Author's Note: So I've been working on this story since DMC5 came out in March, and I'm excited that I'm finally far enough along to actually post it. My intentions were to explore a new saga in DMC, where Vergil has no somewhat accepted his humanity, the dysfunctional family is finally back together, and there's more powerful demons in the world than just Sparda and Mundus.

With that in mind, hope you enjoy!

Chapter One

Brothers In Hell

Vergil would never admit it, but sometimes if he let his thoughts wander too far, he could hear Griffon laughing at him.

He thought he should consider himself lucky. After everything he had gone through and done, only a moderately annoying stray voice and an ever present feeling of guilt bothered him now. Both were easy to ignore if he tried hard enough, but the empty silence of the Underworld offered many unwanted moments of reflection. Dante had once called Vergil a survivor of his own stupidity and, even though Vergil was tempted to agree, they had fought over that for many days before their duel ended in another draw.

He never told Dante how he felt, and likely never would. After all this time in their self-imposed exile, Vergil didn't even know who he was anymore. The eldest Son of Sparda, yes, except Dante looked their age and Vergil hadn't changed in twenty years. Darkslayer was a title he tried not to think about anymore, as it was a piece of himself lost in his separation from his familiars. He was a father who had abandoned his son twice. Though he tried to give himself some credit. He hadn't exactly known about Nero the first time, and staying the second time would have required sending Dante into the Underworld alone with Yamato to fix Vergil's mistake. Considering that the Yamato was all Vergil really had left that was purely his own, letting it go again - and willingly - would have been nigh impossible.

Besides, Vergil hadn't known at the time what he could have possibly done if he stayed in that other world. Nero was a grown man now, arguably even more so than Vergil himself. Twenty years in Hell had messed with him much more than he cared to admit. It was easy for him to hide his emotions in endless duels with Dante. Not so easy when faced with an actual family or undoubtedly repercussions from the few people that knew of his involvement in the Qliphoth incident.

Scared, V? You probably should be. I don't know why the world keeps giving your dumb ass second chances.

His fingers twitched as he kept his grip on Yamato to avoid swatting at the bird that didn't exist. The phantom voice wasn't exactly wrong, but he couldn't impale it like he couldn't Dante. His subconscious had been surprisingly annoying since they had returned to the Underworld. His nightmares - as Dante lovely told him numerous times - had been destroyed on Dante's way up the Qliphoth tree. When he was fighting, his mind was silent, but his duels with Dante had become increasingly more frustrating the longer they stayed here. As much as Vergil loathed to admit it, neither of them could honestly say they were the strongest of the pair. Their duels had ended in draws so often that even Dante had grown tired of it. They still spared, but Dante often wandered off to take his boredom out on whatever demons got within a mile of their makeshift shelter. Vergil had fallen back on searching for high places to where his brother couldn't find him, just to get some quiet. He had hoped he could untangle the odd mess in his brain that had yet to understand. "You're feeling normal, human emotions", Dante had said. Vergil preferred the term "mild confusion".

"Hey Verge!"

Vergil's frown deepened as Dante's voice echoed from far below him. Reliable hiding spots were becoming more sparse by the day. "Yes, Dante?" He said. There was a slight edge to his tone that he was trying to keep in check. Not for Dante's sake - Vergil found mild amusement in subtly provoking Dante in ways that he wouldn't notice until hours later - but for himself. Old Vergil snapped at everything. Old Vergil blamed Dante for everything. New Vergil…

He hadn't figured that part out yet.

"I found something I think you'd be interested in." Dante said.

"And if I say no?"

"Then I'll just have to fly up there and knock you out of that tree myself."

Sadly, Vergil knew he would do it. He was more surprised that Dante hadn't tried it already. Not in the mood to fight over another demon tree, Vergil sighed and teleported down. He smiled slightly in amusement when Dante jumped when he appeared. "Good!" Dante said as he recovered with a grin. "You're being reasonable." Vergil raised any eyebrow, but said nothing. While their time in the Underworld hadn't changed them much physically, it had taken a significant toll on Dante's clothing. Almost everything had at least a few tears in it from overuse, and his jacket and turned an ugly mix of black and red as the blood of messily killed demons splashed on it every time Dante went out. Vergil,on the other hand, had avoided bloody kills, but the wear,tear, and inevitable grime had begun to fray the edges of every piece of clothing he had. Even with a river nearby, it was impossible to feel clean, a fact that started bothering Vergil much more than he thought it should.

