Chapter Text
There is something special about being a demon hunter. Sometimes you have to deal with cursed dolls. Sometimes - with the freaking Emperors of Hell, who have made their goal to make lives of your family as miserable as it’s possible. And sometimes the little gig of eliminating the insignificant, but annoyingly elusive and mysterious demon throws into your settled and more or less happy life such a dirty trick as time travel.
This is what runs through the mind of 24-year-old demon hunter Nero, while he is sitting on a bench in the cathedral, watching Kyrie sing the last verses of the hymn. His body is filled with extersion from running; his right arm, clamped in a sling, throbs unpleasantly; too long strands of hair gets into his eyes. All these minor problems could be overlooked, but they form one, much, much more important - namely, the indisputable fact that the body in which his consciousness is resides belongs to the 17-year-old Nero. And there is no way to return back to his future. And also, he has about 5 minutes before Dante’s arrival and the official beginning of one of the worst days of his life.
Still, being a demon hunter has its perks. For example, it teaches you not only to accept the most absurd circumstances, but also to think quickly how to use them to your advantage. And this is why Nero quickly pushes aside the part of him that wants to grab his head and wallow in shock and self-pity, pulls himself together and prepares to act. His plan is simple, straightforward and concise:
Fuck it all, he'll save everyone he can.
Nero's gaze sweeps around the cathedral, searching for familiar faces. Kyrie (familiar, beautiful face, but younger by six years. God, what will she say when she finds out? ..). Credo (Alive. And with the same stupid goatee). Sanctus (ok, this one will be the exception to Nero's rescue mission). Julio's parents. Old man who lives in the house across from them. Orphanage headmistress. So many people whose lives have been twisted and destroyed by a bunch of old bastards with a God complex.
Maybe for someone an unexpected return to the past will seem like the end of his world, but he, Nero Sparda, is going to treat this as an opportunity, not a failure. Even if his life turned out well in the future, it was not the happiest time for many people. And for him... The past six years, of course, contained quite important events (including two Apocalypses. Well. He is just about to prevent one of them...), but for the most part, it was the usual daily life of a demon hunter. Nothing to miss too much and nothing he cannot relive again.
The only thing Nero really cares about is his family. But the things are, there is no reason why this time he would lose even the part of it.
After finishing her song, Kyrie approaches him, and one look at her is enough for him to understand: six years of difference or not, he loves her the same; and just like that, Nero somehow understands that she will accept him as she accepted him the demonic hand back then (now?). Everything will be fine. He will get his well-deserved happy ending. In fact, it only can become better because there’s just no way he’s going to let Credo die this time.
As for his other family... getting rid of them would be no easier than getting rid of the blood flowing in his veins. The only difference is that he won't be a lost puppy this time, left in dark for five years.
In fact, it's probably will be better to set things straight from the start.
The familiar feeling begins to pulsate in right arm, and Nero whispers to Kyrie to go to safety when things will go down and, no matter what happens, believe him. He will explain everything later.
(To be honest, he is scared shitless saying this. Despite all his inner persuasions, some petty voice in his head buzzles that Kyrie will reject him, or see a stranger under the familiar face, or...
Kyrie looks into his eyes. And, it seems, reads something in them that is impenetrable to Nero himself, because she nods with a serious expression on her face.)
Sanctus announces the prayer, and Nero knows that the beginning of the main action has come. He knows he can't protect Kyrie from everything. Over the next few minutes, her world will shatter in pieces - figuratively and literally - and she will become a witness to the real carnage. And he knows that in the light of everything, his words and actions will look even more suspicious . But he believes in Kyrie. And damn, but Nero will do everything to ensure that today, there won't be more heartbreaks waiting for her.
The glass roof of the cathedral shatters. The scarlet-clad figure jumps down and quickly, before anyone has time to react, pulls the trigger. A bang echoes, startling praying people around.
