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skvaderarts · 3 years

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Hiraeth Chapter 55: Disclosure

Masterlist can be found Here!

Chapter Fifty-Five: Disclosure

Note: I know you’ve been waiting a long time for the answers, and now you’ve got them. This is the beginning of the end in regards to the secrets surrounding Belial’s Arc and what he hopes to gain. Enjoy… if you can.

(-~-)

It didn’t take long for everyone present in the house to make their way to the living room, especially once it was revealed that information pertaining to them had been unearthed. Despite the fact that Brenowin and Morgan hadn’t known Sirrus for more than about a day, the fact that everyone else seemed to know or otherwise welcome him was really all that it took for them to be willing to at least listen to him. And from what they could tell, he had no compelling reason to lie to them about anything.

Making the executive decision that it was probably best that they all know about what was going on, Dante called Lady and Trish, both of whom were luckily not far away, and seemed to have just finished a job a few hours prior. They agreed to come over and see what was going on despite the fact that it was probably a bit too early for them. They both sounded like they had just woken up when they’d answered the phone. That would surely get him shot in the head later on.

But what was more of a surprise to anyone that knew him was the fact that Vergil had actually made a similar decision. Taking a moment to step aside and make a phone call, Vergil had subsequently disappeared for several minutes to go and fetch Magnolia, something that had gone completely unnoticed until they had come back through the front door together just a short while after. It wasn’t a new notion that Vergil was capable of benign stealthy, but none of them had realized until then that he was able to dip out of a crowded room and just disappear from everyone’s consciousness. Perhaps they had spent too much time actively tuning him out until now? Even Dante hadn’t noticed at the time, more than likely because he’d been talking to Lady on the phone.

Within a few minutes of their return, Lady and Trish came around, and they had brought along Morrison. According to them, they had run into him as they were leaving, the middle man presumably interested in getting in contact with them to offer a job. Or, at the very least curious as to how well the last job they had been on together had gone for them. Dante wouldn’t have been surprised if Morrison had been the one to provide them with whatever work they had been doing lately. He was resourceful like that.

As was Ludwig family tradition at that point, Flora made a fresh pot of tea that everyone was welcome to share. If she was going to sit there and listen to Sirrus talk for goodness knew how long, she wasn’t going to do it without a cup of tea in her hands, especially since Magnolia had brought a tray of macaroons with her when she’d arrived. Vergil’s timing couldn’t have been more perfect, in her opinion.

“Ok, so what’s up?” Nero said nonchalantly as he sat down on the couch next to V. Considering everything that had happened recently, he was pretty sure that nothing Sirrus could say would be particularly shocking to him, and he was hoping that he wouldn’t be proven wrong in that regard. “You said that you had something to tell us?”

Sirrus nodded, watching as everyone settled in and made themselves comfortable. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about repeating himself. The only person who wasn’t there was Nico, but it would have taken several hours for her to reach their location. Or perhaps it wouldn’t, considering her driving skills...

“First, I’d like to start by making it clear that I have obtained some of this information from Aluta and Willow, so if you’d like more in-depth information, you will have to contact them. I’m just the messenger in that regard.”

Various members of the team either shrugged or nodded in response, silently indicating that they would like for him to continue. He leaned back against the corner of the wall nearest to the window, the warmth from the fireplace licking his subconscious as he tuned its presence out, for the most part, noting its existence, but not sparing much in the way of attention to it. He drew a long breath before proceeding, sure that he was about to ruin several people’s day in the process. Oh, how he hated that sort of thing. Being the bearer of bad news was never pleasant, but in cases like this, it was a necessary evil. One way or another, someone was going to have to tell them. It might as well be him.

Gesturing for him to continue, Vergil sat down in one of the armchairs nearest to the couch. He wasn’t quite sitting next to V, but he was as close to doing to as it was possible to be without actually doing it. The young summoner seemed to silently note this for a moment, allowing his gaze to travel towards how father, but otherwise not reacting. He was clearly anticipating bad news, and considering everything that was going on and the fact that he was locked in a losing battle against a devil prince, that was more than understandable.

“Now that we have that out of the way, I’d like to say that I’m genuinely sorry to always be the bearer of bad news in these instances. What am I, the wild hunt?” Sirrus scoffed and shook his head before realizing that that at least half of the people in the room didn’t have any idea what that even was. He then sighed and folded his arms around himself. “Would you prefer that I get straight to the point, or go into a bit more detail?”

“Considering the implications of what I assume you are here to tell us, I would prefer the former and then the latter,” V said softly, rubbing his arm absentmindedly in an attempt to soothe it. Just thinking about what was going on was enough to make the malevolent ink that coursed his veins tingle from excitement, something that the rest of his biological composition didn’t approve of or appreciate very much.

Putting his arm behind his back, Sirrus nodded in a manner more akin to that of a curtsy than anything else. He glanced over at Morgan who in turn nodded in agreement. She didn’t need him to ask for her to be able to tell that he was awaiting her permission to continue. He then cleared his throat before leaning over and pouring a few sips of wine that he summarily gulped down in the least refined manner possible. He hadn’t spoken a word yet, and he already hated this conversation.

“Fair enough. I suppose nothing worthwhile is accomplished by beating around the bush all day, is there? We all have things to do and places to be.” He went in for another topped-off glass, indirectly signifying to everyone in the room that he almost certainly didn’t want to be here talking about this right now. “The Ludwin family sent some of their family members to go and investigate Belial’s activities and they have found an almost definitive answer as to what he wants with both Morgan and V. I trust that you don’t need me to tell you it’s not to simply spread the good word.”

“No, I suppose you do not.” Vergil wasn’t amused, but he was also keenly aware of the fact that Sirrus hadn’t exactly meant that in a humorous way. He’d clearly been using his cynicism and sarcasm as a coping device. “Continue.”

With a casual shrug, Sirrus turned his attention back to V and Morgan. “V, do you recall what you said about the attack that destroyed Lympha about three years ago?”

To the surprise of no one, they both nodded. Morgan looked as though she would become sick to her stomach at the mention of that place, but she did remember. There was no way that she would ever forget. V looked down at the floor for a moment in discomfort, considering the possibility of speaking. But when he finally did, it wasn’t about the town. “How did you hear about that, Sirrus? You were outside.”

Sirrus nodded in agreement, reaching for another glass of wine but finding that the bottle was a bit too close to being empty for his liking. “Your quite right. I was with Nico. But I have very good hearing, and I am not at all ashamed to admit that I did, in fact, eavesdrop on you. I can see why you’d find that strange, however. My apologies if I’ve upset you or caused you undue confusion.”

V seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding, brushing his concerns aside. He had done nothing to offend him. He would know if he’d done something to cause V any distress to the young summoner. That made sense. After all, Sirrus was not exactly a normal person, and he had several abilities that he knew very little about. “Think nothing of it. But please, what does this have to do with what happened in… that place?”

Leaning back again, Sirrus adjusted his shoulders. “It seems that before Belial disbanded his cult and destroyed just about every trace of it, he had tasked them to take care of something important. And that “something important” was in Lympha.” He turned to Morgan, his focus lingering on her for a moment as he attempted to find a tactful way to put into words what he wanted to say. “You made mention of an old story. Something about a prophecy?”

Morgan nodded. “Yea, it was something about how some settlers were run out of the area a few hundred years back on suspicion of being witches, and the leader of the coven’s son was killed before he could be used as a vessel of sorts of a ritual to bring back their fallen leader. She cursed the town or something like that. I think it was… “ she stopped, clearly unable to remember what all she was supposed to remember in that situation.

“And onto this land, I lay a binding of blood and bone. For never again shall the shadow depart. And the snow shall run red with the blood of the self-righteous until upon the altar of the Lord of the Disquieting the flesh of the so chosen repository is offered and the blood is spilled, melding their beings into one. And so he shall walk the damned soil again and hold dominion over the dominion of humanity as the storm holds dominion over the sky.” Sirrus looked displeased to have had to even speak those words. He didn’t like curses at the best of times, but full-on generational damnation? That was going several layers too far into the depths of insanity. “That is the first half of the actual prophecy. It was quite the thing to translate from Enochian, but I managed to do it on short notice once it was discovered in the Ludwig trove. Aluta deduced from what I shared with her about your story that it was relevant.”

Nodding in consideration, Dante seemed to linger on the words for a while. He clearly understood them, at least for the most part, but he was still at the end of his rope in regards to what that was related to in their exact circumstance. “Yea, that’s pretty metal and all, but what precisely does it have to do with V and Morgan?”

Realizing that he could stand to be a bit more transparent about it, Sirrus looked over at Morgan, displeased about what he needed to say. “The curse was created by a woman named Atropa Lundwick nearly exactly 500 years ago. She was the only survivor of a heinous attack by locals, and she was cursed herself at the time by those same townspeople after the deaths of her family. They apparently enchanted their crops to help them through the hard winter as an act of kindness, and they all nearly starved to death as a direct result of refusing to eat food that was “tainted by unnatural forces.” She was the matriarch of what you now know as the Ludwig family. That curse is the reason that members of the Ludwig family only ever have daughters. The locals incorrectly assumed that that would be a disadvantage to her. Fools.”

Flora and Magnolia both looked visibly horrified by the statement, but not at all angry. A sort of deep sorrow seemed to overtake them as they collectively realized the unintended butterfly effect that this still had on things in so many of their lives even to this day. It was a tragedy that had borne more tragedy, and no one had really emerged the winner in the situation. What a painful and shameful legacy for their ancestor to have left behind. “What does this have to do with V and Morgan, Sirrus.”

Taking note of the pain in Magnolia’s voice as she asked him that question, he sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head in deep dissatisfaction. “For a cause to have any bearing, it has to have a source of anchoring, a natural or unnatural force to draw from. The Ludwin family at that time had dealing with several powerful demons as a result of their somewhat Umbran ancestry. One of the demons they guarded against was Belial, but once tragedy struck, Atropa sought the tutelage of the very devil she had sought to destroy, her grief gaining the upper hand as she mourned the death of her only son. She formed a pack with him, and that pact led to the enforcement of the curse. She used the power he lent her to see forward into a time that had not yet occurred for him, and the prophecy was borne of the outcome that favored him. She promised him everything if he succeeded, and ever since then, his influence strengthened by her curse has allowed him dominion for one season of the year over the town of Lympha to seek out his vessel. Her coven had never intended to sacrifice her son to him, but he had requested as much as he would have been a powerful asset to a devil prince who was physically incapable of crossing over into the human world.”

Morgan looked horrified. “So that’s what was wrong with all the people in the town? They were being subconsciously influenced by a curse and a demon all at once? That’s why the animals and anything else that ventured into the woods disappeared into the darkness? Because he was taking them to the underworld?”

Sirrus made a gesture to indicate that she was half right. “You’re mostly correct. Belial could not bring them into the underworld due to the fact that he could not open a gate, and there were no existing ones in the area. But he fed off of their fear, and he warped them into the horrible creatures that were sometimes seen around the town. Like in the story about the dog that you told V. At night his corruptive darkness changed those weak enough to be changed, and assimilated those who would not bend to his will, making the forest stronger. And it construed in a cycle unending until the day that his cult came to the city… looking for both of you.”

It was Nero’s turn to ask a question now, the young devil hunter clearly displeased by everything he had just learned. “But what did they want with V and Morgan as opposed to literally everyone else in that cursed hellhole of a town?”

The red-haired man gave him a sad smirk. “What did the Order of the Sword want with you in the grand scheme of their master plan?”

Nero seemed to think about the question for a moment before he visibly paled and felt the breath leave his lungs. Oh. Oh no. He didn’t mean that… He couldn’t mean that…

“On their 20th birthday, every one of the young men in the town was compelled to enter the woods. This was a test on Belial’s part. He is the Lord of Disquieting from the prophecy. Apparently, he was testing the mental resolve of each of the potential vessels in the town. The one who could resist the incredibly powerful and increasingly strong pull of his influence would be the one he would pick. And that is how he located V. V was basically entirely resistant to all but the very strongest of his mental barrages, save for the one occasion with the full moon which was literally the anniversary of the curse being placed from what I can tell. And more importantly, why his cult descended upon the town that day. Their master specifically wanted V. And he wants him alive. But there was another half to that prophesy.”

Brenowin looked ill suddenly. He shared a concerned look with Sirrus and then at his sister, clearly realizing something that none of the rest of them did. But he couldn’t speak of it, and he had a feeling that Sirrus would do so for him anyway. “You don’t mean…”

Much to his displeasure, he nodded. “Unfortunately, I do. I can tell from the ill look on your face that you know of what I speak. The cult must have made mention to it, then?” He watched as Bren nodded and then looked over at his sister, a look of immense concern on his face. He then continued, wanting to get this off of his chest. “And upon the twin thrones of darkness shall sit the vessel of darkness and the eyes of prophecy, she who will be gifted future sight as I was and who shall make material the brood of the machinations of the lord of shadows, Insanity made physical. For only through the union of darkness and foresight can be brought true retribution to cleanse humanity of their petty mortality.”

Everyone in the room seemed to linger on those words for a few moments before slowly coming to the realization of what they implied. And each one of them looked varying degrees of physically ill as they all came to the same unanimously horrifying conclusion. And V especially was mentally kicking himself. Why had he not considered the fact that Belial’s cult could have been the same cult that had killed the people of Lympha a few years ago? Perhaps the devil prince’s dark influence had been what had made him feel compelled to stay in the first place. The demonic part of him could have been drawn to the aura that his influence provided…

“So you’re saying that… Belial wants to use V as a vessel that he can, what, possess so that he can come to the human world and take everything over, and then he wants Morgan to… so they can… and she’d be… That’s…” Dante looked between his nephews and his brother, noting their stunned silence and the will to live exit V’s body with silent indignation. He’d actually prefer dying to a fate like that.

“Quite literally the worst thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life,” Nero said breathlessly, looking over at his brother and the horrified shivering young teen girl sitting next to him. He couldn’t tell which of those options was the worse fate. Being used as a meat puppet for darkness incarnate was bad, but the idea of being stuck with him to create descendants of his bloodline purely for the purpose of helping to subjugate the rest of the world was literally too vile for him to comprehend properly.

And with the will of a Devil Lord in the body of a descendant of the great dark knight Sparda, he could undo every safeguard and protective ward your father placed with enough time and the proper know-how. And he could easily gain access to both… after all, who would stand a chance against that kind of power…” Lucia looked mournful and horrified. She couldn’t imagine something so dark coming to pass. No one deserved that, but V? No one could deserved that fate less. And Morgan…

… Our father’s spell stops the possibility of a demon as powerful as Belial crossing over into the human world, but possession of the movement of power and consciousness into another living being. Only his essence needs to pass over… and in that respect, his horrific and contrite plan is actually entirely possible. And I loathe that.”

“Over my dead body,” Magnolia said, genuinely angry. She didn’t even bother to hold back the tears that were forming in her eyes. “I will not allow the momentary hubris of my one forebearers to lead to the damnation of two children, and by proxy, the entirety of humanity, over the mistakes of a few people nearly a millennium ago. This dies with her, as it damn well should have back then.”

Sirrus nodded in agreement. “And that is why I am here today. To propose the idea of stopping that before it starts. We need to go on a little road trip. And we need to do it now. I need you to see the conduit. And I need you to see it now.”

(-~-)

And there it is, Belial’s horrible plan finally revealed! Let me know what you think in the comments! I had a blast writing this when I got back from grocery shopping today. You all take care. I’ll see you next week on Wedsnday! And for those of you who dropped in on my Tumblr account during DMC OC Week, thanks for the love and support! See you in the comment section, and stay safe out there! Enjoy the nightmare fuel! Bye Bye!

#Devil May Cry #V #Vitale #My Post Devil May Cry 5 AU #My Post Devil May Cry 5 AU OC's #My Post Devil May Cry V AU Fanfiction #My Post Devil May Cry 5 OC #DMC #DMCV #DMC5 #Dante #Vergil #Nero

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noteofnaught · 3 years

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内容全部都是个人意见与理解。这是之前为了活动写的，我个人认为谈不上对维吉尔分析，大概类似于某种梳理。

翻译还是可爱的deepl（翻译器）做的。

如果有什么错误或者问题请告诉我。

欢迎各种讨论。

The content is all personal opinion and understanding.This was written for activities before. Personally, I don't think Vergil can be analyzed. It is probably similar to some sort of combing.

The translation was done by the lovely deepl (translator).

Please let me know if there are any mistakes or problems.

All discussions are welcome.

维吉尔的童年曾经发生了什么

其实关于维吉尔在那天经历，官方有过非常明确的提及。

What happened to me in Vergil's childhood

In fact there is a very clear official reference to Vergil's experience on that day.

父亲下落不明，那场火灾中母亲和胞弟因为未能及时赶回而死于仇人之手，在多年的行踪不明下，有在后续无尽的追杀中幸存下来。

尚且年幼维吉尔在童年经历这一一系列的变故后，认为弱小——也就是我们通常对当时发生的所有一切都无能为力的现象，他认为是一种罪。

弱小对于他而言是一种负面的表现。

他出现问题就会把问题归类于这是自己出现了问题而不是外部原因所造成的，看到这里，反过来我们也许会思考，为什么弱小会被他归类于是自己的问题？

没能保护母亲，没有能保护一同出生也没有任何想要共同承担起家庭责任的弟弟，又或者说他已经承担代替父亲保护母亲保护这个家的愿望彻底的破灭。

这所有的一切都是他的责任，所以他不应该怨恨其他人，没能保护好自己是过于弱小没有拥有力量的问题，而没有去思考别人伤害他这个行为根本就是错误的。

没有能力反抗伤害也是因为自身的弱小所造成的。

他将所有的问题都归纳在自己，是自己年幼无知的幼稚想法才让他失去了一切。

他“想要”很多东西，但“想要”这种需求对他而言是一种错误的贪婪行为。但凡他想要什么的时候，这种行为就会被归类于错误的一端，错误的欲望应当被压制，这让他兄长身份赋予超过这个年龄所有拥有的重压。

对于兄长的这个身份，不仅仅是他是他对自己的要求，其中还包含的有母亲对他的家庭角色定位，以及嘱托和期望。

从剧情中考虑伊娃只是一个普通的人类，一个年轻的单身母亲，亦不是圣母。就算是普通的家庭里，对于长子应该承担多一点做法也是完全合情合理的要求。

唯独在这样的家庭里，这种要求变成了对自己的苛责，在这样的家庭里，昔日的英雄下落不明，年轻的母亲因为需要带着孩子躲避灾祸而忧心忡忡，唯一能减轻母亲的负担的只有自己，在这样的情况下他还需要塑造达成兄长这样一个角色。

在这里，他角色定位被反复强调，他是什么样的角色远比他是谁更为重要。

His father's whereabouts are unknown, his mother and brother died at the hands of enemies when they failed to return in time from the fire, and after years of uncertainty about his whereabouts, he survived the endless chase that followed.

Still young, Vergil, having experienced this series of changes in his childhood, considered weakness - that is, the phenomenon that we are usually powerless against all that is happening at the time - to be a sin.

Weakness is a negative for him.

When he has a problem, he attributes it to the fact that it is his own problem and not to an external cause.

He had failed to protect his mother, his brother who was born with him and had no desire to share the responsibility of the family, or his desire to protect his mother and the family in place of his father had been completely dashed.

All of this was his responsibility, so he shouldn't have resented the others, failing to protect himself was a matter of being too weak to have power, and not thinking about the fact that the act of others hurting him was simply wrong.

The inability to resist harm is also the result of one's own weakness.

He blamed himself for all the problems, and it was his own childish thoughts of youthful ignorance that cost him everything.

He "wanted" many things, but the need to "want" was for him an act of misguided greed. But whenever he wants something, this behaviour is classified at the wrong end of the scale, and the wrong desire should be suppressed, which puts the weight of his elder brotherhood on him beyond all that he possesses at this age.

The role of older brother was not only a requirement for him, but also included his mother's role as a family man, and her wishes and expectations of him.

Considering the plot, Eva is just an ordinary human being, a young single mother, and not a saintly mother. Even in an ordinary family, it is a perfectly reasonable request that the eldest son should be given more responsibility.

Only in such a family, where the whereabouts of the former hero are unknown, where the young mother is worried because she needs to take the child away from the calamity, where the only one who can relieve her burden is himself, and where he needs to shape up to reach the role of older brother.

Here, the positioning of his character is repeatedly emphasised, the kind of character he is being far more important than who he is.

在三代里，阿卡姆曾经这样形容过爱丽丝。

In the DMC3, Arkham once described Alice in this way.

被人讨厌的孩子，也不受到父母的喜爱，这个孩子自己都讨厌自己。

所以迫切希望长大，能够让自己坚强起来，不想再当一个幼稚的孩子。

维吉尔情形与她是类似的，当��因为生气的缘故跑了出去，然后发生那样的悲剧，而出去的理由对一个小孩子而言再正常不过。

三代漫画人物简介中，你会看到维吉尔认为母亲更偏爱但丁，在漫画VOV的剧情也得以见到这种想法的根源。

剧情很明显的向我们表达出：但丁让维吉尔陪自己玩，而维吉尔想要独处，最后在明显不是由自己挑起事端的状况下，母亲仍然责怪他，认为他应该迁就弟弟的要求。

这样的情况在家庭有复数孩子经常会出现——让年纪大一点的迁就年幼的孩子。当他们之间发生争执，那无论什么原因，错的都是年纪大一点的孩子，因为年幼应该被保护应该被善待仿佛是一种理所当然的存在。

这事一种显而易见的偏袒，当然在这里我们并不是要争论这个行为的对错，而是同样尚且年幼的维吉尔也同样知道这样的偏袒行为是一种不公正对待，就算他比弟弟早出生那么几秒钟，那他也希望周围的对象能和他一样以理服人，而不需要母亲以大道理来偏袒弟弟，用这种方式来苛责自己。

The child who is hated is also not loved by his parents; the child himself hates himself.

So desperate to grow up and be able to toughen myself up and not want to be a childish child again.

Vergil was in a similar situation to her, having run away that day in anger and then having a tragedy like that, for reasons that were perfectly normal for a small child.

In the character profiles of the three generations of comics, you will see that Vergil believes that his mother prefers Dante, and you will be able to see the roots of this idea in the storyline of the comic VOV.

The plot is clearly expressed to us: Dante asks Vergil to play with him, while Vergil wants to be left alone, and in the end, in a situation where it is clear that he did not start the trouble, his mother still blames him, believing that he should have accommodated his brother's demands.

This is often the case in families with more than one child - the older child is allowed to give way to the younger one. When there is an argument between them, it is the older child who is at fault for whatever reason, because it is as if the younger child should be protected and treated well as if it were a matter of course.

This is a clear case of favouritism, and of course we are not arguing about the rightness or wrongness of this action, but Vergil, who is also young, knows that such favouritism is an injustice, even if he was born a few seconds before his brother, and he wants to be surrounded by people who are as reasonable as he is, and does not need his mother to favour his brother with her reasoning and to criticise himself in this way.

