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“You’re leaving?”
Dad turns back, seeing his two sons behind him. He smiles.
“Just for a bit,” he assures, bending down to kneel in front of them. “I’ll be back. I just have to go take care of something.” He puts a hand on each of their heads. “You won’t even know I was gone.”
“Of course,” Vergil agrees. “Have a pleasant trip, Father.”
Snorting at Vergil’s attempt to act mature, Dad ruffles his hair, chuckling further at Vergil’s annoyed huff.
“You promise?” Dante speaks up, eyes big.
Dad pulls his hand off Dante’s head and extends his pinky to him. “I promise. And if I don’t, stick a needle in my eye.”
Dante giggles. “Okay! But you gotta take the glass thingy off first!”
“It’s called a ‘monocle,’” Vergil rolls his eyes.
“’Called a monocle,’” Dante mocks.
Vergil means to grab for him but Mom gets him first.
“Don’t antagonize your brother because he likes to learn different things,” she tells Dante. Before Vergil can bask in being the winner, she sets her sights on him. “And violence isn’t the answer to an argument, even if you’re a child.”
“Listen to your mother,” Dad chuckles. “Honestly, I’m pretty sure I’ll be in less danger than you two.”
“Shut up,” she tells him, without any real heat. “Now,” she sets Vergil down and joins her husband in kneeling. “We don’t want your father to leave seeing us all upset; tell each sorry.”
Dante groans. “Seriously?”
“He was the instigator,” Vergil argues.
“Now.”
Both boys sigh and face each other.
“I’m sorry Verge,” Dante begins.
Vergil still looks stuck-up but gives in after a few seconds of Mom and Dad looking. “I’m sorry too.”
Mom giggles. “There! Now your father can leave on a happy note.” She lifts her head up to give her husband a kiss. “Come back safe.”
“Do I ever not?” He raises a brow, playfully.
She swats at him. “Say goodbye boys.”
“Goodbye Father,” Vergil tells him as Dante says, “Bye Dad!”
“Goodbye,” Dad says, getting up. “I’ll tell you everything when I get back.”
He never comes back.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
It’s so loud.
Where’s Vergil?
Mom rushes and sticks him in the closet.
“You need to hide Dante.” She tells him. “No matter what happens, you musn’t leave.”
What?
“I need to find Vergil. I promise I’ll be back.”
No, no! It’s not safe out there! He wants to tell her, but he can’t get anything out.
“I know this is hard. You must listen to me. Be a big boy…a man, huh?”
He doesn’t want to be a man, he doesn’t want Mom to leave!
He wants the demons to go, not her!
He wants Dad to come back, Dad can save them.
“If I don’t return, you must run. By yourself, alone.”
No, no, no.
“You must change your name. Forget your past and start a new life as someone else.”
Mom, please, no.
“A new beginning.”
He doesn’t want to go.
Mom shuts the doors and runs out.
“Vergil?! Where are you, Vergil!?” He hears her call out.
He wants to yell for her to come back.
He can’t.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!”
Mom’s scream of terror is the last thing he hears come from her.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Why? Why Grue?
He didn’t deserve this, no.
Who’s gonna look after the kids?
Tony can’t do it, Tony’s still basically a kid!
It isn’t fair!
And now Jessica…
Why? Why is everyone leaving?!
The demons…The demons, they already took…
Tony’s mom. They took Tony’s mom.
And now they took Grue and Jessica.
…He should have gone with him.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Again. It happened again.
Nell’s gone.
Just because she helped him.
That’s the reoccurring factor, huh? Him.
Him.
Dante.
The one who always gets left out while everyone else gets slaughtered.
Killed, just for knowing him.
Just for caring about him.
…
At least he can get even for her.
Maybe he can do the same for Mom one day.
No time to think about that.
He clicks Nell’s last gifts.
He sure as hell isn’t going to waste them.
…He’d rather have her.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
…Vergil’s gone.
He picked Hell over his own brother.
The spiteful part of his brain would usually kick in around now, say Vergil got what he deserved. Say he was gonna go there anyway after what he did.
It wouldn’t be wrong.
But it’s not here.
The only thing going through his head is Vergil’s gone.
Vergil picked Hell over you.
You couldn’t stop him.
You couldn’t make him stay.
…
…Whatever it is he wants down there, Dante hopes it’s worth it.
He apparently wasn’t.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
“I’m leaving,” Trish says, grabbing her bag.
“Alright,” Dante groans, adjusting himself in his chair. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
She stops, then turns around.
“Yeah?” Dante says.
Just go.
Nothing new.
She walks over to him. “I can go,” she tells him.
“Yup.” He answers.
“You taught me I could.”
“Wouldn’t say that,” Dante shrugs.
Just go out the door…
A hand slips onto his cheek, lifting his face to look at hers.
“I need time,” she says. “Time to figure things out. There’s so much I don’t know. And you being a sad sack isn’t helping.”
“Not very nice,” he gets out.
Something…he doesn’t know is in her eyes.
“I’ll help you one day,” she says, “When I find out how; but I need to leave to do that.” She pulls away, straightening back out.
She turns away and heads to the door.
“We’ll meet again,” she declares as she picks up her bag. “Do yourself a favor and straighten this place up.”
...
She walks out, closing the door.
“…Don’t go.”