"Believe me," Nero pleads for the last time, gently pushes Kyrie to the exit and, pulling out a Blue Rose in a jump, shoots at the red figure, attracting attention to himself. Already immersed in a desperate dance of parries and dodges, he hears the shout of Credo, promising to bring help. After that, the sound of footsteps carrying away both Kyrie and the (not quite) lifeless body of Sanctus. The latter is a circumstance not to their advantage, but Nero lets it be for time being. Now, he has more important things to do.
Through the aim of the revolver, he looks at the man in front of him, mirroring his pose. Red coat, cowboy boots, elegant hairstyle (he somehow forgot that an old man was able not to look like a hobo). A face with age lines a little less pronounced than he remembers. Ice blue eyes. Six years ago, he saw in them only the emotionless placidity of a psychopath and mockery. Now, knowing what is hiding behind the mask, he sees shock, and disbelief, and timid hope.
Nero twitches the corner of his mouth.
"Well, nice to meet you, Uncle," he says.
***
In the end, things don't go completely smoothly. Sanctus manages to come to life and, although the main Gates of Hell stay sealed, old acquaintances like Echidna, Berial and co. manage to get out of the small ones. But in general, the city remains safe, and not a single hair falls from Kyrie's head – for most part because Nero, without waiting for her to be used as bait, pays a visit to His Assholiness himself, while Dante deals with the demons..
(But before that, he still takes a time to travels to the Fortuna's castle. Yamato shards are still suspended in the air in that container. Reaching with his hand, Nero hears her voice calling to his blood.
Can you hear it, the cry of a soul?
What it's saying?
Power. To protect what’s mine.
A bright flash pierces his entire being - and Yamato, whole and complete, shines is in his hand. And while, sadly, he still doesn't have access to his Devil Trigger, the simple touch of the sword fills him with energy.)
Credo... talking to him turns out to be more difficult than Nero would like. The six years since the death of the Order’s General and the pain that his loss brought smoothed over the sharp edges in memories and overshadowed the fact that, until his last sudden reversal, the Creed fully supported the Order in all its unclean endeavors. Besides, Nero had forgotten how stubborn this pig-headed idiot could be. When the Glorious New World of Sanctus demanded Kyrie's life, Credo opposed it, but before that, he was completely fine with turning a blind eye to other sacrifices for the greater good.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow for Nero: the man whom he always looked up to is not at all a harmless lamb who did never anything wrong. On the other hand, it’s nothing new and Nero has long learned that all doubts and insecurities caused by this idiotic duality can be dispelled by a pair of simple questions: do you care about him? Do you want him to live?
He cares and he wants, and so he punches Credo's transformed face with all his might, throws him to the ground and in a few terse sentences explains what the path chosen by the General will lead to. Nero talks about the hundreds of lives destroyed, about the ruined city, which hasn’t been fully restored after six full years, and about the fact that, damn it, losing the Credo once was painful enough for him and Kyrie, and Nero is not going to go through this shit again.
Cradling the broken cheekbone, Credo looks at him with wide-open eyes and makes no attempt to get up from the ground. Nero leaves him to his devices and goes to deal with Sanctus.
The result? Flimsy and sloppy, but the world is saved a little quicker this time. Not bad for a such whipped up plan. And, looking at the sun leaning to the west over the uneasy, but delightfully intact Fortuna, Nero feels that he could not ask for more.
Of course, it's not that simple. After the adrenaline subsides and the need to immediately rush somewhere else disappears, it's time for explanations. Having gathered around him people whom he considers his family, he once again and without haste tells them about his own... delicate circumstances.
Surprisingly, it's going better than one would think. Perhaps his today's stunts looked convincing enough. Perhaps time travel looks rather pale against confessions that "yes, I am Dante's nephew and, in consequence, Sparda's grandson, whom we worship here as a god and who really was a demon who sided with people, so his descendants inherited his power by blood (not unlike some "angelic powers", Credo, which, by the way, have nothing to do with angels. And we're the same age now so don't try to brush me off with 'you grow up - you'll see' bullshit). And, yes, Dante, I know about everything, so there's no need to hide it, capisce?".
