You Know Me Through The Years

Gift of the Erinyes

They must have been fighting for eons now. The Erinyes were holding back, otherwise both Dante and Vergil would have been hanging from the tree like the other dead demons. There had to be a reason and Dante was getting tired of being played with. He was back to back with Vergil now. Both of them breathing heavy as they had exhausted themselves on every front.

They could not go on much longer without allowing their bodies to recover. Dante could only take so much and he was sure Vergil was close behind him on giving in. They had gone on this long, but the sweet embrace of mind numbing sleep deprivation was catching up to the both of them.

"I think... this is how we are going to finally die..." Dante forced out between breaths as he leaned against his sword for support. "These girls... are tough bitches..."

"They aren't taking it easy on us." Vergil was the calm one who could control his own breathing, even when he was just as exhausted. Their bodies had been put through the ringer and they were not as young as they were. "Even if they don't intend to kill us."

"I really want to... lay down and sleep right now." He knew he could not do so, but maybe that is what the two goddess-like beings were hoping for.

Dante was sure he was about to fall down as Marcaria watched him from her position floating above them. She and her sister were waiting for the moment the two brothers would collapse. Dante knew it. He maybe had an ounce of demonic power left in him to take on another blow, but that was going to be his end.

"Stay awake, Dante." For the first time since they were kids, Vergil had shown some form of concern as Dante began to sag against his brother's back.

"No, can do." Dante was barely awake when Marcaria attacked, throwing both brother's into the trees around them. Vergil had barely had time to recover when Aleckto had him pinned. Her spear going through his torso. The pain he felt was nothing he had ever felt before as he realized his well of power had run dry.

He locked eyes with Aleckto once again. She was not remorseful in the slightest.

'Do you want to know the truth, son of Sparda?'

The ageless voice of Aleckto spoke to him as he grabbed on to the spear. Yamato had been thrown across the way, so he was separated from the one thing that helped him focus what power he had left.

'The end will come. The Darkness will once again come to claim all worlds.' He looked up at the Erinyes. 'When it does, will you be there to embrace it, or deny it?' Her voice in his mind held precedent over any pain he felt in that moment. When he looked over to his brother, he saw Dante in the same position.

'You're answer will determine your fate.'

His fate? Or his brother's? How much had he sacrificed for power only to have his freedom ripped away from him under the enslavement of Mundus? He had sacrificed everything, including his brother to become stronger than Sparda. Now, he was about to die.

His thoughts turned to Nero. The son he had never known about with the woman who he had abandoned for the very strength he held now. The woman who had been on his mind since he looked at Nero for the first time. She gave him a son. A son who was going to suffer with everyone else in the end if he did not come to terms. That fact alone frightened him for the first time since he was left alone to die.

"I... will... deny." Then suddenly he was in darkness.

"Vergil!" Dante's voice. It was muffled as Vergil took in a breath. "Vergil!" His name was becoming clearer as the world around him became brighter. He squeezed his hands only to feel Yamato securely in his left hand. When he opened his eyes, he had felt as though he had been in the deepest sleep he had ever experienced. "Hey, Verge. You good?" Dantes form was hovering over him. Then he noticed sunlight from the corner of his eye.

"We're back." The warmth of the afternoon sun on his face made him realize he was not only alive, but he was not in the Underworld.

"Yeah. We're back, Brother." Dante put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "I don't know how, but we are." The younger twin stood up and held out his hand. "Come on. We've got to get home." Vergil laid there for a moment before grabbing on to his brother's arm and allowing Dante to pull him up.

They both stood there looking at the sunset on the ocean. There were no words to say between them, but the fact they had likely made a deal they could not go back on, hung heavy in between them. Now, the two of them had to find out where they were.