因为弱会导致死亡，无论他者还是自身。

可以看出DMC3维吉尔名台词：「没有力量你无法保护任何东西，即使是你自己」的由来。

兄长的身份让他认为自己应当承担责任，承担父亲的遗产等等，但悲剧变故是引发他扭曲责任感的源头。

三代漫画人物简介中你也可以看到，维吉尔认为但丁分走了属于自己一半的力量。

正义基本要素就是公平。

你有母亲的爱与保护，那父亲的力量归属就给我了吧，这是公平的。

你有母亲的保护，那我要父亲的保护，这是公平的。

为什么这个是你的，这个也是你的呢？这不公平。

在DMC5我们可以看到经典那一幕，V在说完斯巴达之刃（父亲）保护了但丁之后情绪严重失控。

说出了：“如果你不存在…………”

这句话可以引申出很多含义：如果你不在的话，自己就能拥有全部力量去保护母亲，母亲就不会死。如果你不在话，父亲也会保护我之类。

经过以上举例，我们会发现这些引申都是一些人很常见的想法，打开网络页面去搜索或者询问身边有兄弟姐妹的朋友，会发现这些情况是存在的，他们或多或少存在过以上这些问题，毕竟兄弟姐妹的存在，确实一定程度上分走本可能全部属于自己的资源。

孩子自私希望全部都属于自己，是人之常情。

当然，公平性是很重要的，但公平性也会有非常残忍的一面。

就如同你有一盒子巧克力，决定奖励给学生，通过考试测验，你奖励给了学习成绩更好那一个，因为你认为他很努力所以学习成绩好。

而这一刻公平性残忍出现在地方是：有其他孩子，因为下课之后还需要帮助父母工作，导致他学习时间与精力不能与其他人相比，于是他成绩不如其他人。

知识测试题目，人人都一样，所以这是公平，但每个人拥有学习时间、资源却并不一致；于是这就出现非公平。

弱者与强者同台比拼，靠体能决定胜负，但为什么这是不公平？因为弱者与强者之间体能本身就已经天差地别。

理同恶魔与人类，人类就是比恶魔在体能上弱小，所以恶魔与人类之间如果存在斗争，那就是不公平，是强者在欺负弱者。

于是，我们就可以称呼该行为属于非正义行为。

这也是为什么当我们看到，体育运动这类带有竞争性比赛上，在各方面不占先天优势的人赢了占先天优势的人，会如此热血沸腾的缘故之一。

维吉尔对公平性要求是刻入骨子的程度，从DMC5中他复活后与但丁对话到DMC1中黑天使从不偷袭而要求堂堂正正战斗，都能体现这一点。

无论对手是谁，堂堂正正是要务，大概只能阿卡姆能够破列吧，虽然阿卡姆其实不算对手。

维吉尔（V）在漫画里面不断责问自己，他的责问并不是，【自己为什么没有赢】而是【自己为什么会输】。

为什么没有赢与为什么会输，看起来是相同的东西，但提问方向是不一样的。

【为什么没有赢】是处于认为自己各方面条件都很好，没有破绽的是应该会赢才对；而【为什么会输】责问是自身到底那里做的不够好，才导致失败。

这其实也是符合维吉尔内在归因的问题。

他认为他与但丁之间应当是平等，而不是一高一低。

在VoV漫画里面有一段监督关于：在V噩梦中为什么出现的是叛逆而不是力之刃的解析。是因为维吉尔觉得，叛逆与阎魔都是各自属于他们，而斯巴达之刃是属于他们共同所有的。

而但丁与维吉尔在经历那一天之后，他们所在社会、拥有的资源已经完全不一致。

维吉尔所在的社会看起来是人类的社会，但实际是恶魔的丛林社会。

蒙杜斯的追杀让他一直生活一个恶魔丛林里面，这个丛林唯一的法则就是：弱肉强食。

谁也不能够完全付托信任，天知道那是不是蒙杜斯派来恶魔伪装的。

“同伴”“信仰”那是与恶魔毫无关系的东西，甚至是导致其丧命的。

另一边的但丁用他自己所说的最为合适「グルーに言われた通りだぜ。オレは大甘の甘ちゃんで、奴やあんたに甘えっぱなしだったんだな」

【一切确如格鲁所说，我以前太天真单纯/天真到傻，尽跟他还有你撒娇/尽是依赖你们】

但丁遇到了愿意保护他愿意引导他的格鲁、待他如同自己孩子的尼尔（妮可的婆婆）。

可以说但丁在一个充满爱的环境下长大，有能够依赖的人，能够像孩子一样长大。

我们看新闻或者小说也会经常提到，那种单亲家庭或者孤儿的孩子，会比一般孩子更早熟一点，并不是他们心理状态真的已经是完全的成年人了，而是环境迫使他们必须承担更多东西。

在生活中得像成年人一样处事或者工作，老成的可怕。

但丁自己的话，自证他并没有变成那种老成可怕的人。

这里不是说，谁比谁更惨一点，没有比惨的意思。

而是在说，他们两个人从那一天开始，遇到的人/事，生活的环境是不一样的，经历也不一样，拥有的资源更不一样。

这些都是让他们为何看起来如此不同关键之一。

当然维吉尔介意从来不是，但丁待遇更好资源更好，而是父母。

V的台词：“我也曾想要爱与保护，但我孤身一人，除了生存别无选择。”

这里爱与保护，不论是英文还是日语表达都是过去时，是曾经渴望过的东西，而他现在已经放弃不再“贪心”，再结合前面V在斯巴达之刃那里失控，还有但丁对U所说的“母亲并没抛弃你。”

我们其实可以得出V（维吉尔）真正介意的并不是但丁比他幸运比他过的好，但丁拥有一切包括名声等等其实都可以都不在乎的，内心唯一纠结妒忌过的是父母的保护与爱。

可是想要，甚至妒忌弟弟能有父母的爱与保护。

这一点上连维吉尔自己都在鄙视自己。

在遭受痛苦的时候，孩子渴望父母保护是非常天然的一件事情，对于孩子来说，父母是如同神一样的存在。

那么在遭受恶魔袭击的维吉尔而言，会产生希望母亲来救自己的想法，是非常自然的一件事。

而孩子在遭受痛苦时候父母没有出现，会产生遭受遗弃感觉也是非常理所当然的结论。

我们可以在很多儿童心理学上找到无数的案列，甚至在日常生活中见到，有这样的一些人，他们会逗弄孩子，告诉他：你妈妈没来找你就是不要你了。这些行为都会将孩子弄哭，甚至产生对孩子的心理造成严重的影响。

这让很多人批判这种逗孩子的行为，也有很多人在网络上发表自己遭受过这种行为后留下很多心理阴影，多年都无法释怀。

当然，人在遭受自己无法抵抗苦难的时候，渴望得救想法也是非常自然的事情。

这种想法与维吉尔想要保护自己的母亲的想法完全是不矛盾的。

可为什么要鄙视这种自然而的想法呢？

因为作为这种想法是作为一个兄长、保护家庭的角色定位里面不应该有的。

或者换成那种最令人厌恶的表达方式，就像有亲戚告诉你：你妈妈怎么来救你啊？飞过去来救你吗？你怎么可以这样想？你妈妈为了救你都死了啦！你怎么那么没用，真给你爹妈丢人！腿断了有啥大不了的，你有手啊？你一个男人怎么那么矫情，不就说几句嘛？要大气一点！懂吗？你学学你弟弟，你学学你爸爸啊。别那么丢人现眼好吗？要大气一点！懂吗？别那么小鸡肚肠子。你爹妈都死还惦记这个？现在小孩子真不行，我那会儿不也这样过来的吗？

如果刚好是一个神经比较大条，大概可能笑笑就算了，但如果撞上一个非常敏感的人，那么这些话几乎就是核弹级别了。

人的情绪是复杂，有时候并非完全单一的情绪，在一些电视节目采访里面，那些做出英雄举动的普通人，也会告诉你，其实当时自己也不是不害怕的。

我们可以随着时间或者成长释怀某些东西，但维吉尔人生（DMC5之前）还没能得到这些。

最终，维吉尔对这一切又重新落回去，对自己的恨意之上。

在这个简介中还会提到，维吉尔对自己作为半魔是非常自卑的，同时也是一个理性的、个人主义者。

作为人类，并不纯正，作为恶魔又是个半调子，那边都不是又同时被两边嫌弃。

而身为半魔注定了，作为人类伴随而来的人类情感，这些情感自然包括负面感情。

DMC3里面维吉尔作为一个冷酷无情的恶魔，却又被阿卡姆耍了一番，虽然他们的合作本质是建立在互相利用之上。

但对人性透彻与坚定不移牺牲一切获得力量的阿卡姆而言，维吉尔也不过是一个��无防备便于利用的孩子罢了。

在DMC3过场中，我们可以看到维吉尔与阿卡姆之间互动，维吉尔非常嫌弃并厌恶阿卡姆，而他也并非像他战斗时候表现的那样，冷酷无情，精准切割；相反是一个拥有浓烈感情，甚至一定程度是脆弱而敏感的。

他会被阿卡姆的嘲讽他不过是不完整半人半魔杂种而极其愤怒，过场动画还给了愤怒的维吉尔一个特写镜头。

其后游戏过场中还有日后经常被各路玩家提梗：Why it doesn't work！！

维吉尔因机器不工作而大为愤怒，仿佛一个小孩子遇到困难时候，毫无办法只能在那边生闷气；还有M13过场动画中他发现被阿卡姆欺骗，气的咬牙切齿的表情。

他会被但丁话语简单激怒，又会因为蕾蒂说他利用阿卡姆，而语带嘲讽。

这些都是作为人的情绪，起源于非理性。

好的，我们再次要提及他们成长环境带来的影响。

在官方出版刊物中，在解析但丁与维吉尔关系之前，有这么一段话作为前序。

「在梦中有时会有这样的人物出现，他们做着自己绝不可能做的事情，有着和自己完全不一样的行为。会经常让梦中的自己非常烦躁不安。他们即便张着一张自己非常熟悉的朋友的脸，但却怎么也回忆不起那张脸是谁。

根据荣格所分类的6种梦境原型来看，这种现象叫做阴影理论。人出生之后，受成长环境，本人秉性的影响形成了人格。但是不管是多么温厚，替人着想的人格，冷彻，残酷，利己这部分是不会消失的。这部分人格在人们潜意识里静静存活。这就是阴影理论，应该说是被隐藏起来的人格。

能否将鬼泣3的但丁与维吉尔当作互为影子的存在？」

For weakness leads to death, whether of the other or of oneself.

One can see the origin of DMC3 Vergil's famous line: 'Without strength you cannot protect anything, even yourself'.

Being the older brother makes him think he should take responsibility, take on his father's legacy, etc., but the tragic turn of events is what triggers his twisted sense of responsibility.

As you can see in the character profiles of the three generations of comics, Vergil believes that Dante has taken half of the power that belongs to him.

The basic element of justice is fairness.

You have the love and protection of your mother, so it's fair that the father's power belongs to me.

You have the protection of the mother, then I want the protection of the father; that is fair.

Why should this be yours and this be yours? It's not fair.

In DMC5 we can see that classic scene where V loses a serious emotional outburst after saying that the Blade of Sparta (the father) has protected Dante.

Speaking out, "If you didn't exist ............"

There are many meanings that can be derived from this statement: if you had not existed, he would have had all the power to protect his mother and she would not have died. If you were not there, my father would have protected me and so on.

If you search the internet or ask your friends who have siblings, you will find that these situations do exist, and that they have had these problems to some extent.

It is only human for children to be selfish and want it all for themselves.

Of course, fairness is important, but fairness can also have a very cruel side.

It is as if you had a box of chocolates and decided to reward a student, and through a test you rewarded the one who did better in school because you thought he had worked hard and therefore did well in school.

And where this moment of fairness cruelty appears is that there are other children who, because they have to help their parents with their work after class, are not able to compare with the others in terms of time and energy spent studying, and so he does not do as well as the others.

The knowledge test questions are the same for everyone, so this is fair, but everyone has the time and resources to study but not the same; so this appears non-fair.

The weak and the strong compete on the same stage and rely on physical ability to decide the winner, but why is this unfair? Because the physical ability of the weak and the strong is already very different from each other.

So if there is a struggle between demons and humans, it is unfair, the stronger bullying the weaker.

We can then call the act an act of injustice.

This is one of the reasons why we get so worked up when we see, in a competitive competition such as sport, someone who is not innately superior in every way win against someone who is.

Vergil's demand for fairness is engrained in his bones to a degree that is evident from his conversation with Dante after his resurrection in DMC5 to the Black Angels never sneaking up on him but demanding a square fight in DMC1.

No matter who the opponent is, tangibility is a priority, and probably only Arkham can break the list, although Arkham is not really an opponent.

Vergil (V) constantly berates himself in the manga, not so much for [why he didn't win] but for [why he lost].

Why he didn't win and why he lost seem to be the same thing, but the direction of questioning is different.

The question "Why didn't you win" is based on the belief that you were in a good position to win, and that there were no flaws in your game.

This, in fact, is also in line with Vergil's internal attribution problem.

He believes that there should be equality between him and Dante, not one above the other.

There is a passage in the VoV comic that oversees the resolution of why it is Rebellion and not the Blade of Power that appears in the V Nightmare.

It is because Vergil feels that both Rebellion and Yama belong to them individually, while the Blade of Sparta belongs to them jointly.

And Dante and Vergil, after that day, are in societies and have resources that are completely at odds with each other.

Vergil was in a society that appeared to be human, but in reality was a demonic jungle society.

Mundus' hunt has kept him in a demonic jungle where the only law is that the weak are the strong.

No one can be fully trusted, and God knows if it was Mundus who sent the demon in disguise.

"Companionship" and "faith" are things that have nothing to do with demons, even if they lead to their death.

Dante on the other side uses his own words most appropriately, "グルーに言われた通りだぜ. Ore wa da gan no gan chan de, nuiya aanta ni gan e jin shi dana

[It's true what Guru said, I was too naive and simple/naive enough to pamper myself with him and you/relied on you all the time]

Dante meets Gru, who is willing to protect him and guide him, and Neal (Nicole's mother-in-law), who treats him like her own child.

You could say that Dante grew up in a loving environment, with people he could rely on and grow up like a child.

It is often mentioned in the news or in novels that children from single-parent families or orphans are a little more mature than the average child, not because they are really fully grown mentally, but because the environment forces them to take on more.

Having to conduct themselves or work like adults in life, the old age is frightening.

Dante's own words testify to himself that he did not turn out to be one of those old and scary people.

Here it is not saying that who is a little more miserable than who, there is no comparison of misery.

Rather, it is saying that the two of them have encountered different people/events, lived in different circumstances, had different experiences, and had even more different resources since that day.

These are all part of the keys that make them seem so different.

Of course Vergil minded that it was never, Dante who was treated better and had better resources, but his parents.

V's line, "I too have wanted love and protection, but I was alone and had no choice but to survive."

Here love and protection, whether expressed in English or Japanese, are in the past tense, something that was once desired and which he has now given up and is no longer "greedy" for, combined with V's loss of control at the Spartan Blade earlier, and Dante's words to U, "Mother did not abandon you. "

The only thing V (Vergil) really cares about is not that Dante is luckier than he is, but that Dante has everything he needs, including fame, and could care less, and that the only thing he is jealous of is his parents' protection and love.

But he wanted, and was even jealous of, his brother's love and protection.

Even Vergil himself despises himself for this.

In times of suffering, it is natural for a child to long for parental protection; to a child, parents are like gods.

It is natural, then, for Vergil, who has been attacked by a demon, to want his mother to come to his rescue.

And it is only natural that the child would feel abandoned if his parents were not present when he was suffering.

We can find countless cases in child psychology, and even in everyday life, of people who tease the child by telling him that if your mother doesn't come to you, she doesn't want you. All these actions can make the child cry and even produce serious psychological effects on the child.

This has led many people to criticise this kind of teasing, and many have posted on the internet that they have been subjected to this behaviour and it has left many psychological shadows that they have not been able to let go of for many years.

Of course, it is only natural for people to long for salvation when they are suffering from something they cannot resist.

Such thoughts are not at all incompatible with Vergil's desire to protect his mother.

But why should one despise such a natural thought?

Because such thoughts are not to be found in the role of an older brother, a protector of the family.

Or to put it in the most disgusting way, like when a relative tells you: How is your mother going to come to your rescue? Fly over to save you? How can you think like that? Your mother died trying to save you! Why are you so useless? You're a disgrace to your parents! What's the big deal if your leg is broken? You have a hand? You're a man, why are you so pretentious? Behave yourself! You know what I mean? You learn from your brother, you learn from your father. Don't be so embarrassed, okay? Behave yourself! You know what? Don't be such a chicken. Your parents are dead and you're still thinking about it? It's not good for kids these days. I was like that when I was a kid.

If you happen to be a person with a lot of nerves, you might laugh it off, but if you run into someone who is very sensitive, then these words are almost nuclear.

People have complex emotions and sometimes they are not completely monolithic. In some TV interviews, ordinary people who do heroic acts will also tell you that they were not unafraid at the time.

We can let go of certain things over time or as we grow up, but Vergil hasn't been able to get that in his life (before DMC5).

Eventually, Vergil falls back on top of it all, on top of his hatred for himself.

It will also be mentioned in this synopsis that Vergil is very inferior to himself as a half-demon, as well as being a rational, individualist.

Not pure as a human, and half-toned as a demon, neither side and disliked by both at the same time.

And being half-demon predestines, as humans come with human emotions, and these naturally include negative feelings.

In DMC3 Vergil, a cold and ruthless demon, is again played by Arkham, although the nature of their partnership is based on mutual exploitation.

But to Arkham, a man with a thorough understanding of human nature and a determination to sacrifice everything to gain power, Vergil is nothing more than a defenceless child who can be used.

In the DMC3 overworld, we see Vergil interacting with Arkham, who Vergil dislikes and loathes greatly, and who is not as cold and precise and cutting as he appears to be in battle; instead, he is a man of strong emotions, and even a degree of vulnerability and sensitivity.

He is extremely angry at Arkham's taunt that he is nothing more than an incomplete half-human, half-demon bastard, and the overworld animation gives a close-up of an angry Vergil.

Later on in the game, there is also a frequent reference to Why it doesn't work!

Vergil is furious that the machine doesn't work, as if he is a child in trouble and has no choice but to sulk, and the M13 overworld animation shows him gritting his teeth in anger when he realises he has been tricked by Arkham.

He will be simply angered by Dante's words, and then mocked by Letty's comment about him using Arkham.

These are emotions that originate as human beings and are irrational.

Well, once again we have to mention the influence of the environment in which they were brought up.

In the official publication, before parsing Dante's relationship with Vergil, there is this passage as a preface.

"In dreams such characters sometimes appear who do things they could never do and behave in a way completely different from themselves. They can often be very disturbing to the dreamer. Even though they have the face of a friend whom they know very well, they cannot recall who that face is.

According to the six dream archetypes classified by Jung, this phenomenon is called the shadow theory. After birth, a person's personality is formed by the environment in which he or she grows up and by his or her own nature. But no matter how gentle and considerate the personality is, the cold, cruel and egoistic part of the personality does not disappear. This part of the personality lives on in the subconscious. This is the shadow theory, the hidden personality, I should say.

Can you think of Dante and Vergil in Ghostbusters 3 as being in the shadow of each other?

维吉尔作为这个名字拥有者，神曲中理性的代表。

我们先将这部分作为他本性存在，在dmc3也提及过，名字是一个恶魔的如同原型一样的东西。

通常情况下，我们正常生活中，理性会让我们控制住自己的兽性。

而维吉尔一般情况展示给大众是这样的一个形象：冷酷无情、自我中心、冷漠，像恶魔一样自私自利，为了一己之私而不惜牺牲其他任何事物。

在人类社会中，即使人性确实存在这样的负面部分，但被认为这是劣等的人，社会提倡我们要为他人着想；我们成长在一个有铁序安全的和平的社会之中，周围的人也是温柔善良的人，那么我们自然也会受到影响，把属于人性之中不好的兽性部分，压制下去。

即使我们受到社会道德影响与本性等等反面的影响，那些阴影的部分也绝对不会消失。

我们依旧存在着人性里面包含着负面那一部分，会为了自身安逸、利益等原因破坏环境，发动战争。

在地球上存在着这一边生活的是在安稳中烦恼着金钱、家庭、朋友、理想等的人们，而另一边却是在战火的废墟里卑微祈祷着能够活下来的人。

我们得到东西、思考的方式与我们生活的社会有着密切的联系。

而维吉尔生存的社会是一个怎么样的社会呢？他展示出来的是自己生存的社会，是一个恶魔社会。

他整个人内外翻转了。

人的兽性在内部，人性在外部。

但维吉尔他的兽性在外部，人性反而在里面。

在刊物描述中，对维吉尔与但丁之间关系总结是：「处于对极的但丁与维吉尔,他们之间的战斗其实也是与另一个自己的战斗。但丁、维吉尔互为影子，同时互为光芒。但丁与维吉尔的关系就是，通过彼此的存在而成就自己。」

而在dmc3故事结局，也符合这个描述的。

维吉尔故事最后，让但丁离开，无论从对话中还是行为中都没有体现出，他打算独占力量，而是他认可但丁想要作为人类活下去的想法。

他行为与态度确实是存在着爱，并不是利己的而是利他的，给予但丁爱与希望。

也正如荣格的阴影理论所言：阴影是我们生命力之源，我们需要整合到我们自身当中去。

也亦如荣格那句：当爱支配一切时，权力就不存在了；当权力主宰一切时，爱就消失了。两者互为对方的影子。

维吉尔也许希望过爱，但他所在社会决定了，是权力主宰一切。

人性现在都成为维吉尔的阴影部分，没有被恶魔完全同化掉，甚至可以称为奇迹。

Vergil as the bearer of this name, the representative of reason in the Divine Comedy.

We will start with this part as the presence of his nature, also mentioned in dmc3, the name of which is a demon as if it were an archetype.

Usually, in our normal lives, reason keeps us in control of our bestiality.

Vergil, on the other hand, generally presents the public with an image of being cold, self-centred, indifferent, self-serving like a demon, and willing to sacrifice anything else for his own selfish ends.

In human society, even though such negative parts of human nature do exist, they are considered to be inferior and society promotes us to think of others; we grow up in a peaceful society with iron order security and surrounded by gentle and kind people, then we are naturally influenced to suppress the bad bestial parts that belong to human nature.

Even if we are influenced by social and moral influences and the opposite of our nature and so on, those shadow parts will never disappear.

We still have the negative part of human nature that destroys the environment and starts wars for our own comfort, profit and other reasons.

On one side of the planet exist people who live in peace and worry about money, family, friends, ideals, etc., while on the other side are people who are humbly praying to survive in the ruins of war.

The way we get things and think about them is closely linked to the society in which we live.

And what kind of a society does Vergil survive in? What he shows is the society in which he survives, a society of demons.

His whole being flipped inside and out.

Man's bestiality is on the inside, his humanity on the outside.

But Vergil his bestiality is on the outside, his humanity on the inside instead.

The relationship between Vergil and Dante is summed up in the publication's description as follows: "Dante and Vergil, at opposite ends of the spectrum, are in fact fighting with their other selves. Dante and Vergil are each other's shadows and at the same time, they are each other's light. The relationship between Dante and Vergil is that of being made whole by the presence of each other.

And in the dmc3 story ending, which also fits this description.

Virgil's story ends by letting Dante go, and it does not come across, either in the dialogue or in his behaviour, that he intends to monopolise the power, but rather that he recognises Dante's desire to live as a human being.

There is indeed love in his behaviour and attitude, not self-interested but altruistic, giving Dante love and hope.

It is also as Jung's theory of shadows states: shadows are the source of our life force, which we need to integrate into ourselves.

It is also as Jung said: When love rules everything, power ceases to exist; when power rules everything, love disappears. The two are each other's shadow.

Virgil may have wished for love, but the society he lived in dictated that it was power that ruled.

Humanity is now all a shadow part of Vergil, and it may even be called a miracle that the demon has not been completely assimilated away.

关于父亲

About father

维吉尔简介中也提及，他渴望超越自己的父亲。

恶魔=父亲。

这反馈到DMC主题中之一。

超越父亲。

这个命题到底还是建立自我、成长。

在古典的故事里面，角色都是通过击败上一辈或者象征父亲的角色，来证明自我的确立，摆脱父亲，对自我的肯定。

他渴望超越父亲带来不止是荣耀还有包含其中的自由与自我。

但恶魔给予他带来是无穷无尽的伤害与压制，先不提后面dmc1中蒙杜斯的事情，我们从他小时候第一次遇见恶魔开始。

他当时作为一个恶魔的受害者，第一次面对恶魔力量带来的感受，并不是自由与安全，而是应当是恐惧。我们在可以在漫画VoV中看到，当他遭遇恶魔攻击时候，他是没有还手的能力，直接被贯穿胸口倒在地上，并非常自然伸手呼喊求救，感觉到巨大的疼痛。

Vergil's profile also mentions that he aspired to surpass his father.

Devil = Father.

This feeds into one of the DMC themes.

Beyond the Father.

The proposition is ultimately about building the self and growing.

Within the classical stories, the characters are proving self-establishment, freedom from the father, and affirmation of the self by defeating the previous generation or the character who symbolises the father.

His desire to rise above his father brought not only glory but also the freedom and ego contained therein.

But the demon gives him is endlessly hurtful and oppressive, leaving aside for a moment what happens to Mundus later in dmc1, where we start with his first encounter with the demon as a child.

The feelings he felt at that time as a victim of a demon, the first time he faced demonic power, were not freedom and safety, but should have been fear. As we can see in the comic VoV, when he is attacked by the demon, he is incapable of fighting back and falls to the ground straight through the chest and very naturally reaches out and cries for help, feeling great pain.

他根本没有抵抗这股力量的能力，是恶魔在用力量在伤害他，而不是他用力量战胜了恶魔。

他是讨厌受伤的，在DMC3过场动画里面，维吉尔需要用鲜血才能激活祭坛，那一幕里面我们可以清晰看到，当他割开自己手心时候，极度厌恶的表情。

然后，他在DMC1再次受到恶魔力量严重摧残，在这里恶魔力量给予他的感受其实依旧是恐惧。

是的，没有力量，他活不下，自身难保，这次连自我都再次被夺走，成为蒙杜斯复仇的玩偶。

He had no power at all to resist this power; it was the demon that was hurting him with its power, not he that had overcome it with it.

He hates being wounded, and in the DMC3 overworld animation, Vergil needs blood to activate the altar, and in that scene we can clearly see the look of utter disgust on his face when he cuts open his palm.

Then, he was again badly ravaged by demonic forces in DMC1, where the feelings they gave him actually remained fearful.

Yes, without power he could not live, he could not defend himself, and this time even his ego was once again taken from him, becoming a doll for Mundus' revenge.

在DMC5的小说中，可以看到蒙杜斯征服黑天使描述是这样的

In the DMC5 novel, Mundus' conquest of the nelo Angels can be seen described as follows

蒙杜斯认为项链是维吉尔渴望的力量的象征。

改造后一直不愿意服从他的黑天使，在给予项链之后，终于服从于他。

但是我们在VoV漫画中知道，阎魔刀才是维吉尔追求力量的代表，阎魔刀才是力量的象征。

他是通过阎魔存活的，如同DMC4一样阎魔激活尼禄的力量，让尼禄重生。

阎魔就像他的化身一样，是维吉尔践行的力量之道。

Mundus saw the necklace as a symbol of the power that Vergil craved.

The nelo Angel, who had been reluctant to obey him after the transformation, finally obeyed him after being given the necklace.

But we know in the VoV manga that it is the Yama sword that represents Vergil's quest for power; the Yama sword is the symbol of power.

He survives through Yama, and as in DMC4 Yama activates Nero's power and brings him back to life.

Yama is like his avatar, the way of power that Vergil practises.

那项链在这里代表是什么？

So what does the necklace represent here?

