A/N: Think of an invisible guardian angel for V, just less heavenly.

[The Legend Continues]

Personality: DMC5 V/Vergil

The words flashed across my screen as I finally put the device down after two hours, shaking my limp hands in the hopes of ridding them of the aches and pains that I had been putting them through. The urge to visit the toilet, the parched throat and the rumbling stomach all nagged at me once my attention was finally brought away from the pixels on the screen. I turned to check the clock sitting innocently on my bedside table, where a limited-edition figurine stood in his full glory: a blob-like monster towering behind him, a massive bird standing on his arm for rest, and a black panther with glowing red eyes hanging beside him.

The time was 3 am.

With another heavy sigh despite the feat that I had just accomplished, I waited patiently for the results of my 2-hour conquest on the additional content to show, watching the save logo run for a short while before safely turning the device off. I had finally done it with all three characters of the game, but the accomplishment was not satisfying at all. I had been waiting –pining, even –for the fourth character to show his face as a playable one, but it appeared that that was never going to see the light of day.

Still, nature called.

I answered the call of the bottom half of my body first, fearless of the silence of the night since my ears were still ringing from the loud sounds that had been blasting in my earpiece for the past two hours. I decided to forgo supper since I was supposed to be watching my weight, choosing to quench only my thirst before returning to my room which looked strange and unfamiliar once the light from the screen was turned off.

The lethargy and general laziness prompted me to collapse on the bed front-down without throwing the covers over myself, but after a few minutes of trying to fall asleep, realized that I had forgotten to turn the soft overhead light off. Groaning into my pillow and really not wanting to move more muscles than I had to, I scooted my body so that half of it was leaning off the right side of the bed and reached down to the floor, feeling around blindly until my fingers closed over cold, lightweight metal.

Grabbing it from the handle, I once again blindly brought it up as an extension of my arm and began to poke experimentally at the wall to my right. It took a few tries and a steadily-aching arm from the awkward position, but my blind attempts came successful when the tip of the cane touched the light switch, and everything was thrown into comfortable darkness.

I yawned loudly into my pillow, flipped around until I was lying on my back safely and fully on the bed. I forgot that the cane was still in my hand, but didn't bother to return it back to where it belonged. And so, I fell asleep.

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"Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence." A deep voice drags me through the heaviness of sleep as I begin to stir.

"Reading that tattered ol' book again, V? Aren't cha gonna be a real scholar when you grow up." A disembodied voice was loud as if speaking through a voice-changing machine.

"Grow up? That is an interesting imagination." The low, stable voice replied as I yawned a loud one, then stretched my arms without opening my eyes. "Our guest is awake. You'd better go. Find out where the boy is."

"Redgrave is a big city, V. How am I supposed to know where-" There was an abrupt pause in which some sort of visual cue must have been given without my knowledge since my eyes were still shut lazily. "Fine. You win. You'd better not be a splat on the floor when I come back!"

"I'll try to avoid that. I still have better things to do." The comforting voice that was strangely familiar answered, and the sound of flapping wings faded away.

I waited till the sound of the bird leaving was completely gone before opening my eyes to a sight that I had guessed might have happened, though I was not sure at all how and why.

The man sat a short distance away on top of a fire hydrant, his book still opened in his hand. His attention, though, was very safely on me as we watched each other while I slowly sat up. Inside me was a blank, which surprised me slightly.

I knew I was a crazy Devil May Cry fan back in my world. My brain had processed that somehow I had been transported into the world of my favorite game. The information that my brain had put together about hearing V and Griffon communicate (not according to the script of the game) was absolutely correct.

But I was not freaking out. In fact, I don't think I was even feeling shocked. The only thing I felt inside was mild surprise –surprise at the fact that I was feeling so calm and nonchalant about everything.

"Are you well?"

I nodded, coming to my feet to test my balance and finding it perfect. Looking at my strange-feeling hands and legs, I found nothing wrong with them. I was exactly the same physical self as I was when I slept on my bed in my room. But my clothes were different. Instead of my home clothes, my comfortable pants were definitely not my belongings. Neither was the black cotton shirt or the grey long two-tailed coat rolled at the sleeves.

