Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Urizen remembered his creation clearly. A blinding pain, a tearing moment of weakness, before he felt nothing. Well, nothing was incorrect. His instincts were there, guiding him towards more power, more dominance, and more safety. His mind was there, and although a feeling of something missing was there at first, he soon left it behind. His instincts were his drive, and his mind the way he could follow them through. Power in the demon world, after all, could not just be one's combat strength. To rise above lower demons and truly ascend, an effective demon needed intelligence. He was the demon king, he knew this well.

It was this that made Urizen decide to follow his instincts to a lowly human abode. Part of him, without intelligence or reasonable thought, had brought him here, and Urizen intended on learning why. His instincts were a constant and familiar backbone that held him together. He knew them well. So what was it that caused them to act so strangely, sending him unfamiliar signals and driving him into the territory of worthless humans? Urizen pondered this as he strode through the dark of the human establishment. Some lights shone through the glass of the constructions, but for the most part the settlement was silent. Any humans he came upon, he killed quickly. He intended to get this over and done with, so he could return to the tree. It was growing and needy.

Urizen stopped at one of the constructions the humans called their homes. He tore down their door and part of the door frame above it. He was a demon king, he would not bow. A scream, female by the sound of it, came from above. Urizen followed his instincts up the stairs, and down a hallway, before breaking another door frame. One human - the female one he had just heard, stood over the resting place of another. Only that one wasn’t quite human, and Urizen could sense it.

The female human pleaded with him to leave them alone, to spare her mate's life. Urizen ignored her, brushing her to the side, sending her flying into a wall, and moved forward. Whether she lived or not, he didn’t care. She was not central to his mission, and couldn’t even be counted as an obstacle. He was here to satiate his growing instincts, and nothing else.

Urizen looked at the unconscious demon-human-nestling in the small resting place. Upon being close enough to see the details of the figure and sense its aura, Urizen came to the conclusion that this was his nestling, although partly human and missing an arm. That was probably due to his own past and whatever worthless human vermin Vergil had bred with. None of that mattered right now, though. First came taking his nestling, so vulnerable, wounded, and human like, back to a safe place. He noticed a note on the table to the side of the pitiful nest. "Dear Nero..." the note read. Urizen turned back to his nestling, Nero. A kingly name indeed, he thought.

And so Urizen left, now with what he had come for safely in his arms, and unleashed lower demons onto the settlement. Urizen was satisfied for now. His nestling would need care, protection, and teaching, but that came later. For now, it was time to get his nestling to a proper nest.

Chapter Text

When Kyrie came to, she had a headache. She groggily tried to open her eyes, only to see light and have the pounding in her head increase. She tried to sit up, but her body protested, sending her waves of pain from all over.

“You should try not to move so much,” a voice said to the left of her. “And open your eyes slowly, don’t want you to be blinded again.”

Kyrie tried to focus and do what the voice asked, slowly opening her eyes and blinking rapidly to adjust them. She turned to the side, seeing a white haired man wearing a deep red coat. A sword was propped up on what appeared to be a… hospital bed?

“Dante? What… happened?” Kyrie asked, her voice hoarse and scratchy. Nero had shown her pictures of Dante before, given her the Devil May Cry phone number, and told her he was who she should trust if Nero ever ran into demon related trouble.

“I was hoping you’d be able to explain that to me,” Dante said, grinning. “Your place was a wreck when I got there. Not that the rest of Fortuna’s much different.”

Kyrie tensed. “The rest of Fortuna? But I thought…” she trailed off, confused. A hulking, large demon had entered her and Nero’s home, and thrown her against the wall. Did the same invasion happen to the rest of Fortuna? Why was Dante even here?

She said none of this, and instead asked Dante, “Where’s Nero? If he called you here the demon attack must have been pretty serious, and I must have been out a while.”

Dante stared at her in silence for several seconds, his face missing his characteristic grin.

A blond long-haired woman came in through the door and sighed. “You’re both doing a great job of explaining the situation.” She turned to Kylie. “I’m Trish,” the woman said. “Dante’s business partner and fellow demon hunter.”

She turned back to Dante and gave him a look. “Explain your side of things first, then let her tell you what happened. Anyway Dante, I came here to tell you I’m going to go find Lady.” Trish said, before turning and leaving through the doors she’d entered.

The doors slammed, leaving her and Dante alone again. They stared at each other in silence for a minute, before Dante spoke.

“The attack was on the news. Hoards of demons attacking the island of Fortuna without warning or reason. We’re still cleaning up after the mess they created. I came to investigate and talk to Nero about helping me with another job, but it seems he’s not here.”

“Not… here?” Kyrie asked. “But Nero was with me last night! He was fast asleep after the incident, and I was knocked unconscious. He seemed close to waking up the evening prior, so I assumed he woke up and got away!”

Dante shrugged, tension clear in his frame. “That could still be the case, for all we know. But Nero is gone, and you were both attacked by a demon. I need to know what kind, so we can find Nero before he ends up getting himself into more trouble.”

Kyrie explained the hulking figure she had seen the night prior. It was too dark for her to be able to see the details, but she could see the tentacles grasping walls and flailing in the air behind it. She explained its strength, and how without effort it broke down the concrete of door frames and threw her into a wall.

Dante hummed. Kyrie could see the pinch of his eyebrows, and knew he might be just as stumped as she was. But that wasn’t going to stop her from finding Nero. She may not be a powerful demon hunter like Nero and Dante, but she could still help piece together what had happened.

–

Dante was worried. He was worried for his nephew who didn’t know he was his nephew, he was worried about the sudden spike in demon activity, both in Fortuna and elsewhere over the past couple of days. There were whispers of a new demon king arising. Demons were growing bolder, and attacks were growing more frequent. Just in the span of a week too. Just to get to Nero’s place on Fortuna, Dante had to fight through several large hordes of lesser demons. They were weak, but bloodthirsty and far more motivated than usual.

Lady and Trish could handle themselves, Dante knew, and yet he couldn’t help but worry over how fragile Lady was when injured, being a human. And Nero.

Dante’s thoughts took a dark turn again, spiraling. The demon here could have taken Nero and tortured him. He could be going through what Vergil did with Mundus. He could already be dead. They needed to get to work, and fast. Nero needed to be saved, and fast. (Dante ignored the part of him that said it was probably already too late. His nephew was so painfully human, and demons weren’t the type to have mercy.)

But Dante said nothing of his thoughts. “I’m going demon hunting,” he said, leaving Kyrie alone in the temporary medbay. “Stay safe.” Nero would never forgive him, after all, if he let Kyrie be hurt or killed.

–

Nero was drowsy. He’d been drifting in and out of sleep for what had felt like eternity. He was ready to wake up, damnit! His body wouldn’t comply. For the first time in what felt like a while though, he could feel his surroundings. Something soft and cushioned all around him. It must be his bed, he thought to himself. The air around him was stifling, with little to no movement in the air and things only seeming to grow warmer. A deep voice rumbled above him.

“Let me sleep, Dante.” Nero mumbled, twisting slightly in the covers and burrowing further in. He drifted again, feeling the tiredness return to him.

–

When Nero woke next, his full consciousness slowly returned to him. He opened his eyes, giving them a moment to adjust to the dim lighting. This was not his bed. Kyrie was not next to him. He was surrounded and covered by mounds of thick weighted blankets and furs, while the ground beneath him was so cushioned it could have been a cloud. Thick drapes created a low ceiling, and Nero couldn’t see where they hung from, just that they enclosed him in this overly large circular bed-thing. He struggled with the covers with his arm for a moment until he tired himself. Why was he so tired? He hadn’t been doing anything strenuous, he’d been sleeping and recovering since the incident.

He bit the inside of his lip, and felt sharp pain and tasted blood. Since when were his teeth that sharp? He yelped, then muffled himself, stuffing his face into a nearby pillow.

The damage was done though, and a hulking figure pulled apart some of his area's coverings. A huge demon towered over him, cooing. Nero was frozen, begging his body to move, to scream for help, anything, but he was stuck in place as he sat in the bed, the large demon's hand reaching for his head, probably to snap his neck. Nero - embarrassingly - whimpered again, but glared at the demon. But the hand merely petted his head, almost gently.

“There you are, little nestling.” the demon said. “It took so long for your human form to adjust to all the energy we’ve been feeding you. Your body is only now adjusting, but look at you, you’re already growing well.” The demon spoke while reaching another hand and prodding open Nero’s jaw, revealing two sharp, long, canines, too predatory to belong to a human.

