Chapter Text
"It's not my fault, I didn't want this."
"I understand that however--"
"No, don't you dare say that; I don't want to hear it."
~Thursday the 1st, June, 2023 2:58 AM~
V’s body trembled as he walked along the broken asphalt pathway, moving slower with each passing minute. The past few days had been brutal, to say the least; in hindsight, V should have taken Nero’s offer to help.
"Ugh! This ugly stick better be worth it, V. I mean, it doesn't even look cool! And what's with this stupid blanket you have me carrying around everywhere? I don't-" Griffon’s complaints were falling on deaf ears. An exasperated sigh left V’s lips, unable to argue with his feathered companion.
V hadn’t explained why he needed such a mundane-looking object or what he was planning to do with it. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if this was going to work, but he was desperate for help; no matter the cost.
A half-hour passed as they continued forwards. Upon finding a large open area, V stopped, looked around, then proceeded further into the large plateau.
Griffon laughed a bit, “Awh, what are we gonna have a pic--” V shot the bird a venomous glare, making the bird bite his tongue. The overly-large hawk set the blanket roll down and stood on the ground five or so feet behind his master; watching intently.
V stuck his cane into the ground and carefully meandered forwards five or so feet. Another sigh left his lips as he looked down in his hand at the object of his cacoethes pursuit.
It was a plain silver knife handle; its only decoration was two small knobs placed near the middle. A fluid motion of his thumb between the two nubs made two blades appear from each end. One blade of the Haladie knife was a bronze color while the opposing side was a dark-lead color. Although the metal of the blades is neither Damascus steel nor bronze; the material was a bit fickler than most, one not of the human world.
While deep in thought, V mindlessly used his tongue to play with one of his canines as he ran a finger along the auburn side. The blade had begun to show aging with minor bits of rust near the base of the blades and it was beyond dull. With a twitch of his brow and a quiet hiss, V pushed the bronze-colored blade hard into his right palm and sliced it wide open. He ran his bleeding flesh across the lead-colored side, covering it the best he could.
With this completed, V raised the knife horizontally and grasped it tightly with his still-bleeding hand. Taking a slow steady breath, he spoke in a loud commanding voice, "I call forth the son of Death; harbinger of the end times. Heed this call, by my blood shall you rise," V swiftly sliced his left wrist wide-open, a generous amount of his blood dripping down onto the dirt below, "Come forth, and serve your new master."
The air stilled as both V and Griffon waited for something to happen. After a few minutes, there still was nothing. V frowned as he stared at the blade and clicked his tongue in irritation; unsure of what he did wrong. Carefully, V tucked the now-sheathed blade into the edge of his jeans.
“Heh-” Griffon’s crass voice cut into V’s thoughts, “Real nice trick there-”
Suddenly, there was a thunderous ear-shattering crack with a large plume of a black smog-like cloud that fully enveloped V.
Griffon flew up into the air in panic with a loud squawk. Before the large blue hawk could wrap his mind around what was going on, the smog dissipated.
The avian’s golden eyes focused on the back of V’s head, who had knelt, “V what the hell was that?!”
The gothic man shook his head slightly and turned his head a little to the side, not breaking his stare down in front of him, “Blanket?”
Confused but curious as to what was going on, Griffon obeyed and grabbed the blanket off the ground, then tossed it to V. Gently, the tattooed man draped the fabric over something in front of him.
“So you gonna tell me what…” the bird rounded the corner and saw what V was looking at.
On the ground, lying face up was a ghostly pale man.
V had placed the blanket across the man’s hips and begun slowly ghosting his fingertips along the man’s sickly body. Once his digits reached his neck, he carefully fixed a necklace that was around the man’s neck; it was a silver chain with a labradorite devil’s horn charm. After it was untangled, V placed a palm on the man’s cheek and gently thumbed over his skin; resting there for a while.
“You know,” the bird chimed in, “There are easier ways to see naked men these days.”
V gave him a short half-hearted laugh, “I assure you this is no ordinary man.”
“What- Was he your prom date or somethin’?” Griffon chuckled at his own joke.