那项链在这里代表是什么？

首先，这个项链并非他的父亲给他，反而是属于母亲的遗物。

代表是母亲对他的爱，而不是父亲对他的爱。项链更加是属于他的东西，独一无二的东西。母亲对他的爱也是，是理应无法被抢走的东西。那这里项链代表应当是父母的爱，母亲对他的爱。而不是力量。蒙杜斯通过爱让黑天使完全接受控制，从而使自己的恶魔力量能够腐蚀维吉尔。作为黑天使的时候，拥有可不仅仅自尊的严重伤害，也并非毫无益处。作为黑天使的时候，他确实是安全的，受到庇护的。

剥夺思考带来同时也是不需要承受压力与重坦的状态，但确实是扯线的玩偶。他自尊是完全不能够接受这样的耻辱。维吉尔自然是憎恨厌恶自己人性（感情）懦弱的，这之后击败他刚好又是宿命的对手，但丁。

但丁不仅仅是他弟弟，也是作为“斯巴达之子”有力竞争对手，他们两个是双胞胎，都继承了父亲一部分的东西。

而DMC1游戏过场中，我们都可以从台词中知道，恶魔眼中的但丁就像斯巴达一样。

DMC3中贝奥武夫也直接喊着但丁是那个垃圾斯巴达。

那么，作为黑天使的维吉尔，其实就像被斯巴达打败一样。

他不但没有达成超越父亲的渴望，而是又一次遭受到恶魔力量摧残，最后一次甚至是来自于自己敬畏的父亲代言人也是自己宿命对手但丁，那相当于父亲否定了他。

我们都知道维吉尔崇尚力量甚至可以说崇拜力量，完全可以从DMC3里面他不择手段想要获得斯巴达力量跟M20中与但丁最后一战那一句：“我需要更多力量。”看出来。

同时，我们从但丁口中得知维吉尔是很敬畏自己的父亲的，在前面官方刊物内容中也有提及到这个。

一般来说造成人对某个事物的崇拜，理由有很多种，但我们这里先不说其他的，而是说最原始的一种，在一些电视历史节目或者传统神话故事里面，我们可以看到古代的人崇拜的神灵并不是那种满足人类愿望的神灵，比如说龙神，在一些地方是这样的传说，要每年定期安排祭品进行祭祀，而不进行的话龙神就会发怒，淹掉整条村子。

那些崇拜龙神的人并不是在感恩龙神保佑他们，而是在害怕龙神的惩罚，是对被毁灭的恐惧，

人们为龙神进行祭祀仪式以确保自己是安全。当然也有另外一种形式，就是通过“晒龙王”这种行为，从而证明自己获得比龙神更强的力量，在心理上确保自己是安全。

但无论是那一个方法，村民们其实都已经遭受过严重灾难，那些恐惧深深刻他们脑海之中。

维吉尔已经被恶魔力量摧残过很多次，他内心对恶魔力量恐惧理应在DMC1之后达到最高峰，同时崇拜也达到了巅峰。

但同样不可否认恶魔力量确实一定程度为他带来安全感，但这是一种一直在漏水的安全感。

即使他后来拿起这个伤害他的东西作为武器，也没有完全摆脱恶魔力量给他带来巨大创伤。

他生活环境也没有提供给他一个安稳的环境，导致他也失去重新认识自我与审视的机会。

那么让我们谈谈别的，他对母亲的感受。

维吉尔人性有很多负面想法，甚至有维吉尔认为可耻的想法，这些我们都知道了。

他对于回忆母亲会感觉哀伤而不是被爱着的安慰，这一点在DMC5里面V在游戏里面与格蕾芬交谈中可以得知。

而在DMC3个人简介描述中，对于身为人类的母亲则是抱有类似乡愁，但又会使他重新感受到自己身为人类，并且唤起对自身厌恶的存在。乡愁是一种再也无法回去又无法拥有的，又深深挂念着的充满哀伤的感情，而更加会想起那天惨剧，自己当时作为人类的无能导致母亲死亡甚至渴望得救的可耻想法，从而更加无法克制产生恨意。

维吉尔每当回忆起自己母亲或者如同VoV里面V去但丁事务所时候，看见母亲照片那种时候的厌恶的表情，他的表现就是无法控制自己的厌恶。

如果他只是单纯恨自己母亲，恨他抛弃了自己，那理应不会对母亲抱有乡愁的感情，毕竟正常情况下我们是不会去挂念我们恨着的东西甚至不会去一直惦记那些自己讨厌的东西，而V过场与格蕾芬台词：“说不想是在说谎。但过去……对我来说很是痛苦”，他的确是思念自己的母亲，硬要说因为得不到反而恨起来还能像那么一回事，所以这个恨意与厌恶是对着他自己的。

母亲是他陷入力量泥潭原因之一吗？是的，但并非全部。同样，母亲那天是企图拯救他这个事件，能解决他沉迷力量这个问题吗？

在DMC5里面但丁曾用母亲到死之前都在寻找他，是想去救他来劝说Urizen，而但丁回忆过场中，母亲的确也是外出寻找维吉尔叫喊他的名字然后遭遇不测，从这个角度上来说，我们是否可以说，如果不是为了救维吉尔，母亲有可能活下来？那么，但丁说这句话不相当于在责备维吉尔害死母亲吗？

维吉尔因没能保护母亲长久痛苦，自我责备自我厌恶自我憎恨，知道母亲居然为了救他而死，是自己害死母亲，那这句话只会让他更加难受更加自责，更加憎恨自己的无能为力。

所以，很可惜并不能。

但维吉尔是爱着自己母亲的，通过DMC5SE对话我们可以得知，维吉尔还害怕自己母亲生气。

那既然是这样，维吉尔因为知道母亲临死之前心愿就是他能够活下去，能够得救虽然并不能让维吉尔放弃力量，但至少能有一点安慰，当然是建立完整的维吉尔而不是Urizen之上。

那么，维吉尔是否是一个不自爱的人？

作为如同半身一样存在的但丁，也对痴迷力量的维吉尔充满了厌恶。

而但丁与维吉尔作为恶魔是必须合起来才算完整，在DMC3游戏阿卡姆台词可以得知。

他们身为半人半魔也意味着，他们的人的部分也是对半开的，他们终其一生必然互相追逐着对方才能使自己人性得以完整，而不是处于残缺的状态。

First of all, the necklace was not given to him by his father, but instead belonged to his mother as a relic.

It represents his mother's love for him, not his father's love for him. The necklace is more something that belongs to him, something unique. His mother's love for him is also, something that should not be taken away from him. Here, then, the necklace should represent the love of his parents, the love of his mother for him. And not the power. Through love Mundus had allowed the nelo Angel to accept full control, thus enabling his own demonic power to corrupt Vergil. It is not without benefit that having can be a serious injury to more than just self-esteem as a nelo Angel. As a Black Angel he is indeed safe and sheltered.

The deprivation of thought brings with it a state of being free from stress and heavy tampering, but it is true that it is a doll that pulls the strings. His pride was totally incapable of accepting such a disgrace. Vergil naturally hates and loathes his own human (emotional) cowardice, which is followed by the defeat of his fated rival, Dante.

Dante is not only his brother, but also a formidable rival for the role of "Son of Sparta"; they are twins, both having inherited a part of their father.

In the DMC1 overworld, we all know from the lines that the Devil sees Dante as a Spartan.

Beowulf in DMC3 also outright shouts that Dante is that trash Spartan.

Vergil, then, as the Black Angel, is in fact as defeated by Sparta.

Instead of reaching his desire to surpass his father, he is once again ravaged by demonic forces, the last time even from his revered father's spokesman who is also his fated rival, Dante, and that amounts to his father denying him.

We all know that Vergil admires power, even worships it, as evidenced by his desperate attempts to gain Spartan power in DMC3 and his final battle with Dante in M20: "I need more power." It's obvious.

At the same time, we know from Dante that Vergil is in awe of his father, and this is mentioned earlier in the official publication.

There are generally various reasons that cause people to worship something, but let us not talk about the others here, but rather about the most primitive one. In some television history programmes or within traditional mythology, we can see that the gods worshipped by the ancient people were not the kind of gods that fulfilled human wishes, such as the dragon god, which in some places is the legend that sacrifices had to be arranged regularly every year to be performed, and that if they were not performed then the dragon god would become angry and drown the whole village.

Those who worshipped the dragon god were not thankful that the dragon god had blessed them, but were afraid of his punishment, the fear of being destroyed, and

The people performed rituals for the dragon god to ensure that they were safe. There is, of course, another form of ritual, the act of 'sunning the dragon king', which proves that one has gained more power than the dragon god and psychologically ensures one's safety.

But in either case, the villagers had already suffered a serious disaster, and the fears were deeply rooted in their minds.

Vergil has been ravaged by demonic power so many times that his inner fear of it rightly peaked after DMC1, along with his worship.

But it is also undeniable that demonic power does bring him security to some degree, but it is a security that keeps leaking.

Even when he later took up this thing that hurt him as a weapon, it did not fully rid him of the immense trauma the demonic power had caused him.

The environment in which he lived also did not provide him with a sense of peace, resulting in him also losing the opportunity to reconnect with himself and examine.

So let's talk about something else, his feelings about his mother.

Vergil had many negative thoughts about human nature, even thoughts that Vergil found shameful, as we know.

That he would feel grief over the memory of his mother rather than the comfort of being loved is known from V's conversation with Gryphon inside the game in DMC5.

In his DMC3 profile, he has a similar nostalgia for his human mother, but one that makes him feel human again and evokes a disgust for his own existence. The nostalgia is a feeling of sadness that can never be returned to and cannot be possessed, but is also a feeling of deep sadness, and even more so when he remembers the tragedy of that day, when his own incompetence as a human being led to his mother's death and even to the shameful thought of his desire to be saved, which leads to an uncontrollable hatred.

Whenever Vergil remembers his own mother or, as in VoV, the look of disgust on his mother's face when he sees her picture when V goes to Dante's office, he shows that he cannot control his disgust.

If he simply hated his mother and hated him for abandoning him, he would not have had nostalgic feelings for her, after all, normally we don't hang on to things we hate or even think about things we hate all the time, and V is lying when he crosses the line with Gryphon: "It would be a lie to say I don't want to. But the past ...... has been painful for me", he does miss his mother, and to say that he hates it instead because he can't have it is still something like that, so this hatred and disgust is directed at himself.

Was his mother one of the reasons he was in the mire of power? Yes, but not all. Again, can the event that his mother was attempting to save him that day solve the problem of his addiction to power?

In DMC5 Dante had persuaded Urizen by saying that his mother was looking for him until her death and was trying to save him, and Dante recalls scenes where his mother did go out looking for Vergil calling out his name and then met an untimely end, so in that sense, can we say that it is possible that his mother could have survived if she had not been trying to save Vergil? Wouldn't Dante's statement then be tantamount to blaming Vergil for his mother's death?

Vergil's long suffering, self-blame, self-loathing and self-hatred for not being able to protect his mother, and knowing that she actually died to save him, that it was his own fault that she died, would only make him feel even worse and blame himself even more, and hate himself even more for his inability to do anything about it.

So, sadly it doesn't.

But Vergil loves his mother, and as we learn through the DMC5SE dialogue, Vergil is still afraid of his mother's anger.

So if that's the case, Vergil's wish was that he would live because he knew his mother was dying, and being saved doesn't make Vergil give up his powers, but it's at least a little comforting, based on the full Vergil and not Urizen, of course.

Is Vergil, then, a man who does not love himself?

Dante, who exists as if he were a half-body, is also disgusted by the power-obsessed Vergil.

And Dante and Vergil as demons are the ones who must be combined to be complete, as can be learned in the DMC3 game Arkham Lines.

The fact that they are half-human and half-demon also means that the human part of them is also split in half, and they must chase each other throughout their lives in order to make their humanity whole, rather than being in a state of disfigurement.

我们先来说一下作为维吉尔的恶。

Let's start with the evil of being a Vergil.

名字是一个恶魔的本质，这一点在DMC3漫画被提及。

The name is the essence of a demon, which is mentioned in the DMC3 comic.

不得不说再次提的是维吉尔这个名字，在神曲中是理性代表。

理性的恶魔到底是一种怎么样的恶魔？

或者说极度理性的人是怎样的人。为什么维吉尔表现的是兽性。

极度理性的人。本身就是极度自私的人。理性主义本身就会诞生功利主义，结果是一切行为目的。这种催生之下，人命就是一个数字，或多或少。

那将会缺乏对他者的同理心与同情心。大脑就像机械一切精准衡量一切的利弊，好谋求利益的最大化。但这种需要吗？也是需要的。但对于人而言，看见便是兽性。

没有道理没有感情可以谈，杀一百人能救人，那就杀，杀一万人能救人，一样杀；就像我们生死居然靠抽签来决定，不管你是贫穷还是富有，是公平了但也是残忍的，是一种如同天灾一样可怕的野兽。

维吉尔他不以拯救人类生命为行动驱动力，而是如同天灾一样，是今天台风就要过来，这场暴雨今天就要下，他是不关心你家里头衣服没收呢，要等收完再下。

这也是维吉尔作为Urizen时候表现出现的属性。一个天灾一样的野兽。

他觉得力量不够就去找力量，就像野兽饿了就去找吃一样自然，而不存在这是人不能吃这个问题，毕竟恶魔本身就存在有吃人的恶魔的这个分支，人类也不会指责一个本身吃人的东西骂他怎么可以吃人呢。

通常情况下人将对自身有益的行为定义为善，对自身有害的行为定义为恶。

但人类的定义善恶只能适用在人类的价值观上与人类自身，而非全部适用在其他生命上，野兽袭击人类与他是否恶毫无关系，你不能判决一个树正常生长对人类存在善恶问题，你也不能指责你家猫咬你不跟你玩跟恶有关系，也没办法说一只老虎袭击人，就是因为他邪恶。

但尤立增他对虐杀人类与玩弄人类，征服世界毫无兴趣，他并不享受这种东西，他行为对于人的世界是自私的，所以人可以称他为恶，但他的行为并非针对折磨人类进行享受。

因为通过杀戮获得快乐，这需要建立有一定知性的生物上，动物的杀戮是基于本能狩猎行为。

而通过杀戮获得快乐则是通过残害生命来愉悦自我。所以享受虐杀与玩弄这种行为，是危险的。这不是一头野兽为了生存或者本能对你的袭击，而是一种针对人类与拥有知性动物的扭曲行为。这是非常原始的疯狂的欲望。

动物狩猎是生存需求，恶魔社会作为丛林社会，遵守野兽本能又仿佛就是天然的正确。

但通过虐杀去享受快感是完全两种产物。现代有很多满足这种需求的游戏，但他们依旧不会做到真的跟现实一模一样。

It has to be mentioned once again that the nameVergil, in the Divine Comedy, is the representative of reason. What kind of demon is a demon of reason? Or what is it like to be extremely rational. WhyVergil is shown to be bestial.

The extremely rational man. Inherently extremely selfish people. Rationalism in itself gives birth to utilitarianism, with the result that all acts aim. Under this kind of doctrine, human life is a number, where numbers are nothing more than addition and subtraction.

By treating human life in this way, there will eventually be a lack of empathy and compassion for the Other. The brain is like a machine that precisely weighs the pros and cons of everything in order to maximise the benefits. But is this necessary? It is needed too. But for man, seeing is the nature of the beast.

There is no reasoning or emotion to talk about; if killing a hundred people saves lives, then kill them, if killing ten thousand saves lives, kill them all the same; just as it is fair that we live and die by lot, whether you are poor or rich, but it is also cruel, a beast as terrible as a natural disaster.

This is the same attribute thatVergil showed when he was Urizen, like a beast of preternatural calamity.

It is as natural for him to seek power when he feels it is not enough as it is for a beast to seek food when it is hungry, and there is no question of this being something that a human cannot eat; after all, demons themselves exist in this branch of demons that eat humans, and humans do not accuse something that is itself a cannibal of scolding how he can eat humans.

Normally humans define good as good and evil as harmful to themselves.

But the human definition of good and evil can only be applied to human values and to human beings themselves, not to all other beings. A beast attacking a human being has nothing to do with whether it is evil or not, nor can you accuse your cat of being evil for biting you and not playing with you, nor can you say that a tiger attacks a human being because he is evil incarnate.

But Urizen he has no interest in torturing humans and playing with them and conquering the world, he does not care for or enjoy the pleasures that come from such things, he acts selfishly towards the world of man, so one can call him evil, but his actions are not directed towards torturing humans for enjoyment.

For to gain pleasure by killing requires the establishment of creatures with a certain amount of sentience; the killing of animals is based on the instinctive act of hunting.

Pleasure through killing, on the other hand, is the pleasure of the self through the mutilation of life. So enjoying the act of sadism and playfulness is dangerous. It is not a beast attacking you for survival or instinct, but a twisted act against human beings and animals with sentience. It is a very primitive and insane desire.

It is a twisted desire to satisfy your own enjoyment of being powerful by crushing, abusing, playing with, and playing with creatures weaker than yourself.

Rationally the same as the abuse of dogs and cats, etc.

Animals hunt as a need for survival, and demon society, as a jungle society, abides by beastly instincts again as if it were the natural right behaviour.

But the enjoyment of pleasure through sadism is a product of two entirely different things. There are many modern games that satisfy this need, but they still don't really do it exactly like reality.

可以看到DMC3漫画里面维吉尔遭遇恶魔，在谈论快感这个东西。

图上所有词汇，都指向了这个恶魔，享受是杀戮、痛苦、虐待这些东西，这是非常可怕而且危险的恶魔，这个恶魔拥有知性并享受这种扭曲东西，并不是一个目标单纯的野兽。

维吉尔能够享受战斗，但他无法享受杀戮、折磨这些东西带来的快感，他对战斗享受是对于目标靠近与强大对手战斗的喜悦。而关于杀戮给予他通常都是痛苦的回忆，因为杀戮会流血，而他极端厌恶受伤带来的回忆。

蒙杜斯为什么又是最大的邪恶？因为蒙杜斯享受并渴望控制人类，将人类视为玩偶。

并折磨与虐待中获得满足感与成就感。

他的行为完全针对人类来进行的，因为人类会惨叫会痛苦会难受会哀嚎，但你虐待树木、虐待动物也带不了这种。

我想我们在玩DMC这个游戏时候，享受是爽快的战斗、自己就像人物一样无敌、强大；而不是享受击倒敌人之后它们所发出来的痛苦惨叫声，并感受到身心愉悦。

维吉尔自切也并非针对折磨人类。

针对自身的人性部分跟想要与弟弟一决胜负与渴望毁灭、折磨人类是两回事。

是自切掉人性之后，他的恶魔面不受人性控制的原始行为给人类世界带来了毁灭性。

一个是跟随本能去追求力量的野兽，一个是让你求生不得求死不能的并热衷折磨你的真正恶魔。

我们可以VoV与DMC5过场动画可以看出来，维吉尔最初的目的就是，将恶魔部分切出去然后去与但丁一决胜负。但Urizen偏偏没有马上去找但丁，甚至在那边与恶魔争果子，几乎对力量以外东西完全不感兴趣，Urizen就坐在那里等待果子成熟，让我们有一种错觉Urizen如果不是因为但丁找上门，它可以在那里坐到天荒地老，甚至说出斯巴达之刃已经没有用的台词，所有行为都不是等待已久的对手总于来，我要击败你；而是对手排在力量后面。

但维吉尔回来的目的就是为了但丁，这变成本末倒置。

当时维吉尔当时情绪并不是稳定的（DMC5结局之前），他情感非常丰富，而这样感情丰富的他，在遭遇DMC3又到DMC1各种打击与折磨，又偏偏拿回来了掌握人类与魔界之间钥匙的阎魔刀，并再次为之孤注一掷。如果这刀仅仅只能将人与魔分开那姑且尚好，他也仅仅只想与自己弟弟再战一次，但这把刀是人类与魔界之间的钥匙，那么本来只是一个简单的愿望就变成巨大的麻烦与灾难。

就同如果你给孩子一个核弹按钮，他按下那一刻真的可能仅仅是因为好玩。

同样你永远无法知道一个情绪失控的人能够做出多么疯狂的事情。

当然，我不是在洗白什么，门就是Urizen打开的，Urizen是维吉尔做出的选择才会出现的。

维吉尔最大恶就是他的自私，他为了自己目的而行动，但他的行为其实没有顾忌跟考虑周围无辜的人类，他像恶魔一样自私自利行动，而不顾及他人。

用日常刑事案件常见的疑问来表达就是：怎么可以为了钱杀人呢？怎么可以为了利益杀人呢？怎么可以为了感情就杀人呢？怎么可以为了点东西就发动战争呢？怎么可以为了利益就破坏环境呢？怎么可以为了利益就提价呢？

但如果自私是一种罪，那恐怕全人类难逃一死吧。

同样拥有如此丰富感情的人，已经不能成为一个单纯的恶魔了，而维吉尔行为又更像恶魔。

这仿佛让他变得的异常矛盾：最像人的恶魔和最像恶魔的人。

当然如果参考对象是人类的历史，这好像也并不矛盾，在战争中，人是恶魔亦是人。

在战争中参与厮杀的人其实也在残杀同类，可以称为恶魔一样的行为，只为自己立场上的利益就对同类痛下杀手；那些战场上的人不论敌我，他们都是有父母的活生生人活生生的生命。

甚至在二战时期，兄弟姐妹在战争上互相残杀也不过家常便饭。

但这里并不是说杀戮这种行为是正确的，而是想要说这不正确，但人类的历史往往就是如此一再重复。

关心别人拯救世界是人类，为了利益对自己同类痛下杀手，甚至为了享乐对某种动物进行过种族灭绝行为也是人类。人是复杂的，是神与魔的混合体，成神成魔都在人的一念之间。

You can see the DMC3 comic where Vergil encounters the demon and talks about the pleasure thing.

All the words on the picture, point to this demon, enjoyment is killing, pain, abuse and these things, this is very scary and dangerous demon, this demon has sentience and enjoys such twisted things, not a beast with a simple goal.

Vergil can enjoy fighting, but he cannot enjoy the pleasure of killing or torturing, his enjoyment of fighting is the joy of being close to his goal and fighting a powerful opponent. And about killing gives him usually painful memories, because killing bleeds, and he has an extreme aversion to the memories that come with being wounded.

Why is Mundus again the greatest of evils? Because Mundus enjoys and desires to control human beings, to see them as dolls.

He enjoys and desires to control humans, to see them as dolls, and to gain satisfaction and fulfilment from torturing and abusing them.

His actions are directed entirely at humans because humans scream and suffer and wail, but you can't bring that from abusing trees or animals.

I think what we enjoy when we play DMC is the pleasure of fighting and being as invincible and powerful as the characters; not the physical and mental pleasure of the painful screams they make after knocking down an enemy.

Nor is Vergil's self-cutting aimed at torturing humans.

The desire to fight his brother and the desire to destroy and torture humans are two different things.

It is the primal behaviour of his demonic side, uncontrolled by his humanity, that has devastated the human world since he cut himself off.

One is a beast that follows its instincts in the pursuit of power, the other is a true demon that leaves you begging for life and death and is keen to torment you.

As we can see from the VoV and DMC5 overworld animations, Vergil's initial aim is to cut out the demon part and then go for a fight with Dante. But instead of going to Dante right away and even fighting the demon over there for the fruit, almost completely uninterested in anything other than power, Urizen just sits there waiting for the fruit to ripen, giving us the illusion that Urizen could sit there until the end of time if it wasn't for Dante coming to the door, even uttering the line that the Spartan blade is no longer useful, all actions that are not waiting The long-awaited adversary always comes, and I will defeat you; rather, the adversary ranks behind the power.

But Vergil's return for the purpose of Dante becomes putting the cart before the horse.

Vergil was not emotionally stable at the time (before the end of DMC5), he was very emotional, and this emotional man, after all the blows and torments of DMC3 and then DMC1, came back with the Yama sword, which holds the key between the human and the demon worlds, and again threw himself at it. If the sword could only separate humans from demons, that would be fine, and he would only want to fight his brother once more, but this sword is the key between humans and demons, so what was a simple wish becomes a huge problem and disaster.

Just as if you give a child a nuclear bomb button, he may really push it just for the fun of it.

In the same way you can never know how crazy an emotionally disturbed person can be.

Of course, I'm not washing my hands of anything, the door was opened by Urizen, and Urizen came into existence because of the choices Vergil made.

Vergil's greatest evil is his selfishness, he acts for his own ends, but his actions are not really scrupulous or considerate of the innocent humans around him, he acts like a demon selfishly and without regard for others.

He acted like a demon, selfishly and without regard for others. The common question in everyday criminal cases is: How can one kill for money? How can one kill for profit? How can one kill for the sake of feelings? How can you start a war over something? How can you destroy the environment for the sake of profit? How can you raise prices for the sake of profit?

But if selfishness is a sin, then I am afraid that all mankind will not escape death.

The same man who has such a wealth of emotion can no longer be a mere demon, and Vergil acts more like one.

It is as if this makes him an extraordinary contradiction: the most human-like of demons and the most demon-like of men.

Of course, if the reference is to the history of mankind, this does not seem to be a contradiction, for in war, man is both a demon and a man.

Those who fight in war actually kill their own kind, in what might be called demonic acts, killing them for the sake of their own position; those who fight on the battlefield, whether they are enemies or not, are living, breathing human beings with parents.

Even in the Second World War, it was not uncommon for brothers and sisters to kill each other in war.

But this is not to say that the act of killing is right, it is to say that it is not right, but this is how human history tends to repeat itself over and over again.

It is human to care for others to save the world, it is human to kill one's own kind for profit, and it is human to commit genocide against an animal for pleasure. Man is complex, a mixture of god and devil, and it is up to him to become a god or a devil.

关于Urizen的象征。

About the symbol of Urizen.

A Poison Tree

I was angry with my friend:

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe:

I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears,

Night and morning with my tears;

And I sunned it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,

Till it bore an apple bright.

And my foe beheld it shine.