All the touch on his sensitive teeth caused Nero to flinch. As his feeling of movement slowly returned, he bit down on Urizens hand, and glared harder. Strangely, it seemed to relieve some of the pain in his teeth to bite down.

Urizen hissed at Nero, slowly, and removed his hand from Nero’s head. The stark contrast from the earlier cooing tone was warning enough for Nero, who painstakingly unlatched his jaw, but not before spitting on the demon. Urizen growled at Nero, who fought the urge to lower his head.

The staring contest between the two continued until Urizen’s growling was too much for Nero, who finally acquiesced and lowered his head. He couldn’t comprehend why such an action might feel safe, but he couldn’t think either with the growl filling his head.

“Oh, sweet nestling. You’re probably just acting out because of how much your teeth hurt, don’t you?” The demon resumed its cooing. “I’ll have to get you something to chew on, won’t I, my nestling?” The demon began retreating from the area, brushing aside the heavy looking drapes easily. “You just stay in the nest and sleep till then, I’ll be back before you know it.”

Nero glared at the retreating demons back and yawned. “Not… a nestling…” he managed before falling back into his slumber.

Chapter Text

Urizen sat back in his throne. Things were coming along nicely, and faster than expected. He had ordered the bodies and blood of the killed Fortunans fed to the Qliphoth tree, and it was growing well. It would soon grow to the stage where it would be able to help itself in the spreading of its roots and feeding from humans. It was then that Urizen would be able to fully dedicate his time to his nestling. He wasn’t a fool, he knew humans and demons alike may be gunning for him with this now blatant show of power and revealing of his plans.

A few hours earlier, the nestling had been given a small Qliphoth root to chew on. Not only would it relieve the growing pains in his mouth, but it would help him with a consistent food supply of the same human blood Urizen was being fed. Urizen couldn’t wait to see how strong his nestling grew to be, and what form he ended up taking.

It was rare for powerful demons to have children, and when they did, it was almost never more than one. They reached maturity slowly, more slowly than humans and even most demons. Even if his human mind is matured, his demonic instincts aren't. Not that his human mind would matter for much longer.

The lower demon bred like rabbits. Quality over quantity, he supposed. Whatever the case, he was sure Nero would turn out wonderfully. Until then, though, he needed to be protected and taught to protect himself in the demon world. The poor nestling had grown up with lowly humans, which explained his attitude towards his father. A powerful demon raised as what it really was would know not to challenge a parent or higher ranking demon unless they thought they could win.

Unfortunately, Urizen wouldn’t be able to teach his nestling of combat or the ways of power in the demon world until Nero had fully grown into his true form. He didn’t want to risk hurting him, he mused. That’s alright though. Nero would continue growing into his demon traits at a faster and faster pace as his body adapted to survive on what demons would. His nestling's missing arm was already regrowing as a demon arm, and his other was changing to match. Urizen wasn’t one to be overly eager, as he was more the patient type, but he just couldn’t wait.

–

Dante fought hoard after hoard of demons. He let his mind blank and his instincts and muscle memory guide him through the motions of slaughter. Trish and Lady should’ve been back by now. (Nero should be here and safe, his instincts added unhelpfully.) He’d heard of what had happened several days prior to the Fortuna incident, with Nero losing his arm, and knew it was unlikely the two events were a coincidence. The real question was: what connected them? Plus, Nero had apparently said he thought the person who took his arm was human. The demon who took Nero and invaded the house was very clearly not.

Dante was stumped. He didn’t know what to do, or where to go with this. He sighed. Maybe it was time to head home for now, and wait for more leads while taking some other jobs.

–

V was disoriented. His mind spun when he moved sharply, and his body felt weak. His memories were returning to him, albeit slowly. He wandered through the streets of Fortuna, looking at the wreckage as he passed. He didn’t know why the other half of him had done this, but he was sure it wasn’t anything good.

After several more hours of wandering, V found an intact phone booth and dialed the one number he had memorized (not that he would admit it). “Ring… ring… ring… Hello, this is Devil May Cry. Please call again later, we’re busy right now.” Dante’s voice spoke from the phone. The automated message continued: “Please leave a message after the tone-” but V hung up. This was troublesome, but he could make a guess that Dante wasn’t far from here. Dante seemed to follow both Vergil and trouble, after all.

–

Kyrie huffed. She’d been left alone in a makeshift hospital room (the hospital itself had been destroyed, her nurse told her) with nothing to do but watch the news all day. Unsurprisingly, most of it covered the Fortuna incident. She was just beginning to tune it out when she heard something new: “A large tree unlike any seen before has grown in the heart of Red Grave City, with strange creatures pouring out and into the areas around it. If you believe yourself to have seen such a creature…” Kyrie tuned it out again. There was no way all of this didn’t line up in some way, and she intended on finding out how. As she set about trying to figure out how to contact Dante, a new face walked through the door.

“Hello, my name is V. I’m here because you seem to be the last contact the demon hunter Dante has made, and I need to find him.” the black haired man said, leaning on a cane.

“Well the last I saw of him he was going out to hunt demons,” Kyrie began, “but I think he plans on returning.”

“Then I’ll wait.” the man said, taking a seat on the chair by Kyrie’s bed and pulling out a book. They sat there for several moments, Kyrie watching the silenced TV play its ads quietly and V reading comfortably. She had no idea how he managed to be so carefree while being in someone else's room, even if temporarily. His manners almost reminded her of Dante’s, even though V clearly spoke more politely.

Deciding to break the silence, Kyrie asked: “So, what brings you looking for Dante, V… or Mr. V?” She didn’t want to offend the man. Even though he looked quite strange, so did Nero and Dante, so she supposed it may just be part of the business for those who deal with demons.

“Just V is fine.” he said, without looking away from his book. “I’m searching for Dante for a job I need a competent demon hunter to take,” he said, almost scaldingly. Pocketing his book he continued, “Though I think I may just leave to find him myself now.” V concluded.

“Wait!” Kyrie exclaimed. This man was coming to find Dante so recently after the attack on Fortuna, and while the attack on Red Grave City was happening. She wasn’t going to let such an strangely coincidental visitor go.

“You’re coming here so soon after the Fortuna attack, I may be able to give you some information you need!” she said, hoping he’d be enticed enough to stay, and maybe tell her what he was doing.

“I already know of the attack on Fortuna, and that’s not what I’m here for.” V said, opening the door.

“Me and my partner were targeted by a large humanoid demon during the attack,” she blurted out, “do you know anything about it?”

“I suppose I have reason to stay after all.” V said, his voice light and amused. “I think I may know of the very demon you speak of. And that demon is my cause for contacting Dante. It’s my belief that it may target Red Grave City for it’s large population.”

Kyrie’s eyes widened. This was starting to sound awfully familiar to her. She switched to a different news channel on the TV, turning up the volume again. “Red Grave City and the counties around it are issuing county and citywide States of Emergency due to the unidentified growth in the city and the hostile creatures emerging from it.” She turned it off again, turning back to V.

“Is this what you were talking about?” she asked.

V nodded calmly. “Quite possibly, but really-” he was interrupted by the door slamming open, revealing a blood covered Dante.

“What did I miss?” he questioned the group.

–

**
Nero’s back screamed in pain. Something was moving underneath the skin of his back, something large, and it ached as it pushed at his skin, trying to free itself. Nero screamed again. How long had this been going on for? Minutes? Hours? Days? He couldn’t tell. His head had just recently stopped screaming in pain, and now this. Only the pain lacing through his back reached his mind now. He just wanted it to end now, he thought. He would take any comfort over this.

A particularly harsh push from the thing in his back had Nero screaming again. Deep rumbling tones reached his mind, but he was beyond comprehending them. He could sense himself being moved, tugged, into a new position, leaning with his head and chest against a surface that was comfortingly warm, leaving his back exposed to the warm air. He lost the thought to another harsh push, but this time it didn’t stop, it kept pushing and pushing against his back, and Nero kept screaming and screaming.

Something burst from Nero’s back, tearing open his skin, at first slowly and with the difficulty of breaking through, then more easily. Even with the thing freed, Nero could still feel something significant pushing from the other side of his back. As it pushed and roiled around inside him, it found the tear in his back the other thing had created and pushed through. They were too close together though, and it caused the newly emerged thing to bend at an awkward angle. It started righting itself and pulling towards where it felt attached to him, underneath the skin of his back.

The tear in Nero’s back widened, exposing muscle and blood in the area between where the two things had settled.
**

Nero’s breath came fast and hard, as more of his mind slowly returned to him. His head was pressed into the demon (protector-sire, his mind supplied him), his sharp nails digging into the demon's (SIRE’S, his mind screamed) back. He sobbed. Maybe part of him would have once been ashamed of such a blatant act of weakness in a demon's presence, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. “There, there, nestling,” his sire’s voice came, “Let’s get you cleaned off so you can heal properly.”