V’s brow furrowed a bit, “Not quite…”
Silence fell again, which gave Griffon time to examine the figure. The man didn’t seem much older than perhaps 40. He lacked any body or facial hair; however, there was hair atop his head that was short with a grey-ginger coloration. His face was sunken in and his ears were pointed sharply at the end. That’s when Griffon realized what he was looking at.
“You brought back a devil?!” the bird ruffled his feathers in confusion and slight panic, “V are you sure that this is a good idea? What if they are on-”
“I assure you,” V stood upwards with a small huff, “he won’t side with Urizen,” he began to wander back over to his cane.
"I don't know about this, V. This is a pretty dangerous risk to take…"
The lithe man smirked as he pulled his silvery support from its resting place, "Their help is worth that price. You should know that."
The blue hawk huffed, "What, just cause we are both demons you think I know them?"
"No," V turned to look at his feathery familiar, "You surely can feel it..?"
"I've got no idea what you're talking about there, bud," the bird looked back down at the man with a curious growl.
V raised a brow and mumbled with a shake of his head, "I wonder-"
Loud movement caught the pair's attention, turning them from the unconscious man. A fairly large horde of various demons had appeared.
Griffon flew past V remarking about how they can’t ever catch a break. The leather-clad man summoned Shadow to help the avian as he sighed. In hindsight, V should have thought about how the summoning would draw demons to them. The familiars and V finished off demon after demon; however, it seemed as if two more would appear after every one slain. The poet was much too exhausted to handle summoning Nightmare; so he could only hope that the onslaught would stop soon.
That’s when V saw an odd movement near where the summoned devil lay; however, when he looked over, all that remained was the blanket. A small smile pricked at V’s features as he moved out of the fight and called back his familars; much to Griffon’s disdain.
“V, you trying to get us killed?!” the bird squawked as he flew nearby V.
The raven-haired man smiled, “No, not today at least,” he pulled out his poetry book and began to flip through the pages in thought.
Both Shadow and Griffon watched the horde begin to fade into a crimson rain. The cause of such was something that was moving too quickly for either of them to focus on. V paid this no mind and found what he was looking for.
With a slow lick of his lips, he began to recite the poem, “ ‘And, to end thy cruel mocks,/Annihilate thee on the rocks,’,” V paused for a moment and watched as several Riot demons were tossed around as if they were nothing.
V continued, “ ‘And another form create/To be subservient to my fate.’,” the demonic horde had vanished and, unsurprisingly, the man from before stood in the midst of the carnage.
The pale devil stood with his back to V before turning his head slightly, quietly responding, “ ‘Let us agree to give up love,/And root up the Infernal Grove;’.”
V took a few steps towards the man, “ ‘Then shall we return and see/The worlds of happy Eternity.’,” he closed his book with a gentle thump and tucked it back into his clothing.
Silence fell across the area, a thick heavy dangerous silence. Then there was a quick flash of black smoke once more and the devil was gone.
“Great,” Griffon chimed in and flew over to V, “You’re only hope turned out to be a pa--”
“Only hope?” A low strained voice whispered right against the side of Griffon’s head, making the bird squawk loudly in surprise.
V turned to see what happened but found only Griffon, with Shadow following a few feet behind.
“You are familiar,” the voice now was in V’s ear.
With a small startled grunt, V turned in a circle to try and locate the devil, “I am.”
“Why?” the voice was loud now, enough for all three of them to hear.
“Show yourself first,” V frowned a bit.
Another small bout of silence fell over the group. It didn’t take long for the pale man from before to reappear, however, he had clothing on now. A smoke-grey shirt hung loosely over his frame accompanied by a pair of slate-grey sweatpants, and a set of black leather work boots.
V eyed him up and down before he spoke quietly, “You look good, Uriel,” a small smirk tugged at the lithe man’s face, “It seems time has been kind to you.”
“Who are you?” Uriel’s voice was still rough as if he had been shouting for hours on end.
“I think you know exactly who I am.”
Uriel moved his jaw to the side in thought before shaking his head, avoiding V’s eyes, “I have an idea,” he let out a huff of disbelief and looked down, “but that’s not possible.”
“Care to indulge me?”
The devil looked up and locked eyes with V’s emerald gaze, “You are reminiscent of Sparda’s firstborn; however,” he pursed his lips, “something’s not right. You’re not,” he shook his head, unsure how to explain.
