Love and War: Male Reader (DMC Vergil) x Raven Branwen

Chapter XIV: Our Daughter

(F/N) stumbled backwards, as if Raven's words had physically pushed him. His face, just moments ago contorted into an angry scowl, was now the picture of surprise, his mouth agape and brow furrowed in confusion.

"What?" He asked, voice barely audible. "What do you mean she's my... no. No, you're lying." He said, shaking his head.

"I'm not." Raven insisted. "Yang is your daughter. Our daughter."

"Stop. Just stop!" (F/N) yelled. "Yang isn't my daughter. She can't be."

"She is."

"You're lying." He said again.

"Think about it, (F/N)." Raven said.

Turning around, he walked over to the cave wall, placing both hands on the smooth stone as he struggled to come to terms with what Raven was telling him. She had Raven's features. This much was obvious. From the moment he first saw her he knew. And her hair. Golden blonde, much like his mother's. But still, it was impossible. It simple couldn't be true. How old was Yang? She had mentioned something about starting Beacon next year, so sixteen. And the last time he and Raven had met. Seventeen years ago. In the very cave in which he stood.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He whispered.

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" He repeated louder, punching the wall so hard it cracked. "We have a daughter." He said, turning to face her. "We have a daughter and you didn't think it was important enough to tell me?"

"I knew how you would react." Raven said coolly.

"And how's that?"

"Exactly how you're reacting now." She said. "Don't try to hide it. I can see it in your eyes."

"See what?"

"The hope." She spat. "The naïve thought that just because we have a daughter it must mean there's something more."

"Of course, there is!" (F/N) said. "Don't you see? Our daughter, she's... she's living proof of our love..."

"No!" Raven interrupted. "She's not! All she is, is a constant reminder of what we can't have. And I knew the moment you found out about her you'd just start chasing that dream again."

"So you just abandoned her?" (F/N) asked incredulously.

"I didn't abandon her." Raven said defensively. "I left her with Tai and Summer."

"And that makes it right?" He asked. "Yang has never known her mother. And she's spent her entire life searching for you."

"We both know she was better off without me."

"You could have at least tried to raise her."

"Well I'm sorry, but I trusted Tai and Summer more than I trusted myself. There was no way I could raise Yang within the clan."

"Then you should have told me!" (F/N) shouted. "I would have gladly taken her in."

"She would have been no better with you."

"I had a right to know!" He yelled angrily.

"I did what I had to." Raven said. "To protect our daughter. Admit it. You know as well as I that if either one of us had raised Yang there was a very real chance, she wouldn't be alive today. The path we walk. There's no way we could have protected her, her entire life."

(F/N) crossed his arms. "Who were you really trying to protect?" He asked spitefully. "Yang? Or Yourself? I think you gave her to Tai because you knew that you would have left the clan in a heartbeat for Yang."

"(F/N)." Raven said warningly.

"And I think that's the same reason you never told me. Even after all these years. Because you'd still leave your people for your real family."

"The clan is my family." Raven argued.

"No, we are!" (F/N) shouted. "Yang and I! And you just... you threw it all away!" (F/N) ran his hands through his hair, breathing heavily. "I just... I can't believe you. I can't believe you would do this."

Both were silent for several minutes. Over the noise of their conversation neither had noticed the heavy footfalls had grown fainter, eventually disappearing completely. But now, (F/N) noticed. He grabbed his sword from against the wall and attached it to his hip. Without so much as looking at Raven, he made his way towards the fissure that led back outside.

"Where are you going?" Raven asked.

"To do what you wouldn't." He said. "To be with our daughter."

___________________________________________________________

One of the watchmen posted at the entrance to his camp ran inside when he saw him approaching from the tree line. By the time (F/N) reached the large wooden doors separating his encampment from the outside they swung inwards for him, Alastair waiting for him on the other side.

"My lord." Urdin said with a bow. "We were beginning to worry. Are you alright? Do you require medical attention?"

(F/N) silenced him with a raise of his hand, paying him no mind as he walked past him. Celine and Bezalel both approached him as he walked through the camp, keeping pace with him as they tried to speak with him. When it became evident their words were falling upon deaf ears, they slowed down, coming to a stop as they watched The Head of the Demons with a confused look.

He made his way through Alastair's section of camp, making his way for Yang's quarters. He didn't have to travel the entire way though, as he found the young girl at the forge, sitting on the countertop as she talked with the grizzled forge master. The rest of the world seemed to be lost in a blur, Yang the only thing in clear focus. He watched with a newfound sense of protectiveness as she laughed at something Faust had said. Such a strange sensation he was overcome by. And such an interesting turn of fate that she had found her way to him.

At first, she was nothing more than an afterthought. A foolish child coming to him in hopes of finding answers. But she quickly became someone of interest when he found her curled up outside his tent the next morning. Had some part of him known even then? She proved to be a hard worker. An asset, even. She saved his life and he had rewarded her with his trust and a portion of his power. And he realized, even before he knew, some part of him had begun to see her as his own.

He took a step forward, about to approach her, when his path was blocked by Alastair.

"My lord." He said. "I apologize, but there are pressing matters that demand your immediate attention."

"Later." (F/N) said, about to walk around him.

"I'm afraid," Alastair said, sidestepping to block him once more, "that this cannot wait. The council has already been assembled. We await your leadership."

(F/N) scowled, looking at his right hand warningly. But Alastair did not back down. Growling in frustration, (F/N) turned away from his daughter, the tails of his blue coat flapping in the air as he marched off towards his tent.