And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole

When the night had veiled the pole;

In the morning glad I see

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

与友人心存气恼

我一吐为快, 怒火随之熄灭

对敌人怀揣愤懑

我一言不发, 恼怒却生根发芽

从此, 不分昼夜

忧惧中我用泪水浇灌它

我的笑容和狡黠

是它明媚的阳光

它日夜不停茁壮成长

直到结出一颗鲜艳的苹果

我的敌人眼见它亮丽四射

明知它的主人就是我

但他却在夜幕笼罩下

偷偷地潜入我的花园

清晨, 看到敌人挺直地倒在树下

我心中暗喜

这是一首描述了谋杀的诗歌，也是DMC5开场时候展示诗歌。

他表达的是人对感情不忠诚，一种虚伪的善良。对朋友愤怒表达了，愤怒就结束了。但他对敌人仇恨却不表示，愤怒便在内心种下种子，这棵树本身就是感觉具象化。

首先对于布莱克神话体系中，作为理性代表的Urizen控制人们，绑架人们，一个以自我为中心父亲的角色作为庭院主人，这首诗歌参考的是圣经中人类偷食禁果的那一章。

Urizen在DMC5这个故事中，在维吉尔的故事里面，是一个怎样的角色呢？

我们可以在Urizen的一个设计稿中，得到一个非常直白的设计思路。

This is a poem that describes murder and is also the poem displayed at the opening of DMC5.

He expresses the unfaithfulness of man to his feelings, a kind of hypocritical kindness. Anger towards a friend is expressed, and the anger ends. But his hatred for his enemies is not expressed, and anger is then planted within, the tree itself being the feeling embodied.

Firstly for the Blakean mythological system of Urizen as a representative of reason controlling people and kidnapping them, a self-centred father figure as master of the courtyard, the poem references the biblical chapter in which man steals the forbidden fruit.

What is Urizen's role in the story of DMC5, within the story of Vergil?

We can get a very straightforward design idea in one of Urizen's design drafts.

黑天使在一代就是作为父亲的象征。

这个设计稿是直接写上斯巴达与黑天使。是的，对于维吉尔而言。恶魔是父亲，父亲又是恶魔力量的代表。Urizen也称呼自己为没有名字，只是力量。

同样斯巴达作为神明被崇拜。恶魔视斯巴达为叛徒，人类不可能接纳恶魔，却又视斯巴达为救世主，认为拯救他们是理所当然的事。斯巴达不止是恶魔，更是一种身份的称呼。

回到这首诗歌上，这个庭院是属于上帝的，这个果树也是上帝种下的。这里上帝是Urizen。

那么故事里面的上帝是吗？

Urizen在游戏里面有一个称号【魔界的反逆王】英文给翻译是uprising，中文可以翻译为暴动、起义，在客观层面上来说，Urizen的确引发变革，取代了蒙杜斯的魔界地位，并拿走本来属于蒙杜斯的果子吧，某个意义上来说是新铁序的来临。

The nleo Angel was in the generation as a symbol of the father.

This design is written directly on the Spartan with the Black Angel. Yes, for Vergil. The demon is the father, who in turn is the representative of demonic power. urizen also calls himself no name, just power.

Likewise Sparta is worshipped as a god. The demons see Sparta as a traitor, and it is impossible for humans to accept demons, yet they see Sparta as a saviour and take it for granted that they will be saved. Sparta is more than a demon, it is a designation of identity.

Returning to this verse, this courtyard belongs to God, and this fruit tree was planted by God. Here God is Urizen.

So is God inside the story?

Urizen has a title in the game [Rebel King of the Demon Realm], which in English translates as uprising, which in Chinese can be translated as rioting, uprising. On an objective level, Urizen does trigger a change, replacing Mundus in the Demon Realm and taking away the fruit that belonged to Mundus, in a sense the coming of a new iron order.

We can check the documentation that the tree exists in its own right and is present in the magical realm, bearing fruit once every two thousand years.

我们可以查询到文档里面，这棵树是本身就存在的，而且存在在魔界的，两千年结果一次。

We can check inside the document that the tree exists in itself and exists in the magical realm, with results once every two thousand years.

但这棵树是由人血来灌溉而来。

那么整个诗歌让故事的人与魔微妙了起来，这个庭院应该是属于恶魔，但灌溉这个树的是人。

我们回到故事中，分裂的状态的维吉尔，V对Urizen的态度。

V对Urizen态度非常明显，他对Urizen的行为极度厌恶，但他喜欢Urizen，他喜欢只是Urizen强大力量的欣赏。维吉尔在故事里面没有明确或者非常直接的情绪表达他对恶魔是否抱有极度的憎恨或者厌恶情绪。即使在DMC3漫画里面，阿卡姆与他第一次相遇所说那段对话也与此无关，也存在因为恶魔力量而被吸引所陶醉的人。

V的敌人是Urizen，他的敌人的确吃下那颗果子并最终战败倒于树下，而他为之欣喜。

这个有毒的果子，代表的是V自己的怨恨，与自己因为恶魔而流血所受到伤害所产生厌恶，最终滋养结成的果实。而Urizen极具象征意义的代表性，也表达维吉尔对于父亲另一种态度。产生这样的心情是他一直压抑已久，对自己受到伤害闭口不谈的缘故，愤怒日积月累的存在。

那么我们也是不是可以说，维吉尔对于父亲的爱，是一种对幻影和空想的爱呢？

在很多衍生产品甚至DMC3里面但丁都用父亲来规劝维吉尔，像：斯巴达也如何如何吧，所以……

但维吉尔最终行动完全不按照所谓的斯巴达如何来的。

而但丁依旧要认为维吉尔沉迷父亲，不过这在这里并不重要。

所以，我想也可以那么说的。

V从不喜欢恶魔，他说他喜欢，他的喜欢是对力量的垂爱，是对力量的功利性。

But the tree is irrigated by human blood.

The whole poem then makes the story subtle between man and demon; this courtyard is supposed to belong to the demon, but it is man who irrigates this tree.

We return to the story, the divided state of Vergil, to V's attitude towards Urizen.

V's attitude towards Urizen is very clear, he is extremely disgusted by Urizen's behaviour, but he likes Urizen, he likes just the appreciation of Urizen's great power. Vergil has no clear or very direct emotion within the story to express whether he holds extreme hatred or disgust for the demon. Even within the DMC3 comic, the conversation that Arkham speaks of in his first encounter has nothing to do with this, and there exists people who are intoxicated by the attraction because of the demon's power.

V's enemy is Urizen, and his enemy does eat the fruit and eventually falls under the tree in defeat, and he rejoices in it.

This poisonous fruit is the fruit of V's own resentment and disgust at the harm he has suffered as a result of the demon's bloodshed, which eventually nourishes the fruit. The symbolic representation of Urizen is another expression of Vergil's attitude towards his father. It is the result of a long repression of his feelings, of his silence about the harm he has suffered, of the anger that has been building up over time.

So can we also say that Virgil's love for his father is a love for phantoms and empty dreams?

In many spin-offs and even in DMC3 Dante uses his father to admonish Vergil, like: how about Spartan too, so ......

But Virgil ends up acting not at all according to the so-called Spartan how-to.

And Dante still has to think that Vergil is obsessed with his father, but that doesn't matter here.

So, I guess it could be said that way.

V never liked demons, he said he did, and his liking was a droopy love of power, a utilitarian love of power.

现在让我们看Urizen对V的态度。

V角度看待Urizen大体上已经知道了。

那么Urizen怎么看待V的呢？对他而言是再明显不过的讨厌。

这是一个导致他虚弱而不是让能够完善自己的存在，是他蔑视属于自己的软弱部分。

Urizen不会受到感情的困惑，因为这些东西他根本不需要，自然也就没有。在DMC5中Urizen台词：“我对这个地方没有记忆。这只是果实制造出来的幻象。”

而在DMC3，但丁曾对维吉尔说过这样的台词：“我没有父亲。”同样也意味着，我不需要父亲，他明明是有父亲的，但是他在这里表现出否认的态度。

我们多多少少应该都有过忘记的经历，像忘了带笔忘了带书出门等等，当我们发现自己忘记的时候恰好就是我们发现我们需要这个东西，而自己却没有的那一刻，心情必然是懊恼中存在着懊悔的感情。

所如果我们记得那就是我们所需要的东西，如果我们不记得那就是意味着他不需要存在，不记得的东西自然不感兴趣。

所以Urizen说的不记得，不但表达他没有这方面的记忆，也包含了不需要的意思。就像V还残留魔力一样，Urizen也是存在记忆的，但这些是属于身体记忆，与作为人性（V）意义是完全不同的。

可以说，Urizen某个程度是理想中有几率战胜自己弟弟的自己，拥有强大身躯不再被人性（记忆、感情、道德）所束缚着，纯正的毫无感情的野兽一样的恶魔。

Let us now look at Urizen's attitude towards V.

The V perspective on Urizen is largely known.

So what does Urizen think of V? It could not be more obvious to him that he hates it.

It is a being that causes him to be weak rather than allowing for the ability to perfect himself, a weak part that he scorns as belonging to himself.

Urizen is not confused by feelings because they are things he simply does not need and naturally does not have. Urizen's lines in DMC5: "I have no memory of this place. It's just an illusion created by the fruit."

And in DMC3, Dante had said the line to Virgil, "I have no father." The same implies that I don't need a father, which he clearly has, but he's showing denial here.

We have all forgotten at one time or another, forgotten pens, forgotten books, etc., and the moment we find ourselves forgetting is the moment we realise that we need the thing and we don't have it, and the feeling of remorse is inevitably present in the form of anguish.

So if we remember it is what we need, if we don't remember it means that it doesn't need to exist, and what we don't remember is naturally of no interest.

So when Urizen says he does not remember, he not only expresses that he has no memory of it, but also contains the idea that it is not needed. Just as V still has residual magical powers, Urizen also has memories, but these are physical memories, which are quite different from the meaning of being human (V).

It could be said that Urizen is, to some extent, the ideal self that has the chance of defeating his brother, a demon with a powerful body no longer bound by humanity (memories, feelings, morals), a pure, emotionless beast.

那么我们现在可以提出一个问题，维吉尔是否是一个不自爱的人？

So we can now ask the question, is Vergil an unself-loving person?

V与Urizen互相厌恶，证明作为本体的维吉尔是完全不自爱，是自我憎恨的自我厌恶的。

Urizen作为恶魔力量与父亲的象征，厌恶着作为人类与孩子代表的V，同样V也厌恶象征父亲与恶魔力量Urizen的行为，两者是如此极端又如此撕裂。

而官方漫画中会直接告诉你，V代表的其实是维吉尔的心，Urizen则是力量。

结合到故事里面情况，V并不会像正常人类那样死亡，而是变成灰一样的情况，他是维吉尔人性/心，而人类的人性是人的情感、记忆、思想的混合体。而人性是需要肉体作为载体的，这个载体，换而言之就是Urizen是维吉尔的肉体，肉体与心灵处于分裂状态，虽然精神已经离开，而肉体还在苟活着。

维吉尔（V）从来没有表达过对恶魔的憎恨，但维吉尔表达过对自己弟弟的愤怒。

在表面上，维吉尔要战胜的对象是但丁，但维吉尔还有一个内心最深处从没表达过敌人，则是Urizen。Urizen与V之间战斗是与自我厌恶做斗争，最终融合也是对自我的和解。

但同样Urizen跟V无法完全单独代表作为整体的维吉尔。

Urizen的行为有些是维吉尔绝对不会做的，V有些想法也是维吉尔绝对不会透露的。

维吉尔虽然喜欢力量，但不是所有力量都可以接受，他也会挑嘴来，我们可否还记得DMC4维吉尔过场中的一句台词：“他们将恶魔视为神明？……嗯，我不能说他们误入歧途，但他们很快就会见识到这份恶魔力量，这份强大到他们无法想象，这份斯巴达之子的力量。”

而V有着维吉尔自己都在否定的情绪与懦弱的想法，这是他不想被人知道。

如果只在乎Urizen是维吉尔，则不在乎V作为维吉尔内心感想、情绪、痛苦、悔恨等等，如果只在意V的话，那么就忽视了Urizen的行为对人类而言的错误性。

Urizen作为维吉尔一个组成部分，体现的也正是维吉尔性格中傲慢与叛逆那一部分，或者说Urizen最像维吉尔的地方让人感觉到他就是维吉尔不完全的本身，除了力量沉迷之外，就是M17兄弟之战时候，他才表现好像残留那么一点点的人性像是维吉尔的样子，让人觉得他好像有记忆他都记的。但我们也必须清晰的认识到，维吉尔的行为对于人类而言是不对的，是不可取的。

无论漫画、小说、还是游戏内，没有任何一点对于维吉尔行为给人带来的伤害是处于肯定的，肯定过是维吉尔的不屈的精神而不是行为。

人一旦无法自爱，前往极端那就是自我伤害，而一个无法自爱的人是无法去爱其他人的，更不会是顾忌其他人。

The fact that V and Urizen loathe each other proves that Vergil as an essence is totally unloving and self-hating self-loathing.

Urizen, as the symbol of demonic power and fatherhood, loathes V as the representative of humanity and children, and likewise V loathes the actions of Urizen, the symbol of fatherhood and demonic power, both so extreme and so torn.

The official manga will tell you straight away that V actually represents Vergil's heart and Urizen is the power.

Combined with the situation inside the story, V doesn't die like a normal human, but turns into an ash-like situation; he is Vergil's humanity/heart, and human humanity is a mixture of human emotions, memories, and thoughts. And human nature requires a physical body as a vehicle, and this vehicle, in other words Urizen, is Vergil's physical body, which is in a split state from the mind, although the spirit has left while the physical body is still lingering.

Vergil (V) never expresses his hatred of demons, but Vergil expresses his anger at his brother.

On the surface, Vergil's defeat is against Dante, but Vergil also has an enemy he has never expressed in his innermost being, Urizen, whose battle with V is a struggle against self-loathing, and whose ultimate fusion is a reconciliation of the self.

But again, Urizen and V cannot fully represent Vergil as a whole on their own.

Urizen acts in ways that Vergil would never do, and V thinks in ways that Vergil would never reveal.

Vergil likes power but not all power is acceptable and he picks his words, can we remember a line from the DMC4 Vergil over scene: "They see demons as gods? ...... Well, I can't say they're misguided, but they'll soon see this demonic power, this power so strong they can't imagine it, this power of the sons of Sparta."

And V has emotions and cowardly thoughts that Vergil himself is in denial about, which he doesn't want to be known for.

If one cares only that Urizen is Vergil, one does not care about V's inner feelings, emotions, pain, remorse, etc., as Vergil, and if one cares only about V's words, then one ignores the wrongness of Urizen's actions as far as humanity is concerned.

Urizen, as an integral part of Vergil, embodies that part of Vergil's character that is arrogant and rebellious, or rather the part of Urizen that is most like Vergil feels like he is Vergil in his incomplete self, except for his power obsession, and it is only during the battle of the M17 brothers that he acts as if a little bit of his humanity remains like Vergil, making it seem as if he has memories that he remembers. But we must also clearly understand that Vergil's behaviour is wrong and undesirable for humanity.

At no point in the comic, the novel, or within the game is there any affirmation of the harm Vergil's actions have caused to people; it is Vergil's unyielding spirit that is affirmed rather than his actions.

Once a person is incapable of self-love, going to the extreme is self-harm, and a person who is incapable of self-love is incapable of loving others, much less caring for them.

而关于维吉尔为什么还在做当年的事情？

And about why Vergil is still doing what he did back then?

在DMC3的设定图有一行关于维吉尔结局的解说：维吉尔的故事的开始。

是的，这个人的故事才开始。

那之后他的遭遇到dmc5开场之前其实就是：被打败、被洗脑、被折磨、带着残破身体不知道怎么活下来。那么在这种状态的人，是不可能突然觉醒出现：啊！我应该保护人类！

就像你现在得病非常痛苦，你一般也不会突然想都怪没我做善事，而是更多会想，这个医药费怎么那么贵。当然如果你有宗教信仰，那属于非一般情况了。

要是有个人在旁边叽叽哇哇又不帮忙，平时说你都不听吃吃吃，你看你现在可好了。那大几率你出现不会是，痛哭流涕我错了，而是知道我错了但你好烦。有些情况你会越想越生气。

当然我个人认为维吉尔还是占反派的优势，因为反派可以表现比主角的行为不正确，但情感更加丰富而多样，可以堕落、可以颓废、可以不正确更多呈现人性的复杂。

主角毕竟还是承担故事里面超人这个义务的。

In the DMC3 setting art there is a line of commentary about Vergil's ending: the beginning of Vergil's story.

Yes, the man's story has only just begun.

What happens to him after that up until the opening of DMC5 is actually: defeated, brainwashed, tortured, and left with a broken body with no idea how he survived. It is impossible then for someone in that state to suddenly awaken and appear, "Ah! I should protect humanity!" Such a consciousness would not have been possible.

Dante's lines with Vergil before DMC5 do not mention anything about protecting humans in order to become strong or protecting important things in order to become strong, and the lines in DMC3 say that he believes in inheriting the spirit of Sparta, but there is no complete statement of what this spirit is, so this spirit has been speculated to be about protecting humans, protecting the weak and protecting important things.

Of course I personally think that Vergil still has the advantage of the villain, because the villain can behave incorrectly than the protagonist, but with more rich and varied emotions, can be depraved, can be decadent and can incorrectly present more of the complexity of human nature.

The protagonist, after all, still takes on the obligation of being Superman within the story.

人追求像上帝一样完美，亦寻求像恶魔一样的堕落，这也是人心理需求的一种状态。

当上帝教条绑住人，使得人受着精神上的痛苦时，人反而会走向堕落而非继续升华自己。

Urizen是天堂也是地狱，V在天堂也在地狱，这是一个人体内两个情况，也是人复杂的表现。

爱恨，享乐与物欲，在真、善、美与假、恶、丑的比照中。

我们可以感受到，尘世生活中一切并非尽善尽美，与其对立面也不是具有天然的鸿沟。

人毕竟是再平凡不过的，具有七情六欲的生活者，是既伟大又渺小得可怜，任何微弱的自然界的风浪，抑或人们自我的争斗，都会使他们自己有限的知识、体力难以承受这些考验,更不用说道德、情感、以及理想的沦落了。当然,物欲亦是人类自身最经不起时间和意志考验的脆弱之点了。

从人类自身而言，缺陷是无时无刻存在的。

但就另一方面来说,如果没有以上种种矛盾的对比现实生活也许就不是千姿百态,而变成索然寡味的一潭死水。那便是人人喊打的虚假乌托邦，人从根本失去了自由，成为一个个索然无味的复制品，同一个思想同一套模式，这样得多无聊啊。

这样毫无进步的社会迟早被遗弃。

同时,人自身及其缺陷也是在压力和苦难中得到某种磨砺和修补。当然这个前提，人必须审视自身，去认识自我。

故事中维吉尔通过剖开自我，从心（V）里面认识到自身的行为（Urizen）是怎么一番模样，在DMC5开场中一直认为自己是力量不足才导致悲剧的发生，从Urizen身上意识到这不是力量不够的问题。他在不断厌恶Urizen的行为中意识到自己的错误，随着剧情发展，死亡的逼近，在崩溃之下透露的真心话对他人的坦诚与对过去的释怀，也都走完一段自我完善的道路。

最终合体那一刻，他最终获得与自我和解的结局，他终于可以也学会爱自己，那个以丑陋面目追求力量抛弃一切的自己，也是自己的一部分。他从来不是一个好人，也不是一个什么在其他方面显得高尚的人，他真切渴望想要力量想要变强，他没有继承过这种东西也没去想继承什么斯巴达精神。那一天想去回家拯救自己父母与兄弟行为与想法，对于年幼孩子而言，这毫无疑问是拥有着高尚的人性光辉。但这也是他的人生，也渴望能够彻底战胜一次自己的兄弟，而不是去否定这一切，企图当成从没发生过也没有存在过，而是肯定这一切确实是存在，即使现实并不是那么美好。

即使这满地的鲜血中，也有想要去肯定是存在的事实，不会去否认这一切并非自己所为，也不会去逃避这一切与他无关的事物，无论人生是否拥有成就，他也确实存在着，在经历这一切之后依旧心怀对美好怀有希望。

V理解了U，U也渴望着V。他已经认识了自我，并从中审视了自我，从死亡中得到跃升，从诅咒中拯救了自己，并爱着自己。无论母亲的还是父亲的诅咒都无法再对他生效，他最终从童年的阴影中挣脱出来，重获新生。

毕竟他是要与弟弟再决斗一次才能从地狱回来，即使要砍树要关门，按顺序要排在与但丁决战之后的，他确实希望解决与但丁之间的那些问题，但我们也可以从DMC5过场中看到维吉尔复活之后的转变，比如他恢复本体之后对尼禄的道谢，在M20尼禄出现时他的态度变化。

那是一种比较尴尬情况，如果要打但丁我们则会发现，尼禄与他战斗，但丁会出面阻止尼禄战斗；如果但丁继续要与他战斗，那就进入尼禄会去与但丁战斗的可能。如果是以前的维吉尔，那应该会非常死脑筋坚持继续与但丁战斗，但m20维吉尔台词表现态度却是：既然都是要打败但丁，那尼禄代打也未尝不可。

当然在尼禄来之前，兄弟胜负是死亡还是存活，谁他不知道，但他接受死亡是一种结束，无论人生有没有意义、输或赢在死后一切将变得不再重要。

他思想从激烈自我斗争中归于和平，从迷途重新返回，肉体方面的堕落给予他精神上的进化。这也是互相分裂又统一的理论，与我们之前提到的阴影理论是一致的。

阴影、黑暗、另一个黑暗双胞胎、另一个我。这是生命力的源头，是创造力的源头，也是自我厌恶但又无法缺失那一部分。没有对立就没有进步，吸引与排斥，理性与力量,爱与恨是人类生存所必不可少的。

维吉尔他的旅途从来都是苦难，没有一丝值得观看的风景。但他清醒过来了，他救了自己并建造了天堂。你甚至可以看到DMC5结尾中出现的地狱与任何一作出现过地狱都完全不同的。

而在神曲里面，但丁也是在白色蔷薇花或者说白色植物之中，看见了上帝。

在DMC5中安排这个城市，也是他出生地方，在这里他放下了曾经挣扎过、强求过、渴望过、怨恨过、爱过的一切，回去他来的地方，迎接他这趟叛逆的惩罚，永无止境战斗着。

It is a state of psychological need for man to seek God-like perfection and devil-like depravity.

When God's dogma binds man and makes him suffer spiritually, he will instead fall rather than continue to elevate himself.

Urizen is both heaven and hell, V in heaven and hell, two situations within one person, and a manifestation of the complexity of man.

Love and hate, hedonism and materialism, in the contrast between the true, the good and the beautiful and the false, the evil and the ugly.

We can feel that everything in earthly life is not perfect, nor is there a natural divide between its opposites.

After all, human beings are no more than ordinary human beings, and those who live with their seven passions and desires are both great and pitifully small. Any feeble storm of nature, or the struggle of people themselves, will make it difficult for their own limited knowledge and physical strength to withstand these tests, not to mention the fall of morals, emotions and ideals. Of course, materialism is also the weakest point of human beings themselves, which cannot stand the test of time and will.

In human terms, flaws are always present.

But on the other hand, without the contradictions mentioned above, life would not be so varied, but would be a pool of stagnant water. It would be a false utopia that everyone would be crying out for, where people would lose their freedom and become tasteless replicas of the same idea and the same model.

A society without progress would sooner or later be abandoned.

At the same time, man himself and his defects are sharpened and repaired by stress and suffering. Of course, this presupposes that one must look at oneself and get to know oneself.

In the story, Vergil is able to cut himself open and realise from his heart (V) what his own behaviour (Urizen) is like, and in the opening scene of DMC5 he thinks that his lack of strength is the cause of the tragedy. He realises the error of his ways as he continues to loathe Urizen's actions, and as the plot progresses and death approaches, the honesty he reveals under his breakdown to others and the release of his past, both complete a path of self-improvement.

The final moment of merging, the moment he finally gets to the end of his reconciliation with himself, the moment he can finally learn to love himself too, the self that threw away everything in the pursuit of power with an ugly face, is also a part of himself. He was never a good man, nor was he a noble man in any other way, he really wanted to be powerful and strong, he didn't inherit such a thing and he didn't try to inherit the Spartan spirit. The idea of going home that day to save his parents and brothers was, no doubt, a noble human act for a young child. But it was also his life, and the desire to overcome his brother once and for all, not to deny it all, to try to pretend it never happened or existed, but to affirm that it did exist, even if the reality was not so beautiful.

Even in the midst of all this blood, there is a desire to affirm the fact that it exists, not to deny that it is not his own doing, not to run away from what is not his business, that he does exist, whether he has achieved anything in life or not, and that after all this he still has hope for the good.

V understands U and U desires V. He has come to know himself, has looked at himself, has taken the leap from death, has saved himself from the curse, and loves himself. Neither his mother's nor his father's curse can take effect on him any longer, and he finally breaks free from the shadows of his childhood and regains his life.

After all, he was to fight another duel with his brother to return from hell, even if he had to cut down a tree and close a door, which in order would have to come after the duel with Dante, and he did want to resolve those issues with Dante, but we can also see the transformation of Vergil after his resurrection in the DMC5 overture, such as his thanks to Nero after he regains his true form and his change of attitude when Nero appears in M20.

That is a rather awkward situation, if we were to fight Dante we would then find that Nero fights him and Dante would step in to stop Nero from fighting; if Dante continues to want to fight him, then enter the possibility that Nero would go and fight Dante. If it had been the old Vergil, that would have been very deadly insistent on continuing to fight Dante, but the m20 Vergil lines show the attitude that since it's all about defeating Dante, it's not a bad idea for Nero to fight instead.