Nero allowed his eyes to close as he was pulled out of the now bloodied bedding into a pool of water. Large clawed hands massaged his skin, wiping blood from it and scrubbing him clean. Then, the hands touched something that had very much not been there before.

Nero’s eyes shot open and he turned around to see the demon (sire-protector-sire-sire, his mind chanted at him) touching wings that were definitely, confusingly, connected to Nero. His mind stopped for a moment, and he simply gazed. In wonder or in horror, he didn’t know. Perhaps both.

“They’re beautiful, nestling,” the sire began, voice awe filled as his hands threaded through white feathers that faded to a dark blue at the tips. “So unique. I’ve never seen a devil with such wings before. It makes sense though, that my own spawn would be so different. My own little demon of salvation. Someday humans and demons alike will see these angel-like wings and cower in fear.”

Nero reached out in a daze to touch one of his wings, which moved towards his hand as he reached for it. He brushed over the surface. It was soft. He tried to run his fingers over the edge, but hissed as he found the edges and ends of his feathers and wings to be sharp.

Nero looked behind him, and saw a throne that his sire sat on while bathing Nero in a large stone tub. Behind the throne were the same heavy looking drapes that he recognised from his nest. He started to struggle towards it and out of the tub, but slumped back into it when his back flared up again. His sire noticed his struggle and pulled him out of the bath easily, taking him back towards the nest.

In front of it, slinking away as though not wanting to be noticed, was a lesser demon carrying the last of the bloodied pillows out of the nest. Nero tensed, he couldn’t fight in this state. He didn’t have to, as his sire stepped forward and beheaded the demon with a swipe. Belatedly, Nero released his chest was rumbling. He was purring. (What a good protector, his instincts whispered.) His sire purred back at him.

Nero was deposited safely in the nest, where he burrowed into the covers. Soon, he was fast asleep.

Chapter Text

“We need to get to Red Grave City,” V started, “and Dante, you’re coming with us. We have no time to waste.”

Dante blinked. What in hell did this man think he was doing? Scratch that, who was he and why did he know Dante’s name? How did he and Kyrie know each other?

Dante said none of this, and instead asked “What?”

Kyrie answered: “Short story: there’s a situation in Red Grave and it may relate to what happened here in Fortuna.”

That wasn’t much information to go off of, but it was enough to convince Dante that this might be the only lead they’d have for a while.

“So… how are we planning on getting there if we need to be there so quickly? Last I checked, Fortuna didn’t have an airport, and I was already close to where I could take the ferry here when I came.”

Silence fell over the group. How were they going to get to Red Grave City? The only transportation out of Fortuna was a ferry to the mainland, and then they’d need to take a plane back to Red Grave City from there if they wanted to be fast about it.

“We could use a private boat, most merchants and mainlanders here use them to get around.” Kyrie suggested. She knew it was a weak suggestion, but what else could they do?

“Hate to break it to you, but Red Grave’s a little ways inland, lady.” Dante said.

V turned a sharp gaze to him, one that felt almost demeaning. “And what would you suggest, Dante?” he questioned. Dante didn’t respond, he just narrowed his eyes at V.

Noticing the rising tension, Kyrie spoke again: “It’s not like we have a boat anyway, so that wouldn’t work.”

V sighed, and tapped his cane to the ground. “I’ll get us a boat.” he said, and left the room.

Kyrie and Dante looked after him.

“So, you gonna tell me what’s going on?” Dante asked.

–

V had no idea as to how he was going to get his hands on a boat, but he needed to take a breather. From being in the same room as Dante, to be specific. He was… attached to his brother, in both positive and negative ways, and as much as he would have resisted it there was no point. He was only human, after all.

So, V was out for a walk. Fortuna was in ruins. It wasn’t a large place, and so the demons that had come had touched every part of the island. Plants and the ground smoldered, and smoke rose into the sky from what seemed like the whole of Fortuna. Some buildings were crumbing, their foundations rocked or destroyed, while other more lucky buildings remained standing, with only some broken windows or a crumbling wall.

Whether Fortuna would recover wasn’t V’s business. As much as he used to be attached to the place, that attachment was no more. He had broken it when he broke his connection with that woman. Still, walking through the streets, he couldn’t help but relive his time here with her.

She had been a beautiful woman, and that was what first brought him to her. He was there to investigate his father’s relation to the place when he met her. He had been fighting a nearby demon, and his instincts were heightened. She had met him when he was still in his devil form, and she loved him that way.

They weren’t by any means a couple, but they were something. He would come to her, or she to him, and they would make love to each other, before resting with each other for a day or two. Then they would part ways until they met again.

When he was done with his time in Fortuna, he was almost hesitant to leave. He knew though, that what they had was always meant to be temporary. She knew that too, he was sure. They had considered each other allies or companions at best, but never more than a fleeting friendship. There was no romance between them. Later during their time together, she told him of a woman she had met, who she confessed she loved. It was soon after that he left, and he was sure that it was better for the both of them.

V shook his past life from his mind. It was behind him right now, and he couldn’t afford to look back, only forward, to fix the mistake of splitting himself. He needed to look for a boat, and he figured a good place to start would be the port.

Walking through the destroyed shops and rugged looking docks that made up the port, there weren’t many boats out and about. A few were tethered to small docks, but most seemed to be parked in garages on the land. As V walked, he overheard a conversation.

“Did you hear about the old man Riley?” a masculine voice asked.

“Yeah, apparently he was killed by demons, may Sparda bless him.” the other voice responded.

“I heard his boat was being passed down to that brat of a son he has. You know that spoiled kid who lives downtown by the square? Apparently his mother was rich or something overseas and gave him everything he’d ever wanted.”

“Yeah, he even goes to the mainland once a year, in his own private boat! Tell me, what Sparda fearing person would need to own two large boats? It’s austentatious and self centered is what it is!”

“True, but what can we do?”

V smiled to himself. It looks like they had themselves a boat.

–

“You’re telling me you want me to steal a boat for you?” Dante asked, incredulous. “I’m a demon hunter, not a thief. Unless that boat is in demon territory, it’s none of my business.”

“I, personally, think this is a fine idea, Dante. We’re doing good with the boat in the end, the child should thank us.” V retorted.

Dante said: “Why not just take the ferry? It would save us - and when I say us I mean me - a whole lot of trouble.”

“Because, Dante, the ferry isn’t free. The boat is. And second, the ferry doesn’t take us to the nearest port to Red Grave. We’d have to travel farther over land if we took that route.” V was done with this. He wished he could be. Unfortunately, he had a job to do, and Dante was the only one powerful enough to assist him with it.

“Free? Stealing something doesn’t make it free, whatever your name is, Four or something, Five maybe…”

“My name is V. And your immature foolishness is getting on my nerves, demon hunter Dante. Maybe you should just-”

Dante cut him off. “You know what, I’m tired of some nobody I don’t know ordering me around like this. Maybe if you’d explained things, I’d be a little more eager to help.”

“Just stop, you two,” Kyrie began. “We’re all here because our goals align. Dante, you want to protect humans from demons - at least that’s what Nero tells me - but it seems like you also want to be paid.” She turned to V. “V, you want to take down the demon that is terrorizing Red Grave City, and that demon might just be the one that took Nero.”

Dante sighed. “I guess you’re right.” He gestured towards V. “But something about you just ticks me off. I suppose I could ignore it - if the price is right.”

“Don’t worry,” V said. “On the mainland I have about 15,000 dollars waiting for you in cash.

“Double it and I’m in, no questions asked.”
“20,000.” V bargained.

“25,000 or no deal.” Dante replied.

V sighed again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. “Fine.” he acquiesced. The two shook hands, Dante with a grin and V with an annoyed grimace.

Kyrie huffed. These two were both awful, she decided. “You’re gambling with Nero’s life, you know. I’d hoped at least you were better than this, Dante.”

Dante chuckled. “Aww, c’mon. A man’s got to keep the bills paid somehow. Plus,” he continued, stage whispering, “I would have helped either way. Just not with stealing. That V guy would’ve handled that.” Dante said.

“May I remind you both that we’re on a schedule.” V said.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you guys later tonight at the docks. I’m going to steal a boat.”

–

Gazing down at his sleeping nestling laying in the nest, Urizen was pleased. His nestling was adapting well, and he’d only had him for 6 days. Gray-blue scales and armored plates lined his body, protecting him. Only his face had soft, gray, skin, though it was framed by the slowly toughening scales that covered the rest of his body.

