Chapter Text
"Please don't! Don't take him from me!" you cry out as the order's soldiers surround you. You cradle the crying Infant close, preparing to chant a spell when one of the guards shuts your mouth to stop you. It takes about three soldiers to restrain you and another two to pry the child from your arms. "PLEASE! NOT MY NERO!" you cry out as the soldiers restraining you throw you out of the church. You bang on the door relentlessly for hours and hours on end until your hands bleed. They took your boy, your precious son. Your blood drips on the snow below as you keep punching that door, hoping they let you in. but to no avail
As you walk through the forest of Redgrave city, that painful memory repeats in your head, Nero should be... twenty about now, and it hurts to think about how you missed his entire life, what if he hates you now? What if he thinks you abandoned him? You missed everything, all his life. He only met you up until five months old, then he was taken, ripped from your arms like you meant nothing. Suddenly you hear it, that god awful growl Empusas made and then you see it. The gross, disgusting monster in front of you.
"Shit"
You throw a barrage of firebolts at it to push it back, but it only seems to anger it more. You decide to change approach and cast ice spikes to stab the monster, which seems to hold it back long enough for you to put some distance between you and the monster.
"This is what i get for not practicing my magic..."
you launch a relentless barrage of spells towards the monster, and while it seems to be slowing down, it also seems to be getting angrier.
"Jeez, why's it acting like this, is it mating season? Empusas are never alone."
Suddenly you hear a gunshot from behind you and the empusa falls to the ground.
"You know, a pretty lady like you shouldn't be in these parts of town" he speaks and helps you up.
As you look at him, you notice those striking blue eyes you had grown to love, and that white hair, but the temperament of the man before you was so much different than Vergil's and also, he didn't know you. so it couldn't possibly be him. He was too old to be Nero, so... a relative perhaps? You look up at him.
"Why was an Empusa on its own? don't they usually run around in swarms? Is it mating season or something?" you ask
"I'm surprised lady, you know a lot about demons. Yeahh they usually get crazy around this time of the year. Come with me, let's not stay out here much longer. More might show up soon."
"Yeah... you're right"
"Name's Dante by the way"
You give him your name and you two walk awkwardly in silence until he decides to break it.
"So what's your story? how do you know so much about demons?"
"Have you heard of the Order of Fortuna?"
"The ones that worship a demon as God?" he asks
"To make a very long story short... I used to be one of their witch-priestesses... Until i met a man, fell in love, we had a child, and the Order took my son away from me and banished me." you shorten your story so much it's almost not the same story.
"That's... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried" he says. "If it's any consolation, my nephew and I sort of disbanded that church"
The awkward silence ensues until you reach the store. You stare at the half dead Neon plate that reads 'Devil may Cry' and chuckle
"Your sign's broken"
"Yeahhh I'm hoping next job pays me a little better. Welp welcome to mi casa, It's not much but it's home. Make yourself at home, I'll go order some pizza.
As Dante speaks on the phone, you settle down on his couch and check your back, planning to browse through your spellbook to refresh on your spells, so you're not caught off guard next time. As you read through your spells, the door opens and a very familiar man walks through.
"Dante, I'm ho-"
He sees you and pauses. He blinks a few times in disbelief.
"Verg...?"