Chapter Text
Vergil watched as you were giggling over something on your phone. “Look what V found!” You hurried over to show him what you had just received. They were pictures of Nero while he was growing up. Most of them included Kyrie and Credo, but there was the odd one that was Nero on his own. The boy looked like he was just forced to stay still for this photo, as his eyes were looking away and he had a hint of a blush on his cheeks and he looked close to pouting. “Nero was such a cutie!”
Vergil gave a soft smile as he nodded. “Indeed, he was.” As much as he tried not to, Vergil couldn’t help but feel saddened by missing that part of his eldest child’s life. It was not by choice, and he was not even aware of his existence that time, but he wouldn’t dislike it if he could have met Nero sooner. Vergil was present during his second child’s growth –although V grew up ridiculously fast– but it still left a little hole in Vergil’s chest how he was not able to do the same for his eldest. Nero probably had a completely different childhood personality compared to V, but they might have had some similarities too. No matter how well his relationship with Nero was mended now, being what the memes called ‘deadbeat father’ was still something that the Dark Slayer would always regret. Though he wouldn’t tell anyone about that, and he probably had to confirm if he recalled the meme correctly next time he goes to your world.
“This kinda makes me miss seeing V as a child. Having a cute one running around being all clumsy,” you said, grinning mischievously.
“Don’t we have one in here already? A cute little one running around being all clumsy?” he teased, earning an arm-slap from you which he answered with a kiss on your head.
“Since V is in his max age right now, can we be a bit sly and ‘forget’ to pick him up by car and go to Fortuna by portal instead?” you suggested before sticking out your tongue.
Hearing that made Vergil smile and pull you close. “I enjoy you being cunning like this but V might not.” You looked at him with a pout he couldn’t resist, and he ended up kissing you, then saying, “Fine, I am convinced.”
You giggled and said, “I’ll just get the origami papers I promised Kyrie. She and the kids there are into paper crafts these days,” before you ran to the bedroom, leaving your phone on the couch. It was still showing young Nero’s photo, causing Vergil to smile wistfully as he took the device to put it on the table.
A few minutes later and you two were already in front of an open portal, with Vergil holding your hand as you two went in. Even with how used to portals you were now, he still preferred being this protective, and that always makes you smile.
It was supposed to be a simple thing – a portal to Nero’s house, spend some quality time with whom you call ‘Team Fortuna’ then head back home. But that wasn’t quite what happened.
Although the portal went off without a hitch, you arrived at the other side, seeing the Devil May Cry office. This had Vergil pulling you close quickly as this predicament had happened a few times now. He wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose, or pull you back into the still-open portal right away, or both, but then you caught his attention when you said, “This is the pre-DMC 1 office but…” And it got him pinching the bridge of his nose for real when you pulled away to go over to one of the shelves at the same time the portal behind you two closed.
Sighing, Vergil told himself that at least being in a Devil May Cry office means he still had his powers in here and conjuring another portal will not be a problem. “Be careful,” he reminded as he followed behind you and took from his pocket what you called his ‘Allergy Hanky’. To Vergil’s surprise, though, you didn’t sneeze, so he hurried to your side and ran his finger along the surface of the wooden shelf. It was… clean? Dante didn’t clean. “What is going on here?” he questioned aloud.
The answer came in the form of laughter. Dante came walking in, with a child on his shoulders and a woman by his side. Dante’s big head was covering the child’s face so it was the woman that Vergil’s instincts scanned first, the same time he pulled you to stand behind him. This woman was wearing almost all black with hints of red – a variation of Dante’s colors so this may be his loyal associate or mate? But what threw Vergil off was the fact that her hair was also white. Did they have a sister in this universe?
You peeked from behind Vergil and saw the little cutie jump down from Dante’s shoulders. You’d first thought maybe he was Dante and this woman’s son. You were almost in fangirling-mode, thinking that finally you had met a version of a Dante who decided to settle down and have a family, but then the boy transformed.
It was a smaller version of Nero’s Devil Trigger, but what surprised you more was what the boy said as he rushed towards Vergil, “You hurt mommy! Bad Demon!!!”
Hearing that, Dante entered his trigger as well and rushed to stand in front of the boy. “Get back, Nero.” He narrowed his orange, glowing eyes and growled. “You’ve got some nerve coming back here Verge!” He drew Rebellion, ready to attack.
The woman picked the kid up with an odd look on her face. She cocked her head to the side then moved closer, stopping when she was standing beside Dante. She then smelled the air and blinked. “Sweetheart,” she placed her hand on the red devil’s arm. “This isn’t your brother. Well, he is but not really. The smell isn’t right. And he looks quite older.”
Dante’s head turned to look at the woman. “You sure babe?” He stepped forward, his sword still out but not in a threatening manner. The red devil sniffed the air then left his trigger and put Rebellion on his back. “Okay what the hell is going on here? Who are you guys and what’re you doing in my shop?”