"Is this Redgrave?" I asked just to be very sure, and my voice was still the same. Nothing about my physical body had changed. The only things that seemed to have changed was my clothes, as well as my inability to freak out at the sight of one of my favorite characters in the franchise. Well, technically half of one.

"Yes. You don't seem to be around here." He observed smartly.

"Neither are you." My reply was quick as I began to walk towards him, eager to get out of this dark alley that we were both in, towards somewhere with better lighting that might give me a better idea of what the heck had happened to me.

"You're forgetting something." The reminder was paired with him pointing the tip of his cane towards where I had just come from. Curious as to what other belonging that might have followed me from my bed to my resting place in this alley, I turned around and backtracked a little, picking out the only item that clearly did not belong in the trash, dark, demonized mess.

"This is curious." V spoke from behind, and from the shadow of his silhouette, there was no doubt that this intriguing piece of item resting in my hand had drawn him closer towards me. "It seems like you come from somewhere further than I did."

"I did." I answered, turning slightly to make eye contact with him. If I was my usual self, I would probably take off running, screaming and hyperventilating. But I somehow wasn't my usual self, and thus stood only an arm's length away from him, holding a replica of his cane in my hand while he held his own cane in his hands. "I come from the world where you, Dante and Nero are playable characters in a game called Devil May Cry 5."

A silence passed in which V's eyes never wavered from mine, searching for any signs of a lie that I could not make. The only thing I could do in that situation was to stare back, distantly admiring the fact that the staff at Capcom had certainly modelled V very well after a certain model.

"Come with me." He finally decided, turning around and walking towards the mouth of the alley. "I will miss catching up with the boy if we stay here any longer."

"What... What time is it now?" The sun was already pretty bright up in the sky, and being any rightful fan who had played the game 5 times through all difficulties, I had to know at which point in the game I had found myself materialized in.

"It is barely 6 in the morning." V answered as we emerged out of the alley into an empty, lifeless street. In the corner of the street, I could see the silhouette of a family of dried-up humans. Yet, strangely, there was no urge to retch or puke at the sight of such horrific, sudden death right in front of me.

"6 in the morning, huh?" I repeated as I followed blindly. "Nero is probably fighting Goliath now."

"A Goliath?" A very slight upwards tilt in his tone towards the end of the spoken word was the only indication that V was actually curious about my comment.

"Yeah. Mission 2 starts at around 5.30 am and if I'm not wrong you two end up meeting about an hour later." I answered nonchalantly, eyes turning from admiring my dystopian surroundings to the cane-weapon in my hands.

The man does not answer my comment and leaves me to my silence instead as I study the cane that I thought was supposed to be a cosplaying tool. Back at home in my world, making V's cane was the easiest and most practical weapon for fans like me to try recreating since it was simply just an ornately carved cane (as compared to the crazy swords of the other characters). I had done my best to carve according to the pictures on the internet, but I had been no expert. My cane hadn't been close enough to the actual that I would go outside bragging about it.

But... the one that I brought here into this world looked to be exactly the one V was currently holding. How could it be?

"I sense demonic energy in you too. You are not quite as strong as Dante, but you are a close contender."

"I do?" I looked up from the cane to see V still facing forwards, but still holding the conversation easily.

"Your energy reminds me of... him."

"Him? Dante?"

"No. Dante's brother."

"Vergil?" I laughed once. "I'll be god-like if I'm as strong as you. I mean, you in your most powerful form."

"I am nothing in this weakened cage. These shackles will crumble to dust soon."

"Then you should keep moving. Pretend that I'm not here." I urged. "You have a destiny to fulfill."

"Destiny..." The man seemed to ponder over something shortly as he continued his path towards the church where we would meet the Goliath and Nero. "If it were so, would I walk this path...?"

________________________________________________________________________________

It turned out that I could not be seen by anyone except for V. Not even Griffon, Shadow or Nightmare could sense my presence. And despite the fact that demons could not sense me either, it appeared as if I could still end them to help V struggle in his conquest to right his wrong. By pure accident, I found out that I could somehow turn my version of V's cane into a sword like Yamato. And from then on, it had been one discovery after another finding out that I actually had some of Vergil's skillsets –and that included summoned swords.