Of course before Nero comes, the brother wins or loses whether he dies or survives, who he does not know, but he accepts that death is a kind of end, whether life has no meaning, loses or wins after death everything will become unimportant.

His mind returns to peace from the fierce struggle of the ego, from the lost way, the physical aspect of his fall giving him a spiritual evolution. This is also the theory of mutual division and unity, which is in line with the theory of shadows we mentioned earlier.

The shadow, the darkness, the other dark twin, the other I. This is the source of the life force, the source of creativity, and the part of the self that is loathed but cannot be missing. There can be no progress without opposition, attraction and repulsion, reason and power, love and hate are essential to human existence.

Vergil's journey was never one of suffering, without a glimpse of the landscape worth watching. But he came to his senses, he saved himself and built heaven. You can even see that the Hell that appears in the end of DMC5 is completely different from any other where Hell has appeared.

And in the Divine Comedy, Dante also sees God among the white rosebuds or white plants.

In DMC5 arranges this city, the place where he was born, where he lets go of everything he once struggled with, forced, longed for, resented and loved, and goes back to where he came from to meet the punishment of his rebellion on this trip, fighting forever.

#dmc #Devil May Cry

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sailordiavolo · 3 years

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I'm curious, how do you think nero would react to meeting Alice, if she is his mom?

(very long post)

well, i may have to take a few liberties in answering this, so i shall establish some assumptions. 1) we assume alice is his mom (obvi) 2) we assume she is alive 3) we assume that she left him in fortuna as a way to protect him and 4) we assume that alice became a devil hunter. oh and 5) they meet post-canon, aka after the events of dmc5.

also, conclusions i draw from this will be somewhat based on how i would react, if put in these circumstances, i.e. if i were in nero’s shoes. i don’t know if that might make it strange or not, because sometimes i think i have abnormal reactions to emotional things happening.

another thing i would like to point out, is that as someone who hasn’t actually read the manga, my understanding of alice comes from second-hand accounts, and information i could glean from the wiki, and of a few panels i’ve seen. that being said, let’s get into this, shall we?

before covering nero’s reaction, i’ll touch on how i think alice might be as a person, or at least her feelings towards being a mother, and possibly towards nero himself. i’ll also talk about nero’s thoughts towards what he thinks his mother might be like, prior to finding out.

alice

from what little i know about alice, she was a little girl who was used by arkham as a tool to lure out the sons of sparda. (i think if lady/mary hadn’t turned against him, that role would’ve went to her tbh). i think it’s safe to say she was groomed by arkham, who probably also put her up to seducing dante (and vergil too). it just gets worse the more you think about it, really. i think she was forced to (or made to feel like she needed to) grow up prematurely. the powers she has were probably given to her via some weird demonic ritual, (assuming she’s human). what i’m getting at here, is that she definitely has a lot of trauma from all this, all of which would affect how she’d react to having a baby.

i won’t go so far as to diagnose her, but some things i thought she might struggle with include intense self-hatred and very low self esteem, very quickly going from feelings of independence to codependency, intense trust issues especially with authority figures, nightmares or night terrors, vivid daydreaming as a coping mechanism, being prone to delusion, going from feeling emotionless to having too much emotions, and not wanting to be perceived versus wanting to be the centre of attention.

that’s a lot actually, but basically i imagine alice as an adult to be someone who has a lot of trauma to sift through and unpack, and not really knowing how to handle it most of the time, especially since she’s doing it all on her own. barely keeping it together, but powering through it simply because she has just enough reasons to keep living.

alice as a mother

i don’t think there’s any question that alice, had she been nero’s mother, would’ve loved him dearly. in fact, i think he would remain a strong reason for her to keep going. however, she keeps herself away from him. this is because she wants him to have something better, something safer than what she can give him. she doesn’t know how to be a mother really, especially given how young she was when she had him.

i think alice would actually feel unworthy of being in nero’s life, feeling guilty for abandoning him, despite these reasons. she has considered many times going to see him, especially when she’s older and a little more stable, but she can’t bring herself to do it. and then she mulls over all the things she struggles to do for herself, and uses that as a reason to justify in her mind why she shouldn’t be seeing him. it continues like that for a long time.

nero

nero, on the other hand, has always longed for a mother. i don’t think this is any secret. when he was being bullied or was suffering as a child, he would fantasise about his mother, and how she would come to whisk him away. although it never happened, nero probably has a set image that he hopes his mother would be like. this may have been more specific when he was a child, but by the time he’s a more well-rounded adult with foster children of his own, he gains more perspective. i think the most important thing to him is that he had a mother who had loved him. a mother who would’ve taken him home, had she the resources. the idea of his mother discarding him really wounds him deep down, and i still don’t think he’s over it, even up to dmc5. that’s why the deadweight comment hit him so hard.

meeting each other

the first thing nero is going to be is overwhelmed, feeling all-too many emotions at once. if he ever met her, it would take him a long time to process it all completely. and it would be somewhat odd and awkward, too. alice doesn’t strike me as the most socially eloquent person. that and, alice doesn’t really come off as a mother. she certainly doesn’t dress like one. she doesn’t even seem that much older than nero, or so nero thinks. he just expected her to be older than that.

the first thing alice would feel the need to do is apologise. of course, she feels very emotionally raw & vulnerable in this situation, but she feels like she owes nero that much.

nero would start crying actually. like a baby. they both might. it would be very emotional for both of them and anyone else present. he would definitely warm up to alice a lot quicker than he did vergil.

nero of course, has so many questions for alice, who is at a point where she’s ready to answer them, i’d think. nero would ask all sorts of questions, like how she’s been living, etc. but he’d really wanna know about how she met vergil and how the hell that happened. alice sits with nero and tells him her story, maybe the first time she’s ever told it aloud to anyone in full. she asks about nero as well, sitting and catching up on all the years lost between them. being a foster father, nero is able to empathise with alice more as he listens.

i think they would bond very quickly after that. alice had been terrified that nero would spurn her, but he didn’t. alice has difficulty expressing emotions normally, and probably has her own way of expressing affection. but after meeting nero, she tries hard to make time to visit him.

if she were to become a devil hunter based in fortuna or something, i think she’d be very proud of nero, and nero would be totally amazed by alice’s strange powers.

also, i think nero wouldn’t know whether to call her mom or not. alice doesn’t know which she prefers either, but if nero does decide to call her mom, it secretly makes her happy.

#extremely long post #sorry about the length i needed to lay all that groundwork down if i was going to understand what they’d do #convoluted thought process moment #lmk if u think that’s accurate or not !!#if not i’m totally open to hear more thoughts #bc i really had to reach into my brain for this one #not that it was too difficult #i just had to transform my thoughts about alice from nebulous cloud into solid concepts #dmc alice #devil may cry #dmc nero

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dmcfsstory · 3 years

Text

Also available on Ao3: [link]

Proofreaded a bit by @wikimb

Partner Artist: @wikimb

Word count: 13143

Trigger Warning: Graphic depictions of heavy violence/gore, depression cases, PTSD breakdowns(abandoment/bullying/death), severe illness, physical torture(due illness) and emotinal breakdown.

Note: I’m not a native english speaker, fell free to point out via DM any mistakes.

Void Realm(aka Human World) - Same Day 11:30 PM

Victor decided to tell his three visitors everything he knew about the Sparda's twins; Sparda's story, the day Eva was killed, the mess of Temen-ni-gru, and at the end what happened in Mallet Island.

During dinner, Nero, among Kyrie and Nico, told Victor all what they knew and remembered about the Fortuna Incident and the Qliphoth Event.

"And now they're probably stuck in Hell", Nero finished.

"I see…" Victor said, quite thoughtful. "The problem is… the Qliphoth fruit helped Vergil to recover his heavily wounded magic and not make him overpowered like he thought it would happen. But I can't be sure if it also helped with his synchronization. Either way, you two doing Sync will be of great benefit for both."

Nero didn't say a thing. Just the slight idea of having to interact with Vergil, his so called blood father, again was making his nerves itch.

"But…" Victor kept saying. "How could you live this long? Without one of your parents to sync with, you should have died at a very young age, like… two years old."

Nero continued quiet, trying to understand why Victor was insisting so much about that.

Initially, he thought about the day he met Shooting Star Man; he was two years old, the "death age" Victor mentioned. But he’d rather not talk about that with a new person just like that, not even Nico knew about it yet.

"Don't you remember Sync with some woman?" Victor tried to help Nero recall some memory.

"I don't even know how's the sensation of being in Sync, dude." Nero contested, a bit annoyed.

Before continuing to speak, Victor had to adjust his glasses. "Well… as what my mother could briefly study about the twins, Sync in hybrids have some sort of 'bonuses'. Both parts can somehow connect mentally; they can feel what the other is feeling and as well share memories and theoretical knowledge. As for the magic, the twins described it as something very relaxing and peaceful - they didn't know it was a demon magic thing back then, but you got it."

"The peace thing makes sense since the magic energy is calming down," Nico added to Victor's explanation.

After the brief explanation, Nero couldn't hold but make a surprised face.

"Oh. Have you just remembered something?" Victor asked when he noticed Nero's reaction.

Nero was able to recall something, but just the fact of having to tell them that was making him sweat cold. He had a feeling it wasn't a good idea.

Hell - “Same moment”

Vergil and Dante were able to find a shelter to protect themselves from the fire rain: in the middle of the decaying remains of the Qliphoth tree they both sat inside a small cavern inside a massive root.

Dante was quite relaxed, he was laying his back in a small root, calmly waiting for the end of the rain.

Vergil sat a bit in front of his brother, he seemed to be tense for no apparent reason; he was tapping his feet nervously and rubbing his hands as if they were itching or something.

Once Dante couldn't stand his brother's silence anymore he got out of his place walking on his knees, when he got closer he said, "Bro, relax a little. You're too tense" and he gave a small tap on Vergil's right shoulder, unexpectedly making him do a little hop like a cat.

"Geez! Chill it." Dante said, quite surprised. "I'm not gonna attack you." and he moved a few steps backwards when his brother stared at him with eyes wide open scared.

Vergil couldn't think of something to reply to his brother, he was too surprised by how calm he was at that hostile place, such behavior didn't make sense to him; they could be attacked at any moment by some wild demon, but even so Dante was very chill.

Vergil then returned his gaze to outside, leaving his brother in an awkward silence.

The atmosphere was starting to make Dante feel uncomfortable; he recently had made up with his brother, thus regaining their brotherly rivalry, but that was the first time since their childhood they weren't fighting or discussing, instead, they were just in silence sitting close to each other.

Vergil could feel Dante's restless energy coming from behind him, but he had no idea what to say either.

Deep down their hearts, both had a lot of questions to ask each other, but none of them had a single clue in how to start a conversation that wasn't about who's with the highest score.

After long minutes of watching a literal fire rain, Dante was the one who finally took courage to break the ice: "Soooooo… Brother… Who was that 'Baby' you whispered about earlier? I swore you were talking about Nero's mom… Also! How was sh-?"

Vergil quickly interrupted him, rolling his eyes in annoyance, "I told you already, you will learn more about her when I tell Nero about it, he deserves to know that first."

Dante got annoyed by his brother's supposed etiquette, but regardless, he continued in his attempt to create a conversation: "Okay… but, what about the 'Baby'... person…? I guess? You got me curious, man! Especially about the part: 'this wouldn't be happening' thing," he said as he was getting a bit closer to Vergil again.

Vergil's normally stoic expression drastically changed to an uncomfortable one, he looked at the sky, took a deep breath, and let out a very sad sigh,"'Baby' was… a child… That wasn't his name, just how I used to call him. I never knew his name or how he truly looked like…"

Dante highly doubted Vergil's words. "What?! How? That doesn't make any sense yet. You gotta work on those explanations, bro"

"You remember what happened on Mallet Island? After you… -sigh- beat me?" Vergil replied with a bit of annoyance in the end.

"Uhh… yeah, you disappeared in a light…" Dante said a bit confused.

Vergil took a few seconds of silence, mentally gathering all the information he felt necessary to tell his brother before starting his explanation: "I honestly don't know how I did that… probably had something to do with Mundus' magic… I got teleported to somewhere else."

Surprisingly, Dante got quiet and Vergil had his full attention. Vergil didn't look behind him, but he could tell that Dante was staring at him like a curious child waiting for a new bedtime story.

Vergil cleaned his throat before continuing - "Thanks to you, I started to be able to have myself under my control again. I then began to try to fight Mundus' corruption over me, although the more I tried, the more it tormented me. Until I had an idea that would cost much more than I expected…"

Dante's eyes wide opened with curiosity but also of worry about the incoming words.

"Under all that pain...I truly panicked… and tried to Devil Trigger in an attempt to fight the corruption… " Vergil said low, recalling the pain of the said moment.

Dante gasped silently, even not knowing what happened, he was sure that terrible things had happened.

Vergil's voice started to get low and crumbling as those memories were like a living nightmare. "I could feel all my muscles and bones being crushed and twisted by the fight of the magic energies inside me. I couldn't scream, I could barely breathe and move either… I have no idea how much time has passed too."

Dante noticed that his brother started to feel apprehensive about that subject; Vergil was slightly sweating cold and pressing his hands against each other strongly.

But before Dante thought of something to say, Vergi continued to tell the story: "I can remember some very random and quick things that happened… I fought other demons… even humans and perhaps Devil Hunters too? I don't know, but I swore I was destined to feel that pain for eternity, until…"

Void Realm - “at the same moment”

“So, Nero” Victor called his attention. “Have you just remembered something?”

But Nero didn't respond, he was being reluctant to speak, they couldn't tell if it was because of his health state or something else. Kyrie tried to call him back to the conversation, “It’s about Monster, dear?” she said in a soft voice.

He raised his head a bit to look at her, with a visible sad face he replied low and insecure: “Yeah... “

He stayed quiet once again, staring at the void for a few seconds and avoiding eye-contact; Nico was getting anxious to know what was passing through Nero's mind, but Victor kept patiently waiting.

Finally, he looked at Victor and said, "I think… there was someone I connected with this way… but… he was a human that turned into a demon."

Victor raised his eyebrows in surprise, that didn't make much sense but he decided to not question, Nero was already emotionally unstable, it was better not provoke.

"Let's see then. If you don't mind telling the story," he asked politely.

Nero took a deep breath before starting, that subject wasn't that comfortable for him to talk about freely: "I was around six to seven years old, the de-sync started to happen with a higher frequency day by day… The other kids from the orphanage, especially the older ones, never liked me, and one day they were chasing me down in the woods on the outskirts of the city. Even not wanting to fight they still kept hunting me, they weren't satisfied until I passed out." Nero explained.

"Why?" Nico asked confused.

A bit uncomfortable with the subject, he tried to avoid, "I'd rather not talk about…"

He then continued, without making eye contact with Victor, he just continued to look at his own hands and sometimes to the void or away. "I couldn't run anymore, that's when they got me. The oldest was ready to punch me, but suddenly, a horrendous deformed… giant demon appeared from behind the trees. He was like what? four meters(13ft) high? He didn't need much to scare the shit out of them and send them back to the city, just a roar was enough."

Kyrie was the only one that already knew the story and how Nero would feel about it. She honestly wanted to speak in his place, but she felt better letting him put his feelings out by himself.

"I was the only one that didn't run. I was too tired already… and I didn’t want to return to the orphanage either." Nero said in a depressing tone.

(Hell)

"Have you attacked?" Dante asked curiously, yet worried.

"No" Vergil responded. "The others fled away very quickly and the one that left didn't do anything either. I wasn't going to waste my energy and feel more pain for no danger at all."

(Void)

"But the motherfucker didn't do shit", Nero added. "He left me hanging and just turned away!"

"When I saw him turning away, I yelled: "What are you doing?" But he completely ignored me"

"I yelled again, 'What's wrong with you?'."

(Hell)

"The kid came after me, but I didn't want to waste my energy. When I felt him touching my arm and yelling something - that I can't remember - I instinctively just waved my arm and threw him away."

(Void)

"I flew into a tree and all the stuff I was carrying in my small backpack got scattered around," Nero continued, his voice slowing down.

"You will need more than that to get rid of me!' I shouted to provoke him… but…"

He made a pause.

"But when I looked at him…"

"He was staring at one of the books I borrowed from the public library. He simply stayed there, kinda hypnotized by the thing, you know?"

"With the only hand he had entirely -the right one- he tried to pick up the book. His hand was huge and he knew that… but I think… he had terrible eyesight. The first few times he tried to hold the book, he let it fall because he didn't want to… 'hurt' it."

"He tried, over and over again. That scene was pitiful, to be honest. At a certain point, he started to wimp… kinda like a dog's painful crying: 'wimp wimp wimp'."

"and he tried... again and again, and again... the more he tried the louder the wimps we're getting."

"He was clearly in a panic… until then… he let out a very long and painful scream. It was when I noticed… he wasn't supposed to be like that...."

Victor interrupts, "why? What made you think that?"

Nero responded with sadness in his voice as he looked at Victor, "He was crying… Only through the right eye, but he was truly crying."

"'Do Devils cry?' I asked myself."

"During the screeching, he suddenly lost support on his left arm - the most severe and disproportionate one - and fell to the ground. The arm started to bleed around.. where I think it was the pulse… I couldn't tell, but the broken bone pierced through his skin. I noticed that the rest of his body he had various open wounds, that shit surely was hurting him badly. He then started to wimp uncontrollably while he was spitting blood out of the month, he was insanely trying to get up again but he barely could move his body."

"I don't know what the hell happened with me at that moment, but seeing and hearing all that suffering from him was starting to hurt me. I could feel my heart being pressed. My body moved by itself, I took off my jacket and went to try to... somehow help with the wound on his left pulse."

(Hell)

"I don't clearly remember how I got into that situation," Vergil continued. "I only remember very blurry images and immeasurable pain all over my body, especially at my left arm."

"In the middle of all that pain, I somehow could notice the kid getting closer to me. I tried to move away from him but that only was making the pain worse… I was unable to move."

"I couldn't see him clearly, but I heard: 'you weren't supposed to be like that, right?' from him."

"I remember… my heart and breath stopped when I heard he saying: 'Let me help you, stay quiet.'"

Vergil started to get visibly shaken from that point in front.

"Why? He could just have run away… but instead… he came to help me?! Why?! WHY?!"

"I guess... he did some bandages on my left hand… I couldn't move or see it anyway…"

Dante, a bit shocked by his brother's confusion, asked "Why are you so incredulous?"

Vergil turned at him quickly, his face of both anger and sadness. "WHY?! Because never in my entire life someone had lent a hand to me like that! Not even if I asked!"

Vergil recalled for a moment the difficult time he had after his mother's death; food shop owners didn't want to spare not even the smallest thing for him, some even shout him out, with the excuse he was acting. He couldn't find a good place to sleep and winter was a pain. He had to fight demons all alone. He had to manage to steal sustenance and clothes or get from the trash as the last resort.

"I didn't have the same luck as you, brother…" Vergil said harshly.

(Void)

All those memories were starting to make Nero more emotional, recall the monster's pain was very hurtful even to himself.

"I never discovered what turned him into that… but he was destroyed…" he added.

Victor then questioned, "And you just decided to help him? Just like that?"

"Yes… something told me he needed help… a feeling of he didn't deserve that…" Nero said quite sad.

But even being visibly shaken, he continued the story either way, "through the next days I decided to start stealing everything I thought could be the use of help with his open wounds."

Nico interrupted, "steal, man? why?"

"Who would believe in a six years old saying it needs help with a dying demon?!" Nero replied annoyed. "I had to do that myself. Blankets, towels, curtains, all those kinds of stuff I could get around the city, not just in the orphanage…"

-a pause-

"Also food… and the medicine I knew helped with such changes wounds, the one I remember the caretakers using on me."

Nero's tone slowly began to sound grievous, "He didn't leave the place I first saw him… he just waited for me there every day…"

“He couldn’t move, every time he tried he had to do so much strength. He was also… so cold... I tried to cover him the most I could… but even so… he couldn’t stop shivering. I could see that even those smallest moves hurt a lot… even breathing...”

“His wounds weren’t fresh. It was very difficult for me to make some bandages and mostly use the medicine… because whenever I tried he would start panicking and wimping all over again.”

“I used to say things like: ‘Stop, please! I can’t help you like this!’ or ‘collaborate, please!’ to try to keep him calm, but his pain also made me nervous as well.”

“The food was most difficult, the merchants got sharp eyes. The ones that knew me even got so mad that they started to throw stones at me."

Nico quickly stopped Nero's talk, "What the hell?! Fucking stones?!"

He stared at her, his eyes were blank, and then he said, with a low and grievous voice, everyone could sense the pain in the words, "When you are the... 'bastard, son of a whore, demon magnetic child' people just don't care about you…"

Nico didn't expect that, her face was of utter shock, which made her dead silent.

“I didn’t care about my wounds, tho… I just wanted to bring him food and water too. He needed help to eat and drink nonetheless. He used to eat and drink desperately, getting himself dirtier than he already was… he was definitely on his limit…”

Nero let out a desolate sigh while his eyes were getting teary.

(Hell)

Vergil's voice started to sound more painful the more he talked about the child: "The kid kept bringing new things everyday… cover sheets, bandages, food… even water and… medicine...I think? I barely could move anymore either way… I could only stay in the same place and watch…"

Dante started to feel his brother slowly getting more emotional with the subject; Vergil’s voice got low and he was also starting to discreetly sniff, his body was tense and his expression was of sadness: "He… he wasn't bringing all that stuff for himself… he brought blankets for covering me, to help me not suffer that much from the cold nights in the woods…“

“His voice… I’m sure I was hearing every pitch wrongly… but he sounded so… soft anyway: ‘here’s some food’, ‘come on, try to drink this’, ‘I hope you don’t feel so cold now’... and some many others.”

“My vision was a total mess, the colors were switched, the forms were distorted, I never got to know how he truly was or how he sounded… or even if the scent I remember was his true smell…” Vergil vented, as he remembered every single sensation of the kid taking care of him; the way the child had to hold his huge head up for him to drink water, how he had to pick every single food into tiny pieces because Vergil couldn’t chew. The child trying to cover his gigantic deformed body with small cover sheets or even towels.

Breaking Vergil's recall to the past, Dante asked him, “So… you never actually got to ‘know him for real’?”

“I think…” - a pause - “yeah… you’re right…” Vergil told him but looking away to the dark sky and the raining fire in Hell.

"I don't know how he did that… but there were times he used to hug me, or even just touch, and the pain almost got away completely… it was when I was able to breathe without pain for a few minutes..."

He closed his eyes, deep recalling those moments of calm and inner peace. Those were some of the memories he holded dearest, the sensation of being hugged by the child, or at least he thought it was. The kid stroking his head and singing lullabies to calm him down. Such gentle touch from his tiny hands on his wounded head and skin was something he could never forget, even if that used to hurt as well.

Before opening his eyes, Vergil let out a deep sigh, that made Dante get an idea of how much that unknown kid meant to his brother and he was starting to connect the dots with what Vergil said earlier.

"Why?" Vergil said in an indignant tone. "Why did he do all that to me?!"

He turned to Dante, he was very confused and incredulous, "What I did to that kid?! Why did he help me not wanting anything in return?! He never requested something back!"

Dante's eyes wide-opened surprised about his brother's confusion and he asked himself: 'He didn't understand what happened?'

Vergil's voice became louder as he was letting out old thoughts of painful memories, "Why, brother?! WHY!? There were even some days he appeared with wounds; he said it was the people that didn't like him, they hurt him to push him away because they didn't want to give the stuff to him. I could smell the blood, his wounds...he…-inhales- Why was he sacrificing himself?! He was doing all that to me… TO MEEEE! A PITIFUL WEAK USELESS THING I WAS!"

Dante even leaned back scared after Vergil's last scream, that behavior was quite unexpected coming from such a person that is always composed.

"I was weak! I was dying! No one cares for a weakened demon, they just let them die! He could have called hunters to finish me… BUT NO! He did the total opposite!" Vergil kept yelling extremely confused.

"I remember the stories he told me… and sometimes, during moments of physical contact, I saw some of his...memories? -I guess they were - he was an orphan! No one wanted him, everyone else hated him for no reason and the older kids used to hurt him for fun! HE WAS JUST A LITTLE KID! Why didn't he request me to pay back those people in return for the favors he was doing to me?! That's not how it was supposed to work?!” Vergil yelled while huffing out of breath.

Dante gently touched Vergil's shoulder and just gave a calm look at him, like telling him to take easy on his nerves; Understanding his brother's signals, Vergil took an incredibly deep breath in an attempt to calm down, but his disturbed face and stiff body remained.

"That's called empathy, bro…" Dante said softly.

Vergil took a moment to process what Dante said, but he kept looking at him confused. "What?!" he yelled.

Dante hardly believed that his brother never experienced an act of empathy before and stared at him confused as well.

"Empathy. You know… that thing of being able to understand what the other is feeling? To put yourself in the place of the other?" Dante tried to explain, but that only made Vergil more confused. His silence and as well doubtful face made the situation more awkward for Dante - making him visibly worried.

"Well… it's a human heart thing… Empathy generates compassion and that's what moved the kid to help you. He understood your suffering and decided to help you out. He didn't see you like what you described, he saw you as a living being." Dante tried again.

Vergil was slowly starting to understand; it didn't need much for him to recall Nero helping him when he was V and also the people himself helped when he was V during the Qliphoth roots' rampage.

"That's what moves humans to help others? That's how it's called?" Vergil asked confused.

"Yes!" Dante replied happily and a bit relieved. "Such strong empathy like that kid is incredibly rare to be witnessed, especially nowadays. People like that must be protected at all costs, not just because of their kind heart, but also because they can kill themselves because of it. Humans like that are worth fighting for."

