Lady of The Forest.

There’s this scene where V(ergil) is saved by Nero and Trish while reflecting on his life, his human desires, and all his terrible choices. Most people correctly understand that Trish symbolically represents Eva, because the manga practically says it directly to your face.

But what I think people miss is that Nero symbolically represents… Dante.

From the very beginning of the manga, V(ergil) is constantly thinking about Dante saving him. His entire journey is basically about searching for Dante because he wants protection from himself, from his own nature, from the consequences of what he became.

And then he meets Nero and his reaction is basically:

“Oh… a smaller Dante. I guess I can use him too.”

Even back when he was Nelo Angelo, Vergil viewed Dante striking him down almost like a form of salvation. So when V includes Nero in the mission, I honestly don’t think he sees him fully as his own person at first. He sees him as an extension of Dante, another version of the same emotional protection he’s been desperately seeking the entire story.

THIS is literally the moment where his own mind — while he’s on the verge of death — pushes him to go find Dante

And this is where it’s explicitly stated why he was searching for Dante:

V(ergil) started by trying to save people, basically imitating Dante, because he thought that maybe doing what Dante does would help him find the answer he was searching for 😭

But the truth is that Dante’s desire and Vergil’s desire were never the same. Dante wanted to protect his family, while Vergil wanted to be protected by his family — by Eva, by Dante, by someone who would choose him and stay.

And I really love how their wishes end up being fulfilled through each other in the end. Dante finally gets to protect Vergil, and Vergil finally allows himself to be saved by Dante (':

P.S. It’s honestly insane to me how people keep dismissing how important Dante is in Vergil’s life when Vergil’s entire character and emotional journey revolve around his relationship with his brother 😭

Leon: That's a lot of fancy talk coming from a homeless guy sleeping on our couch.

Vergil: ...

vergil's fingers slip under rumpled bedsheets to trail softly along the surface of your bare back, and you moan softly, knees bending gently towards your belly. there's still a lingering languidness to your body, that of thorough pleasure turning your very flesh into something more akin to a pleasant moldable jelly than person, and thus you don't turn - not yet.

but the bid for attention is still recognized.

"you okay?" you murmur, eyes closing with comfortable slumber.

"yeah," vergil replies. he presses kisses at the base of your neck, light touches still, then his finger pauses just over your scapula. there his touch is firmer, and his whole palm covers this area, caressing gently.

"there should be wings here," he whispers, almost too venerably.

"wings?" your eyebrows furrow as he kisses there too, then wraps an arm around your waist, pulling you flush to his chest.

"like an angel."

you chuckle softly.

"is this an attempt to flirt?"

with his knee, he gently parts your legs, pressing the surface of his thigh flush to your bare crotch.

"is that so ridiculous?"

his thigh starts to grind softly at the already wet space, satisfied from earlier but still receptive, still wanting.

"no," you sigh out, the grind of muscled thigh against your clit too precise, too trained, as if he's figured out your body and how to make it sing rather than tease. your head lolls back into him with the friction, and a free hand slips around your throat, applying gentle loving pressure.

"as i was saying-" he starts, before posing a kiss on your forehead,