That kept me safe and perfectly capable of following V's pace in his journey.

"Are you sure you don't want to know what happens to you?" I offered once more, still disbelieving of the man's refusal to know his own future.

We had been able to communicate during his solo missions, and I had explained to him my circumstance and my decision to follow his journey and watch it be seen to the end with the hopes that I would be sent back to my world after the events of Devil May Cry 5 ended. The man definitely looked slightly surprised when I told him that I knew the ending of the story and the journey that he was making, but before I could launch into the storytelling, he had cut me off and stopped me.

"There is no benefit in knowing the end. A pure journey is the only way to ensure that things proceed as you know it to go." He had declared with his knowledgeable tone, and from then on, had refused all my attempts to spoil him about his own future.

"Your only goal right now is to reach Urizen, but your body is crumbling. Don't you at least want to know if you will make it to him in one full piece?" I pressed when he remained silent, walking past me nonchalantly. We –or rather, he –had just defeated the Elder Geryon Knight and were in the midst of regrouping with Nico and Nero, and V was taking his time and his steps slowly. The man didn't want to show it, but both of us knew that his crumbling was finally beginning to interfere with his demon-hunting skills since he had allowed Cavalier Angelo to take off running.

I hadn't bothered telling him that the demonic knight was going to get his ass served by a well-rested Dante later anyway.

"I remain by my stand. I do not wish to know my future." He answered stubbornly, and I bit my lip to stop myself from dropping the spoilers on instincts anyway.

V obviously didn't know, but holding on to a secret as big as the one that Capcom had hidden was difficult. V was literally talking to his own son, making his son suspicious of him with his cryptic behaviors and all. As far as parenting awards went, V –or rather Vergil –really made the worst kind.

"Fine." I gave in. I had thought that a weaker version of Vergil in the form of the human V had become more humbled and slightly more ready to accept help from someone clearly capable of giving them. But it seemed like V had still held on to his pride and was still trying to push on with everything with his pure grit.

Fans all over the world had already seen and experienced how badly he would suffer when he started climbing down to the heart of the Qliphoth –to the extent that he would need his son to help him walk –but it seemed like the proud, stubborn old man wasn't going to listen to my advice even if I wanted to give them.

We were silent for a short walk through the tattered ruins of Redgrave, before the questions that I had always been having bubbled in my mind.

"Hey, V." I started to catch his attention, keeping good pace beside him while he walked with his stylish cane easy in his grasp. "Did you ever consider that this might happen when you stole Nero's sword? That Urizen would get really power-crazy, and that you would crumble away?"

"You mean when I was him." V clarified. I had learnt after a short while that even though V acknowledged that he was a part of what made Vergil, he liked to refer to Dante's twin as a mysterious pronoun 'him'. "This was exactly what I wanted. I wanted to cut out the human and let it crumble to nothingness. I wanted the demon to get power. Anything as long as Dante could lose."

"Then what changed? Why are you going back to Urizen?"

"Because I didn't think that my human emotions were so strong. I never expected to remember these feelings of guilt and... well, I never thought I was wrong, but I have gained perspective since." The answer was honest –probably a by-product of Vergil's strengthened humanity. The man had always been honest in all the previous installments of Devil May Cry –just that pride and arrogance had always been a part of that honesty as well.

"But what is there to be achieved going back? Given your state, by the time you reach Urizen, you wouldn't even have enough strength to lift your cane against him. And are you really trying to kill your own demonic half?"

The complex expression on V's face as I asked my question was indescribable. It was the face of a man who had only realized his faults after achieving exactly what he wanted, had no power and actually no solid clue of what he wanted except try to right his wrongs. All he had done was to use whatever knowledge he had retained, enlist all the help he could get –which included sending Dante, Nero, Trish and Lady –then try to add his help somehow.

It was upon seeing that expression that I realized something wrong that I had been assuming all this time: V was not Vergil.