His horns had grown by a couple of inches, and they were now a solid five inches long. They grew up about two inches before following the curve of his head back a little and flaring upwards again at the end a little.

His nestlings' hair was growing faster now, too. It was all the way down to his shoulders, now, and didn’t seem to be stopping. Urizen supposed it was natural with the humongous increase in energy his nestling was absorbing. Still, Nero was one of the few demons he had encountered that had hair in their demon forms. The demon king supposed it was due to the filthy human blood he had been born with. He may be inhuman in this form, but his heritage still showed itself.

Maybe someday he would separate and destroy Nero’s human part. Then he would truly be his sire’s child. Urizen decided against it for now though. He would enjoy the irony of humans being hunted down and killed by his nestling, once Nero’s power grew enough.

For now though, with his tougher skin and newly awakened demon mind, it was time for Nero to spend more time with his father, outside of the nest. Most of his time would still be spent in it, of course, but now it was safe enough to begin exposing his nestling to some outside stimulus. Not yet to humans or many demons, but enough to come into the throne room in front of the nest with his sire.

With this in mind, Urizen reached under his nestlings arms and pulled him gently from the nest. Nero yawned, confused, before his eyes snapped open in distress. He wasn’t in the nest. He was calmed by the low rumble coming from his sire. He closed his eyes and listened, pushing himself up against his sire’s chest and the roots and vines covering it, though he stayed awake.

Urizen sat down on his throne once again, the previously detached roots reclaiming their usual places, feeding him from the tree. He reached for one sitting behind the throne without use, and handed it to his nestling. Nero puzzled over it for a moment, before instinct kicked in again and he pulled it to his mouth and bit down. Until his nestling was old enough to hunt and feed himself, this was the way he’d be fed.

He pulled Nero from his lap, who grumbled at the disturbance, before setting him down on the miniature nest-seat-perch thing he’d had added to one of the arm rests of his throne. At this angle, he could come through his nestlings wings, while giving Nero a little distance - well, a few feet - and therefore a feeling of further independence.

Urizen sat on his throne, playing with the sharp feathers of his son's wings and allowing himself to soak up the tree's energy. This, however, wasn’t enough for Nero, who now that he was out of the nest and awake, was bored. Urizen sighed. So much work, this precious young one was.

Then he had an idea, and sent out a pulse to some lower demons roaming the tree below him. They’d bring him what he needed.

Soon enough, a heavily injured lower demon was brought before Urizen and his nestling. The demon king carefully observed his nestlings reaction. Nero seemed to be curious, but cautious, as if waiting for Urizen to command him on the matter. A deep satisfaction filled Urizen. Good, his nestling was learning.

He growled at the lower demon who cowered, and stopped petting his nestlings wings. With permission granted, Nero glided down from his perch on the throne, which dwarfed him by comparison. Once on the ground, he stalked toward the lower demon, eyes narrowed into slits. In a split second, he had dashed forward and snapped the suffering creature's neck with his jaws, which were fastened securely over the thing's neck.

Nero looked back up at Urizen, who purred at him. He tried to flap his wings and fly up to his sire, but he only managed to get a few feet higher than if he had jumped normally. He clicked at his sire, who picked him up again and pulled him to his chest, replacing the root in his mouth.

“My sweet Nero, someday you will be feared.” the demon king said, a terrifyingly sinister grin on his face.

Chapter Text

Dante knew Nero was dead. The demon world had a vengeance against Sparda’s bloodline. If Nero wasn’t dead now, he would be soon, and there was nothing they could do about it. They wouldn’t get to the mainland in time to save him, they’d already been experiencing delay after delay.

Still, he’d figure out what had happened to Nero. Both in the boy's memory and his brothers. Vergil would have killed him if he’d let his son die in vain and without being remembered. For Dante, this wasn’t a rescue mission, like it was for Kyrie, nor a mission to hunt a demon hurting people, like V. This was a mission for vengeance.

Dante krept through the darkened streets of Fortuna, towards the warehouse he’d been told held the boat they were going to take to the mainland. As he approached, he heard voices inside. What was he supposed to do now? He was no expert thief! He quickly changed into his Devil Trigger form and threw open the doors.

“Puny humans! Your luck has run out. Now step away from the boat.” Dante said, trying his hardest to channel his inner Vergil, intimidating and stoic. The people ran, some screaming, some just standing their ground.

“Go away, demon! You’re kind aren’t welcome here!” a brave or foolish man shouted. Dante wasn’t sure where to go with this. He was pretty sure thieves were supposed to be sneaky, but that just wasn’t his style. He allowed his form to glow further.

“I am a returned servant of Sparda, and you humans have shown great greed since his absence. I am here to correct that by…” Dante paused, before continuing. “Taking your boat!”

More humans scattered. The brave one spoke again: “Of course, servant of Sparda. The boat is yours!” The man’s eyes shone with awe and fear.

“Then leave!” Dante bellowed. The rest of the people scampered away through the doors Dante destroyed in his entrance. Relaxing, Dante released his devil trigger.

Examining the large boat, he saw that it had an enclosed hotel-like room with two beds, a fridge, and a kitchenette. A smaller room sat on top of the bedroom, and in it was a steering area and a couple spare seats. The outside featured an expansive open air deck, most of which was covered by a sunroof. There were chairs and tables there.

The issue was, Dante had no idea how to drive the boat, and he needed to get this to the meeting place by the docks before 2 AM, so they could get far from the island before dawn. After standing on the boat for several moments, Dante gave up on figuring out how to work the thing, and instead resumed his devil trigger form. He then jumped into the water, which started steaming, and pushed the beat along. It wasn’t all that far, after all.

–

Nero gasped as one of the demons he was fighting stabbed him through the arm. His head cleared for what felt like the first time in days, and the instinctual calm that had been upon him began to recede as he continued fighting the demons.

Something deep within him had changed, both physically and mentally. There was weight across his back and his head. His horns stood proudly upon his head, like antlers with feather covered bases that receded as the horn thinned farther up. His wings were puffed and flared behind him, making him look larger and more wild. His skin was blue-gray, and scale covered for the most part. His palms, face, and the underside of his feet remained scale free. No, Nero wasn’t blind to these changes.

He remembered what had happened. It was hazy, as the mental fog of not being entirely present didn’t help crisp up the memory. Nero finished off the last demon, slitting its tough skin with deadly claws and pushing his hand into the wound, pulling out whatever tissue he could find and letting it drop to the ground.

Pain flashed through his left arm again, and he turned his head to see how far up the injury went. In the corner of his eyes, he saw the hulking figure of the demon who had taken him. He tensed minutely. This was one of the few opportunities he would have to escape, and he had to try while his mind was still clear and his demonic self or instincts weren’t in charge.

Pretending to peruse the bodies and further mutilate them, Nero crept towards the other side of the room. He heard the noise of the large demon shifting behind him. He needed to hurry. When he got to the end of the carnage, and near enough to the edge of the room, he lept, flapping his wings and pulling himself up onto a nearby Qliphoth branch. He clambered upwards. There was no time to think about where he was going, he just needed to get away.

The branches tugged at him, but he paid no mind to their resistance. Using his claws to climb, he followed the turn of the branch straight upwards. He was a good 50 feet from the ground when he heard a sigh from down below.

“And you were being so good, little nestling. Now you can come back down here or face the consequences.” the demon spoke. Nero so wanted to obey, but he couldn’t, he had to get out of this demon's grasp before he fell back into the haze. He shimmied a few feet higher up the tree.

“I should have known you’d test the boundaries at some point,” the demon began with a sigh, “I just hoped I wouldn’t need to show you the consequences so soon. You were being so sweet, little Nero.”

“I’m not your child!” Nero shouted. This demon had no right to claim he was any such parent. They looked nothing alike, even with Nero in demon form! “I’ll destroy this stupid tree, kill all your asshole minions, and put you down for good!” Nero finished. His heart beat fast, and guilt filled him. He pushed it down. The demon king narrowed his eyes.

“You forget your place, youngling. You are my spawn, and you are weak. As such, you will obey me. If you won’t do it now, I’ll just have to give you some motivation.” The small Qliphoth twigs that had snagged Nero’s earlier escape wound together to form stronger rope-like branches and quickly encircled his limbs, pulling him off the thick branch he had been climbing and allowing him to dangle, his head toward the ground. Nero’s wings flapped uselessly as he tried and failed to right himself. His wounded arm was almost done healing, but now that the adrenaline had left him, he could feel the sting again.