Dante's words made Vergil a bit uneasy as if he did something wrong with the kid during a part of the story he hasn't told yet.

And Dante kept talking: "That's what is amazing about humans. But... demons think that's a weakness… well, that's, in fact, a weakness, it's incredibly dangerous but it's also their strongest point! For demons, self-preservation is more important than anything, meanwhile, some humans don't give a shit about that if it's necessary to protect what is important. They rather die sacrificing themselves, and for demons that's a shame, especially coming from a species that's magically and physically inferior…"

*Unfortunately…" Dante's enthusiasm vanished away very quickly. "The own mankind created such a society through the past decades where that kind of stuff is being suppressed...by themselves! And apathy is going apeshit everywhere… This is another reason why that kind of person should be safeguarded… otherwise, mankind will only keep hurting itself."

"I think… 'Apathy' should be considered a Deadly Sin… since the current seven are all based on it…" he said scratching his head.

They stayed in silence for a few seconds, hence Vergil had no idea about what Dante said at the end. They both returned to gaze at the fire raining (supposedly)night sky for a few minutes until Vergil broke the silence: "These kind people you said… It's pretty much like Baby and… Nero…"

"Yeah, you're right…" Dante said calmly without looking at Vergil.

"This thing of sacrifice itself…" Vergil then continued the story, but talking at a more slow pace, "There was one day… Baby didn't come… I was like 'I was abandoned again?'

"Aah…About that..." Dante interrupted a bit unnerved.

But Vergil responded quickly "I know! But back then I didn't! -ahem- I was finally able to get up a bit and worried something may have happened, I decided to pursue his scent…"

(Void)

Nero continued his side of the story, even with the feeling of his throat closing because of the incoming subject: "It was very difficult to take care of him… He didn't have the strength to lift his head or to chew some food… gosh… he smelled so bad, such a strong scent of dry blood and… other disgusting stuff -if you know what I mean- but eventually, I learned how to ignore that awful scent. He used to shiver so much… his extremity members were cold like ice…"

-a pause for a deep breath-

He then continued: "every little movement he tried to do he whimpered in pain… he barely could leave the place we first met. I was getting used to calming him down with some gentle physical contact like strokes on his head… but even so…"

-sigh-

"There were some moments I hugged or when I just touched him and I could feel what he was feeling… it was an immeasurable pain… Other moments… -It's very confusing, to be honest- But I think I was able to see his memories? I guess...?"

"How did they look?" Victor asked, interrupting Nero.

"Aah… well… a huge old man, long-ass beard and with feathery wings… hmmm.. aaaaand... aaaa... red third eye…? He was all white as if he was a statue and had a huge hole in his chest. He always appeared to be torturing him…" Nero said a bit uneasy, he remembered that as if it was his memories.

Victor closed his eyes and let out a concerned sigh, he knew Nero was talking about Mundus, but that wasn't the moment to tell him.

Nero looked at him worried, not understanding what was going on, although he suspected it wasn't something good.

"Just… keep going," Victor said apprehensively.

"The ones that most scared me was when the old man was taking off his members, like, literally. He used them to create monsters…" Nero shivered just with the slightly recalling his eyes even got teary from thinking about that.

He quickly passed his hand on his eyes to clean up the tears, before someone could notice them, "that always made me jump off the place, those images and some others were always storming his thoughts… I guess it was his thoughts… He cried every time I saw them…"

"Considering his reactions about those images and the state he was… I think he didn't deserve to be like that… he wasn't like that because he wanted… I think that old man did that to him… -sigh- ...he was so needy… he hanged his head in my lap every time I used to sit closer..."

Nero's eyes got more watery than before, he tried once again to hold his emotions and clean his eyes.

Before continuing, he took a deep breath to focus back and keep posture. "Well… there was one day I was trying to stealthily leave the orphanage… but the older kids got me. They were so pissed at me because they discovered it was me that had stolen some of their things… Pfft! They used to destroy and also steal my stuff… so fuck them. But I couldn't escape that time… and I was missing the hour to go meet with Monster…"

(Hell)

"I followed his trail with a bit of difficulty, mostly because of the pain all over my body, but I could find him," Vergil continued.

"Somehow I could hear more people around… so, I stayed behind some trees… or was it a wall? well..." but he hesitated to continue.

"What was happening?" Dante asked curiously.

"Some other kids… I guess… they were not so taller than him and were apparently fighting him. They had the advantage in numbers, he couldn't handle them all." Vergil said low.

"How did you know who he was?" Dante questioned.

"I learned how to recognize him… somehow… his shape and colors we're different from the others and as well his scent…" Vergil answered.

"I remember the other ones saying 'you freak! you're not just the son of a whore but also a thief?', 'what are you doing with our stuff?' I could feel his tiredness of the fight, he then replied: 'I needed them for a…" Vergil suddenly paused as if something got stuck on his throat.

"I needed them for a…?" Dante repeated, anxious for the end of the phrase.

Vergil kept quiet for almost a minute, holding back his next word. He was visibly tense, but Dante attempted to incentive him to continue with the story: "Brother? What happened then?"

No answers, although Vergil had closed his eyes and was biting his lips in tension, he was holding his emotions the maximum he could.

"Bro… listen…" Dante said softly while he put his hand on Vergil's shoulder. "Don't hold back your feelings like this… Put it out, let then go…"

But his brother continued immobile.

"I'm not gonna judge or mock you… I promise." Dante continued to try to convince Vergil. "Look, you can even stab me as much as your heart desires if I do something I shouldn't."

Vergil let out air since he was also holding his breath a little and something Dante never expected happened, not even when they were kids: Vergil's eyes started to become teary.

Yes, tears. Dante couldn't believe what he was witnessing.

"Friend," Vergil said low and with grief.

"He said… 'I needed them for a friend' -sniff- 'I have a friend that needs help, but you wouldn't help me anyway," Vergil said with agony in his voice.

"Friend… friend… friend...FRIEND!" He then looked at Dante with a quick turn and shouted in pain, "HE CALLED ME HIS FRIEND!" and a few tears rolled out in his face.

"WHAT DID I DO?! BROTHER, PLEASE! TELL ME!" Vergil screamed in panic and confusion. "WHAT HAVE I DONE?! WHY HE WAS DOING ALL THAT TO ME?! I CAN'T UNDERSTAND!"

"Why do you think you didn't deserve that?" Dante nearly broke Vergil's sanity with that question.

Vergil suddenly got an empty look, as he never thought about that, he could only stutter trying to come up with an answer.

"T-T-That's not how it works… That never happened before… Y-Yo-you got to do something to receive such a thing… right?! RIGHT?!" Vergil was on the edge of freaking out.

Dante took a long breath, to not absorb his brother's messed up aura. He kept his voice calm and low for don't provoke him more: "No, bro… Kindness is not an award, it is a gift. The kid saw something in you and thought you deserved that… What was it? I don't know."

Vergil's face turned blank, he'd never thought like that before… the way he lived didn't let it anyway, he had no idea about why and how that happened with him.

"So… what did you do to help the child?" Dante asked rather calmly.

(Void)

"The kids were beating the shit out of me… but I didn't give up on trying to flee from them. I didn't want to fight, I just wanted to return to my… friend." Nero continued, his voice getting low while sadness was taking over him.

"I even tried to explain to them that I was doing that for someone that needed more than them, but that only made them madder…"

-a pause-

"I don't know where he came from, but Monster just suddenly jumped off in the middle of the orphanage's backyard. He roared so loud that he even let a huge blue fire column go out of his mouth. He came straight to the bullies and swinging only his right hand he tossed all of them away in a single move! POF! ...He then stayed over me as if he was trying to shield me or something."

"His wounds were bleeding all over again, he must have made a shit ton of strength to reach the orphanage."

"The other kids recognized him from that day… the oldest even shouted: 'I knew it you were a freak, but this is too much!' That only made Monster angrier, he wanted to go for the kill."

"He started to prepare another fire breath, but I couldn't let him do that. I jumped in front of him and shouted 'NO! Don't kill them! It will only make it worse for you!' hoping that he would understand me…"

"And that worked?" Nico asked nervously with the story.

"Yes," Nero responded. "He stopped at the same moment and looked at me very confused. I also could hear the adults screaming to call the Order's knights at the same moment."

"'You have to get out of here' I yelled. 'They will kill you!'"

"I don't think he understood what I meant at first because he suddenly grabbed me by my shirt's collar using his mouth and threw me on his back. He got away from the place very quickly into the woods, I don't know how he was able to stand the pain… he was going relatively fast… and when already far from the orphanage, he tripped on his own legs and arms."

"I was launched out of his back and surprisingly I didn't blacken out when I crashed over a tree. I got up in a rush and the moment I spotted him I saw he was all bleeding… all again, he was back to zero. He was whimpering in pain again, but even so, he was trying to get up."

"I ran to help him out, I didn't know how I would help him, but I went to try anyway."

(Hell)

"I don't remember exactly what happened… The next thing that's more clear in my memory is both of us in the woods. I was trying to get up, but my weakened body and the extreme pain weren't letting me." Vergil explained with a bit of confusion on his face.

"'You have to go! The Order's Knights will kill you!' he yelled at me"

"Hold up!" Dante interrupted. "’Order’? The Order of the Sword?!”

"Yes…" Vergil replied low and slow.

"You were in Fortuna?!” Dante yelled at him quite stunned.

"Yes… Don't ask me how…" Vergil said with a bit of embarrassment.

(Void)

"I was trying to make him get up… but like… he was countless times bigger than me," Nero said with a sarcastic smile.

"I was starting to hear the Knights' yelling and running around the woods looking for him. That only made me more nervous… The only thing I had in mind was: 'they will kill him'."

"Out of nowhere, blue light strips appeared around us and I could make one hell of strength to make him get up. And when I looked at my arms and hands… there were my spectral arms, helping him to stand and move away, they were rather proportional to his size."

"I thought out loud: 'What is this? Your magic?! Thanks! That's gonna help a lot!'"

"Wait!" Victor stopped the story. "Through years you thought your demon magic was a gift from him?"

Nero kept staring at Victor with a surprised, yet embarrassed face. "Oh, well… -scratches his head- I could only use my spectral arms while in contact with him…so..."

"Hmm… makes sense...I would also expect such thoughts from a six years old that grew up thinking it was a human… well, part human in this case." Victor said calmly.

"Sorry for interrupting, continue, please." He asked politely.

Already thinking about what was coming along the story, Nero was already getting nervous and more shaken once more.

The sadness in his voice we're getting apparently the more he spoke: "We ran… and ran… and ran… and like everything can get worse, it started to rain, at least it helped clean his wounds a little. It was so dark, but my 'magical arms' could illuminate the way. At some point, we were able to find a small cave. Monster's absurd size and disproportion nearly didn't let him get in, but he could lay down to rest."

"I could make my spectral arms disappear, but there were the blue strings there yet...They weren't making any illumination tho." Nero said it was a bit uncertain.

"That's because isn't something 'material', it's like...infrared and ultraviolet rays, and only demons and half-demons can see it," Victor explained. "although, it can be seen with special cameras," he added.

Immediately, Kyrie made a worrisome face and Nico looked at her scared as well. The lights that only she could see and apparently, Trish as well, was an actual demon thing and not demon-magic related. That would also explain why Nico couldn't see them. What could that mean? Haven't Kyrie only obtained demon magic but it also turned into one… or she was still turning? After Nero's case, she was the next one to talk with Victor but the feeling of uncertainty we're only making her anxious.

"Ah… that would explain how they didn't find us…" Nero continued, without noticing the girls' reaction. Unfortunately, Victor did and he was already preparing questions for them.

"When the rain stopped I went back to the first place I was taking care of him and got our stuff back. Monster had fainted from tiredness and only woke up the next day."

"I haven't returned to the orphanage either."

(Hell)

"I don't remember too much of how we got in that cave, but the kid didn't return to the city, it was the first time he passed the night with me," Vergil said.

"That night was also the first time I had dreams in a long time… but I don't think they were mine, they were memories from the kid…" Vergil then made a pause, he remembered the child's memories as if they were his.

Dante was getting nervous since he discovered that little kid was from Fortuna; he had a feeling that 'Baby' could actually be 'Nero' since he was aware about the Sync's traits and many of what his brother described matched with.

Vergil had let out a depressing sigh before continuing to speak: "I could see more clearly than before how his life was… It also reminded me of mine… loneliness, pain, and sorrow… But that child didn't have a special sword or demonic powers to take care of himself alone… he was dependent on people that didn't care about him."

(Void)

"When Monster woke up I was outside the cave, wondering what I would do about my little life… the people from the orphanage definitely wouldn't want me back and I was one hundred percent sure I wouldn't be adopted after what happened. I had nowhere to go." Nero said quite sad, his eyes were getting teary again.

(Hell)

"He was just sitting right in front of the cave entrance." Vergil continued. "The pain on my body had returned, I could barely move again."

"'What I will do?' he asked me. 'No one will ever adopt me now… not after they discovered I have a demon friend…' and he started to cry… it was a quiet cry."

"…and ...I still can't understand what happened to me... His painful crying made my heart hurt… psychologically hurt… not literally. I didn't want to see him like that… I knew how much that was painful…"

Dante made an embarrassed smile without his brother noticing; Vergil just had described a moment of empathy, a thing that a few minutes ago he had no idea even how it was called.

Dante then thought: "You have so much to learn about your humanity, bro…"

"He then turned to me and said, 'I don't want to come back…' his voice was more trembling than before." Vergil continued with sadness in his voice. "His face was a big distorted blur to me, but somehow I could identify his tears dripping down his face."

"I honestly didn't think rationally at that moment, I just wanted his welfare. That child… he's been doing so much for me without me saying a thing and for nothing in exchange… I couldn't leave him hanging in the wind like that."

Dante, even having an idea about what was coming, became so hyped to know what would happen next that he got very close to his brother, nearly starting to invade his personal space. Vergil didn't like all that proximity, but he hasn't complained… yet.

"I extended my right hand to him, inviting him to get closer to me, hoping that he would understand what I meant with that."

"He did?" Dante asked curiously.

"He hasn't understood the first few times I made the signal, he kept staring at me for a brief moment, until he said 'Do you want to adopt me?'" Vergil explained.

(Void)

Nero was already in tears without even finishing to tell that part of the story. He was sobbing and crying as if he was living that moment all again. He began to desperately try to stop crying and to clean his tears, Kyrie even got closer and handed a soft tissue to him.

"It's okay to cry, Nero. No need to be ashamed of your tears." Victor said in an attempt to tranquilize Nero.

"Yeah, man," Nico said worriedly. "No one will judge you, I promise."

Nero tried to take his breath back between many hiccups and sobbings in an attempt to regain his posture, but that was impossible, that moment was too shocking for him.

"H-He.. he.. -sob- He wanted me -sniff- he was the only o-one… tha-that… -sniff- aaa-accepted me… that didn't see me as a… -sob sob- freak… a-a-a problem…-sniff sob sob-"

(Hell)

"I just waved my head confirming what he asked and he suddenly broke. He began to cry out loud like a newborn baby."

"sniff"

That "sniff" totally surprised Dante; Vergil was unexpectedly once again shaken and teary with the story. That kid surely meant a lot to him after everything they passed together.

"He came at me running for a hug… and kept crying like that for so long that he nearly lost his voice. He hugged me tight around my neck -sniff- as if I just had saved him from. death..."

Vergil stopped to take a breath and, surprisingly, he tried to clean a few tears. "And then... -sniff-...after that we began to live together… but I have no idea for how long… I just remember that he grew up a lot."

(Void)

"We then lived together for… six years…" Nero said between sobbings.

"He was my best friend… almost like a father… still… -sniff-... we had to take care of each other. But through the years his condition was getting better -sob- his body was getting more proportional and looking 'human-ish', he didn't have more pain like before… almost none to be more exact -sob- the pieces of the some short of armor he had started to fall off his body too."

"What do you mean?" Nico asked. "He was like… 'healing' or something?"

"I think?" Nero replied a bit confused as he scratched his head.

"Most of the time his actions weren't like a demon's, he mostly looked like a human in a demon body." Nero tried to explain.

"One day I asked him if he was a human once, he took a long time to answer, like five minutes almost, but he said 'yes'. Although… It took him hours to explain to me that he was half-human. He tried to explain other things but he couldn't because of his condition; he couldn't write or draw and much less speak. He gave up on the explanation and we never talked about it again."

"So, you never asked him how he was when human?" Victor asked with a bit of suspicion.

"No…I was waiting for him to speak and move better..." Nero answered quickly. "But I would be lying if I say I never tried to imagine…"

-a brief pause-

Nero giggled when he remembered about a silly thing.

"We.. we made up a 'special handshake' if he returned to be human when I wasn't looking…" he said with an embarrassed smile. "I never forgot how it was -sigh"

(Hell)

"It was very difficult to live around a demon-infested forest with a dependent child, a debilitated body and the Order of the Sword hunting us down," Vergil said sadly.

His face became sadder and more tears started to form as he continued to speak

"But he was someone I swore to myself I would protect", he said fiercely but still with a sad tone in the voice.

Vergil quickly cleaned his tears, expecting that his brother hadn't noticed them. But even sitting a bit behind him, Dante could tell by his movements what was happening.

"I tried to teach him what I knew of sword and fist fighting, fortunately whenever we touched each other and some kind of...lights...? I guess, appeared around us, I only had to think about the theory and he would learn right away, he just had to practice."

"While the time was passing I could feel Mundus' magic fading away veeeeeery slowly... as if I was being purified somehow. My body was getting back to normal, I wasn't feeling that much pain anymore, sometimes I even felt nothing wrong… but I was still a mess."

Dante dry swallowed a bit audible; that was more proof of Sync, a Parent and Child or Siblings of same parents exclusive stuff. A little brother of them the kid couldn't be, so the only possible conclusion was a child from Vergil.

Confused, Vergil turned back after hearing his brother's nervous noises. Dante couldn't hide his anxious face, that gave to Vergil a very suspicious feeling.

Dante then giggled nervously, "sorry, keep going…"

Vergil stared at him with skepticism, but he continued the story either way. "There were some moments I… I just wanted to hold him closer… comfort him with gentle strokes and give him kisses in the head."

He then wrapped his arms around his chest, like demonstrating a hug, while he made a face of joy and he said with a tender voice: "I wanted to tickle him to make him laugh… Play silly children activities like hide-and-seek…I wanted to read bed-time stories for him, cooking him food… and so many other things…sigh..."

His face was of pure happiness, that kid was very precious to him; thinking about the good times they passed together was one of the few ways for Vergil to be able to smile, a discreet but honest and pure smile of happiness.

Dante finally came to a concrete realization and interrupted Vergil: "You mean… The things mom used to do for us?" he asked, expecting a certain reaction.

Vergil stopped to think for a brief moment; his brother was right. Everything he wished to be able to do was everything he remembered what their mother did for them.

He turned to look at Dante, his face was of surprise, he never related the things like that before. It was when Dante knew that his brother had some parenting instincts and love hidden somewhere inside him. He just needed a chance to put them into practice.

But the problem was: what if Baby is Nero? Vergil had hurt the most precious person in his life for his "more-power-quest"? And how both parts would react when they discover they already knew each other?

Should he tell Vergil his thoughts? Tell him the deep details about Sync, since he seemed to not know them? Dante saw himself in a very complicated and delicate crossroads.

"I think...I understood why you called him 'baby'" Dante said calmly, trying to keep his anxiety away.

"Ahn?" Vergil blurted. "That was a misunderstanding, to be honest: a few days after I invited him to stay with me, he asked if I would give him a name. My debilitated mouth and tongue didn't let me speak a single comprehensive word. I tried to say 'maybe', but he understood 'baby', and no matter what I tried there was no way I could either speak or he understood me. So, we stuck with 'Baby'".

Dante surely wasn't expecting that; the disappointment had hit him like a truck, he was expecting something cute, something special… but no, it was just a misunderstanding.

"But… Why… "wanted"? You weren't able to do a single thing of that?" Dante asked, even already knowing the answer.

Vergil's joy quickly vanished, as if Dante just had stabbed him on his back. "How could I? In that state?! Even after all that time, we passed together, in the end, I could not even speak or see him clearly. The maximum I could do was hold him closer and nothing else."

They passed a few seconds in silence until Dante came with the worst question he could have done about that subject: "Well… what happened with the kid then?”

Vergil's soul left his body at that moment. Only to think about it made him visibly depressed. He started to stare at the void, his eyes had no shine anymore as if he just died that moment.

(Void)

"He used to teach me how to sword fight and also how to fight bare hands. I learned all the basics with him… although… I don't know how, but when that lights appeared, I used to instantly know about whatever he wanted to teach me." Nero explained, with a bit of confusion on his tone.

“Sometimes I had those… ‘de-sync breakdowns’… but being with him helped me endure the pain… I don’t know how that happened…but somehow it hurt him a bit as well. With time that stopped to happen and only came back a few weeks ago nowadays."

Now even Nico and Kyrie were with the feeling that Monster was in fact, Vergil. Everything Nero was describing matched with the description of Sync Victor gave to then early.

Nero giggled remembering every good moment he passed with his best friend. "When he was feeling good, we used to go to the city late at night and steal stuff. Clothes for me, food, cover sheets, and so on. Hehe. When he was in a good mood, rare times, we used to steal food from delivery guys, especially the ones from pizzerias. Or even watch TV from the windows of some houses… I could watch something, I don't know about him. I remember he loved to hear me reading books to him too… He always wanted to try to read them too, but he definitely couldn't because of his wounded eyes… - sigh."

"Why did you call him Monster?" Nico questioned, quite curious about.

"I don't know exactly, I just started to call him like that… Nowadays I think it's quite an ironic name… he only looked like a monster… but he was more human with me than every actual human I ever met…"

"He was so affectionate…" he said with a smile. "Not at the very beginning, he turned with time. He liked to hold me closer, especially during bedtime. He tried to do some gentle moves like… stroke or pat my head, but his size and lack of better control of his moments didn't let him do that so well…"

"... he even made up a clicking noise to pretend it was a kiss… sigh…"

"But… what happened to him?" Victor asked, taking off Nero's happiness from his face. That was the worst question someone could make about the monster.

Then, both Nero(at Void) and Vergil(at Hell) started to recall and talk about that fateful day:

Fortuna - back to 13 years ago - 04:00 AM

Baby and Monster were sneaking their way through the city, going in the direction of the port area.

Monster was wearing a dirty cloak, he was almost the size of a tall human by that time, although his large horns made a weird shape on the cloak’s hood. Since his body was almost proportional now, he was able to walk on his legs, only needing an improvised cane Baby made using hardwood to support himself standing.

Baby was at the end of his childhood, around twelve years old. He was wearing some humble clothing that he stole from a shop and on his backpack, also stolen, he was carrying the few material things they had. On his waist, it had a badly forged iron sword, a failed attempt to recreate a katana that he made among Monster.

When the Port got on sight, Baby whispered, "Finally! We need to get into one of those big commercial ships and we will finally get out of this hell.

They both went slow and silent through the darker areas of the place, contouring every lamp post and the one or two workers they spotted. Until they reached a medium-sized cargo ship; an uncommon kind of commerce ship that docks on Fortuna's Port bringing special products from the continent.

"Now we just need to get in thought the anchor" Baby whispered excitedly.

But before he gave the next step, Monster gently touched his shoulder calling his attention to him. Baby turned at him visibly confused but when he saw the gesture Monster was doing he understood what it was: he was calling him for a hug.

Baby could tell that his friend was trying to smile, Monster had to kneel to look at him eye to eye and his arms were stretched toward him, calling him closer.

Nero didn't get why that right now, but he didn't question, he went straight to the hug. They hugged tightly and tenderly and the time seemed to have stopped, they were enjoying every second of that comforting hug. Monster felt his heart warming, that feeling of seeing Baby happy was indescribable. While Baby was immeasurable happy about how much his friend got better.

They didn't want that moment to end, it was the first time they were able to do a decent hug, even if Monster's arms weren't totally recovered. Monster was even purring like a big cat for much of Baby's fun.

"Thank you...I love you Monster, you're my hero." Baby said from the bottom of his heart.

Those words were going to get stuck on Monster's mind forever, but it was him that wanted to say that most.

'No… you that saved me, my baby… I love you too' Monster thought. But he was so desperate to say such words that he tried to talk, unfortunately his vocal cords and tongue haven't healed enough and he could only mumble mostly random demonic noises and a syllable or two.

"it's okay…" Baby said when he noticed his friend's despair. "I can't wait for your mouth and neck to get better so we can have actual talks" he giggled.

"Let's go" he called him, gesturing for them to keep walking.

Once they were side by side with the anchor's huge chains, Baby said quite confidently: "Are you rea-?" he suddenly was interrupted by a loud painful screaming from Monster.

When he turned, he couldn't believe his eyes, Monster got stabbed on his back by a silver sword that pierced through his chest. It wasn't the same sword type the Order's Knights used.

The sword slightly opened its blade in the middle like a jaw and quickly drained Monster's energy, making him scream in pain again.

"MONSTER!" Baby shouted with all his strength.

He sprinted to help his friend, but twenty or more Order's Knights jumped out from inside the crates that were closer to the ship.

"The Order?! How?!" Baby yelled in panic. All those years living hidden from them, how they finally found the double?

The silver sword got out of Monster's body quickly; the fatigue caused by the energy drain made his -already unstable- body fall to the ground. Behind him, it had a woman in the Order's Knight uniform, the hood and low light were hiding her face and she was holding another sword, of the same look, on her other hand.

"Finally found you, you brainless beast," she muttered. "What's your problem in dying?"

