Chapter Text
Dante followed his twin and his stomach dropped as he saw where he was heading.
He recognized the place very easily, he had spent many days there.
The cliffs. The place his twin had chosen to die. The core of most of his nightmares for the past week now.
Vergil landed at the edge of the pine forest and he stood still and silent, watching the little clearing that was not much more than turned up dirt with a patch of burnt grass that overlooked the sea.
Dante landed a few steps away from him, leaving him some room and not knowing what to say. His heart was beating hard, his stomach churning as he watched the remnants of the circle.
His hands shook and he quickly hid them inside the pockets of his coat. He waited for Vergil to talk first, too terrified to speak and hurting too much to think straight.
His brother started to walk, his steps taking him closer to the pattern engraved on the ground and Dante felt himself grow sick.
As Vergil arrived at the edge of it, Dante dashed forward and grabbed his arm, preventing him from taking another step forward.
“P-Please. Don’t.” He whispered, fighting hard to choke out words, to keep his head cool and his tears at bay. He couldn’t watch him go anywhere near that thing. He just… couldn’t.
Vergil paused and slowly freed his arm from his hold. Dante felt himself panic but then his twin invoked the Yamato.
She appeared in his hand and in one smooth motion, Vergil sent a wave of slashes towards the circle.
The pattern was rendered unreadable, erased from existence, and the red twin felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders.
“I… used to come here. With Nero’s mother.” He murmured and Dante’s eyes grew wide with surprise at the admission.
“But now, it is destroyed beyond recognition. Her ire would have been legendary.” He huffed and the red twin could feel a wave of pain course through their bond.
“She sounds… spectacular.” Dante whispered, compassion and sadness flowing through him.
“Yes. She was.” Vergil confirmed, cryptic, but the red twin didn’t push.
“Now that I can focus on the landscape, I have to admit… the view is beautiful.” Dante told him as he came to stand at the edge of the cliffs and looked down at the waves crashing against the rocks. “It feels…”
“Alive. Yes.” Vergil provided in a knowing tone.
They both stood at the edge of FOrtuna Island for some time, basking in the sun and in the wind, soaking the feeling of endless freedom up.
“Dante.” Vergil called out as he kept his eyes on the horizon. “I cannot change the past.”
The legendary hunter’s blood froze as the moment he had dreaded was coming towards him. This could be the breaking point, the moment they fell apart for good.
“I cannot bring back the people that died by my hand. There are decisions that I regret, and some of them I don’t.” Vergil continued and his gaze finally shifted to him.
“Maybe I am a monster. Maybe I am a coldhearted pure-blooded demon.” He added and his gaze was only endless blue, as unreadable as the sea.
“Vergil, I…” Dante whispered, his heart aching.
“But there is one thing that I am not. A liar. And if you can’t trust me on this, then this…”family” …has no future.” Vergil murmured and his twin looked sad and… resigned.
“I am not perfect, Verge. I have fears, I have doubts, I have many regrets too. One of the biggest ones is what I said to you at the factory, but I can’t deny that I am scared of you.” Dante forced the words to come out of him.
He had to get this right, because his head was a mess and this was one of the most important discussions of his whole life.
“Fuck, I'm scared shitless. Not because of what you did, or your power, but because I … I need you. I love you.” Dante gulped, this felt like a noose around his neck.
He was taking the leap of faith he hadn’t managed to make at the Temen-ni-gru. To be honest and to lower his guard, even if the risks of being hurt were tremendous.
“I have kept everyone away. Because you can’t lose anyone else if you don't have anyone at all, right ?” He huffed and he felt his hands shake again in fear and stress as his twin looked back at him.
“But now you are here and I can’t lose you… I just can’t. And when I thought that you betrayed me, that your quest for power had been more important than anything else, I… I snapped. Not just because I thought you played me, but because you were leaving me behind, again.”
“So, I’m fucking sorry for what happened. I should have looked harder, thought past my emotions.” The hunter felt his eyes burn, his heart aching terribly in guilt and regrets.
“And most of all I should have listened to you.” He muttered, ending his long speech with his heart raw and grieving for that “family” that he had destroyed.
“Yes. You should have.” Vergil cooly answered and Dante felt like his very soul was about to shatter. “So, do not repeat the same mistake next time.”
Next time ?
Dante froze, a fragile, fleeting, feeling of hope sparking inside his chest.
“Y-you… are staying ?” Dante muttered under his breath, not believing he understood the meaning of his words right.
“I am still pursuing that theory of yours. That we could make it work here, be… “happy”. Are you?” Vergil asked him and the red twin’s heart fluttered.
“Yes. Fuck, yes.” The red half-devil whispered. “Can you… forgive me ? After everything ?”
“... Not yet. But I want to.” Vergil said and even if it hurt to hear that, Dante guessed that it was the best outcome he could have ever hoped for.
The red twin couldn’t take the distance anymore, and so he came forward and hugged his brother. “I’ve searched for you everywhere, but I couldn’t find you… and once I did y-you were inside that thing…”
“I didn’t want to fight you and so I kept on running.” Vergil murmured as he held him back, his hold crushing. “And then, I realised that surviving wasn’t enough anymore. And I thought it would be easier for everyone if I…”
“You were wrong. You were so damn wrong.” A sob escaped him, all the terror of those past days leaving his nerves raw. “Just like I was.”
“Maybe.” His brother huffed. “I’ve missed you. Not just these past months but ever since our house burned down.”
“Me too. Shit, it got even worse when I found the kid.” Dante gasped, burying his face in his twin’s clothes. “I’m so happy you’re back.”
“Thank you for saving me.” Vergil murmured in his ear. “Even though I should stab you for taking so many risks. You shot yourself, didn’t you ?”
“Yeah. This was the only way to make you notice that we were there. I’m not going to apologize for that, you were dying just in front of us, and we couldn’t do shit to help you.” Dante hissed.
He didn’t regret this crazy idea, it had worked out.
And if it hadn’t, then he would have joined him in the afterlife anyway.
“You're always so obnoxiously stubborn.” Vergil mumbled and he sounded pissed even if it had saved his life. Hypocrite.
“Says the man locked inside an unbreakable bubble. That thing was even harder than your thick skull, and I know what I’m talking about ! I was so terrified….” He sniffed quite pitifully but he didn’t give a damn.
“Hm. The Yamato has been protecting me from the moment I grew too weak to move. Otherwise I would have been killed by a simple Scarecrow.” The blue half-devil confirmed sounding almost smug. Jackass.
“She tried to fry Lady and Trish but she let Nero and me get close. But not through.” Dante told him. He could still feel the aftermath of the impossible desperation he had felt when nothing had worked.
“How did you even find me ?” Vergil asked him and Dante’s stomach dropped all over again.
“Luck. Simple, stupid, luck. The Yamato had been crying for you. She scared hikers and they called the police, and then they called Nero.” Dante chuckled wetly. “We went to investigate and we found you. Shit, without that we would have never found you in time.“
His twin’s frame shook in his hold and Dante was startled as a chuckle escaped Vergil.
It was the first he heard him laugh since they were kids. This day was so surreal, the hunter had to stop himself from pinching his arm and check if he wasn’t dreaming.
“This is not funny.” The red twin grumbled unhappily even if he was mentally marveling at the sound.
“My apologies… Do you believe in Fate, Dante?” He whispered as the wind ruffled their hair and the warm sun made the sea look sapphire blue.
“Fate ? Well… I guess we are literally on Fortuna Island so… why not.” The red twin chuckled as well and he kept on holding on to his twin.
Maybe it had been fate, maybe not.
As long as they were together… It was enough for Dante.