From all the Devil May Cry games that I had played (well, technically he only actually appeared as his true self in the third and a little bit of the fourth installment), Vergil had been high, mighty and emotionless. Seeing himself higher than the average human with only Dante and a certain demon king above him in terms of ability, Vergil had never had question marks in his planning. His goal had been straight as an iron rod, the short sentence punctuated in capital letters: GAIN POWER.

But V was different. V was humbled and confused. This guy was completely human, almost completely powerless and emotional. He had guilt and responsibility, and from those came doubts of the usefulness of his puny self trying to rebel against his massive demon half. V had asked for help (technically hired help in Dante's case), but even after those, the man had no real solid idea what to do. He was just moving along with his pure emotions: he had to right his wrongs.

"I'm sorry I asked that. Ignore my questions." I saved him from having to reply verbally since everything had been answered in that one single expression that I doubted he wanted seen. "I promise that I'm not going to try to tell you about the fate that waits for you. Just do what you want to."

The slight surprise wiped the expression from his face as he paused, staring at me with his dark, deep eyes.

Then he smiled.

"Thank you."

It was true honesty and gratitude from a man who had been born to bear the nightmares and guilt of an obsessed son of Sparda.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Are you sure about this?" This was my first time asking this to  V ever since we started on this journey together. Through our solo journeys we had been conversing and somehow had made a strange friendship in which I helped him rediscover the importance of having human emotions, using humane weakness to gain new strengths and... well, basically everything about being human. Half the time, though, I wondered if I was in the best position to teach him about being human since I had somehow been equipped with scary skills (and a cane/sword) that nobody could explain how and where it came from. In fact, my non-humanity had gone so far as to ignoring basic human needs of requiring food, sleep or expelling waste.

Still, V seemed to think me well positioned enough to teach him how to be human despite his growing weakness.

"Even as a human, my goal has been singular. There is nothing to be unsure about this." He said slowly between pants as he hobbled over to the downed demon, leaving Dante and Nero behind watching.

I had made a point not to strike a conversation with him whenever the other two main characters of Devil May Cry were around, but this time I couldn't help it. The time of Vergil's resurrection was near.

"Your goal was to right your wrongs. Is returning to yourself going to do that?"

"Without me, Urizen will not give up finding ways to gain more power. He has not learnt from our separation, but I have." He bit through breathless steps, pausing and taking precious time to pull himself up on the demon's chest as I followed him up with a light jump.

"Will it not be better for Dante to end him? There would be no chance for any more wrongs to be done, and though you will fade away, will you not rest easy?" I questioned as he knelt on Urizen's chest to catch his breath.

"I cannot rest easy... My goal has not been achieved."

"It hasn't?" I asked in surprise. Had his goal not been to right the wrongs that his other half made?

"I will not lose... not to Dante... I need power... More power!" Urizen groaned, eyes solely on the flaking man that had climbed to his chest.

"Oh no." I gasped. What a complete idiot I had been! I had thought that my strange calmness at meeting one of my favorite character, and having played through the events of Devil May Cry 5 multiple times had given me a clear understanding behind the motivations and reasons behind their actions. After all the fan theories I had read on the net trying to describe why Vergil, V, Dante and Nero had done what they did, I thought I knew everything.

But I hadn't. Because they were all assumptions.

"I know..." V answered his demon half, turning away from me with the truth now clear in his eyes. "We are one in the same, you and I. But you've lost me, and I've lost you. Yet we are connected, by that one feeling. While thy branches mix with mine, and our roots together join."

Like Dante and Nero, I blocked my eyes against the flash of light that erupted from the resurrection of my favorite character in the entire series.

I sighed to myself. This guy was full of surprises, wasn't he? Despite the fact that I knew that his resurrect was inevitable, I had always assumed it was for a different purpose. Besides, I needed him to resurrect so that he could complete his part of the Devil May Cry 5 storyline, so that I could go home (maybe). Why was I hoping for the alternative for a moment there?

I stood at the side watching the brief fight between brothers, Dante clearly having lost his breath for a moment there to be facing Vergil after taking down the giant Urizen. Vergil was back to his prime, back to his usual personality and attitude as he had shown back in the third installment.