V broke off from the stare first and smiled down at the ground, almost shamefully, “You are correct.”
Uriel’s expression quickly turned to a harsh frown and his tone did the same, “Then, what do you want, Vergil.”
“I need your help,” V meekly looked up, “and, please, call me V”
Uriel shook his head with a half-hearted huff, “Why on Earth would I ever help you after the shit you pulled on me, huh?”
V’s eyes drifted down again and Shadow bunted against his hand, hoping to give him some comfort, “I am sorry for what he did, truly. If it had been only me,” he sighed softly, “I never would have left.”
“Only you?” Uriel’s eyes sharpened to a squint.
“Yes, only me,” his lips turned to a thin line, “As you can tell, I am not fully the man you once knew. I am only half of--”
“You used Yamato on yourself?!” Uriel let out a loud groan and stared up at the sky for a minute, trying to keep his anger in check, “What the fuck is wrong with you! There’s not enough of you to support two living beings.”
“I know,” V looked up, “I do not have much time to return to,” he gestured with his eyes to the large Qliphoth tree in the distance and Uriel followed his gaze, “him.”
“Your other half?” Uriel sighed and put a hand out telling V to stop for a moment as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “So let me guess, you want me to help you return to your-- your devil half ?”
“Yes,” V gave him a sullen small smile, “I know that I have no right to ask you for such help after… what happened; however, I am out of options,” V sighed as Uriel returned his gaze to the gothic poet, “Dante was unable to defeat Urizen and is most likely dead.”
“Dante’s dead?” Uriel upturned his brows and placed his hands on his hips, “That’s a shock… You know, I can’t say I am upset about any of this, you two had it coming...”
V’s brows furrowed into an expression of both sadness and frustration.
Uriel sighed, “However, I can’t just let him die in vain or let you destroy the fucking human world…” he folded his arms, “I’ll help, on one condition.”
“I am listening.”
“You release me from the knife’s pact when you are able.”
“That was my plan, to begin with,” V’s mouth turned to a thin smile, “I don’t like the idea of owning another being; especially when they do not agree to it…”
Another small huff came from the devil as he stood with V for a moment.
“Uriel,” V’s voice was soft, even more so than normal, “I am sorry for how things turned out.”
“Don’t be,” Uriel gave him a flat insincere smile, “I should’ve expected things to turn out the way they did.”
A small ‘ehem’ caught both of their focus, it was from Griffon, “So, you gonna introduce us V or just act like we don’t exist?”
Before V could respond, Uriel squatted down by Griffon and gently ran his fingers along the bird’s navy feathers.
Griffon let out a low growling as he ruffled his feathers, “Oi! Stop that--”
“Why?” Uriel raised a brow as rested his icy fingers on the back of Griffon’s neck.
“Cause! I don’t like it!”
“Is that why you are purring?”
“I-”
Uriel laughed and stood back up, “I know who both of you are; my father helped create your original bodies.”
“Wait,” the bird’s body stiffened, “You’re dad?”
“Yes,” Uriel moved to squat by Shadow, placing a hand out for the cat to smell, “I know what you are thinking,” Shadow licked Uriel’s hand and allowed the devil to pet them, “However, Mundus is not my father. I rather hated that, entitled bastard…”
V laughed softly at seeing Shadow enjoying another’s touch. Uriel pet the black leopard for a while before both familiars returned to V’s tattoos.
“Now,” Uriel stood up and placed his palm out, “First things first, give me my knife.”
V grabbed the blade from his waist and placed it in Uriel’s hand.
The devil looked it over briefly before tucking the knife into the waistline of his pants, “So, V, what now?”
“We should head back to the van, there is another hunter that has been working with me and it is best that you meet him,” V began to walk back the way he came, Uriel following suit.
“Another hunter, huh? He got a name?”
“I think that it is best to let him introduce himself.”
“Alright,” Uriel sighed and looked at V who was slightly in front of him. Admittedly, Uriel wasn’t sure if he wanted to punch or hug the partial incarnation of the blue devil. The two walked in silence, allowing Uriel to mull over things; deciding if V was truly sorry and if he deserves forgiveness.
This is not 100% important; however, if you'd like to read my H/Cs about devils/demons in the Devil May Cry Universe Click here! Thanks for reading!