ve both been stressed out because of it. It doesn’t even have to be a long break, just a couple of months, and then we can go back to the doctor and figure out our options?” Jack asked and you nodded.

“Yeah, I’m serious when I say I can’t keep doing this, it hurts too much.” You said, burying your face back into Jack’s chest. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Jack asked.

“For always being there for me. I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you, I know it hurts you too.” You apologized and Jack shook his head even though you couldn’t see him.

“You don’t have to thank me for that, I’m your husband, that’s what good husbands do. It hurts, but what hurts me even more is seeing you hurt and upset.” Jack told you.

“I love you so much.” You lifted your head up to press a kiss to his lips.

“I love you too, I’m not letting you leave that easy.” Jack reassured, kissing you again.

You and Jack decided to take the next 6 months to just focus on your relationship, instead of trying to get pregnant. The weekly date nights that had turned monthly over the last year were back to weekly, if not more often than that. Jack stopped spending every day at the studio or distracting himself with work and even scheduled a week and a half off so you two could go on a vacation, just the two of you. 

It was hard at first, it felt like you were giving up on your dreams of starting a family, but you weren’t. You both needed this break.

About 4 months into the 6 months, you agreed on, you noticed that your period was 3 days late. You told Jack you wanted to take a pregnancy test, just in case. You didn’t want to get your hopes up, but you would be lying if you said you didn’t. 

Jack had offered to go pick up a couple pregnancy tests at the store as soon as you told him, he made you get rid of all the unused pregnancy tests when you had decided to take a break. Of course, you both knew there was a chance you would still need them, by taking a break trying for a baby, that didn’t mean you stopped having sex, you just stopped having sex with the intention of having a baby, but he thought it was best to not have them in the house to remind both of you constantly. He was right, and if you needed one, like you did now, it’s not like they were hard to find.

Jack walked in the front door, immediately finding you and handing you the bag.

“They didn’t have the brand we got before, so I got 3 different brands, I didn’t know which one to get so I got options.” Jack said and you laughed softly at his explanation. 

“Thank you baby.” You kissed him as you took the bag out of his hand. You walked upstairs and into your shared bedroom, Jack following you and sitting down on the bed while you walked into the bathroom. 

You decided to just take all three tests before setting them face down on the counter and setting a timer on your phone before walking out into the bedroom and sitting down on the bed next to Jack who instantly pulled you into his lap and you buried your face into his neck while he pressed kisses onto your head. You both sat in silence for a moment before you spoke up.

“What if it’s negative?” You asked quietly, Jack sighed softly before gently pulling you away from him so he could look at you in the eyes.

“Then that’s okay. If it’s negative, we will be okay.” Jack told you, but honestly, he was saying that for himself just as much as he was saying that for you. “I know how bad you want this, how bad we both want this. It’s okay to be upset if it’s negative, but I promise you, we will have a baby eventually, I’ll make sure of it. We’ll go back to the doctors and try the fertility treatments, or we can always adopt, no matter what, we will have the family we want.” Jack reassured you and you nodded. 

Soon the timer on your phone was going off, you sighed softly before standing up from Jack’s lap and walking over to where the pregnancy tests were on the counter, Jack following right behind you. Even though you weren’t expecting the test to be positive, you had regained the hope you had lost previously. You reached for one of the three tests before Jack stopped you.

“Wait.” He said, making you look over at him. “You know I love you, and no matter what that says, positive or negative, it’s not going to change that right?” Jack asked and you nodded. You had opened up to each other about your feelings more after your fight that night and Jack wanted you to know that even if you two never had a child, even if you decided to not adopt or try fertility treatments, he would love you the same.

“I know, I love you too.” You smiled softy, tilting your head up to kiss him once before picking 2 of the sticks up, handing one to Jack without looking at it. “Flip them on 3?” You suggested and Jack nodded. 

You hesitated before you started to count down, not really wanting to look at the result, but you knew you had to.

“One, two, three.” As soon as you said three, you both flipped over the test that you were holding. You both looked at the test, then each other, looking back down at the test before looking at each other one more time. Your eyes found each other’s as they started to water.

“Positive.” You both said at the same time before you both smiled, setting the tests down on the counter as Jack wrapped his arms around you, picking you up and pressed kisses all over your face before finally pressing one to your lips.

“I never thought I would see that.” You admitted as tears streamed down both of your cheeks, but this time they were happy tears.

“I can’t believe it, we’re going to be parents.” Jack said. “We’re going to have our own little baby. Holy fuck.” You kissed Jack again before pulling away slowly.

“Let’s look at the other one.” You said and Jack nodded, letting you flip over the third stick to show that it also said positive. 

You and Jack laid in bed the rest of the day talking about random things, baby names, what room was going to be the nursery, what the nursery would look like if you had a girl, what the nursery would look like if you had a boy, who the baby would look like more, anything and everything related to your future family. You were both to excited to put your attention anywhere else.

Almost exactly 9 months later, you laid in a hospital bed, holding the tiny baby girl you had just given birth to a couple hours ago. Jack laid next to you, even though he told you it was okay and that it was your bed, he didn’t want to make you uncomfortable or cause you any pain, you had insisted that you would be more comfortable with him next to you. Jack laid his hand gently on the top of her head as she slept.

“Do you want to hold her again?” You asked Jack, she had already been passed back and forth between you two a couple times, she hadn’t laid anywhere but either your arms or Jack’s arms, except for the few tests she needed, since she was born. Jack nodded instantly.

“You ask like I’m going to say no. Of course, I do.” Jack smiled as you carefully passed her to him. “I can’t believe she’s real.” Jack said quietly, looking down at her. You could count on one hand the number of times his eyes had left her since she was born, and every time it was to check on you.

“I can’t either, she’s so tiny.” You said, adjusting her bow that one of the nurses had put on her so it didn’t cover her face. Jack looked over at you for a second, leaning over to kiss you.

“Are you tired?” Jack asked and you nodded slightly.

“Yeah.” You laid your head on Jack’s shoulder, looking down at the baby in his arms.

“You can take a nap if you want, I can move.” Jack told you and you shook your head.

“I want you to stay.” You told him. “I don’t want to stop looking at her long enough to take a nap.” You said and Jack laughed softly.

“Me neither.” Jack agreed.

“She’s perfect.” You said and Jack nodded in agreement.

“She is, she’s perfect just like her mom.” Jack said. “You know, if you would have asked me the day that we signed our divorce papers where I would be in 7 years, I would have never guessed that we would be married with such a perfect little family. I have no idea where I would be if you wouldn’t have forgiven me, and I don’t even want to think about it.” 

“I never would have guessed this either, but I wouldn’t change a thing.” You told him.

Within minutes you were asleep, you hadn’t slept for quite some time, so it wasn’t surprising to Jack when he looked over to find you asleep with your head on his shoulder still. Jack smiled softly at you, pressing a kiss to the top of your head before looking back at the baby.

Jack couldn’t think of a time in his life where he had ever been happier. No amount of fame of money could compare to having you next to him and his baby girl in his arms.

“You were worth the wait.” Jack whispered before pressing a gentle kiss to the top of the baby’s head.

Taglist @jackharloww

#jack harlow #jack harlow imagine #jack harlow x reader

[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).

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