Soliloquy

Prologue

"Love seeketh not itself to please,

Nor for itself hath any care,

But for another gives its ease,

And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair."

-William Blake

Prologue:

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to DMC. If I did, V would still be alive and this AU wouldn't need to exist. This story isn't canon-compliant, but it will be explained in a way that makes sense. I hope you can enjoy it for what it is, and I don't get any hate mail over it. Thanks, and enjoy the story! This is gonna be a long one.

The sound of scaled flesh and hard carapace colliding with demonic steel echoed throughout the empty expanses of the underworld. Blood flew in every direction, seemingly raining down from the sky like an endless storm of viscera. Everything was a blinding blur of flowing red and blue coats, gleaming metal, gore, and flames painted across the backdrop of what was left of the once towering Qliphoth. The ruined structure sat in the center of a field of white wispy plants that blew back and forth in response to the gusts of wind thrown their way by the motions of the battle they surrounded.

And as soon as the battle had started, it stopped. All the demons that had been foolish enough to think that they stood a chance against the sons of Sparda now laid dead at their feet. Well, for now, at least. The base of the Qliphoth seemed to be an epicenter for demon activity, and it was never very long before they decided to return in mass quantities. And as entertaining as defeating the first hundred or so waves of hell beasts had been, it was long past time to leave this place.

Dante pulled his blade out of what remained of a Chaos carcass and flicked it clean before returning it to its proper place on his back. The devil hunter did a full 360 turn, taking in the perimeter of destruction they had wrought. The average demon didn't stand a chance against him, but both of them together? The word "futile" came to mind. Dante shook his head and scoffed to himself. "They just don't stop, do they?"

Behind him, Vergil twirled Yamato and dragged it along its scabbard to remove the residual blood before returning it to its proper place. He then spared a glance over his shoulder at Dante. "What made you think that they would in the first place, brother? This is the underworld. They're not going to let up anytime soon, I can assure you of that."

Dante sighed tiredly. Yea, there was no way he could have guessed that one with his brother's assistance. But regardless of how obvious the statement was, the point he made was still valid. During their extended stay down here, Dante hadn't really taken the time to consider the situation in full until now. The fighting was never going to end, and they had no safe area to call home. And then there was the conversation that they both knew they needed to have, but neither of them seemed to want to initiate.

The matter of how long they were going to stay down here.

"So, Vergil, I've gotta ask," Dante said as he walked towards his twin brother. Vergil was standing with his back to him, looking at something far off in the distance that his younger brother couldn't quite pinpoint. He seemed lost in thought; focused. He tilted his head ever so slightly in Dante's general direction but was still clearly more focused on his prior observations. "How the hell did you get out of this place without Yamato?"

Vergil looked almost amused by the question. Of all the things his younger twin brother could've asked, that was his question? It was almost ironic. "...That is..." Vergil paused for a moment as if searching for the correct word"... It's convoluted, to say the least. I would demonstrate but...". Vergil didn't need to say that it was an awful idea. Dante had deduced that one for himself from his brother's tone alone.