Post Ending VIII: The Wedding
The invitation arrived three months in advance.
Not because Nero thought Dante and Vergil needed more time to prepare.
βThey deserve proper notice.β
Nero looked at the envelope.
Looked at the words formal attire requested.
Then quietly wondered whether Hell had ever produced a suit.
Fortuna had never looked so peaceful.
Flowers lined the chapel.
Music drifted through the square.
Guests chatted quietly while waiting for the ceremony to begin.
Kyrie took one look toward the entrance.
ββ¦Do you think theyβll make it?β
βI honestly donβt know.β
A blue portal opened in the middle of the courtyard.
One elderly lady calmly crossed herself.
Holding three pizza boxes.
βYou are exactly twenty-two minutes late.β
Vergil followed behind him, adjusting one glove as though dimensional travel had merely been a mild inconvenience.
βI told him to leave earlier.β
βI wanted breakfast.β
Nero pinched the bridge of his nose.
ββ¦Iβm getting married.β
ββ¦Could you two please behave?β
Dante looked genuinely offended.
βWhen have I ever not behaved?β
Before Nero could answerβ
Griffon landed on the church roof.
Shadow silently slipped into the shade beneath the pews.
The chapel doors, unfortunatelyβ¦
Nightmare looked at the entrance.
Then quietly sat down outside the building.
Like an extremely patient mountain.
Several children immediately wandered over.
Someone had tied flowers around one of his enormous stone arms.
He remained perfectly still.
βHeβs good with kids.β
Vergil glanced through the doorway.
ββ¦He doesnβt want to scare them.β
βWeβre keeping it light.β
Vergil, somehow already standing twenty feet away, didnβt even look guilty.
ββ¦More than Iβd like.β
Applause filled the chapel.
Dante whistled loudly enough to startle half the audience.
Griffon echoed him from the roof.
βI KNEW YOUβD CRY.β
βYOU ARE LITERALLY CRYING.β
Nightmare let out one soft rumble.
Several little children looked up.
Vergil stood beside him for a moment, listening.
ββ¦Congratulations.β
One little girl reached up and tucked another flower between the cracks of Nightmareβs shoulder.
Dante discovered the dessert table.
Three teenagers had challenged him to an eating contest.
βI underestimated wedding cake.β
βYou underestimated sixteen-year-olds.β
Someone eventually convinced Vergil to dance.
He stood frozen in the middle of the floor with the expression of a man facing an unknowable cosmic horror.
ββ¦I donβt dance.β
Dante shoved him gently toward the music.
Nero looked across the room.
His father wasnβt smiling.
He wasnβt trying to leave anymore, either.
Much later that eveningβ¦
After the guests had gone homeβ¦
After the lights had dimmedβ¦
Nightmare was still sitting beneath the stars.
The flowers the children had woven into his arms remained exactly where theyβd left them.
He leaned back against the stone giantβs arm.
ββ¦Thanks for coming.β
Vergil emerged from the chapel a few moments later.
He stopped when he saw the two of them.
Then he walked over without a word.
Sat down on the other side.
Three generations of the Sparda family sitting together beneath the night sky.
A few minutes later, the chapel doors burst open.
Dante appeared carrying an entire leftover wedding cake.
Behind him, Kyrie laughed.
βI knew somebody liked me.β
Vergil closed his eyes for the briefest moment.
Dante cut the cake into four uneven slices.
Then looked toward Nightmare.
Placed the biggest slice carefully on it.
Set it down beside the giant demon.
Nightmare looked at the cake.
Then, almost ceremoniallyβ¦
Gently nudged the plate a little closer.
βI told you he likes dessert.β
Griffon landed beside the cake and immediately stole a strawberry.
βI still donβt trust you.β
Even Vergilβs shoulders seemed just a little lighter.
There were no demons to fight.
And far too much wedding cake.
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