#lucia will have a bad time when matier passes as she is her only family and friend as far as we know

[prototypelq]

DMC Questions Anon here!

Take every character you wish to and tell me what you think is the most emotionally devastating situation they could be put in and how they would react to it.

Hi, Ember! You just had to do the ask around the DMC1 anniversary and the twins' very bad absolutely no good horrible terrible birthday huh) lol we love angst in dmc everything is completely fine

To be perfectly honest with you I am surprised the twins are... somewhat functioning persons after all the shit they went through. I mean, they are barely functional, and 5 was just one massive mental breakdown for both of them but still! They remain Somewhat sane which is very hard to believe to tell the truth, and they really need years of extensive therapy (...also any therapist they go to will need therapy themselves after a session with the twins, I feel sorry for the poor soul).

All of this is to say that this is my ask and I don't want the twins to suffer too much)

this is also the reason I side with the 'twins have normal human lifespan' answer in Raven's poll, because Sparda Luck has had nothing good in store for them ever, and prolonging their years means risking their fragile mental health even more. they just really need a leave/retire at this point and my wish for them is to live their years in relative peace

I'l go over the twins briefly as I don't want them to go through shit again, the canon was cruel enough towards them. Nero is their weak spot. Nero is extremely important to the twins, because he is the physical manifestation of hope for their future. Before 5 the answer to this question would have been each other, as the pain of being the lone brother has been familiar for each of them and has been festering for decades at this point, but it all changed in 5. The ending of 5 shows rekindling of their brotherhood, it it was only possible thanks to Nero, as in 5 both of them were so exhausted they wanted just to end everything*

*I've discussed this with Raven, and we bounced around the idea that the circumstances of twins 'mutual agreement for the end' was not so mutual in details. Vergil was exhausted and had no idea what to do next, except have one last great stand with his brother, and to force Dante's hand to end him. But to bait Dante into doing that, he had to go all out during their battle, so Dante kind of rightfully assumed Vergil was out for his blood. Again. DMC3 tragic parallels my beloved.

I doubt Vergil realised how badly this was all going for Dante, or the consequences of such action on his twin. Though Dante absolutely knew he could not live with himself after ending Vergil again, and that's exactly why he left the deed (= inheritance for Nero) behind before going on this hunt. He thought it would be his last.

It would be curious to see Vergil's reaction to that information, I think if he learns of the deed he'll piece the puzzle himself, and then there is going to be an Interesting conversation between the twins. I doubt Vergil would have gone through with his plan if he knew the toll it would take on Dante, and Vergil never wanted his brother dead.

Nero is the twins future. He gave them a deserved slap as a wake up call, he reminded them of the possibilities the future could hold, while twins only ever look to the past. They found kinship in their shared respect and fondness of Nero, this is their starting point to heal.

Loosing another after 5 would be, of course, extremely painful for either of them (arguably worse for Dante, as his mental state is pretty much in shambles in 5, and Vergil was the same before that, literally in his case, but he has new page now, he just has trouble figuring out what to do with it), but with Nero's help they just might be able to pull through.

But if anything happened to Nero himself? I don't think twins, even with their bond rekindled would be truly able to come back from that. So yeah, the twins' weak spot is Nero.

Nero`s weakspot is obviously family, however much has been much kinder to him in that aspect than the twins. He grew up loved and cared for in his adopted family, but with his own isues of course. While Nero had not knew Dante&Vergil for very long, he certainly does take after his uncle&father (must be the Sparda heritage) in term of issues, because Nero combines the twins' together! Nero struggles simultaniously with self-worth and the need for recognition, which I reckon, will give him A Time while the twins are gone, and if anything they will only worsen after their return too. Nero has already unlocked two power-ups, yet he is abandonned by the twins (for reasons he will have to come to terms with) And he is not even close to their power levels (Vergil only lost to Nero because he did not want to fight in the first place and was exhausted). Nero has been trying to establish himself... for his entire life, but every major demonic outbreak had Required a Dante call, Nero had not been able to handle it on his own. And after twins return this issue will only persist, because he means so much to the twins, he now basically has a very agressive safety net, which all the spardas will have to work together to solve.