“You’ll stay there until I think you’re ready.” the demon said.

Chapter Text

“How disgraceful.” V commented, almost grimacing at Dante’s now soaked form. “You truly lack a brain, don’t you.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement. “Besides, someone like-”, V hesitated before continuing, “you should not lower yourself to being in these disgusting waters. Fiery blood runs through your veins. It’s not fitting.”

“Sure, you poetic bastard.” Dante easily responded. “Just get on the boat. You guys brought the rations, right?”

Kyrie nodded. “Sure did,” she said. She could at least excel in planning this sort of thing. She was the one who helped Nero if he ever needed to pack for missions. She was sure neither of the men would be as careful about it as she was.

The trio carefully loaded the three rather large boxes of food into the boat and then put their personal luggage on. Kyrie brought a suitcase of extra clothes, since she knew they may have to travel a bit more on the mainland. Dante had the same duffel bag he’d apparently brought with him, and V had, well, nothing.

“V, don’t you have anything else to wear?” Kyrie asked, rather concerned.

The man glanced up from his book (how did he pull that out without anyone noticing?!) and said: “No, Kyrie, what I’m wearing is all I have at the moment, I’m afraid. I wasn’t exactly prepared for the situation I’ve landed myself in.” V said, sounding rather spiteful. Kyrie and Dante decided not to question him. The man was strange, and he was on their side for now. There was no point in antagonizing him.

Kyrie turned her attention to Dante, who had just pulled the last of the boxes onboard and inside. She headed up to the cockpit to drive the boat, leaving the two men downstairs to sleep. She’d be taking the first shift driving, and then she’d teach V. Dante was probably not the wisest of choices.

It was going to be a long night.

–

Nero had hung there for hours now, and he was really starting to feel it. His legs ached, the branches finding their way around them slowly chafing his now more durable skin. His wings were trembling with their instinctual fluttering, attempting to right him from the position he was kept hanging in. His arms and head buzzed as they lay limp, hanging toward the ground.

It was hard to keep track of time in the tree, and even more difficult with his instincts slowly creeping back in. There would be no escape if Nero couldn’t get out of the branch's binds soon. Every moment he stayed it became less and less likely people would be able to locate where the demon king took him. A hopeless cloud hung over his mood, and his thoughts continued to bring him down. A desperate chitter escaped him. It was an utterly inhuman sound, and Nero despised that it came from him. Still, he couldn’t help himself as he let out the occasional calling chitter or whine.

It was another hour later or so, when Nero’s wings now lay limp and straightened out by gravity, pulled toward the floor, that the demon appeared again. Nero chittered at the demon, hoping it came across as angry. He knew it wouldn’t, though. He could feel his own desperation keeping him from complete control of his actions.

“Oh, you poor little nestling,” the demon said. “That’s enough of that, don’t you want to come down from there?” Nero despised the way the demon phrased it as a question. His responding whine and glare told different stories.

“I’m going to need words from you, Nero.” the demon teased him. “My little demon nestling wouldn’t act like that, I know you’re in a human state right now.” the demon finished. Nero hissed. He didn’t want to apologize to the very demon that took him into this captivity. He felt almost like he would be giving something up, whether that be his pride, hope for rescue, or ownership of himself, he didn’t know. Still, he knew that despite his reservations, resistance would do nothing. The demon had the power to keep him here, and not listening to it would only keep him in this compromising position. He needed to save his energy. Losing this battle did not mean losing the war to Nero.

Bracing himself, he spoke: “I’m sorry.” he mumbled. If he was lucky, that would be enough for the demon king.

“Address me properly or we’ll continue this punishment, nestling.” the demon warned.

“I’m sorry, sire.” Nero spoke, louder this time. The demon king waved his hand, and the branches holding Nero high up in the throne room lowered him down until his eyes were level with the demons. The unfeeling stare he got from Urizen was proof enough that he hadn’t said enough. He tried again.

“I’m sorry, sire, for fighting you.”

The demon king finally shifted back, and allowed the branches to drop Nero at his feet, where he lay in a crumpled heap. Then he spoke: “Your apologies need some work, but you’ll learn. For now, I’ll let you rest. Remember, Nero. Your punishment isn’t over quite yet.” He picked up Nero, who couldn’t bring his body to even twitch, and returned him to the nest. Then the demon king stepped back outside of the curtained space for a moment, coming back with thick, heavy chains of dark black metal.

“You are going to need to prove to me that you can be trusted, nestling.” the demon began, trapping Nero’s wrists and ankles in the weighty chains. “It’s unfortunate that no matter how I try to grow your demon, your human part remains. I suppose it’s just a bit more work to train you, it all.” the demon king mused, properly adjusting and tightening the chains. He pushed aside the curtains and attached the chains to some branches above and behind them.

The demon king pulled a small branch through and pushed it against Nero’s closed mouth until his jaw fell open to bit it and feed, as he had been taught. It was humiliating, but he needed to do what he could to evade his sire’s (the demon, he corrected himself) wrath. He just needed to hang on until the right opportunity.

–

The days on the ship were passing slowly. They were monotonous, V thought. The ride to the mainland wasn’t exactly short, but they were nearing the end of it now. They’d been aboard the ship for five days, and there were only two left until they got to the mainland. According to Kyrie, that is. She hadn’t made the trip before either, only heard from those who had.

V was patient, but the inaction of staying on the ship was getting to him. He craved a good fight, and he craved being able to move fully. Both, however, were impossible on a ship and also remnants of his past. He’d never have the same unrestrained, inhuman movement he did before, and he needed to come to terms with it. Regular humans dealt with it just fine.

Even with the comfort he gave himself, he couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. He wondered if his other half felt it too.

Such thoughts were useless right now, though, and he shoved them to the back of his mind and went back to reading on his now usual deck chair, perfectly positioned to always be in the shade. He watched Dante jump off the boat and into the water, diving after some fish he saw that he was apparently going to catch with his bare hands. Dante had made the promise to himself, V, and Kyrie, that he’d catch one, and had been trying ever since three days back. Although it disturbed V’s reading, he couldn’t find it in himself to hate Dante for it. It was… cute, almost. He could get used to this, he thought to himself, letting his focus return to the book, his only respite from the long days on the water.

Chapter Text

Urizen was not deterred by his nestlings' disobedience. In fact, he was almost proud. This was proof that Nero was growing stronger and more comfortable in his new form, all of which were plusses. The issue was that although he wanted nothing more than to ensnare and smother his nestling in beddings made from the skins of their enemies and give him rest, he had to resist. His nestling had to learn his place in the world, which was by Urizens side, doing his bidding and staying safe, forever.

It was due to this that Urizen had to figure out how to teach his nestling. For the past couple of days, Nero had been confined to the nest, chained there to limit his movement. Maybe after being so easily restrained, his little one would learn just how much of a privilege freedom of movement was, and that since he’d proven he didn’t deserve it, he’d have to earn it back.

Progress was already being made. The last time Urizen entered the nest, his nestling begged him to free him, complaining of his body aching and that he needed to stretch his wings. This was progress in the right direction, but still not what the demon king was looking for, so he’d wait a little longer. With enough luck, restraints, and hints as to the right way to do things, his nestling should be set on the right path.

–

Kyrie gazed out over the port they’d arrived in. It wasn’t large, but they’d needed to be pretty incognito about their boat. Once on land they sold it off (for cheap, V had said. Dante had thought they’d gotten a great deal) for several thousand dollars, rented a car, and were on their way to Red Grave City. Originally they had planned to stay in motels for cheap along the way, but they soon realized they wouldn’t be able to with the sheer amount of people leaving Red
Grave.

The trip was long, but thankfully not all that difficult due to the money they had from selling off the boat. The only real issue was Dante and V’s incessant arguing. Dante or V would be doing something off on their own, and then the other would go and tell the first exactly why that action had just about killed their favorite dog due to how bad it was. They ridiculously exaggerated how annoyed they got at each other, and seemed to be bickering near constantly. If Kyrie was honest, sometimes she was thankful. It was a needed distraction from the rough reality of the journey they were all making.

–

Nero’s body was stiff. The chains keeping him in the nest restricted his movement severely, and he could only just manage to lift his arms and legs, and only one at a time. His wings had been bound to his back, and although at first that relieved them from being held straight down by gravity when he was in the tree, it was beginning to hurt. The chains chafed against the soft skin below the feathers and dug into them, so much so that when Nero twisted around, he could see the red marks of blood on his wings.

His sire returned to the nest several times a day, always to feed him, insisting he never grow hungry while he was still growing. His horns had gotten longer by an inch or so, and his tailbone ached incessantly. Nero had gone through enough similar incidents that he knew what that pulsing ache was, and was not particularly looking forward to the results.