"Have you even learnt anything about being human?" I muttered to myself as I stepped forwards to join him in walking through his self-made portal, ready to stand at the side and watch the whole game progression to the end with the hopes of me being able to return.

It seemed as if the man heard my muttering, however, as he hesitated before stepping fully into the portal.

"Fine, I suppose there was some benefits in having you as V's companion..." Vergil's hard expression held one of strange reluctance as he looked briefly over his shoulder at the young man who was his son (not that he knew of it yet).

"Thank you, Nero."

Well, well. When I had been playing the game, I had wondered why Vergil –the high and almighty –had allowed a space in his pride to give his gratitude to a younger, less experienced demon hunter. Now I knew.

"That is as far a concession to the innocent boy I give." Vergil warned me.

"I wouldn't say those words about him if I were you. He is the least bit innocent in this whole mess." I answered knowingly, and the both of us stepped through the portal.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Did you know?" Vergil asked while walking to rejoin Dante (who had gone jumping down first) at the bottom of Qliphoth.

"Know about what? Nero being your son or that your heart would have changed?"

My honest-to-god words was probably not what he expected as his eyes narrowed on me. The man probably hated the fact that I had been there with him throughout his journey of self-discovery, as if it was a weakness to be hidden.

"Everything." He summarized.

"I did. I told you from the start that I knew what was going to happen." Just that you stubbornly refused to listen.

It was probably a bad time to say 'I told you so', and so I swallowed those words despite the fact that Vergil probably couldn't kill me even if he wanted to for uttering them.

"Then why-" The start of his question was interrupted with a heavy sigh as he recollected on how his weaker self had been righteous and adamant about not learning his fate.

"In your world, your... game." He seemed to bite the words out, still in slight disbelief about how his reality had been my game. "Did everything go exactly the way it did?"

"Right down to the choice of words." I answered with a grin. "The only difference is that I never got to see if anybody was chatting with V behind the scenes. Maybe like how I cannot be seen by anyone, V could have had the same invisible companion in my screen."

Vergil was silent for a long time as we walked to meet Dante, where they would start fighting demons side by side together, severe the Qliphoth roots from the Human Wold, then start fighting each other. And that would be exactly what I was waiting for: the last scene of Devil May Cry where Dante says Jackpot.

I wondered briefly whether Vergil needed warning about Dante's imminent catchphrase coming in the middle of their demon-slaying, but decided against it. The man walking beside me could easily do something to shut Dante up, and the last scene might not end the same way it did in the game. I wasn't going to spoil my own chances of going home.

"For what's worth..." Vergil started the sentence with a heavy sigh of reluctance as we finally neared the familiar ground where Dante was waiting with his relaxed grin, Devil Sword resting on his shoulder. "I guess I owe you thanks. For... walking alongside V and... teaching him humanity..."

"Well, look who's grown a better tongue in his head." I could not help but tease, quickening my footsteps to escape any possible repercussions. I was saved by the presence of Dante –as well as demons –to distract Vergil from my tease, and from then onward, it was simply just me waiting for the end.

I admit that my smile grew as the fighting scene grew familiar, the sudden remembrance of the emotions I had felt when I saw the very same scene on my screen after spending 17 hours running through the game without stopping for anything on the very first day of release. The emotions of completeness, of happiness but also disappointment for an imminent wait for the next installment once more flooded me as I watched the brothers lunge towards each other, skewing the demons that were doing their best to creep up on them. Their formation was perfect, and I knew that my end was here.

"Don't you dare say it!" Vergil warned as he gave a slice to protect his little brother's back.

Dante knelt down on one knee, flicked his fringe out of his eyes a little and grinned with the barrels of his guns pointed at me.

This was the end, my end.

"Jackpot."

Lights flashed.

I opened my eyes to the sight of morning rays peeking through my curtains. My phone's alarm rang, vibrating on the bedside table as it did so.

The sound of a very familiar voice came as my set alarm.

"Little wanderer, hie thee home!"

Well, he wasn't wrong. I had come home.