Also I could have just said family. Nero will be worrying over twins the entire time of their absence, no doubt about it. Hopefully, in the meantime of awaiting their return, he will look into whatever he can find of their history, and he will get at least a rough picture of what the hell the brothers have been through and why they had to go together.

Other weakpoint of Nero's is, of course, Kyrie. I actually have no idea how he leaves their home, knowing his blood attracts demons, which are already plenty in Fortuna, and with canon suggesting no special abilities to defend herself with. If something happens to her it will be devastating for him, but Nero has grew up with good support system around him, he has another adopted sibling in Nico, and now even his blood relatives are close. It will be hard, but I believe he could pull through with all of their help. (but I want nothing bad to happen to Kyrie)

Same applies for Kyrie - she will be tortured by the loss of nero if it came to that, but hopefully she will be able to work through that loss.

#why did this post turn out so long and a kind-of character opinion post I literally started on it immedeately after receiving the ask #oh well what can you do except read it I guess #i thought about adding others but to be honest the answers after nero will be pretty much the same #patty will have a terrible time if she lost nina or dante both obviously mean a lot of her #they are also her only line of defense against demons otherwise its life on the run #i feel like trish will have an easier time if she were left alone actually because she will always have History with the twins and will #never be able to fully move on from that while they remain in contact sorry for saying this but this is the only take i have on a character #forced to traumatise her friends with just her appearance alone this is a solvable issue untill someone leaves the equasion #lucia will have a bad time when matier passes as she is her only family and friend as far as we know #dmc3 cerberus won't have anymore traumatising situations because he was broken) sorry still not over my fuming over cerberus disrespect #dmc questions anon #dmc #dante sparda #vergil sparda #the sparda loser twins #nero sparda #dmc kyrie

[skvaderarts]

Hiraeth Chapter 17: Regulation

Masterlist can be found Here!

Chapter Seventeen: Regulation

Note: Sorry the upload was a little late today. I was out of town at Microcenter trying to get a GODDAMN GRAPHICS CARD!! Ahem… sorry about that. I think you might all like where this story is going to go from here. Oh boy, do I have some ideas… 

(-~-)

In truth, no one present was entirely sure what to make of the scene that they had just happened upon. While they had indeed just witnessed it, there was no easy way to actually explain it. The gigantic demonic minotaur had collapsed and was already beginning the process of becoming ash, something that they welcomed, especially considering the fact that none of them had been available to actually attempt to assist with stopping the creature’s rampage. But that was the very root of the issue.

How on earth had this intrepid stranger managed to actually do battle against such a large for on his own?

While the concept of another hunter being able to take on something beyond the classification of a lesser demon was not at all unfamiliar to them, this was something else entirely. At first glance, the quiet stranger that they had allowed to tag along on their trip with them didn't seem at all capable of doing what he had just done. If nothing else, they had assumed that he possessed some basic combat abilities. Perhaps enough to protect himself. But this… to be able to harness and wield that kind of strength… 

"This is curious. To my knowledge, the Ludwig Family doesn’t have any devil hunters among their ranks. And they never have." Vergil said as he stepped forward, an intrigued look on his face. While it was true that the Ludwig family were practitioners of a variety of combat types and had been for the entirety of their existence, he had never seen one use the type of power that the redhead had just utilized, and never to the degree that he could use it. Clearly, he was proficient at a level that exceeded that of the average user, and that was something that Vergil found both fascinating given his initial impressions of the young stranger, and alarming. Normally he was better at gauging the power level of his opponents. Sirrus had flown way below his radar.

“You’re not mistaken. They do not.” Sirrus said calmly, sheathing his gleaming blade once again. While it was unclear precisely where he’d actually drawn it from, what was clear was that it had come from within his coat, and he had just returned it to its rightful resting place. But how he had managed to walk around with a blade that easily equaled the length of Yamato on him without alerting anyone to its presence was beyond any of them. Did he have access to a pocket dimension of some sort? Was their lack of interest in his capabilities what had kept them from simply not noticing it? Because if so, they needed to keep their guard up a bit better than that in the future.