Nero whined loudly, not attempting to silence himself like he may have once. A low rumble filled the area in response, and a minute later, the heavy curtains parted to reveal his sire standing there. He made no move to be closer to Nero, but just stood there. Nero whined again, but his sire didn’t move. Nero could feel his heart racing and his breath coming fast. He needed to be out of the nest now, everything hurt, and his sire wasn’t helping him.

Panicked, he started talking, hoping that something would trigger his sire to come help him out of the cumbersome chains. “Please, sire, I just want out. Please. I’ll do anything, sire. Help me!” His sire stood impassively. Why didn’t his sire care?! What did he want?

Nero resumed his desperate words as his eyes began to water. “Sire, I’ll obey you! I’ll never try to leave again, ever, for eternity! Please, just help me!” Those words seemed to work like magic, as his sire moved forward in one fluid motion, disrupting his statue-like demeanor.

“See nestling, that wasn’t so hard,” his sire purred. “All I want is the best for you, and you’re safest and at your best when you listen to me.” Sire lifted the chains from his wings, and Nero fluttered them, testing their freedom and chittering thankfully and the larger demon. The rest of the chains were carefully removed so as to not further chafe the skin where the manacles rested.

Once fully released, Nero shifted up into a sitting position and clicked at his sire questioningly. His sire purred at him, and Nero carefully got up, tried to stand, and fell into his sire’s arms. They closed around him, holding him snuggly, but in a distinctly different, warm, and comforting way than the cold harsh metal of the chains. Large clawed fingers carefully preened Nero’s bunched up feathers and tangled hair.

“Everything’s all right now nestling,” his sire began, bringing Nero to rest on the perch by the side of his throne, “now that you’ve learned your lesson, we can live as we used to again.” Nero purred at his sire, clambering around and over the throne and his sire, getting used to moving around again. He glanced up at his sire and started lowering himself to the ground from one of the armrests. His sire’s face showed no approval, nor was there a verbal reaction to Nero’s movements. He climbed back up and settled on the perch again. He wasn’t eager to face his father’s wrath. Plus, his tailbone hurt.

Sire hummed, and continued running his hands through Nero’s hair as he sat on the throne, neither of them moving for hours, only to give Nero a branch to feed from as they listened to the reports of the demon king's servants below. For once, Nero wasn’t annoyed or even ambivalent toward the intruding branch, but was glad to be able to return to his and his sire’s old routine. Savoring the sweet tree sap, Nero clambered down to latch onto his sire, and fell asleep.

–

Kyrie was dropped off in a small suburban town just outside of Fortuna. She wasn’t a combatant like Dante was or V claimed to be, after all. Before the two left, she insisted they all get cellphones and have each other's contacts. “You never know when you might need some help in an emergency.” to quote Kyrie herself. The other two were doubtful, but bowed to her will after half an hour of arguing between the three. It was time for Dante and V to continue their journey, and save Nero.

Chapter Text

Dante did most of the fighting on the way up the tree. Minor demons populated the inside and outside of the tree, and roots tore up Red Grave City below them. They passed through large chambers of lesser demons, and even some with more powerful demons, including an Angelo. The farther up they went, the more tired V seemed to become.

Dante’s first instinct was to leave V where he was and keep going up the tree by himself, but he stopped himself. He might have his own vendetta against the demon at the top for killing his nephew, but V had one too, and Dante had grown attached enough to help him. It was surprising to both of them, and they were still somewhat awkward loners. Since traveling, some understanding of each other's loneliness had passed between them. So they fought their way up the tree together.

Dante would take the lead, slashing at anything in their way. The demons would retaliate, jumping at Dante and trying to claw, stab, skin, burn, or use any other means of damage available to hurt Dante. V would summon his familiars from where he usually remained unnoticed, and they would guard the both of them and help them maintain crowd control over large groups of demons. Still, nothing could have prepared them for the challenge they faced at the top of the tree.
They both stood on either side of the entrance, doing everything they could to suppress their presence, whether that be visibility, noise, or demonic presence, in Dante’s case.

Dante entered the large room first with his sword drawn and at the ready. V stayed in the shadows of the hallway leading to the room, not ready to be spotted and risk his health more than he already had been.

Dante entered the room slowly, looking around as he did so. It was a large enclosed area where the walls were made of Qliphoth branches and the floor was tinged red. At the center of the room stood a throne with an asymmetrical bunch of branches on one side. Behind the throne were red curtains acting as a dramatic backdrop, accentuating the red of the floor. Whether that red came from the natural colors and terrain of hell or if it was blood, Dante did not know.

On the throne was a hulking demon, one that matched both the descriptions from V and from Kyrie. This was who they’d come to kill. The demon had no visible reaction at first, and merely sat as still as a statue while Dante walked further into the room. Dante stopped in the center of the room, still about 40 feet out from the demon king. Something was wrong. The demon king had shifted, and the air grew heavy and thick. Breathing took more effort, and the branches of the tree shifted and flowed in a nonexistent wind.

Dante felt a wisp of air against his cheek and jerked to the side, narrowly avoiding being impaled by a branch that was now buried in the ground by his feet. More branches encroached on him from the sides of the room, stabbing at him and flailing around. Dante was thankful for his demonic heritage as he ducked, weaved, and dodged around the branches, only making it through some of them because of his enhanced speed and reaction time.

After breaking out of the bramble, Dante broke into a dead sprint straight for the demon king. The hulking figure only raised a hand, and a red crystal appeared in front of him. Dante skidded to a stop at the feet of the figure, and attempted to slash at him, only for the attack to be blocked by the crystal pushing a red shield out towards him. The now standing demon stomped hard on the ground, sending Dante flying backwards with the force of it. Dante landed in a crouched position, but wasted no time in getting back up.

Running around the demon king, he shot at the shield creating crystal. The demon continued to chase him around, almost halfheartedly, occasionally managing to cut him with the roots flailing behind him. Dante found it odd that the demon hadn’t already gone all out to try and defeat a foe that was clearly holding up against him. After several minutes of dancing around and avoiding stabbing roots, Dante braced himself and stood still against the ground. When the roots came flying toward him, he dashed right past them, stabbing the crystal and letting it shatter as he backed up to avoid another swipe from the demon.

Dashing forward, Dante slashed again, but the demon parried with his arm. Dante pushed harder, and the branches around the demon's limb began to loosen. Some tried to wrap around Dante’s blade, but they were cut through. Some branches fell to the floor, and Dante’s sword broke loose. The demon growled at him, and allowing some of his Devil Trigger to slip through, Dante snarled back. The branches and roots hanging off of the demon king's back stabbed towards Dante. He jumped back, and the demon brought them back behind him before beginning to restore the crystal with a wave of his hand. Dante was not about to let this demon set that trick up again, so he dashed around the demon and behind the throne to find cover while triggering. With a flash, he stood in his somewhat larger devil trigger form.

He heard a roar from the other side of the throne, and began using royal guard. This demon was angry now, and more dangerous too. As Dante dashed out of his cover, he heard a nervous chitter from behind the curtains. His eyes widened and he wanted to go back, but he needed to make sure the demon was kept occupied. Why V hadn’t helped yet, he didn’t know, and he had a sneaking suspicion this might just be another Trish incident.

Dante dodged the tentacular demon king's attacks, getting his own in every now and then, and breaking the crystal much more easily now that he was in devil trigger.

“You’ve disturbed my peace too much,” the demon spoke for the first time before continuing: “I thought you’d make a good play fight for my nestling before I killed you, but you were… stronger than anticipated.”

“Wait, a nestli- '' Dante started, but was cut off when the demon king used his distraction to swipe his feet out from under him. Dante landed on his back with a gasp, the air knocked out of his chest and his devil trigger lost. The demon pulled him up with two large roots that wrapped around his prone form, pulling him up into the air and squeezing him until he couldn’t pull more air into his lungs. Just when spots started to fill Dante’s vision regardless of his struggling, V’s voice cut through their battle.

“Let him go or I kill your nestling, Urizen.” V said, holding a struggling white haired humanoid demon against him with the help of Nightmare’s strong and large body. Shadow prowled the floor in front of the three. To Dante’s surprise, the branches squeezing his lungs loosened immediately and allowed him to fall to the floor, desperately pulling air into his lungs. Griffon, who had previously gone unnoticed to Dante, pulled him from the floor and brought him closer to V, setting him down on the ground to stand on his two feet.