The biggest and most prevalent fear dissipates when Kyrie - listening to his confused explanations that, despite everything, his feelings for her have not changed, but he will fully understand if she needs time to think, - interrupts him with a single word:
"Nero."
He looks up. Her hand, warm and light, rests on his cheek.
"The one I see in front of me has not changed. This is a man who is willing to give his life to protect others, and he is more humane than anyone I know."
And that's enough. Squeezing her in his arms, Nero can only think about, God, how much he loves this miraculous woman. And the only thing he regrets right now is that he only has two arms to wrap around her.
And with the others... it's not completely fine, but it's ok, for the most part. Credo still clearly is still adjusting, but Nero also needs time to adjust to the idea that Credo is alive. In any case, the fire in the eyes of the former (?) the General is already starting to rekindle, and his voice, when he speaks about the crimes of the Order and the need to correct them, is filled with sincere regret and determination.
Dante... the old man was definitely not yet swallowed everything that has fallen on him in one short day. Dante hasn’t fully swallowed the shock yet, but hey, there’s not so much difference between “a man just found out he’s not the last in his family” and “his nephew added that he knows the future and that they run a family business together”! He will get over it eventually. Nero is going to get his «Devil May Cry» sign anyway.
Everything is just excellent.
Really.
Except…
When the first wave of ecstasy passes, Nero realizes that, there still is one person he may lose.
Vergil.
Because if Nero prevented the Savior’s incident, then he should prevent the Qliphoth’s as well. Too many people have died to do otherwise. But… without separation and V’s experience, will Vergil accept his humanity? His son? Will he even survive? Is there a way to restore his crumbling body without the Qliphoth fruit?
Saving all these people, will Nero doom his chance to reconnect with his father? And will he doom Vergil’s chance to remember how to be a proper living being?
These thoughts are… painful. Especially when Nero learns that the guilt-ridden Credo has taken it upon himself to ensure that the evil deeds of the Order continue no more. And, for the start, he completely destroyed Agnus’ laboratory.
And now, Nero looks at the shattered container, at the bottom of which a strange black mass is slowly dissipating. Yamato is completely silent at his side. There is not even an echo of response. Not even a small flicker.
All he can think about is: “Ah. This is how Dante felt.”
The road to home is a little blurry. In the doors, Kyrie takes one look at him and, leaving cooking, rushes to his side. Nero lets her lead him into the room and sits on the bed while she puts her arm around his shoulders. After a few minutes of silence, she quietly asks what happened.
Nero shakes his head.
"Nothing," and this's true, and that's the worst part. "Just... lost-" -never obtained- "-something important."
He falls asleep to her voice, humming a melody familiar from his childhood and the feeling of rain on his face.
(He comes to the place a few more times after, and stays there for a while, listening to the silence and memories in his head. But there are no changes, and weekly visits become monthly, and then, after a year, he stops coming completely.)
Good thing that he never told Dante about Vergil. There was too little time, and the topic seemed too delicate. As far as this Dante knows, in the future, he himself told Nero about their relationship (and this is truth, isn’t it?). And it will stay that way. Because Dante already has too much on his plate, and there’s no way Nero will tell him that his brother was alive and died just before they all had a chance to become a family again.
Just because Nero didn’t think things through.
(He’ll let Dante understand that Nero knows about Nelo Angelo’s death, though. And that Nero doesn’t blame Dante for this. It’s the least he can do for the old man.)
After that, life… goes on. This is not an exact copy of his old life, of course. Somehow, the prevented apocalypse in Fortuna turned out to be a strong enough flapping of butterfly wings so that the missions that Nero receives do not repeat those that he remembered from his old life. Maybe, it’s for the better. Still, the new «Devil May Cry» branch is nicely established in Fortuna.