An almost questioning look passed across Dante’s face as he seemed to take in the response of their new companion. Suddenly he realized that he truly didn’t know very much about him, and he found it more than a little bit disconcerting that he hadn’t really put much thought into the possibility of him posing a threat to him. The last intrepid stranger who had happened upon him in such a manner had been V, and before a few other names came to mind. Trish, Lady, Lucia… hell, even Beryl fell into that category easily enough! How many times was he going to have to learn this lesson?

“If that’s the case, then how do you know how to do… whatever that just was? And where’d ya learn to do it in the first place?” Dante interjected, noting Vergil’s silence. One could only assume that he was considering something, but despite the fact that silence was a trademark of his stoic older twin’s personality, that didn’t mean that he had ever been particularly comfortable with it. Left alone to his own devices, Vergil’s mind was just as deadly a weapon as his blade or any other ability or armament that he possessed. And if he wasn’t plotting the demise of someone or something, he was probably lingering in a sort of stasis, fixating on some lingering regret or other toxic thought. It was best to not let him idle for very long, lest he come to regret it

The man in black adjusted his coat, sliding his arm back into the long sleeve that it had once occupied. It was best that he do so, lest he accidentally allow his favorite garment to drag along the ash-covered ground. It was so incredibly difficult to get demonic ash out of this kind of material. “A reasonable enough question. And one I shall answer. But can we do it while we head back to your friend’s house? The air here had become rather unpleasant, and I’d like to stop having to breathe it. Methane and sulfur and all that. It’s bad for our lungs.”

Nero considered scoffing at the statement for a brief moment before thinking better of himself. It was best not to antagonize him, at least not until he knew how to do it without ending up cut in half or impaled like that demon. A quick glance over at V was all that it took to see that he was not alone in this assessment. The taller summoner seemed to be deep in thought, not that he wasn’t in most instances. But something about the look on his face had changed in some subtle way, and he was sure now that he was not the only one with doubts and concerns. In truth, Sirrus was still smack dab in the middle of his “suspect as hell” list, but now he was starting to wonder if he was asking the wrong questions. That didn’t mean, however, that he couldn’t ask a simple question. After all, what harm could that do?

“Okay, that makes sense. But then who the hell are you?” Nero said calmly but with an obvious tinge of unamused irritation on his face. He wasn’t sure he knew what to think of him at this point, and while he didn’t exactly perceive him as a threat, the fact that he hadn’t informed them that he possessed that kind of power made him slightly uneasy. Or maybe in some small ways he had. After all, Sirrus’s calm demeanor in most threatening situations should have tipped him off as a possible indicator of this kind of power, but Nero had no way of knowing for sure. But he wouldn’t put it past him to play those sorts of games with them. He just seemed odd in that kind of way.

Sirrus shrugged nebulously at the comment as it if didn’t affect him much or he had been asked the question before enough times to have expected it. “Again, I have next to nothing against telling you, but not here. I simply don’t desire to linger here any longer than I must. It isn’t ideal.”

Life rarely was, as far as Vergil was concerned, but he was willing to accommodate his request if for no other reason than the fact that after such a long time in the underworld, the scent of sulfurous gas and the presence of ash in the air around them hit far to close to home. He had enjoyed a reprieve from such foul substances for a few weeks now, and he was not at all eager to reintroduce himself to them. Leaving would, in fact, be best for more than one reason.

Very well, then. That is agreeable.” The eldest Son of Sparda said as he turned in the direction that they had come from, somewhat unsurprised to find that he could still see the road from here. The fountain was going to make a wonderful mess of that plaza soon enough, but at least the piece of metal from the demon bull’s fallen weapon had dissipated. The less evidence of their presence here, the better. “But let’s make haste. Something is entirely off about this situation, and I do not desire to be at the mercy of its wrath any longer than I must be.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Sirrus said simply before following the white-haired half-devil in the blue coat. Thankfully they didn’t seem eager to put up much of a fuss about it, and there was a simple explanation for what he had done. Well, at least it was simple for him. Nothing was simple when it came to his life, and this was no exception, but at least it was one of the few questions that he could easily answer that wouldn’t have catastrophic consequences outside of his control.