The demon didn’t move, only standing there stock still. “You will give me back my nestling.” the demon king spoke surely. The demon in Dante’s arms chittered nervously in between the long, low whines that’d been escaping him since his capture.

V tightened his grip. “No, I don’t think I will. I’m afraid it’s nothing personal, but you’ll kill me as soon as I do, you see.” V started backing up, allowing Nightmare to hold the struggling nestling and Shadow to guard them. Griffon continued flying around Dante. “Follow.” V spoke shortly, seemingly to his familiars. Dante knew better, though, and kept close to V as they left the throne room, never turning their backs to the demon king.

V motioned to Nightmare, who knocked the humanoid demon hard over the head. The figure slumped in the familiar's hold, unconscious. “I’ll be seeing you soon I assume, Urizen. Don’t follow me now, or I’ll kill the nestling.” V spoke ominously. The party of six left the throne room, leaving the demon king standing still as a statue behind them.

Once they turned the corner, V whispered to Dante so quietly that he could only understand it with his enhanced senses: “Run. I don’t know how long the logic of obeying my threat will hold him.” He was passed the demon boy, while Nightmare switched to carrying V. They ran back down the way they came, stepping over the corpses of dead demons left behind.

At the base of the tree, Griffon and Shadow took care of some roots, while Dante and V found an abandoned building a short while out to shelter in. Once they were all safely inside and the doors were barred with all the heavy objects they could find in the small home, V sat down on the couch, exhausted. His summons disappeared, leaving the room with only Dante, V, and the demon. There was a minute or two of quiet, where both Dante and V rested after tiring day.

“So, why’d you take the nestling,” Dante began. “And why haven’t we restrained it yet?”

V stared at him as if he’d grown two heads. “Restrain your own son?”

“My son?! ” Dante looked affronted. “I don’t think demon boy’s related to me.”

“The white hair, Dante. The similarities of your demon form and him. I’m not an idiot.” V said, continuing to look at Dante as if he had no brain.

Dante sighed. “Look, even if the kid’s Nero - who looked human last I checked - the kid’s not mine, V. He’s my dead brother’s son, I think. Met him years ago in Fortuna, you know. I sure haven't been there before I met him, so who else could it be but my brother who was searching for our fathers stuff.” V looked stunned for a minute before schooling his expression.

“From the stories you’d told me of your brother, I didn’t think he’d be the type to want children.” V said after a moment.

Dante sighed again. “Neither did I, but he’s dead now, and I’ll never get the chance to ask what he was thinking.” A grimace passed over V’s face for a moment. He scooted over to sit closer to Dante. “I’m sorry.”

Dante yawned. “Yeah, I am too.”

Noticing Dante’s slumped and tired form, V said: “Rest. I’ll wake you when the nestling wakes.”

Dante hummed, and let himself lean against V. The man stiffened for a moment before relaxing and threading his fingers through Dante’s mussed hair. He pulled out his poetry book and began to read. “You remind me of my brother, V.” Dante said, before allowing the words washing over him to lull him to sleep.

Chapter Text

V sat on the couch of the abandoned building, watching his apparent offspring lay there. He watched the rise and fall of his chest, the way he curled around himself, the way his hair lay spread around him in a halo.

He didn’t know what to think. This child was clearly dangerous. His bodily might was evident in the way his claws flexed as he slept, and his strength when thrashing around earlier. V knew that if it came to it, he wouldn’t be able to hold off the demon child for long without the help of multiple familiars. Not that he could hold anyone off without them nowadays.

Not for the first time tonight, and certainly not for the first time ever, V regrets. Would things have been different if he hadn’t severed himself from his demon half? Would things be different if his and Dante’s places were switched? Would things be different if he never left Fortuna?

Maybe, maybe not. The woman he’d laid with all that time ago kept secrets from him, and him from her. They played a dance of wanting company, but not wanting to hold the other down with each other's secrets. They both disappeared from time to time, returning to be together again, and bask in the company of a living being without hostile intentions.

When she and Vergil had met, she was on the run from both the Order and a bunch of demons. V had known she wasn’t human, when he laid with her. He didn’t think she knew. Her blood and presence stood out from those around her. She didn’t reek of power, in the way his brother and many enemies did, but she smelled of demons nonetheless.

One day, when they were having one of their chats, he brought it up to her. She hadn’t seemed entirely surprised. She told him about how her great-something-grandfather had been mated to one of the previous rulers of hell. She didn’t know the details, but it was something her family took great pride in, and since they refused to have children with those of “lesser blood”, most of them were dying out or severely inbred.

It was in the revelations of her past that he revealed his. He told her of how he was a son of Sparda, and how he had grown up with both demons and humans after his skin. She was a comfort to him, at that time. Besides being emotionally supportive, she gave him clues as to where to continue his search for the legacy of his father. Her family had passed down many artifacts, including some books in demon tongue. He had never finished translating those.

When she left, he was relieved. Having company was a welcome change from the monotony of his life of searching, fighting, and then moving. He was getting antsy. The books spoke of his fathers seals. Places, items, and demons his father had sealed in times long passed were scattered across the world. If he wanted to gain further understanding and power from them, he needed to go there himself.

Yet, the company he treasured, that helped him discover these precious secrets, was what kept him from progress. He stagnated, and became bored. There wasn’t all that much to do in Fortuna while being a wanted man, after all. When she left, he felt his will return to him. He was glad for her company still, as it had taught him of a kind of satisfaction he had previously forgotten: personal connection.

Now, he had Dante again, something he never thought he’d have. Dante and Kyrie brought the same light into his life that his mate once did. They brought him joy, connection, and frustration and sorrow in contexts besides the gnawing grief he often felt when alone. He could push through it, but when he was around them, he found himself wondering why he should, if he could instead have this.

His weakness was enough of a reminder as to why. He could feel his strength fading, first with a blast when he was separated, then more slowly, like an iceberg melting. You don’t notice it’s fading until it begins to calf, and by then it’s almost gone. Now, his body was fading, and he was forced to rely upon Dante in combat. Without his demonic heritage, he was weak. He was nothing. It was only a matter of time before his novelty wore off and he was left behind.

He glanced at the sleeping demon. He wasn’t even strong enough to keep a nestling still, even one clearly in pain. The young demon stirred in his sleep, a whine rising from him. V felt his chest tighten, even without his instincts there to force him to care. He watched as the nestlings' thrashing grew stronger, throwing the blankets off of him, even though he remained unconscious. V wondered what was going through his mind. Was it a nightmare? Was he in pain? Did he miss his sire?

V sombered with his last thought. He stood, walked over, and carefully maneuvering around the thrashing limbs and flailing wings, brought himself to hold the nestling close. The demon whined again, and almost seemed to be stirring. An eye cracked open for a moment before shutting again. The young demon whined, and buried his face into the crook of V’s neck.

V once again found himself wishing he was with his demon half, if only just so that he could help set the nestlings' instincts to rest. Instead, he began to recite poetry, the only form of calming he had access to. He rubbed circles into the demons back, between the two wings.

“... sleep, sleep; in thy sleep…”

He shifted to a more comfortable reclined position. He may as well show the nestling that he is comfortable, and it was safe.

“Little sorrows sit and weep.”

V closed his eyes. With the young one pressed close, he would feel if we woke up. He pulled the covers up over the two of them, trying to make them as comfortable as they could be on the dusty couch pull up found in the abandoned place.

“...When thy little heart doth wake, Then the dreadful night shall break.”

Only a few minutes after his recitation was complete, sleep claimed V into its sweet grasp.

–

V and Dante woke up to a screech. A flying limb hit V in the face - too quickly for him to even see what it was - and the rest thrashed about. V could hear Dante trying to calm the nestling.

“Kid, you’re going to pass out from all that screeching at some point-” he was cut off and V heard the sound of wood breaking and a crash. “Kid, you need to let go of V and breathe-” he was cut off again by another scream, a louder one this time. The nestling was in pain.

V blindly reached around, though his view was blocked by what he now identified to be a wing in his face, and repeated the gentle rubbing motion he had used to lull the young demon back to sleep the night prior. The thrashing slowed, but didn’t stop. Screams and screeches faded into whimpers. V and Dante audibly sighed; both of them were thankful for the break on their ears.

V continued to run his hands up and down the demon's back, the scales rough against his soft flesh, in an attempt to sooth him.

“Huh, you’re a natural.” Dante said, somewhat teasingly. “Who knew the deadbeat would be so good at calming the kid?”

V glared back playfully. He knew Dante didn’t mean any harm, but the thought that the nestling in his arms was likely his - and likely abandoned or lost by his mother - upset him. He knew he wouldn’t have handled being a parent well at that age. He was immature, and self driven toward his own goals. V didn’t doubt that if he knew he would have done everything he could to get his instinct to let him leave the child.

