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Nero waited outside of Devil May Cry. The door was locked. Dante failed to mention that he and Vergil were gone on a mission. He had his hands shoved inside his pockets as he leaned against the brick wall. He had nothing to do but wait, which was fine. Thanks to his father’s Yamato, the jobs were faster than before.
It had been seven weeks since they had been back from hell. Nero felt both thrilled and anxious when he had heard that his family was back in the human world. But to his disappointment, they hadn’t hung out together. Vergil and Dante got busy with going on jobs given by Morrison, and when he had swung by to visit Vergil, he would make an excuse and leave the room. Dante told him that he’s still getting used to being around people, including him. Nero was slightly hurt with the answer and a bit upset, but pretended it didn't bother him.
After waiting for thirty minutes, the swoosh sound of the Yamato echoed. Nero pushed himself away from the wall. Dante came out first, followed by Vergil, who had blood spattered on his cheeks and neck. Strange. He's usually careful when getting messy.
“You have to control yourself,” Dante chastised.
Vergil snarled, his fingers itching to attack. “Why? They were weak! They deserve no mercy!”
Nero raised an eyebrow. He had never heard Vergil sound so cruel and hostile. Yeah, he snapped sometimes but he’s mostly indifferent or distant.
Dante rolled his eyes, then halted as he locked gaze with Nero. “Kid, you’re still here?” he said, disbelief in his voice. “Thought you would’ve left.”
“Yeah right, old man.” Nero started to think they were avoiding him on purpose, because what the hell? “Why is he being aggressive?” He pointed at Vergil, who had stopped snarling at Dante and turned his attention to Nero.
Nero tensed as his father glared at him with such disdain. A look he had never seen directed towards him before. His inner demon felt the need to submit but Nero would be damned to do that with anyone, especially Vergil.
“Urizen, knock it off!” Dante barked, blocking him from Nero just in case he attempted something. Urizen hissed but retreated in the shadows of the shop's corner. His eyes never left Nero and Dante, and it was kind of creepy.
Nero blinked. “Did you say Urizen? As in the demon V merged with to become Vergil?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. I was hoping to have this conversation another time, mostly because Vergil requested it. But the cat is out of the bag.” Dante sighed. “Listen, I didn’t exactly know what the fuck was going on at first. I thought when V and Urizen became one, Vergil was back, but it’s not that simple. He’s back, but they’re all back,” he explained, and Nero still didn’t understand.
“What do you mean?”
“When we were in hell, Vergil was acting differently, and I’m not talking about being grumpy. It’s like he was someone else entirely. I questioned him and he said nothing was wrong. But as days went by, boy did I get a whiplash with his attitude. I thought to myself ‘okay, maybe this is a side effect after merging’ but big nope. The asshole has four alters in him.”
“Alters?”
“Think of identities with different personalities. Vergil is the host, the primary one. He had not been aware of the others until I pointed it out,” Dante said, staring at his brother.
“How did he not know?” Nero frowned.
“He didn’t remember anything. Vergil thought I was making it up but then he realized that his mind was louder than usual. He figured out that when he merged with his human and demon side, they became a part of him, along with others that he had suppressed memories of for decades.”
“Shit… Can we fix him?” he asked, which was a mistake.
Dante growled when Urizen pounced towards Nero, claws extending ready to rip him apart. Dante caught him before he could hurt Nero. “No!” He held him down by his waist with all his strength. “Calm down!”
“He wants us gone,” Urizen roared, slashing Dante’s forearms. Blood dripped down onto the ground.
“He doesn’t know what’s going on!” Dante shouted back. “Enough! Nothing will happen to you guys, I promise.”
Urizen stilled, then slumped in his arms. Nero almost panicked, thinking something happened to his father when suddenly he raised his head. His murderous expression was gone, revealing now a hopeful look. “Promise, brother?” he said in a soft voice.
“Of course, Verg. You know I never break them.” Dante let go of Verg, whose lips curled down as he eyed Dante’s injured arms.
“Did I do that?”
“Not you. A mean demon, but don’t worry about it. I heal quick,” Dante reassured.
“Let me see.” Verg gently grabbed his arm and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket. “We have to take care of it. Honestly, Dante, what would you do without me? You’d bleed out!”
Dante smiled at him, then turned his head towards Nero, who was speechless by the whole interaction. “This is Verg. Another alter. He’s basically eight year old Vergil. He comes out whenever something related to nostalgia is brought up. We always made promises as kids so it was probably that.”