(-~-)

The walk back had been uneventful and quick, so nothing of any particular note had even a scrap of hope of occurring. Before any of them could even begin to think of where to start or fire up the part of their brain that existed to do critical thinking, they had arrived back at Lucia and Matier’s shared home, and more importantly, at the shared realization that it would be easier to just have this conversation at the house instead of on the way to it.

“Alright then, we’re here. So what’s the deal, then? How are you able to do all that?” Dante asked as he reclined on the couch. Lucia’s place had some very comfortable furniture, and he was more than happy to capitalize on the opportunity to enjoy it. It was nice to sit back and relax a little bit sometimes. “I’m not that good with magic or whatever you’d call that, but I’ve never seen a human use that kind of power.”

Lucia stepped forward as she closed the front door to the living room, allowing the door to close before she spoke. The fewer interruptions, the better. At least as far as she was concerned. And while she knew next to nothing about this stranger, what was going on, it what was even going on in the first place, she did know what he was curious as to what he could do. And if he was willing to explain himself to them, then it was probably best to take him up on his offer and allow him to actually tell them what was going on.

“Perhaps we’re just asking the wrong questions.” She said politely as she entered the living room and found a place to sit. There were a lot more people here than she was used to, but she didn’t particularly mind given the circumstances. In fact, she was almost glad that everyone seemed to be so comfortable in her small home. It was a welcome change of pace. “Maybe it isn’t about how he did that, but more about what he did and what he’d have to be in order to do it.

A soft sigh escaped Sirrus’s lips as he glanced over at her. Yes, she was as smart as she was pretty, wasn’t she? That was good to know. For all he knew, her intellect and perceptive nature might come in handy in the near future. “Your quite right. I’m a member of the Ludwig family through marriage. Or more accurately, through a divorce. Two of them each, actually.” His facial expression changed slightly for a moment as though he were recalling an unpleasant memory. After a moment, he continued despite the fact that something about his demeanor had changed. He was so reserved in the first place that it was hard to pinpoint what had changed, but something had indeed done so. “But regardless, I do not possess the limitations that many of them do in regards to their power as a result. I do apologize for not volunteering to tell you what was going on sooner, but I think you can understand the desire to not expose yourself to those that you do not know, especially you’ve not yet had a reason. I think that everyone like us desires anonymity, privacy, and normality to some degree. I hope you can respect that.”

Dante exhaled and leaned back slightly. Yes. Yes, he did understand that feeling. It was all too familiar to him. While a part of him did in fact still yearn for the possibility of that being true, there was a part of him that knew it wasn’t something he could easily obtain, if at all. More than likely it was a false hope, but he still hoped nonetheless. “Yea, I get that. Makes sense. Keep going?”

Sirrus nodded. “My biological parents are much like yours in that they are two completely different beings that hale from wildly different backgrounds, but I do not feel at all comfortable explaining who either of them is, or saying anything beyond that.” He said, gesturing towards Dante and Vergil respectively, his casual demeanor hiding his underlying anxiety much better than either of them realized. “What I can say is that my power is a direct result of their union. It isn’t a learned skill like it is for the Ludwigs. They are born with an aptitude for learning magic. I was born with inborn gifts. Mine simply differs from yours due to parentage and the fact that I am not what you are, but the principle is still the same. I hope that makes some measure of sense.”

“I understand that in a way,” Lucia interjected, shrugging softly in discomfort as she remembered her origins. It was a difficult subject, and one that she didn’t touch on lightly. After all, she’d spent a while fulling coming to grips with the truth herself. “I can understand why you didn’t say anything. But I don’t think anyone here would have had a problem with that knowledge. I mean, at least I think not.”

Dante shrugged and Vergil made some sort of motion akin to a shrug, but didn’t say anything. Nero and Nico both shared a glance over at V before doing much the same, both of them slightly unnerved by his persistent silence. Was he being affected by the knife again? “Yea, none of us can really say anything. Nico is basically the only totally normal person here. That is, if you can call whatever the hell she has going on “normal.” But she’d human either way.”