And to think he had once planned on living here alone.

"What is it." He said.

"Dead demons." Dante said.

Vergil blinked. "You can't be serious."

"Fresh kills, Verge. I didn't do it,and I know you've been up there moping in that tree all day.

"Even if that were true," Vergil said (he never "moped". Only "reminisced" or "pondered"). "Demons are more than capable of killing each other."

"But they were burned to a crisp."

"We're in Hell, Dante." Vergil said dryly.

"And impaled by awfully familiar swords." Vergil raised any eyebrow. "I'm serious." Dante said. "Almost all of them had these blue swords in their chest. I thought they were yours at first, but these are a lot brighter. More of a silvery blue. I tried to grab one and it shattered in my hand. I left the others for you to see."

"How thoughtful." Despite his sardonic tone, Vergil was genuinely interested. Summoning swords was always a Sparda kin thing. Even Nero had managed to create some after his trigger. But Nero wasn't here. Both of the brothers would have sensed that arrival from miles away. They hadn't fought any other demon that came even close to Sparda's power, but Vergil knew from his teenage years that they did exist. But swords like his… too oddly specific.

"You don't have another child running around do you?" Dante said as he slapped Vergil's shoulder.

Vergil scowled. "Impossible, unless Nero has a twin you don't know about."

Dante feigned a look of mock disappointment. "So only one poor soul in the universe has been graced with your charm. Impressive." A blue sword embedded into Dante's chest. The younger twin laughed heartily as he yanked it out and tossed it away. "Humor me." He said as he tapped a finger to Vergil's forehead. The elder twin glared at him. "Put all those textbooks you've got floating around in there to good use."

"I haven't read anything in twenty-five years." Vergil said somewhat bitterly. If there was anything he actually missed from the other world, that was it.

"You have photographic memory I'm sure you'll be fine." Dante waved him off dismissively as he started walking back down the path toward their makeshift camp. While Vergil rarely gave into Dante's ides, he couldn't deny that the presence of something new - demonic or otherwise - was enticing. His mind had become increasingly idle as of late, and Dante didn't provide the type of intellectual conversations Vergil needed to sustain it. His brother wasn't stupid - another fact Vergil had begrudgingly come to accept - but he didn't appreciate the same things.

"How far?

"Walking distance."

Vergil scowled. "Helpful."

"Always am!"

A distant roar stopped them both in their tracks. Vergil's eyes flickered to the sky. Many miles away, a white dot sailed across the red sky. While it was too far away to tell for certain what it was, it was descending toward them, and fast. Behind it was a horde of black, like a sentient storm cloud. Demons, he assumed, though he had never seen such a large group chase anything. Especially not as well coordinated as that. He triggered slightly, empowering his eyesight without transforming completely. The white blob came into focus. "A dragon?" Dante said in bewilderment. Vergil's trigger snapped off, surprised that Dante had done the same thing. "There's something on it." He started a brisk jog down the pathway, eyes glued on the sight above them.

Vergil refocused his vision, not following his brother. The blob, which he realized was more silver than white, was indeed a dragon. A rather normal looking creature for the demon world. Most "dragons" he had seen were deformed, covered in horns, barbs, blood or really anything else. He had never seen one with silver scales, or even one with four legs not attached to its' wings. As the demons behind it came into focus, Vergil realized they were a mixture of bats. Some black, some red, a couple of green ones. Their shrieks began echoing across the sky as two of the bats separated from the pack. The dragon dipped down, dodging them both. There was a slight flash of blue, and both bats dropped out of the sky.

"There's a person on there!" Dante shouted.

Indeed, when Vergil squinted just right, he could see something on the back of the dragon. A human? Maybe. It was impossible to tell. Though he couldn't imagine any of the demons he had Dante encountered riding a dragon. Most wouldn't be able to mount the thing, let alone stay there. As it flew down closer to them, however, Vergil knew Dante was right. A female, he assumed by the long black hair whipping around her head. Two red bats darted forward, biting down on the dragon's wings. It dropped slightly, but the woman was already moving. She snapped over the demon, slicing through it so quickly that Vergil couldn't even tell what weapon she was using. She appeared on the other side, kicking that demon off before phasing back onto the dragon's back. It swung back upwards, but clearly injured. The woman glanced back at the bats. He heard a small, pained roar from the dragon.