Baby ran towards his friend's body on the cold metal floor of the dock, he was bleeding tremendously. He didn't have time to think about what that sword did to him. The moment he got closer Monster was still conscious, but he was weak once again.

Baby was on the edge of freak out: "No. No. No. No. No! You just got so much better! Why?!"

He tried to help him get up, but two Knights rapidly dragged him away from Monster. They quickly turned his hands to his back and wrapped his pulses together with a silver rope that had some strange runes written on it - immediately he felt his strength being drained and he kneeled tired as if he had just trained for the entire day.

"NO! Monster!" He shouted, feeling even his breath getting heavier.

Monster was feeling weak because of the energy drain, he felt the same tiredness he had years ago. But this time there wasn't pain aside from the stabbing on his chest, he could do that, he MUST and he WILL protect his child.

He started to concentrate strength on his arms to get up, his almost fully regenerated wings opened wide to intimidate the Knights, revealing his demonic body under the cloak, they also now had a blue glow inside that helped to illuminate just a little the place.

The woman with the pair of odd swords rolled her eyes before going straight to stab Monster's left hand against the floor. He didn’t scream but his face was of real pain.

She stabbed his hand so strong that the sword got stuck on the metal floor, with the strength he had left he couldn’t take his hand out of the place so quick and easy, dragging him into the beginning of insanity.

He roared scared, kinda telling Baby to run away.

Baby tried to untangle from the Knights' tight grips: He jumps and shakes his body, fighting to get free… But the ropes had cut off all of his strength and the Knights were being able to hold him like a normal kid. All that effort only made him more breathlessly.

Under all that stress he could only think: "What's going on with me?! If I don't do something they will kill him! He's not one hundred percent yet!”

Monster realized that Baby wouldn't get out on his own, he tried to get his hand out of the sword trapping, with no results. The only way would let the sword cut its way through his hand for he can get out, leaving his left hand useless for the moment.

"Spare me of this shit…" the woman said, annoyed by the attempts of the double to get out of that situation through the last minute.

"Listen, you piece of shit!" She called Monster's attention. "If you come with us in peace, we won't do anything with the kid."

She gets very close to him and whispers, for only him to hear it: "I know you can understand me… Nelo Angelo."

Her last two words made his blood boil.

Hear that name again triggered nightmares and traumas that he already had suppressed years ago thanks to his life with Baby.

Monster roared loudly and in despair, just for the fact that the woman had that information, she was surely dangerous and probably somehow knew Mundus.

He goes fully charged with his right arm at her, his claws ready to slaughter, but she could easily dodge by kneeling.

Monster barely could move his chest to turn around because of his stuck hand.

He threw his body forward, his mouth was wide open to get her.

Unfortunately, the woman was countless times faster than him.

He got close enough to take a piece out of her, but he had bitten the air. She did a high jump over his head and landed on his back, going down with everything she got and smacking his chest against the metal floor.

For some reason, she hated Monster and that could easily be seen in her vicious eyes.

With the other sword she had in her hands, she began a quick yet cruel multiple stabbing on his back.

The sword had not just pierced him, but it also drained his energy and magic at every stab.

Baby screamed in pain so loud that he almost lost his voice. Monster could do nothing either except shout in pain.

"STOP! STOOOOOOOP!" Baby screamed in panic and started to cry uncontrollably, that was the only thing he could do in that situation.

The woman jumped off from Monster's back, her sword dripping his blood as well her leggings and cape dirty with it as well. She took off the sword from his left hand and stabbed in his right hand, but he couldn't move anymore, he returned to zero all over again.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! YOU ARE THE MONSTER HERE, YOU SCUM!" Baby shouted with his most honest anger and panic towards the unknown woman.

Baby couldn't see her face but could feel her stare at him. The pressure was immeasurable, but it hasn't shaken him anyway.

She made a hand signal to one of the Knights to let the kid go. At the moment they had taken off the rope from his pulses, he ran away towards his friend - his face was completely wet with his desperate tears.

"Monster! Monster please… no… you have to get out of here!" Baby cried in panic, trying to help him get up.

But he was so weak… again. He tried to give his arms some strength the maximum he could, but the energy-draining made that an impossible task.

The woman pulled Baby, holding on the neck collar of his jacket, with ease away from Monster.

Very close to losing his conscience, Monster kept trying to get up and even charge some magic to help Baby. Unfortunately, all of his efforts were useless, he was already out of battle.

Baby couldn't speak, he only could stare at the image of his best friend dying in front of him and he couldn't do a thing about it.

Mentally, Monster was in a total panic, his body and magic weren't responding to his commands anymore, but he kept trying to get up anyway.

"AAAAAH!"

Monster had a bad vision, but he could see and understand what happened right in front of him: Baby was stabbed in the chest by the woman and a few blood drops had fallen on Monster's face.

The sword then electrocuted him with a deadly high voltage: "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Monster's heart and soul slowly started to die together with Baby.

"You two can't stay together, that's not how it's supposed to work," she told him drily and dreadfully while she threw Baby's dead body in the ocean.

Monster died inside together with the sound of the “splash” of Baby’s body in the water.

The Knights could easily chain him up and take him to a big vehicle, transporting him to the Order's Headquarters after that.

Through a few years, the Order used him and the pieces they found of his armor to create their Angelos. They thought they were draining his magic, although, somehow he managed to hold the most he could his own magic and he made them drain all of Mundus' corruption out of him.

That nearly had the cost of his life, but he was able to regain his full consciousness and "original form" at a high cost.

One day we faked his death and was able to flee from the facility in a killing spree. That happened a few weeks before the Fortuna incident.

Through the next years, he lived that moment of Baby's death over and over, corrupting him from inside out; making him realize once again how weak he was, that he didn't deserve a human life or either love. His human side was only responsible for his and his loved ones suffering and that he had to return for his search of power because of his weakness and this time… no matter what, even if that meant discarding a part of himself.

Meanwhile, Baby survived the stab of that day and found himself on a shore later, still at Fortuna.

He went to live around the outskirts of Fortuna for a long time, attacking and sometimes even killing by accident every Knight he spotted on the path between the city and the Order's headquarters. He questioned every single one of them about Monster, but none of them knew what he was talking about.

Until he attacked Credo, that had an idea about what he was looking for.

Credo and Kyrie's parents accepted Baby to live among them since he had white hair and some connection with demons, very similar to the description of the figure they worshipped: Sparda.

Unfortunately, a few weeks later they got killed by a demon, thus, bringing the "demon magnet curse" back to haunt Baby.

He then joined the Order with the only intention of getting good equipment and to get inside the HQ to look for Monster.

A few weeks before the incident with the Savior, Credo was able to bring for Baby, in secret, a copy of documents talking about Monster… only for him to discover that his best friend had died.

Void Realm - Pitch Black City: Back to the present

Kyrie had to finish the story from Nero's "death" in front since she knew it as well, all because Nero was sobbing and sniffing uncontrollably, his tears were too much for he could clean it and he was too shaken to be able to speak.

Nico never expected to feel so sorry for Nero, she was aware he had a tough life, but not that much… Victor was also feeling bad for him, but he had to tell him the truth, the only possible truth. What he didn’t expect was the reaction that was about to come.

They waited in silence nearly an hour for Nero to calm down, it was already very late in the night.

“Nero...” Victor started slowly, breaking the silence. “I don’t think Monster really died…”

Nero raised his head to look at him, he couldn’t understand how Victor got to that conclusion.

“Have you payed attention… on the things you described?” Victor continued calmly. “Be able to feel what the other is feeling… see memories… receive the knowledge from the other…”

Victor’s words weren’t clicking Nero’s memory, he was still a bit shaken with the story.

Noticing that, he decided to be more direct: “You described every characteristic of Sync”

Nero’s brain gears began to work again, Sync was a recent subject Victor explained to him: an exclusive ability of Siblings of the same parents and… Parent and Children exclusive thing.

“No! Wait!” Nero blurted confused. “Ar-Are you… Are you trying to tell me that Monster… - a pause- was Vergil?!”

“I’m sure about that,” Victor said quite seriously, staring at Nero’s eyes.

Nero immediately got up from the seat, scaring Kyrie that was closer to him. His face had changed so quickly as if someone had pressed a switch. He began to yell angrily at Victor for no apparent reason: “VERGIL ISN’T MONSTER! No way that cold-blooded motherfucker is Monster!” he screamed between tears, but this time tears of anger.

“Dude! Chill! What’s up?!” Nico yelled scared with his reaction.

“Why are you in denial?!” Victor questioned, keeping his calm and serious posture. “Can’t you see that everything you said described Sync perfectly?”

“NO!” Nero shouted angrily.

Kyrie could see some sparks starting to blink around Nero, but before she was able to say anything Victor went first: “Why then?!” he yelled confused.

Nero took a deep breath and concentrated all his anger and depression on his next words and tears: “I’M NOT THE BASTARD CHILD OF A DEMON!”

And immediately after those words of sorrow, he started to bleed through his eyes, nose and mount at an alarming quantity. He lost control of his body and fell off the ground, shaking so much as if he was having a convulsion.

Only Kyrie could see the mess of blue and red bolts circling around Nero: “Oh my God! He’s desyncing again!” she shouted scared and instinctively rushed to help him out.

“Kyrie! Wait!” Nico shouted, but it was too late.

The moment she touched him, purple and white energy strings came out of her and touched his energy streams. At exactly the same moment, his energies repealed hers away, sending Kyrie a few steps backward.

“Are you a demon?!” Victor shouted quite surprised. “Or a half demon?! - he quickly turned to Nico - “You said she was human!”

Hell - at same moment

The situation got quite awkward between Dante and Vergil.

Vergil was holding his feelings the maximum he could, he was even holding his breath to do so, his body was shaking of so much tension and a tear or other was going down his cheeks, his face was red of stress.

“Ah… That’s why you did that then…” Date said low, finally understanding what initially motivated his brother to go after the Qliporth and throw away his human half.

There was no way Vergil’s uneasy and tension could pass unnoticed. Dante started to feel sorry for his brother like he never thought he would; Vergil lost the most precious person in his entire life. Baby was his savior and he barely could do something to help him in return.

The way Vergil was holding himself made Dante recall how he felt that day; Yeah, that fateful day he couldn't hold Vergil to destroy his own life. That killing sensation of feeling useless and powerless. The thought of 'everything could be different IF...'

“Bro…” Dante said soft and low, trying to call Vergil’s attention. “Listen… even a Devil may cry when they lose a loved one.”

When Dante thought he couldn’t see his brother more shaken, the inevitable happened: Vergil couldn’t hold anymore, not after his brother’s last words; he started to sobbing and crying in grief. Baby's death was too painful for him: he hugged himself trying to endure the pain and he stuttered uncontrollably many incomprehensive words, he brought his legs closer and assumed a fetal position.

Dante got closer and in an attempt to comfort the desolated man he laid his left hand on his left shoulder. Vergil couldn’t resist and laid his head on his brother’s shoulder; he was crying and sobbing as if Baby just had died that moment and even being a silent crying, he was in pure pain. His chest and shoulders were giving small jumps because of his strong sobbing and hiccups, his lips and jaw were trembling as if he was shivering and his nose was very runny.

“I-I-It-t-t w-as just like… just like that day… - sob- just like… -sob sob- just like that day…! -hic hic!” Vergil cried. “I-I-I I couldn’t protect him! I WAS WEAK! t-t-THE SA-ME SHIiiiT-T! ALL OVER AGAIN! -sob sob... hic- aaaaahh...!”

Dante tried to stroke Vergil’s shoulder to comfort him more, it wasn’t helping that much, but he was trying. He had no idea what to do, he’d never been in a situation like that before. Now… should he tell his thoughts to him? He was more than certain now that Baby is Nero. But how would his brother react? That would help? Would it make it worse? There was only one way to know.

Dante waited for a long time in silence, for his brother to catch his breath back before he could say something again.

For several minutes, if not an hour, Vergil's crying was the only sound around, echoing in their hideout.

“Vergil… Do you remember… that thing… we used to be able to do it when we were kids?” Dante tried to start slow, touching the wound with a bit of care.

“Sob - W-What… - hic - thi-thing…?” Vergil asked, very lost.

Dante got a bit nervous, he didn’t want to go to the point so quick. “You know… that when we touched… we could see each other’s memories, learn what the other learned… and so on…”

“Sob- Th-That thi-ing... -hic- Rose was studying about us - sob - ?” Vergil tried to remember but it was a bit blurry at that moment. “Sob sob - that later I dis-dis-covered -hic- with Vi-Victor that it was… -sob- a demon thing?”

“Yeeeeaaaah…” Dante said a bit awkwardly.

There’s a moment of silence before Dante gets the courage to continue: “Sooo… Have Victor told you everything about that?”

“No -sob- why?” Vergil replied as he raised his head to look at his brother.

Dante let go of him and gave a small distance, afraid of his reaction. “Well then… Victor explained to me… that’s a demon thing like you said… BUT it’s a thing… exclusive to siblings of the same parents… and...”

“And?!” Vergil started to notice Dante’s reluctancy on the subject.

“And a parent and children thing too… and a lot of you described about what used to happen between you and Baby matches with what Victor explained to me....” we said very slowly. “So… I’m afraid that… maybe... Baby…”

“NO!” Vergil understood very fast. “No no no no no no no no no no no! NO!”

“I’m afraid that maybe… Baby was your child all this time… He’s...Nero.” Dante finally said.

Vergil’s soul left his body and returned for a brief moment. Had he hurt Baby for real? Someone that only deserved love and care met his worst? His face became full of total despair and panic, he brought his hands to his head, pressing his fingers against his scalp. The more and more he recalled what he did wrong with Nero the thoughts started to storm his mind like a hurricane. Until he let all the panic concentrated on his gut explode away in a loud despair scream, that even called the attention of nearby demons.

Vergil began to freak out in tears, he was insanely crying in pain that he started to hurt his head with his nails, digging them on his scalp. Dante quickly grabbed him by his arms to hold him still, for he didn't get himself hurt in the middle of his panic.

“Bro! BROTHER!” Dante tried to call. “Easy Vergil!”

Between the heavy sobbing, he could split out a few words. “No no no! -sob sob- I would ne-never -sob- hu-hu-hurt him! - Sob sob”

“You can’t blame yourself for that, man!” Dante attempted to help him get in control. “You thought he was dead, you saw him being killed in front of you and you didn’t know he was a hybrid like us!”

Vergil looked at him, a desperate face and eyes red of so much crying, but he was listening to his brother.

“If you explain to him what really happened I think he will understand.” Dante said, very worried with Vergil.

It was very hard for Vergil to believe that he would be forgiven for such doing, especially the arm literal take off. He couldn’t think clearly about that now, he was too worried that it was very likely he had hurt the most important person of his life.

By now, he laid his head on Dante’s shoulder once more and let go all the tears as possible.

Inside Vergil (figuratively)

The place was close to being dead for real, the sun was hidden behind very heavy dark clouds, the ground was totally dry and crackly and there was a small pool of water at the center of the place. A loud painful crying was echoing very high around that infinite desolated place.

It was V, crying uncontrollably as he stared at a very small dying flower, smaller than his fingers, with another one starting to blooming at the side. He got his arms, legs and neck chained to a dead tree stump in front of the pool that had scorched marks at the roots. Although the chains were heavy, he could move his members. He was wearing the same clothes as Vergil and his hair and facial hair was purely white now.

Urizen was sitting behind the stump, he was quiet, only listening to V’s painful crying.

V kneeled to the little flowers that were at his side, with the point of his fingers he gently touched the dying flower, and raised it a little.

“My little one.. -sob- my little little one…. - sob - I’m so sorry… -sob sob- I’m so sorry for having hurt you… - sob - my baby…!”

To be continued...

#forgotten sins story #devil may cry #devil may cry 5 #Vergil #Dante #dmc5 nero #nerokiri #dmc5 nico #original character #fanfic

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queenmuzz · 4 years

Text

Mors aurem vellens, 'Vivite,' ait, 'venio'

You are a young woman, fated to an early grave, divinely sent to become the Priestess of the least popular God of the Pantheon. Vergil, the God of Death.

Chapter One:

Your worn sandals hit the wooden gangplank as you disembarked along with the rest of the passengers, pausing for a brief moment to look at the splendor of the Island of Fortuna. Unfortunately you weren’t the only one eager to make landfall, and your moment of awe was cut short, as the other passengers, mostly pilgrims, pushed behind you, each wishing to experience that same feeling of wonder.

Fortuna… a glistening jewel of an island, a bustling hub of commerce, both of material goods, and immaterial ones. Where most large cities could boast maybe one, or two Temples at most, (the closest city near your village worshiped the Nameless Lady, Goddess of Revenge), Fortuna had the prestige of four separate temples, hence the large numbers of people coming to the city every day on pilgrimage.

The entranceway that the docks funneled pilgrims to was awe-insipring, beautiful white marble walls, with statues of each of the four gods.

Kyrie.... Goddess of Love, and of Song. Many would pray to her to find their soulmate, or to sway the heart of their desired one.

Her consort, Nero … God of Protection, and of the Outcasts. One might pray to him when going on a dangerous journey, and orphans and beggars would pray for his protection.

Sparda …. God of Justice. Those who sought justice in the courts, both civil and criminal, often prayed to him.

And finally, the one you had travelled months for, spent nearly all of your money on, was his wife, Eva … Goddess of Childbirth….and Healing. You marveled at her beautiful lifelike statue that stood there, overlooking the bay, carrying the infant twins Dante, (God of Victory in Battle, and also of Debauchery, his temple lay far to the west), and Vergil (God of Death, his temple was...unknown, as he was not a very popular god to worship.)

Your journey was coming to an end. You would soon be able to make your plea to the Goddess, to plead with her priests and priestesses to aid you. You were running out of time.

Three months ago, you had gone to an oracle of the Goddess of Time and Space, to see what your future would hold, and to find out why you had a persistent cough. The words he spoke chilled you to the bone.

“In two years time, Death will claim you.”

Keep reading, or click HERE to read on Ao3!

Suddenly, everything made sense. Your periods of lightheadedness, your cough, and how simple tasks would now occasionally leave you out of breath. Already, your family was beginning to act as if you were dead, your father and mother occasionally breaking out in tears when they saw you. In an instant, your entire life’s priorities had changed. Instead of looking forward to marrying a young man in the next village, inheriting your parents; farm, and raising a family, all now you could look forward to was to live each day to the fullest, before your inevitable demise.

But…

There might be another way. Perhaps one Goddess’s decree could cancel out another one. And so, you made plans. Your fiance’s family were willing to break up the betrothal. (You were slightly relieved, he was a nice man, but he just wasn’t the man you’d want to spend the rest of your life with) and your own family gave you the money that was to be your dowry. You signed away your share of the inheritance to your family’s farm to your younger brother, for an exchange of gold. And after a celebratory harvest feast, your family sent you on your way, with their blessings, hopes, and prayers. You would either come back hale and healthy, or not at all.

You couldn’t help yourself, at every opportunity, when the bustle of the crowds was not pushing you forward, you stopped and stared at the city before you. Your family was one of the most prosperous in your village, but they might as well have been begging for scraps with the dogs in comparison. Women strode by, wrapped in flowing robes, made of exotic materials, embroidered with gold thread. Men did business, each followed by half a dozen servants, each assigned to a mundane task, such as holding an umbrella to block out the sun, or to carry a parcel of business records. And everywhere, the wealth of Fortuna, no doubt flowing from its temples and the constant throngs of pilgrims, was on display, whitewashed buildings with mosaics made up of semi-precious stones. The sound of clinking coins as both locals and visitors exchanged money for the mundane, and the mystical.

You checked your pouch for what seemed like the hundredth time. Your trip had been taxing, both on your body, and your coin purse. You had just enough for an offering to access Lady Eva’s shrine, and to make your plea for healing. After that? Well, if it was successful, you’d find a way back home, you had skills that would fill your stomach and purchase passage back home, or to wherever your heart took you. (after all your traveling, you’d appreciated the vastness of the world over your tiny little village). Or… you’d spend your final days, penniless and alone.

Slowly, you realized that you’d not be alone in your situation. For even fortunate Fortuna, a city gilded in gold and marble, had a foundation made of rotten wood and crumbling sand. In alley ways scuffled the dregs of society, the forlorn and forgotten residents who could not take part in the bounty that the upper crust enjoyed.

And on even closer inspection, your amazement turned to disgust. For in a city that had a God of Justice, injustice reigned supreme, where unscrupulous vendors sold cheap trinkets for exorbitant prices, while the authorities looked the other way. A city that had a God of Protection, the strong dominated the weak, men in silk robes kicked dust in emaciated beggars faces. And a City that had a Goddess of Love, its residents cared for little besides themselves, and how to attain more wealth, how to exploit the visitors and the underclasses for their own benefit.

You munched on some stale bread, watching with growing horror as the facade disintegrated before your very eyes. The sooner you got out of here, the better. To be stuck on this island would be a death sentence, even if you were healed. But even in such dire straits, you admired the poor people’s resilience, their ability to endure. Not far from you, several scruffy children played knucklebones on the cobblestone, enjoying their life to the fullest, oblivious to their poverty. At least there was some innocence in such a cruel world.

From a distance you heard the sound of neighing horses and metal on stone. The throngs of people, both locals and visitors quickly got out of the way of a chariot going much too fast for such a narrow road. Its driver, a young man, bedecked in gold medallions laughed heartily along with a pretty young wench, dressed in equal finery. They sped along, their black stallion steeds frothing at the bit, uncaring of the danger they put the surrounding pedestrians in. Thankfully, they made such a racket, that nearly everyone was able to get out of their way in time, shouting curses at them as they went past, which were ignored. Even the raggamuffin children, intensely focussed on their game, realized the danger, and quickly scattered to the wind.

Well, all except one. A little girl, no older than ten, her frazzled red hair tied back in a rough ponytail, had either not heard the approach, or didn’t have the speed of her playmates to get out of the way.

Hopelessly, you attempted to run towards her, to get her out of the way, but even you knew there was no way you could have reached her before the chariot, which didn’t slow down at all, collided with her tiny body. And so, with a horrific sound, the girl was trampled underfoot, by four pairs of hooves, and one set of wheels.

You had expected the chariot to stop, or at the very least slow down, but the driver was either unaware, or more likely, didn’t seem to care, as it sped around a corner, one wheel lifting up as it did so. The last thing you heard was the crystal clear laughter of the youth, without a care in the world receding into the distance.

In the following silence, no one made a move towards the girl, in fact, after a few moments of shocked horror, everyone went back to their daily activities, as if nothing had even happened. The sprawled out body of the girl was to them, a piece of trash. At least with her fellow playmates, their disappearance was understandable. But there should be at least one kind soul that had the decency to care about the well being of this small child.

You would be that person, as you used your well worn staff to propel yourself towards the girl. Blood dribbled out of her ear and nose, and she remained still as death, but your fluttering fingers found a faint pulse, and to your great relief, a breath. Still, she was in a bad state, and would need help, if she would have any chance of survival. Quickly, you scanned the meandering group of people, who were watching you, while attempting to look like they WEREN'T watching you.

“Please!” You shouted, and for a moment, everyone froze. “Is there a healer here? Or does anyone know her parents?” After a brief hesitation, everyone went back to whatever more important tasks they had originally set out to do.

“ANYONE!?” You cried out, the smell of the girls blood choking your lungs, “Will anyone help?” No one did. The only response was the small whimpers and moans of pain from the unconcious girl.

Well, if no one was stepping up, you would have to be the one to save her. A farmer’s daughter, you knew all types of cures and treatments, but something like this? This was beyond your skill, most likely beyond the skill of even a physician. And as you looked up, to see the shining marble statue of Eva, her smile radiating down upon you, even from this distance, you realized that there was still a chance to save this flickering flame. Placing your staff on your back, you picked up the limp girl, and made your way to your ultimate destination. Strange, the girl seemed to weigh nothing.

You reached the gilded doors of the temple of Eva, guarded by two men, their bronze armour buffed to a shiny gleam. They were intimidating, but you had to try, for this little nameless girl's sake.

As you attempted to cross the threshold, in unison, their spears crossed, barring your way. You could always have attempted to push past them, but, odds were that the oracle’s prophecy for you would come true much, MUCH quicker.

“Please,” you pleaded, “This child needs healing, she needs Mother Eva’s blessing.”

“None enter this temple without an offering.” Their tone was as unyielding as the door behind them. “God's mercy! This isn’t some scam, a life hangs in the balance!”

The men scowled, and you couldn’t help but pull the child closer, to protect her.

“Fortuna’s laws are clear, the sacred places cannot be sullied by the empty handed.”

There would be no use arguing with them, even in such a dire situation. And so, you came to a fateful decision.

“I… have coin… the pouch on my hip.”

Within a blink of an eye, the one guard snatched it, and began to pour out your literal life savings into his palm, while his comrade kept his spear pointed at you. The greasy clink of coins being counted was the only sound you could hear. The man muttered something intelligible before pocketing the money, the gold being swallowed by billowing reams of cloth.

Without warning, the child was yanked out of your arms, and the guard carried her (far too roughly, in your opinion) into the sanctum. You went to follow, but the remaining guard blocked your path.

“Only those with an offering may enter,” he repeated mercilessly.

You were flabbergasted “B-but that’s all I have! I’m not going to do anything, I just want to make sure she’s alright!”

“Lady Eva looks after those who have made a sufficient gift, now begone!” And using the shaft of his spear, he shoved you to the ground, straight into a dirty puddle.

Part of you wanted to get up and punch him, part of you wanted to try to rush past him in an attempt to see the girl. The cruelty of it all was immeasurable, if the girl made it, she’d wake up alone and scared, and most likely possibly thrown out the moment she recovered.