You watched the woman acting so motherly to the boy who turned out to be Nero, and how he responded obediently. “I think the you of this universe did something bad to these three, Vergil...” you whispered from behind your husband.
“Calm down, Nero honey. This isn’t your father.” The woman ran her empty hand through Nero’s long hair.
Nero huffed and crossed his little arms. “Not daddy…” He reached out with a spectral clawed wing and gripped Dante’s shoulder. “This is daddy!”
Witnessing that made you “Aww~” out loud, a contrast to the one in front of you.
Although Vergil couldn’t stop glancing at Nero since recognizing the child, he was clearly not impressed with what was going on. He didn’t raise his voice, though he did speak sternly, “Might I ask just what is going on here?”
The woman who held the still DT’d Nero gave a soft smile and bowed her head. “Sorry. We weren’t expecting this.” She held her hand out to Vergil but was met with dual growls from both Dante and Nero. So instead, she moved to you and offered her hand, the smile not leaving her face. “I’m Malaina Angelo. This is Nero and my mate Dante. Though I assume you know who Dante is.”
You were quite stunned but you managed to step forward and smile as you took her hand and introduced yourself. But overprotective Vergil pulled you close right away, so you had to add, while smiling sheepishly, “This Vergil is my husband.” You then glanced at Dante and added, “From the looks of it, the Vergil of this world did something nasty to you guys.” That made you frown and you noticed how Malaina mirrored the expression. You then explained, “We came through a portal, and instead of arriving to where our universe’s Nero is, we ended up here. But it’s kind of a relief since usually when we end up in the DMC office at this point in time—ah no, even in our universe, it’s always a bit dirty and dusty and it ends up with me having a sneezing fit, so thank you.” You laughed nervously, realizing how off-track you got, but Malaina smiled at this, making you realize how the two of you were kinda warming up to one another, as opposed to how the twins were still eyeing each other, looking ready to attack should any harm befall their mate.
You decided to trust your gut feeling and tugged at Vergil’s coat, making him turn his head to you though his eyes refused to leave Dante. “You look cute like that,” you let out a chuckle, “But I think they are good people, Vergil. They won’t harm us.”
Vergil eased up a little especially with his hold on the Yamato, then he said, “While ending up in other universes isn’t new to either of us, seeing this particular situation is indeed something we haven’t encountered before.”
Noticing Vergil’s shift, Malaina turned to Nero and said, “Is there something you have to say to them? You gave them a scare.”
Nero giggled and finally de-triggered, though he kept his spectral wings tucked against his back. He subconsciously rubbed his nose. “Sowwy,” he said before mispronouncing your name a little, then he turned to look at Vergil and glared before spitting out, “and fake idiot.”
“Nero!” Malaina turned a bit strict while Dante snickered, before getting smacked in the back of the head with a black feathered wing. “Ow babe, did you have to?”
“You’ve taught Nero to call … him an idiot?”
Dante gave a shrug then walked over to pull her into his arms and kiss her, not caring if you and your Vergil saw. “It’s better than other things I could call him. But little ears.”
“Yeah… little ears!” Nero repeated and giggled again before squirming to go to Dante. “Daddy… are we still gonna get to twain?”
Your eyes were wide at seeing the feathered wings though. “A demon with feathered wings?”
“No,” Malaina explained, “I’m a fallen angel. Common assumption.”
Hearing that had you squealing with excitement. In no time, you were asking Malaina for permission to touch her wings, causing Vergil to pinch the bridge of his nose. He then faced Dante and asked, “What, pray tell, has your version of me done to earn the title of ‘idiot’?”
After fangirling at the angel, you were now trying to make friends with kid Nero. He was just as cute as the one in the pictures you had seen, maybe more so since he seemed to be far more happy. Then that was when you saw something else that was different. Not only had this Nero unlocked his Devil Trigger much younger than even Vergil had, his eyes were of a different color. They were pale blue-violet.
Meanwhile, hearing the stranger Vergil ask about his version in this universe had Malaina’s eyes starting to glow red. Dante felt the change in his mate and was at her side instantly. Something that Vergil observed was something that he would do when you felt upset. It wasn’t unnoticed by you. You even elbowed him in the side and whispered, “Even in this other universe you guys are so twin-like.”
Vergil faced you with a slight smile and seeing that foolish smile you always wear whenever you point out what you call their ‘twinning moments’, he was about to get magnetized into kissing you, but he was stopped when his keen hearing picked up a whispered conversation. A moment later Malaina excused herself and went to take Nero upstairs to get cleaned up for a late lunch.
Dante then turned to face you and Vergil, the younger twin’s large, boyish grin vanishing entirely. “Your mate might not want to hear this.” His gaze flicked to you and he flashed an apologetic half smile.
You wondered what had happened if it caused such a reaction, and it got you worried instantly. Vergil looked at you, and you smiled a little before holding onto his arm, as if telling him you were choosing to stay and hear what Dante had to say. You wanted to know what had happened. It had to be something horrible if even Nero had wanted to attack his own father.