"Come on Verge!" Dante was running now, but Vergil's eyes were glued to the sight flying past him. Suddenly, the dragon closed its wings and plummeted. The woman, however, shot upward. She spun in mid-air to face the bats before swinging her weapon out in a horizontal arc. A blast of blue fire shot out from her, striking every bat on the way. The red bats exploded on impact, taking down the entire horde with them. The woman flipped over again as the dragon swooped back up to catch her. She landed awkwardly, but straightened herself before she fell off. The dragon kept flying away from them, but was descending rapidly. It crashed into a series of trees, and Vergil heard a panicked yelp as the woman was flung forward deeper into the forest.

He glanced at Dante whose eyes and mouth were about as wide as they could go. "Dante." He said sharply, snapping the younger twin out of his trance.

"Right let's go." Dante said, but Vergil took off before Dante had a chance to trigger.

OOOOOOOO

It was quiet at the park as Nero lay next to Kyrie on her homemade blanket. Neither had said much in the past hour, but Nero didn't mind. With all the demon killing, loud mouthed Nico, and that damn van that Nero was certain had a few screws loose, he rarely got time to relax.

"I wish we had more moments like this." He murmured as he pulled his hands up to rest behind his head. His Devil Breaker- which Nico insisted on him keeping despite his far superior human and and Devil Trigger - sat in the grass beside them.

Kyrie chuckled. "Things have gotten better." Nero glanced toward her in admiration. The sun framed her face like a golden angel, lighting her subtle makeup in a way that made her glisten. She had kept her hair down today, a rare treat as she usually had to wear a tight bun to keep the children from ripping it all out. She was even in leisure wear today - a tank top and cargo shorts gifted by Nico a few weeks ago - and looked more content than he thought she could. Without thinking, he pushed himself up and leaned in toward Kyrie. "Only took a couple of years."

She smiled back and gently kissed him. Nero caressed her cheek feeling a small flush of heat on his cheeks. They had been together so long that Nero could barely remember a life without her. Sometimes he had to remind himself how lucky he was that she had stayed. Through the fall of Fortuna's church. His demon arm appearing and subsequently being torn off. The years after he watched his only, living family plunge into the Underworld, likely forever, Kyrie had always been there. His rock in the never ending storm that was the life of Sparda's kin.

"I love you." He said. She kissed him again, no response needed. "You know, Kyrie." He said as he reached toward his coat pocket. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you…"

A loud screeching of tires interrupted them. In the distance, a brown van whipped off the main road, driving straight through a wooden bench across the grass where it had no business being. It barreled toward them as a squeal of rusted brakes echoed throughout the park. Nero grabbed Kyrie with his demon arms and leapt out of the way. The van stopped inches from their blanket, rocking slightly before rebounding back onto all four tires. "Perfect timing." Nero said with as much sarcasm as he could muster as he sat Kyrie down. If it had been just him he would have let Nico do whatever she wanted. But he would never, in a million years, trust Nico with Kyrie's life.

"If you would answer your damn phone." Nico, Nero's slightly younger business partner with curly brown hair and an attitude that Nero still couldn't ignore, looked furious.

"This was supposed to be my day off."

"We've got demon sightings downtown and I ain't got nobody to deal with it but you." She smiled at Kyrie. "Hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"Not at all." Kyrie said with a smile. There wasn't a hint of disappointment in her voice. "Go ahead, Nero." She said. "I need to start dinner anyway."

Swallowing his frustration, Nero grabbed his Devil Breaker and helped Kyrie fold the blanket. "We were going to plan the festival." He said.

"We've got a few weeks still don't worry about it." She kissed his cheek and be blushed as Nico whistled in the background. "Be safe." Kyrie said.

Honk! The van's horn startled them both. "Come on Lover Boy!" Nico said. "The faster we go the faster I'll be able to fix the Sweet…"

"Shut up." He said. Kyrie waved him off as he opened the passenger door. Nero watched her leave, hesitant to let her go. Their house was only a few blocks away, but he always worried for her. The demons hadn't shown any ability to track her down yet, but he could never be certain.

He caught his sword, Red Queen, out of the air instinctively seconds before it smacked him in the head. It took a few extra seconds to realize that Nico had thrown it. "Are you trying to take my head off?" He snapped as he strapped the sword to his back.

"Just checking your reflexes." Nico said as she put a cigarette in her mouth. "She'll be fine."

"Yeah." He said. "I know." He hopped into the van and lit it for her. As she drove away, Nero pulled the box out of his pocket and gazed at the diamond ring.

Next time. He thought. I promise.