But what could you do? Here, you had no friends, no connections, and now, most importantly in this wealth obsessed city, no money. And so, with a heavy heart, you attempted to wipe off some of the mud on your cloak, used your staff to pull yourself up, and left to go back to the pilgrim’s hostel, of which you had previously bought a night’s stay. Unless one of the Gods pitied you enough, it would be your last nights in relative comfort. All your travels, everything you had done for the past month...was all for naught. There was no way you could raise enough money for an offering...well, in time anyway. You were doomed.

You sat on the side of your cot, chewing on the last of the bread in your pocket. You wanted to give into despair, to just give up entirely. Tears in your eyes, you fell into slumber, with your only consolation was that the nameless red headed little girl would have a chance at the life you could never have.

The garden was beautiful, more than anything you’d ever seen in your travels. Vines climbed over ancient pillars, their leaves glossy and healthy, while vibrant blue roses bloomed, their sweet scent wafted over a barely there breeze. Statues of couples in romantic postures dotted the landscape, with the centerpiece being a winged man encircling both his arms and wings around his beloved, a woman carrying a harp. The fountain they stood atop of flowed out crystal clear water, which you could have sworn gave out an aroma of its own. What had you done to be invited to such a gorgeous locale? You wracked your mind, trying to think of how you got here, but all your memories of the past seemed to be clouded by fog. And strangely, you didn't seem to be worried about your inability to recall anything.

“Welcome!” A woman’s voice drew you out of your thoughts, and before you, a young woman smiled gently. You could have sworn there had been no one there a moment ago. “I have been waiting for your arrival for quite a while, please, this way.” Her arm, with simple gold bracelets that secured her sleeves, waved over to a set of klinai.

A mahogany table, with bowls of grapes, pomegranates and an assortment of other fruits, as well as a jar of wine, sat between the couches as both you and your host took your seats, and you enjoyed the texture of the cushioning crimson velvet.

“I’m sorry,” you apologised, “I didn’t mean to make you wait.”

Her laugh was musical, and entrancing. “No, it’s not you that is at fault. Fate often decrees that we must be patient.” She brushed away her vibrant red hair as she poured you a glass of wine, which you sipped. Whatever vintage it was, this was so good, it seemed out of place for a mere visit.

“Let me clarify,” she said as she plucked a grape from the bunch, “I haven’t been waiting for you specifically, but for someone of your selflessness and charity.”

Your eyebrows furrowed. You had no idea what she was speaking of, you were no more,no less righteous than the average person.

“Long have I despaired, for the rich people of my city have grown cold and hard, looking always to themselves than to their fellow men and women, while the poor cannot afford to do anything but focus on their very own survival. It took an outsider, someone not even coming to my temple, to show the charity that I so desperately sought.”

Before you could ask her to explain, a sparkling light enveloped her, almost blinding you, and as it dissipated, the woman had disappeared, replaced by a vaguely familiar child, her red hair in a less frazzled ponytail, dressed in brilliant white robes with a dusting of gold, instead of...rags?

She giggled, waved at you as you began to connect the dots, and with another equally blinding burst of light, transformed back to her adult self.

The cup of wine you held clattered to the ground, spilling its blood red contents upon the ground, as the realization hit, and you quickly averted your eyes, not daring to make eye contact with her. “L-lady Kyrie,” you stammered, terrified. For a mortal to look upon the Divine was a death sentence, “I-i didn’t realize...forgive your humble servant.” You attempted to get off the couch, in order to supplicate yourself, to spare yourself from her wrath, but were stopped by the gentlest touch upon your chin, slowly bringing your face upwards to her beautiful visage.

“What kind of host would I be if I struck down a guest I had invited? She chuckled again, sending tingles up and down your spine, before answering her own question, “a very poor one.” She relaxed back into her couch, “Without hesitation, you aided a stranger, and gave everything you had to save her. Such an action deserves to be granted a boon.”

Instantly, your mind went to the Oracle that had predicted your death. “Can you cure me?” Kyrie may not be the goddess of healing, but she was a Goddess, such a thing should not be beyond her power.

Unfortunately, her expression fell, “Sadly, I cannot. Not even Lady Eva could save you. Even us deities are bound by the decrees of the Lady of Time and Space.” Your heart crumbled. Your journey to somehow heal yourself had been doomed from the moment the oracle had murmured those words, no...most likely since before you were born.

“But…” she said, “I have a way to give you purpose...to hopefully make your final years make an indelible mark,” her hazel eyes were soft and sympathetic. “To the North, where the graves are made of red granite, lies Vergil’s temple. Long has it been forgotten and abandoned, and as much as he would deny it, he needs a priestess, to serve him, to help him remember…”

Remember what? You wanted to ask, but the world seemed to be a bit fuzzier, like a fog was billowing in.

“Make your way to that temple, and be His Priestess” Kyrie spoke, softly, but with the firmness of a sacred order, her face already obscured by mist, “In time, both you, and He will understand…”

A rush of wind, blew over you, and you awoke in a sweat, gasping for air in your cot. Such an intense dream, it had felt so real, but that’s what it all was, merely a dream. The question was, now that you were awake, where were you? Ah, yes… you were in a hostel in Fortuna...dying from an incurable disease and completely...broke?

To your left, glittering under the light of an oil lamp, was a golden coin, leaning against… your old coin purse? How odd, last time you had seen it, it was in that grubby hand of that guard that had cruelly ripped it away from you. And even odder, it looked like it was much fuller than before, as you hesitatingly reached out for it, your eyes widened to the size of platters as gold coins spilled out. Even before you had set out on your journey for salvation, you hadn’t had this much. You looked around rapidly, to see if there was a sign that someone had placed it there, but the only change was a single blue rose, freshly plucked, that lay on the table beside it. You swung your legs over the side of the bed, and you contemplated what it meant in the early morning stillness, your fingers caressing the velvet petals.

Taking a deep breath, you placed the coin purse on your belt, and with the help of your sturdy staff, you got up. You had a long day ahead of you. It was time to leave this island, with all of its corruption...and head…

North.

#Devil May Cry #vergil x reader #God and Goddess Au

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shianhygge-imagines · 4 years

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Silver Rose [Vergil/Reader] {Devil May Cry} Umbral Angelo

AN: I managed to finish this one in record time, and am already working on the next chapter. I’m intending the next chapter to be a bit of a dive into V and Vergil’s mentality, so it’s going to be a bit tricky to write... and a bit long. (If you take a look into my masterlist, I’ve already titled the next chapter “Bury the Light” so I’m going to try extra hard to make the next chapter worthy of the song.)

On another note: I’m probably going to start using my handwritten banner for this series from now on. I’ve noticed that gifs are rather intense for loading on certain devices/internet speed... and I’m tired of looking for appropriate gifs to use. I may end up changing the banner once I get photoshop or something >.>

If you like the content I create, please consider donating to my Ko-fi! Please help me feed my tea addiction!

|Masterlist Link| |First Chapter| |Prev. Ch.| --- |Next Ch.|

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15th June 06:03am

- V’s POV -

V watched as you raced to greet Nero with a flying tackle hug that nearly sent the one armed boy tumbling to the floor from the force of your excitement. The mortal half of Vergil couldn’t help but feel equal parts bitterness, sadness, envy, and longing as he watched you fuss over Nero with worry. As he was, V didn’t feel like he was capable of having a family. Not only was the mysterious man dying the longer he remained separated from his demonic half, but because he felt unworthy after everything that had transpired since the day his family home was burnt down. Although he longed for this, it was probably one of the biggest conflicts within him during the past few weeks with you… and one of the reasons why the days had passed with too much left unsaid.

“Nero! Light of my life! My reckless son!” You continued the embarrassing titles while straightening his jacket and hair, taking care to pat down the spots covered in rubble dust. “I’m so happy to see you! Nico did such a good job with your arm! Oh! But that last one broke-”

The demon hunter’s cheeks pinkened as his mother continued to fuss over him, “Mom,” he whined, embarrassed at the fact that a stranger like V had to bear witness to this. “It’s good to see you, too, but I’m fine. I got a spare arm here-” Nero gestures to the red colored mechanical limb attached to his hip, “-see? I’ll be fine. But enough about me, what are you doing here?”

Like mother, like son, I see. V mused with amusement when the pair of you completely ignored the dying Goliath. Shadow had stalked over to sit at your side with a content flicker of its tail while leaving his weakened master to slowly walk over. “Little wanderer…” V addressed the dying demon, raising his cane to deliver the killing blow, “hie thee home.”

Just as the massive demon faded into burning ashes, you and Nero stopped your fussing to address V’s arrival. “Well, it’s a bit of a long story, Nero.” Your grin is sheepish as you pointed at V with two hands, “Apparently, V’s been living like a hobo before he came to Devil May Cry for the job. Since he didn’t want to leave Red Grave City… and I have a house here, he kinda stayed with me the past few weeks.”

“Uh-huh.” Nero crossed his arms and leaned on one foot, his expression incredulous as blue-green eyes flickered between you and V. “You expect me to believe that your old house is still standing after over two weeks of this.” To V’s amusement, Nero nodded at the rubble and chaos that surrounded them as he finished his sentence.

Kid’s got a point. Griffon communicated telepathically as it circled the sky above their group.

You pouted and slumped over slightly, “… well, it’s not standing anymore.” You looked saddened and bitter at the loss of your home, something that V understood. It had been the home Vergil gifted you, and watching the structure of the building get torn in two had been a devastating loss to you both.

Nero grimaced and uncrossed his arms, pulling you into a comforting hug. “Shit, mom. I’m sorry.”

“It’s uh, one of the reasons why I’m here, actually.” You confessed, hugging your son back. “I’ve got business to settle with Urizen… and I’m sorry to intrude, but would it be okay to stay at the orphanage with you and Kyrie after this is all over?”

“Do you really gotta ask?” Nero smiled gently, pulling away. “Kyrie’s been begging me to ask you to come over. So, just take this as a permanent invitation, okay?” The boy’s attention diverged to V, who had settled to stand off to the side, “By the way, V… Thought I was gonna have to pick you out of his… uh… tummy teeth.”

V didn’t bother hiding the smirk that appeared on his face when you pulled away to look at the fading Goliath and promptly giggled when you realized that the dead demon did indeed have tummy teeth. “Pardon our delay.” The mysterious man holds up the collection of William Blake poems to show Nero, “I was… catching up on some reading.”

Nero’s eyes narrowed at the book, “Yeah… looks like a real page-turner.” The young man remarked dryly. In the background, V and Nero both noticed your renewed laughter at your son’s dry tone while a section of the Qliphoth Tree crumbled. “So uh… you think Dante’s still in there?” Nero asked V, the pair now watching as a path forward was cleared by the falling debris.

“If Urizen defeated him, then I expect he’s not much more than Qliphoth pollen by now.” The somber words from V’s mouth put a stop to your laughing, and while he hated when you were upset, he would rather stay honest when possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- Y/N’s POV -

You knew what a Qliphoth tree was, so you didn’t bother paying attention to V’s explanation, preferring to explore the area for anything remotely useful or valuable. Shadow followed after you, its red eyes watching your surroundings in case a demon tried to get a drop on you while away from V and Nero. “V may very well be right about Dante.” You muttered to the demon panther as you nudged a slab of concrete to the side with a foot. “But we’re also talking about Dante, here.” You smirk down at Shadow with hope, “He’s always been the lucky one out of the Sparda twins. Whether it be a winning prize popsicle, or taking on a demon overlord… Dante’s always been able to pull through…”

When you hear the distinct sound of a car smacking against slabs of stone, you turn to walk back towards your son and V, watching with barely concealed amusement at Nico’s antics. “You know, Shadow… Some days I wonder what would have happened to us if Vergil had even half the luck Dante has.” Ignoring Shadow’s questioning gaze, you wave at the trio waiting for you by the van. “Oh well, forget I mentioned.”

Once you were close enough, you plastered a carefree grin on your face, “Hey, Nico! Thanks for looking after my reckless son!”

“Wha-Hey!”

You and the aspiring legendary smith ignored Nero’s indignant cry. “Ah! Don’t mention it, Mrs. S! It’s always mah pleasure!”

“Bullshi, then why do you compl-”

“How much does he owe you for a new arm?”

“Mom! I can pa-”

“Nuh-uh, Mrs. S. Don’t worry about it.”

“D-Don’t worry about it?! What a load of-”

“Aw! You’re sweet as always, Nico!” You grin, walking around to enter the van with V in tow. “I’m looking forward to working with you!”

“Ditto, Mrs. S!”

Poor Nero looks like he’s about to have a fit from his seat inside the van. You feel slightly guilty for teasing your son in such a way, but quite frankly, you and Nico were having too much fun. To rain on your parade, when V climbs up the stairs to stand just behind you, he leans over to whisper in your ear, “Perhaps you shouldn’t tease the boy so much.”

And of course his father would be against my need to tease. You roll your eyes and sigh theatrically, “Alright, fine. I’m sorry, Nero. Please forgive your mother?” You know he already did, but you bat your lashes at him anyways for the fun of it.

Nero just shakes his head and folds his arms, “Just sit down. I don’t wanna risk you two falling and breaking something because of Nico’s shitty driving.”

You and V take a seat to the soundtrack of Nico’s indignant yelling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

15th June 06:26am

- Y/N’s POV -

“I think we should split into two groups.” V suggested as the group of you sat in the van while Nico worked in the back.

“… And cover more group. Good idea.” Nero finished, turning to leave the passenger seat.

“Three groups.” You amended, getting up to snatch the Totsuka from where you rested it. “We’re splitting into three groups to get rid of the Qliphoth roots, and I’m leaving no room for arguments.” You shot a challenging look at both Nero and V when they opened their mouths to protest.

“Wait, Mom. Are you sure about this? We could still get this done in two groups.” Nero stood up to stop you from leaving the van.

“Yes, I would rather we all play it safe as well.” V’s green eyes locked with yours, silently worried for your well-being.

Sighing, you lifted a hand to pat your son’s cheek fondly. “I’m touched that you’re both worried about me, but you both said it yourselves. We’re on a time limit if we want to stop Urizen. I have Nico’s number, okay? So if I run into any problems, I’ll make sure to call.” With that, you waved goodbye to Nico, Griffon, Nero, and V before departing from the group, jumping out of the van with a spring to your step.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

15th June 08:30am

“Maybe I should have stuck with V.” You muttered out loud, back hand-springing off the wreckage of an industrial building to land on a sturdier platform. A few moments prior, you’d been strolling rather peacefully along the city’s central boulevard… or what was left of it anyways. When you noticed a peculiar figure standing in a dead-end of the collapsed street.

Having just dealt with a few lingering red Empusa stalking the streets and destroyed a few bundles of Qliphoth roots, you were still on high alert. For a moment, you simply stared at the tall imposing figure before it clicked in your mind how familiar the shape was. The last that you had seen that figure was a dark stormy night. “Nelo Angelo?” You whispered in disbelief, yanking the Totsuka from a dying Empusa and taking a step towards the imposing figure.

Of course, the moment you stepped towards Nelo Angelo’s direction, it turned its back on you and jumped atop the rubble blocking the street, only turning to look at you briefly before walking away. You weren’t naive enough to rule out a trap considering how close you were to the main Qliphoth’s structure, but if that phantom was connected to a main root… you would have to deal with him anyways. Sheathing the Totsuka, you followed after the figure, eyes set with flames of determination ablaze.

Which led to your current predicament: scaling collapsed buildings and platforms as you followed the figure of Nelo Angelo. “Honestly, why does every incarnation of Vergil make it their life’s goal to be difficult?” You cursed when your feet made contact with another unstable platform.

The floor gave away just as Nelo Angelo stopped to turn around, your eyes connecting for a moment before you plunged into what seemed to be a tunnel made by the Qliphoth roots. When you failed to grasp ahold of something to stop the fall, you cursed and fixed your position midair. Ah shit. Stick the landing. Stick the landi- You tucked and rolled to absorb the impact from the fall, but instead bounced as you rolled, “Oof!” You grunted when your back collided with a fleshy wall.

“Oooo… ‘A’ for effort.” You huffed, out of breath as you clambered to your feet and strolled over to pick up your Totsuka.

It was… deceptively quiet in the tunnel while you regained your bearings. Red, fleshy, pulsating walls told you that you were definitely somewhere inside the Qliphoth, though probably not in its main structure… maybe you were within one of its main roots? When the walls pulsed rather violently, you grimaced and backed away from the wall, trying not to remember Dante’s comments about demons and vore. “Urgh. Too late.” You groaned, going the slightest bit green as you journeyed deeper into the tunnels.

The further down into the tunnels you went, the less light there was, until you were forced to use a smidge of demonic energy to see in the dark. You’d seen Dante and Vergil use this ability mostly for intimidation purposes, but you found that it was useful for seeing in the dark. With a simple blink, gone were your human eyes, and in their place stood slit pupils, dark sclera, and ethereal glowing light grey irises.

When light was at its minimal, a wail reached your ears from deep within, and suddenly you were sprinting down the tunnel. The closer you came to the wailing, you realized with shock that it was a baby’s cry. What’s a baby doing down here? You wondered, turning as the tunnel drifted left before skidding to a halt at the scene before you.

“That’s not…” your words stopped, caught in your throat as something tight and unpleasant clawed in your chest.

They stood before you, a family. They weren’t much more than shades… shadowy images and illusions… falsehoods… but you knew what you saw. A mother comforting the crying baby boy in her arms while the father stood by his wife’s side, helping her quiet the little one with comforting shushes and whispered words.

“Shhh, shhh, everything’s going to be okay, Nero.” The woman carefully rocked the baby boy in her arms. “Vergil, do you mind humming to him? He always did love it when you sing to him.”

The man nodded and gingerly accepted the baby from his wife’s arms. “Of course, Y/N. You should get some rest, it’s my turn to look after our son tonight.”

The woman yawned and rested her head upon her husband’s arm, watching as he began to hum a familiar lullaby to his baby son. “No, I think I’ll stay right here, Vergil.”

You watched, eyes transfixed with longing and melancholy over the scene. How you wanted this for your family. How you wished that Vergil would have stayed all those years ago. How you wished that Nero was your biological son. How you wished and wished, but your wishes never came true.

The shades before you vanished into wispy shadowy smoke before reforming into two figures and a bed. The tears that had gathered at the corners of your eyes fell as you stared in misery at the scene before you. “No. I don’t want to see this.” You sobbed even when you couldn’t tear your gaze away from the two figures involved in a passionate embrace. Your hands rose to cover your ears, not wanting to listen as a shade of your husband made love with a woman that wasn’t you.

“V-vergil! Ah! Harder!”

“Stop.” You begged, finally closing your eyes, but you could still see and hear the shades.

“Y-you said you had a wife waiting for you at home.”

“Please. Stop!” You cried, shaking your head, not wanting to hear or see any of this.

“Tell me you love me, Vergil. If you don’t care about your wife.”

“… I love you.”

“STOP!” You wailed, throwing a volatile pulse of demonic energy at the shades, banishing the scene completely until you were the only one stood in the middle of a large room filled with rubble. Huddling into a ball of misery, you wept, your hair now a dark silvery white to match the rest of your family.

“Why must you torture me?” you asked the figure stood behind you, though you didn’t rise to confront them face to face, still drowning in your woes. When the figure didn’t answer, you let out a bitter laugh, sniffling, “Figures. You never answer. I don’t even know what I didn’t file for a divorce all those stupid years ago.”

Still crying, you rose to your feet and turned to meet the eyes of Nelo Angelo, though its armor was much different than you realized. Though its eyes glowed red from within its helmet, and its body was solid, you noticed that wisps of shadow and smoke would occasionally fall off it like a fog. This entire time, I was chasing a shade… Umbral Angelo. Probably a pawn of Urizen given life by the Qliphoth. Your grief seemed so intense that it felt like you were choking, but somehow you found it in you to be angry. “Of course Urizen would find it amusing to dance all over my emotions.” You snarled, drawing your blade to point at Umbral Angelo. “So, what! Are you a puppet as well!?” You demanded, taking a menacing step forward. “Are you a puppet to Urizen like Vergil was to Mundus!?”

Umbral Angelo seemed to flinch back, as if struck, but still it didn’t answer you, opting to hold its massive blade at the ready. Gritting your teeth in frustration, you charged forward, swinging the Totsuka in an overhead strike that Umbral Angelo easily parried and countered with a backhand, sending you flying backwards even when you blocked.

“Tsk.” You clicked your tongue in annoyance as you skid backwards upon sticking the landing, “Katana versus broadsword. Really should have taken Dante up on those spars.” You couldn’t get cocky here, you decided, widening your stance and sheathing the katana once more. “I’ll let you come to me, big guy.”

The shade knight raised his broadsword with both hands in a preparation for a lunging motion, the blade glowing and ominous purple before it blinked forwards. You barely had time to switch your footwork and unsheathe the Totsuka to parry the blow to the side before Umbral Angelo was upon you again. Being much smaller than the shade knight, you dodged the incoming elbow thrust by getting in close and under his arm, thrusting the Totsuka into a crack of the armor before pulling away and creating distance.

A growl escaped the shade knight as he too jumped away to create distance. For a moment, the two of you stood at a standstill, simply observing one another from across the room. “I don’t understand you.” The statement falls out of your mouth, eyes narrowing as you run a hand through your silvery hair. “You won’t attack unless I provoke you. You won’t speak. You just stand there!” When Umbral Angelo remained silent, you threw up your arms in exasperation. “Is it the grey eyes? The silver hair? It’s probably a little darker than those of Sparda’s bloodline, but- I’m getting carried away. Answer me!”

The shade remained silent, only changing its position from one ready to attack, to one of rest, stabbing its broadsword into the ground in front of its feet.

“Fine!” The Silver Rose is drawn and its trigger pulled in the blink of an eye, the single bullet hitting the wall just next to the knight’s head.

“…s…r…gi…” Broken sounds echoed from within the confines of the shade knight’s helmet as it shifted its position once more, raising its blade to swing. “…fea…m… w…i…”

Surprised, you could only jump to avoid the wave of energy sent at you from the swing. “Wait. What did you say?”

It didn’t reply, sprinting forward in a violent horizontal swing as you bent backwards to back hand-spring away. The assault of strikes was overwhelming as you were put on the defensive, parrying and dodging while trying to get a few hits in with Totsuka and Silver Rose. There were chinks in its armor, but very little injury to his person. Now that you were closer, however, you could finally hear what Umbral Angelo was muttering.

“…use your gift… defeat me with it…” The shade knight muttered, its voice an echo of something that was once familiar, but long since a memory. “…you must… for your own sake.” It pulled back just enough to throw another downward slash at you. “…please…”

The force of the strike as you block it causes the ground under you to give away. The knight is unrelenting as you struggle to lift the blade or even parry it to the side. You didn’t want to rely on your demonic power so much, but at this rate, you were bound to be defeated by a mere phantom.

A flash of light blankets the room in searing white as you call to your demonic powers. You can feel your body absorb both the Totsuka and Silver Rose as it changes. Before the bright light can disappear, you’d practically teleported to dodge the still descending broadsword.

You grunt in annoyance when you feel your grey hair cascade down your back, having grown longer than it was in your mortal form. Like Dante, your Devil Trigger causes you to take on a draconic appearance, tough silver, grey, and black scales adorning your body in a mimic of a knight’s armor. There’s a ridge around your neck and shoulders that resembles a high collar, protecting your neck from potential damage should the need arise. Your head and face are pulled into what looks like a snout, though your mouth and eyes seem to be stuck in an eternal grin of mischief. Behind you are a set of white leathery wings and a long tail. You have little practice with your wings in tight spaces, so they are currently folded into your spine, keeping them out of the way while you make use of your tail, probably one of the only weapons you have in this form besides your fists and feet. Though describing the appendage as a simple tail would be an understatement, as it is probably more like a stinger, its point, a sharp dagger that can shoot energy beams.

“If you want me to win so badly,” your voice is a hollow echo when you activate your Devil Trigger, “Then, come at me now.”

Umbral Angelo flies at you with another lunge, but this time you dodge and summon white energy copies of the Totsuka to lay into the knight while you throw in a few jabs and kicks, mixing the barrage of attacks up by occasionally backing away so your stinger has enough room to fire a beam of energy or two.

The assault is too much for the shade knight, and it is forced to create as much distance from you as possible. It looks like it can barely lift its sword from the damage you caused. Umbral Angelo drops his broadsword and falls to its knees, weakened and defeated as you approach.

“Now, let me ask again. Why did you show me those things?” You demand, releasing your Devil Trigger to stand as mortal once more.

“To show you the truth. To show you his demons. A part of him regretted. But a part of him did not. Before you face him again, you needed to know.” Umbral Angelo forced himself to reply, though his voice was weak. “There is… one more thing. He-”

Umbral Angelo did not get the chance to finish when a sword cleaved through his chest, killing the shade instantly.

You stood, wide-eyed, your face slightly splattered with dark blood as another figure bearing Nelo Angelo’s semblance stood before you. When it didn’t attack you, you wondered briefly why it had killed its own ally. And then, you heard a distorted demonic cackle behind you.

“A pity it wasn’t even useful to defeat his old whore.”

You had no idea what the hell you were staring at. A three headed woman fused with a giant chicken fetus. Wait… whore?

“WHORE!?” You screeched, immediately activating your Devil Trigger once more to rush the cackling abomination. “I’LL SHOW YOU A WHORE YOU RAGGEDY EXHIBITIONIST!”

“Oooh! I touched a nerve!” The abomination sneered before disappearing into a portal. “Deal with her.”

Just as you’re about to close in on the backend of the retreating abomination, you’re tackled so hard that you get sent through the floor and into open air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, Thank you for reading! :D

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