Chapter Text
Poor, poor Vergil, how wrong he was, after the dress incident, he was now suffering something worse: Dreams.
It seemed that life was ready to punish him mercilessly, and the nightmares were not enough. And of course, Minerva was the protagonist.
About the content...
In another situation he would almost welcome this change, because the same old nightmare was torture at this point, but taking into account the content of the dreams, he kinda preferred the opposite. Vergil could easily blame the books he did end up reading (in secret, of course) trying in vain to learn and understand something. But they weren't just scenes from any book modified in his mind. He tried in vain not to think about it. His only consolation was that Minerva could not read minds and her suffering was personal.
But of course, it wasn't going to be that easy for Vergil. Not only because it was becoming increasingly difficult for him not to approach Minerva, or to look at her out of the corner of his eye when she didn't notice.
That kiss on the cheek had been subtle, almost innocent.
That didn't stop it from tormenting Vergil's mind every time he remembered the moment. Which unfortunately was becoming more and more common.
Neither of them talked about it, but it was obvious that they had become closer. Now Minerva was getting closer to him than before, pretending that moment didn't happen, but in a more subtle way, as if she wanted to avoid scaring him, or protect him from something. Absurd, he thought, but he did nothing to stop her.
However, Vergil could feel the tension increasing, even though the situation seemed normal at first glance.
Not even leaving the house helped as a distraction, because the effects of the party remained with the same force despite the weeks. The power or cheap romance was taking over Fortuna and Vergil was on the verge of throw up.
And without stopping to think about what kind of relationship existed between them, Vergil had accepted without question all those small gestures that, as he was gradually discovering, were not normal at all.
Things like holding hands, or letting her hug him. Even the violin incident could easily be added to the list.
Now Vergil was on the verge of questioning his entire existence, because he was still determined to not consider Minerva as anything more than a part of his plan, but everything indicated that people would call them a couple, if they were seen in public, of course. The rule they had both agreed upon of not interacting outside the house had saved them from all this potential entanglement, and it was the only thing that consoled him a little. But Vergil was almost sure that Minerva wouldn't care in the least if someone saw them.
Worse still, the days were passing with exasperating slowness, and he just wanted to quickly enter the damn castle again on his own and get this all over with, but at that moment, he was once again trapped in the middle of a small crowd, this time witnessing a wedding. The church was a crucial part of the city and as such many streets connected in that sector. Vergil couldn't even afford to flee to the nearest roof, without risking being seen. Therefore, he had no choice but to wait patiently for the show to end. He arrived home dizzy and wanting to escape the island as soon as possible.
With the delay he was not surprised to see Minerva already home, as usual, with a mocking smile.
-I see you in a bad mood. Was it that terrible?
-So you were watching everything, of course...
-I was also struggling for a long time before escaping, I admit it was very funny seeing you. You were literally the only one angry in that whole bunch of people!
-At least someone is having fun with all this- Vergil said, increasingly annoyed. I must remind you that this is all thanks to you. Tell me, would you like to be in that woman's place in front of everyone?
-Not really, I know that you would prefer a more intimate ceremony...
-What?!
A burst of laughter told Vergil that he had fallen into the trap, once again.
Things like that worried Vergil, seeing that he was getting more and more used to having her close to him, and with her, signs of affection that he stopped receiving since the death of her mother. Something in his mind told him that they were not comparable in the least, at least that was clear to him, but for the same reason he did not feel willing to find out. He had enough with the doubtful dreams that haunted him.
At least, as Minerva had hinted to him, he did not have to worry about some hypothetical embarrassing situation in public, she was extremely careful and even if she saw him on the street, she never changed her attitude, always appearing correct and respectful.
Trying to regain his love for solitude, Vergil went out daily even when it wasn't necessary. His new distraction was to go to the forest and kill every demon that came his way. This is how he discovered that there was more demonic variety than expected.
He could spend all day on it, however, the enemies seemed to never end, which made him suspicious. It was not at all unusual for certain places to attract demonic presence more than others, especially islands.
He was also indulging himself with the fun of fighting with the biggest and most dangerous ones he could find. It wasn't something that happened very often, and he usually dispatched them long before soldiers arrived on the scene.
The reason for the eternal flow of demons was unknown to Vergil, but at least it served as a kind of training, in addition to eliminating stress. And without realizing it, the rumor of a blue demon, completely different from the rest, spread among the soldiers who managed to see it for a few seconds.
But inevitably the day ended, he had to return, and once again the situation turned against him.
He couldn't pretend she didn't exist and go to sleep right away. She was the owner of the house, after all. Much to his chagrin (or perhaps not so much) he had to remain calm and interact with her as normally as possible, at least when Minerva took a break from repairing the book, which she had taken up again upon returning from the castle. Which meant feeling alone in the living room while she worked.
Another problem to add to the ever growing list.
Having a place to return to daily, a place that deep down, he liked to return to, bothered him in a corner of his mind. Vergil was sure that under other conditions, he wouldn't mind staying.
But that wasn't his nature. Maybe his mission was in “jeopardy,” so to speak, but deep down, he was a warrior. And giving up on that would be like repeating history. And he was willing to do anything to avoid it.
Sparda was his role model. He wanted to be like him, but that doesn't mean he would follow his every step exactly. The people of Fortuna could romanticize his father's life all they wanted, but only he knew the pain behind the myth. And Vergil wasn't going to make the same mistakes.
No one could take a loved one away from him if he didn't have one in the first place.
Perthere was still time to avoid a catastrophe.
Vergil was determined. After inspecting the castle one last time, he would leave Fortuna.