Verg finished wiping off blood from his skin and then tied the handkerchief around it. “That should do it. Please be more careful, brother.”
Nero refrained from saying but you’re the one that did that when Dante glared at him in warning. He already fucked up, so he had to be cautious about this situation.
“I will. Do you want to read? I brought a book for you.”
“Yes!” Verg beamed.
Dante took out a book from his coat’s inner pocket and handed it to Verg. “You can sit down. I’m almost done here, okay?”
Verg nodded as he greedily opened the book. He paced towards the wall and slid down from his back with his knees crossed, reading.
Nero now understood why Dante got a whiplash, fuck, he’s getting one. “So Urizen and Verg… who else is there? You mentioned four?”
“V is there, can you believe it? And still the same bastard with his cryptic words,” Dante said, huffing.
“Really?” Nero couldn’t help but be relieved because he actually bonded with him. When he had found out he was gone, he was the one most devastated with the news. “Can I talk to him?”
“Sorry, kid. It doesn’t work like that. They come out on their own or when Vergil switches with them, which is a bit complicated.”
“How the fuck do you know so much?”
“I was in hell with him for three months. Do you really think I wouldn’t pick up on anything? And it also helped that I did a lot research when I got back to get a better understanding. Vergil was upset about his condition but after talking with his alters did he acknowledge them. They’re a part of him. They protect Vergil.”
Nero nodded. “Is that why Urizen got upset when I said can we fix him?”
Dante grimaced. “Yes. They don’t take kindly to that. You’re implying that Vergil is broken and the alters are like a disease, kiddo.”
“Oh… That explains why he wanted to kill me.” Nero felt guilty. He would make sure to apologize to Urizen. “And he would’ve if you didn't intervene.”
“Nah. Vergil would’ve forced a switch if I wasn’t here to stop Urizen. His protectiveness for you is a trigger for him to come back. He never wants to see you get hurt,” Dante stated.
Nero sighed, suddenly his head throbbed. “Who’s the last alter?”
“Nelo. He doesn’t talk much. Quiet and stoic. More so than Vergil.” There was a distant look in Dante’s eyes that seemed like they were filled with sorrow. “He’s very protective of me when we fight demons, or when I get hurt. He appeared the most during hell.”
Why did Nelo ring a bell? Then it dawned to Nero. Trish had told him what happened in Mallet Island: Dante had killed Nelo not knowing it was Vergil. He also had heard from Lady how depressed Dante had been the upcoming years after that incident. As much as he wanted to ask more, he didn’t. Nero knew Dante wouldn’t appreciate it.
“Let me get this right.” He raised his hand, counting with his fingers. “Verg, Urizen, V, and Nelo,” he started, “are all his alters who come out when certain things… trigger him?” Dante nodded approvingly. “Does Vergil come back to himself? Or do the others leave…” Nero didn’t know how to say it. The whole situation was strange, and all he wanted was his father, but now it might not be the case.
Dante squeezed his shoulder as he saw Nero's expression. “I know it’s not the reunion you wanted. It might be confusing and frustrating right now, but Vergil is here. You still have your father, Nero. But you also have other parts of him that are different individuals now.”
“That doesn’t help me,” Nero grumbled. But he had to believe in Dante that Vergil was still with them.
“It’ll get better. I was the same way.”
That’s right. Dante had Vergil for three months in hell, not knowing what the fuck was going on in the beginning.
“What triggers them? So I can be careful with that.”
“Sometimes that’s out of your control,” Dante claimed. “From what I gathered, Urizen when there’s bloodlust, sometimes even violence, or when Vergil is furious; Verg: anything relating to our childhood; Nelo: when I get hurt, maybe you as well; and V: when Vergil doesn’t know how to be or act human. Once they switch they try to act like Vergil, but you know how that goes… they’re too different. I can read my brother.”
“Why would they act like him?”
Dante groaned, as if he hated explaining this. “Okay, buckle up because I’m not saying it again. Vergil has DID, also known as Dissociative Identity Disorder. A mental health condition where a person's identity is fragmented into two or more distinct personality states, according to the books,” he clarified.
“Like a split personality?”
“Yeah no.” Dante shook his head. “That’s an outdated term and kinda offensive. Just stick with DID.”
“He developed it while V and Urizen merged together?”
Dante hummed, deep in thought. “That’s what I don’t fully know. Yeah, he developed it, but I don’t think it's recent.”
Nero’s lips turned into a thin line. “What? You’re saying he always had it and you just never knew?”