Nico punched Nero playfully in the shoulder. “Yea, what this stupid jerk is sayin is pretty much spot on, aside from me being that weird. He’s done some pretty weird crap, so I guess he can say that about himself. But me, I’m just a regular old human who’s along for the ride. If you need any extra weirdness, you’d have to talk to basically anyone else in this room. Well, except Lucia. She seems pretty cool.”

Lucia held her hand up to her face to stifle the slight giggle that she felt coming on. Nico was quite the character from what she could tell. And that was just fine by her. But she still needed to find out what everyone was doing on the island in the first place. It wasn’t that she wasn’t glad to see Dante. What was most certainly not the case now, and she highly doubted that it ever would be. But if she had to guess, she’d be willing to say that he was here for a reason. 

Sirrus seemed amused by the young gunsmith’s response. “Your all quite right. I’m simply unaccustomed to being forthcoming about these sorts of things, especially towards people I’ve only recently met. But your kindness is most apreciated. Thank you.”

The lovely redhead nodded and turned towards the rest of the group, making herself comfortable. “Okay. Well, that’s a relief. Now that we’ve had that conversation and everything is sorted out a little better than it was before, I have to ask… what brings you to the island again so soon, Dante?! Last time you were gone quite a while longer than you were this time! I know that the circumstances are vastly different, but my point still stands. Did you just so happen to be in the area and thought you’d stop by to see me again?”

Dante laughed lightly, craning his head to one side. He had indeed missed Lucia in the time that they’d been away, there was no denying it. But unfortunately, there were not there as a lovely leisure retreat. They had work to do. He shook his head to indicate that he was saying no to her question, earning him a bashful but unabashed look from his longtime friend. Truly he washed that he was wrong, but he wasn’t.”

“Not as such. We’ve come to return something to you. At least from what I understand. Venturing all the way out here was Dante’s idea.” Vergil said flatly, not at all in the mood for this kind of friendly banter. When he’d returned after his prolonged absence, he’d nearly been shot down a flight of stairs by Magnolia. And that was to say nothing of his arrival back from the underworld. Dante had received quite the welcome wagon in comparison.

She gave him a curious look as he pointed to the box behind her. As the realization of what it contained kicked in, she gasped quietly, covering her face with her mouth. “That box… what’s supposed to be inside of it is… that’s not supposed to… please tell me it’s empty? Please.” A shake of the head from Nero was all that it took for an almost mournful look to cross her face. “Oh, please forgive me for the trouble! I hate to say it, but I had no idea that it was gone. Some Guardian I am… Either way, thank you for returning it safely back to where it belongs. Do you recall where you found it by any chance? I’d like to investigate. Something this sacred just vanishing without a trace and without my mother or myself noticing is worrisome, to say the least.”

V finally decided to speak up, snapping out of the state of quiet contemplation that he’d previously found himself in. “Oh, I remember precisely where they found that knife. If you look hard enough, I’m almost sure you’d still be able to find my blood on it. But at least it’s been returned to where it belongs now.”

Lucia gave him a sympathetic look as if she understood what he was alluding to. “I’m so sorry to hear that you were hurt. I am glad to see that you are alright. I would be remiss to hear that my inaction lead to your untimely death, much as I am to hear that you were harmed in the first place.” She looked back at the blade again for a moment just in time to miss V turning away to look out of the window, mildly embarrassed by her kind words. He wasn’t accustomed to such kindness. Lucia was truly wonderful. “I will return it to its rightful resting place as soon as I have a chance. And this time, I’ll make sure that all of the traps are turned back on. Not just some of them. But I get the feeling that that isn’t all you need help with?”

Dante shook his head. “No, sorry to say that it isn’t. You up to going on another little trip with me to help out again?

She gave the youngest of Sparda’s two sons a polite smile. “Yes, absolutely.”

(-~-)

I’m suddenly very sleepy, and it’s only 10:58 pm. Maybe it’s just the stormy weather. The entire plate of alfredo I’m about to eat isn’t going to do me any favors, either. Oh well, see you next week! And thanks for checking this chapter out! Now off to the comment section!

#V #Vergil #Dante #Nero #Hiraeth #Post Devil May Cry 5 #Post DMCV #AU #Vitale #DMC AU #Post Devil May Cry 5 AU #Fanfiction #DMC Fanfiction