V was brought back to attention when Nero flinched in his rubbing of his lower back. Concerned, V looked closer. Something was moving under the kids' skin. He didn’t know how he hadn’t seen it before, but attributed it to the scales and inhuman skin tone distracting him. Whatever the thing was under his skin, it wanted out, and the young demon was in pain.

“Dante, shift.” he said. There was no time to spare, he could explain as they went. Though his brother looked confused, he did as asked and in a flash of light, he stood in his devil trigger.

V pointed to the kids’ lower back. I need you to carefully cut right there,” he said, tracing a line across the lower back just next to where the thing was writhing under the surface. “And be careful, cutting anything inside could cause permanent damage if we aren’t smart about this.”

Dante placed his claws there, but hesitated.

“You can sense it now as well as I can. We need to let whatever is in the out or it’ll carve its way out much more painfully than if we help manage it.” V said, trying to comfort Dante. This was what they had to do.

Dante made the cut, swiftly and cleanly, being sure not to cut too far under the skin and risk organs and whatever was underneath.

A long and bare limb slipped out of the cut tip first, before the rest of it came out, stretching the wound but luckily not tearing it further. The blood was mostly staunched by the now apparent tail, although it was all over the floor and couch. They wouldn’t be sleeping there tonight, V thought to himself.

–

Dante released his devil trigger, and upon returning to himself came over to help detangle the now unconscious Nero from V. His nephew looked more demon-like than ever. The transformation and growth they’d just witnessed was proof enough that the boy was his nephew. Dante felt sick at the idea that the same had to happen for his nephews other new appendages and additions.

The room was covered in blood, and soon the stench would attract demons. Demons meant the demon king would be alerted, and that meant bad things for all of them. Dante was not eager to allow his nephew to go back to the cruel captivity of the demon king.

“V, we need to go,” Dante began. “I don’t plan on sleeping in this mess, and I don’t think you want to stay here either. Plus, with all this blood we’re liable to be tracked.”

V nodded, seeming a little distracted by the embrace he was kept in by his unconscious nestling. “Yes, that sounds fine. We’d need to move anyway. Where will we go, though? The rest of the city won’t be any safer than this is by now.”

Dante inclined his head in agreement. “We’ll head out of the city. Flee for a while, until Nero here can regain his strength and senses. Maybe seeing his lady love will help, so we should pick up Kyrie. After that, I don’t know.” His strange seriousness continued as he spoke. “No matter what, I won’t let my nephew become a weapon at the hands of a demon king. I won’t let him follow the path of my brother.”

Chapter Text

Kyrie found herself pacing her way back and forth across the shabby motel room floor. Dante and V had been gone for two days now, and it was becoming a distinct possibility that they wouldn’t return at all. Still, she found herself washing their spare clothes, packing rations, and reorganizing their belongings.

She had settled into the monotonous task of separating the fresh items she’d bought from the non-perishables. A lot of the foods were probably past their expiration date, but they quite literally couldn’t afford to be picky right now. They were out of funds, and now, Kyrie didn’t even know if her allies were alive - let alone Nero.

A loud knock shook her out of her stupor, and she quickly twisted around to face the door. Her mind flashed back to the demon invasion and Nero’s kidnapping, and she backed away from the door. She knew better than to assume safety when she was so close to the source of the invasion.

“Kyrie,” a voice sounded from outside the door, “it’s just us. And man do we have a surprise for you!” She sagged in relief as she recognized Dante’s voice, the built up tension of two days seeping from her body. “Coming!” she called back. Opening the door, she was faced by the bedraggled forms of Dante and V. Carried in Dante’s arms was - “Nero!” she cried, rushing forward to meet the group.

Her partner was unconscious, and in a much more demonic form. It was as though his demonic arm had grown over his entire body, spreading scales, an inhuman skin tone, and extra limbs to go with it. Nero’s hair had grown out, its color matching his new wings and horns, as well as the blood soaked feathers at the tip of his tail. “What happened to you, Nero?” she muttered, her hands brushing over scales coated in splatters of dried blood.

She looked up at Dante and V, who stood above where she crouched above Nero’s body. If it was these two that allowed him to come to such a state she would - well, she didn’t actually know what she would do, but it wouldn't be something to be proud of. Controlling her frustration, she smiled tightly at the men. “Well, if you two are done standing around, please grab me a washcloth and a bucket of water,” she ground out in a tone that tried its best to remain polite, “and I’m expecting an explanation when you come back.”

As the two scurried off, she continued her ministrations, massaging Nero’s hand with her own and combing through his hair with the other. She leaned over him, pressing her soft skinned forehead tacky with the sweat of a stifling room against Nero’s hard scaled forehead which transitioned into soft but still leathery skin lower down. His scales were cold and almost refreshing to her hot skin, but his flesh radiated further heat.

Dante and V returned, their footsteps audible as they crossed back into the quiet motel room. Kyrie pried herself away from her partner’s body and turned to face the two. V dropped two washcloths before her, and Dante set down a full water bucket.

She sighed. “I’m sorry for snapping at you two earlier,” she began, but was interrupted by V clicking his tongue. Dante snorted. “What V here means is that you don’t need to apologize. You’re stressed, and we just brought your lover-boy back to you in very bad shape. We won’t begrudge you your feelings.”

“What a big word, Dante. Gold star.” V drawled, seemingly amused.

“Ah, shut up,” Dante retorted. “You didn’t even try to explain.”

Kyrie smiled, ever so slightly, and the two smiled back. She got to work cleaning the dried blood off Nero’s scales, first giving them a wash with a wet cloth, and then drying them with the second. As she methodically worked her way down his body, V spoke: “We owe you an explanation, though. While we have a moment of downtime.” In the corner of her vision, Dante nodded, and the two launched into a retelling of their encounter with the demon king Urizen and Nero’s captivity by his side.

As the two talked, Kyrie listened, keeping a careful eye on the task below her. Then, Nero’s body jerked. He leapt up, only missing hitting Kyrie because Dante pulled her back. He growled, looking wildly around.

“Nero?” Kyrie asked, a hopeful tremor - or was that fear - bringing a waiver to her voice.

–

Nero was breathing hard, his heart rate beating like battle drums through his veins. Where was he? Who were these people? He growled. Where was his Sire? His eyes passed over the tall white haired one - who looked human, but smelled of kin. He must be a traitor. This one seemed to be the largest threat - but wait. There was another human-skinned one. This one did not smell like kin, nor as though he was a demon at all. The scents of other demons twisted over him instead. Strangest of all, though, was that he felt like Sire. Not that he smelled the same or looked the same, but that he oddly, inexplicably, felt like Nero’s Sire. Lastly there was the blond haired one. There was nothing strange about her, nor did she look threatening. Still, she felt important.

Nero stood still. He did not know whether these were his prey or predators. The white haired one in particular felt dangerous, but none of them directed hostile intent at him. Then, the white haired one moved forward. Nero briefly tensed before throwing himself at the maybe-human. He went soaring across the room with the help of his wings, but before he could attack the white haired one, he was seized from behind. First, he prepared to attack, flexing open and wide the sharp-edged feathers on the end of his tail into a fan, ready to slash at whatever was behind him.

Then, a tearful voice spoke. “Nero. Nero, please don’t attack them.” The voice was familiar. He knew this voice, he used to hear it all the time. This voice meant home. “I know you’re in there, Nero,” the voice continued, “so please come back to us. Come back to your family.” Nero’s first instinct was to snarl that only Sire was his family, but he halted before the sound exited his throat. These people were family, it was nagging at him now, he just needed to remember.

“I’m Kyrie, you are Nero,” the voice narrated. Nero snorted. Of course he was Nero. Who else would he be? Shakily, the voice continued. “We met when we were young. We grew up on Fortuna together. My brother, your adoptive brother, was named Credo.” Nero further relaxed his tail, allowing the feathers to fall naturally once more. He remembered Fortuna. He remembered Credo. But Credo was gone. A clear tear rolled down one cheek.

“You’re a demon hunter. Your uncle Dante is over there,” she pointed, “he’s also a demon hunter.” Yes, Nero remembered now. The white haired one, Dante, was kin. And Nero did hunt demons. His flesh was soft, though, and he used human weapons because - because he was human. Everything came rushing back to him. And he staggered in Kyrie’s hold, the girl struggling to hold his greater weight.

“Kyrie?” he gasped, pulling out of her grip and spinning around to face her properly. “You came.”