Dante glowered, then he closed his eyes. He felt himself getting annoyed with Nero’s irritation. It’s a lot to take in, and the fact that Dante had to bring up the past was not helping. “Nero, you have to understand that Vergil suffered after the fire incident when we were kids. He lost Mom and he thought he also lost me. It broke him. Possibly the trauma he went through caused his mind to detach from all the horrors he experienced, and over time new alters formed. The only reason I didn’t know was because Vergil didn’t know about it either.”
“How is that possible?” Nero scratched his head.
“His alters try to act like him so they can go on with their daily life, doing their usual routines or whatever the hell Vergil is up to. From what I understand, their main goal is to keep the host, him, safe. Vergil never really had a clue about them, though he did say that it explained a lot of blackouts when he was a teen. He had assumed it was his devil trigger or demon side taking over.”
“Damn.” His father hadn’t known about his condition. Nero wondered if he felt scared or terrified of having memory gaps spontaneously, and he knew Dante thought the same with the frown on his face. “Do you think we make it worse? Do I make it worse?” he asked in a small voice.
Dante grinned at him. “Not even close, kid. He’s happy with us. He’s himself. Vergil admitted when we had reunited at eighteen, he didn’t have blackouts for a while. Seeing me made him, for a moment, thrilled, all the horrors he encountered were nothing but a blur to him because he still had a brother out there.”
Relief washed over Nero. Because if he had been any cause of trouble for Vergil’s DID, he would’ve kept his distance, and it would’ve hurt but anything to make sure his father was alright. “I’m glad.”
“Give it time. You’ll get used to it.” He took a step back, smiling like a fool.
“Do you have a favorite?” he asked out of curiosity.
“Vergil,” he answered easily.
“He doesn’t count, dumbass.”
Dante snorted, then looked at Verg, who was still absorbed in the book he’s reading. “Him. Verg. That’s my kid brother.” He had a soft spot for him. “But honestly? I like all of them. Even though two of them are assholes.”
Nero winced. “Urizen is something, alright. He hates him. Why?”
“It’s nothing against you. Urizen doesn’t like the thought of Vergil’s son being stronger than him. Pride and all. We fought each other many times. It wasn’t after I defeated him that he finally listened to me. Still a dick, though.”
“No wonder he obeyed you,” Nero mumbled.
Dante, who hadn’t looked away from Verg, noticed him shifting. He nudged Nero’s arm. “He’s switching, look.”
Nero’s eyes landed on his father. He straightened his back, blinked, then stared at the book in his hands, confused. Nero knew that had to be a pain in the ass. Like taking a nap and waking in another place, not knowing how you got there.
Dante chuckled. “Hey, Vergil!” he called. It’s crazy Dante could tell who was who. Nero wasn’t able to tell just by that. He would need more.
Vergil snapped his head towards them, then he frowned. He climbed to his feet after closing the book. He fixed his hair when he saw that some bangs were on his forehead. “What happened?”
“Urizen made an appearance.”
Vergil’s jaw clenched. “Did he cause trouble?” He faced Nero, knowing Dante wouldn’t tell him the whole truth.
“He was intense,” was all Nero said.
Vergil narrowed his eyes at him, prompting Dante to add, “Don’t worry. I handle him. Nothing too bad.”
He heaved a sigh of relief. “Good. He can be overwhelming.”
“Sounds like someone I know,” Dante joked.
Vergil scoffed, then smacked him on top of the head with the book. “Did I scare you, Nero?” He didn’t want his son hating him for the condition he had. It’s the reason he avoided him, to spare him from all this, but he should’ve known better. At least Dante helped Nero with it, something Vergil was grateful for.
Nero shook his head. “Not really. Caught me off guard, but Dante explained everything to me. I get it now.” Vergil looked almost ashamed, but he shouldn’t be. “Just know that I’m here for you, Dad. We’re family.”
Dante beamed and shook Vergil’s shoulder. “Hear that, Vergil? Family!” Vergil’s eyes widened, then stilled. Dante cussed. “Oh c’mon! Seriously, this is too much for you?”
“What happened?” Nero looked back and forth between them, bewildered. Did he say something wrong?
Then Vergil relaxed and softly smiled at Nero, which was jarring to witness. “Hello, Nero. Nice to meet you again.”
Nero stared, then he recalled what Dante said about—someone—another trigger for Vergil when he didn’t know how to be or act human, he gasped as he exclaimed, “V!”