Somehow, the prevented apocalypse in Fortuna turned out to be a strong enough flapping of butterfly wings so that the missions that Nero receives do not repeat those that he remembered from his old life. and he continues to work in partnership with Dante, Trish and Lady. Somehow, the period of awkward adjustment is practically nonexistent this time, and already soon they are working together like a well-oiled machine and swearing and joking, almost exactly like before.
(Almost, but not quite. Several links are still lost, and Nero does not know how many of them will be able to recover)
Kyrie is beautiful and incredible as always. Their supposed difference of six years, he soon realizes, does not matter at all, because this woman's delicate wisdom knows no equal. Somehow she sees right through Nero. The only change is the little game of them where Nero talks about how things faired in another time (timeline?). With someone else, it might sound awkward and evoke weird existential questions like "you now and you then are the same person" or even "which one of us do you love more", but not with her. Kyrie is Kyrie and that's all there is to know. And, telling her about the memories he keeps, Nero does not compare her with some other person, but simply helps to expand their world, bridging the small gaps between them and making it more complete.
This time, the orphanage was not destroyed, and Julio's parents and Carlo's mother didn't die in the clutches of demons. And yet, there are always those who are in need, and the orphanage cannot accommodate everyone, and so soon, their house is again filled with children's laughter and noise, and Nero, meeting familiar faces on the street, can only wish them a better, happy future. In fact, the only problem is Credo, who surprisingly easily comes to terms with the arbitrariness that Nero and Kyrie make in his (legally) house, but from a certain point begins to hint extremely persistently that, when it comes to his dear baby sister, the formal proposal and procedure must take place and…
(Kyrie finds this hilarious, but another one of such tirades leaves Nero holding his head in his hands and groaning quietly. He is not opposed to the idea, at all. And, since Kyrie already knows everything and does not mind, they might as well tie the knot early. But... that might be stupid, but... "Before", there was a certain someone present at their wedding, and some part of Nero still wants to try and wait for him. The idiot's face was too stupid not to show it to public this time too.)
Credo… He does make a difference. This time, neither the Fortune society nor the Order were completely destroyed, and the latter still has a lot of bad legacy. Credo struggles to transform it into something better. It’s a huge load of shit to do, and the poor guy is completely overwhelmed. He is strict, snappy and gets almost zero sleep. Nero is glad to have him at his side.
(In the future, he compared the personalities of Vergil and Credo and came to the conclusion that, for all their similarities, Vergil cannot replace Credo. Now… Apparently, Credo is not able to replace Vergil either.)
One year. Two. Three. Five. Nico’s here, fixing his van again. Perhaps they should prepare for the appearance of the Qliphoth. There is no Urizen this time, but doesn’t the demonic tree grow every 1000 years anyway?
On April 30th, Nero spends all day in the garage. But the sun comes and goes, and no one shows up at the entrance.
He tells himself not to be disappointed. He already knew. Still, something clearly shows on his face, because at dinner - as usual, made with an abundance - Kyrie squeezed his hand reassuringly. Nero manages a weak smile.
But the van still needs fixing, so he spends the whole next day there again. And the next. And the next.
On the 3rd of May, footsteps are heard, and a dirty, ragged figure staggers into the garage.
It may sound a bit masochistic, but never before has the feeling that his arm was almost ripped off made Nero happier.
(Of course, this is not the end. First, he has to convince Credo not to kill their demonic, aggressive attacker. Then he needs to tell Dante about Vergil and convince his uncle not to kill his father – because heck, Dante didn’t get his character development yet either…
And then, there is Vergil. He has to make sure the old asshole won’t kill anyone here, himself including.
He is almost tempted to give Yamato to Vergil deliberately and, with a small company, follow him into the mansion. He wants to see the look on V’s face when Dante will wipe the floors with Urizen in five minutes after the separation. And, after that… Maybe they could keep Urizen imprisoned and feed him with some demonic steroids while introducing V to the wonders of normal human life? And then let these two merge?
Questions, questions… one thing is clear: it’s not going to be easy.
But, this is not the end. And that’s the best thing Nero could ask for.)