Holding the keys to his castle in hand, Vergil gazed out at the modest two story home his funds had bought him. 

It was his. Actually his. 

Despite all the problems that came with escaping the country he'd left, despite all the problems that came from having no friends, no family, no social security card. 

He'd managed it.

He'd gotten a home for himself, and even purchased it under a new alias that was created by someone else for a non entity and in turn that had given him a chance at a real, normal, life again. 

Yet he knew that wasn't something he could take, so while he could bask for a moment, he had to begin preparing once he had settled.

Still, being the young man that he was. This achievement was something he just couldn't help but celebrate. Doing a little fist pump dance as he entered the home, he'd gaze around and despite the barren nature of the mostly empty home he felt like he had finally taken the first step in beating the Orthodoxy of Ruin. 

Though, as he began unpacking what little he had and storing it in the various cupboards and drawers he did have available he did feel as tough the home was a little.. empty.

The Goddess was still silent, and while he knew that as a Goddess of Dreams she loved her beauty sleep he was still surprised she'd been quiet for so long, and as the days went on and he alternated between practicing his sword play and studying up on the occult, he realized something.

He needed friends. No hero was complete without his party, and as good as he could surely be with a little more training he knew he'd never take down the Orthodoxy of Ruin on his own, so. 

He began networking. Signing up with a VPN and ensuring that he only ever logged in from a coffee shop he began to look, combing through digital profiles as he prepared himself to find the companions that made a hero a hero! 

He didn't.. feel so good. 

The burning in his heart was not a good sign either, the constant deluge of pain that coursed through his veins was probably also a really bad sign.

It had just been a cough, and he'd always been a hale and hearty person. Someone who never got sick when everyone else does, but today was different.

Today hurt. 

Writhing in bed he heard the call of the goddess and it was all he could latch onto, muttering prayer after prayer as the nightmares of his brother plummeting into the abyss below swallowed his dreams, images of mushroom forests as tall as the pit itself swallowing him and his brother up alike as he dove in after to save him, but he held strong. He wouldn't be swallowed by the abyss, he would preserve, and as he did.

He found he understood a little better, his vision a bit.. broader as he was able to process more of the world around him before and with it he was able to connect to Odessa just enough to finally understand her, and with a moment of supreme photographic clarity he was able to reverse engineer the ritual that had been used to seal her inside the gem. 

It required some blood of course, and some sapphire dust, but a little pilfering got him what he needed, and then.

She was free, at long last, thanks to the additional clarity provided to his mind he was able to understand what she'd been telling him the whole time in those repeated dreams of that night. The binding ritual had taken place there! He was such an idiot to have not seen it after so long. 

With her freed at last, the true form of Odessa was made apparent. A fairy like woman with jade like skin, and translucent wings with streaks of blue and it was here that she thanked him for freeing her from her prison and guided him to the secret shrine that held Tranquility, the blade of final peace. For use against Odessa's strongest enemies, and though Vergil could not yet unlock it's power he was deemed pure enough of heart to wield it and with a new blade in hand he would set out. Eager for his next adventure. 

Well, not everything had to end badly. 

Even if he did think that poor Trey definitely deserved better than he was getting. He never did understand why people got so hung up on sex and what kind of it people liked to have. What business was it of anyone else's what two consenting adults did within the confines of their home? Such a silly thing, but, he supposed that this had been treated as far more than a silly thing by many people and that meant.. well. That they had literally made a mountain out of that mole hill. 

Still, Danielle was quite nice! She let him got to her house in the woods in Texas and he vastly preferred being out in the woods to being in the city. Much harder for the Orthodoxy to blow up his car when they had to drive two hours from the nearest town with it in their car to do so. 

Though the other thing he liked was getting access to a true blue sparring partner! Danielle was clearly more experienced than him, but that just meant that every time they sparred he got to learn a lot about bladework and dealing with enemies who possessed superior reach. It was excellent training honestly in regards to running up on the enemy and learning how to deal with the sinuous winding whip attack patterns really helped him get better at movement in general. 

As usual however, at the end of the month he went to sleep and woke up back in the strange other world. This really was starting to get confusing. 

Vergil's time between worlds had long since taught him to embrace the good in those around him for he never knew how much time he had with anyone he went on these jobs with.

It was why he made such efforts to get to know them, to protect them, to ensure that they'd be able to be there after he inevitably got called somewhere else to do some kind of job in a place that needed him a little more at that time. 

Artemis Barclay's funeral was not a time for his usual optimism however, and staring at the grave of the first of his friends who he truly saw die up close and personal his memories would flash back to the orthodoxy. To the world that he knew they wanted, and the extremes they were going to go to for the sake of achieving their bleak recreation. 

The young man's body in the casket being lowered down also reminded him of his younger brother. How they had both been on the edge of town when the destruction had begun, but that he had been just a few steps faster and those few steps had been the separating difference between making it that last step across the void to finally touch down on solid ground and failing to make the leap off that falling stone and in turn, being consumed by darkness.

Darkness that would be all Artemis Barclay would know from now on, his body now separated from his soul as it began its journey into the eternal dream. 

Vergil couldn't bring himself to say much at the funeral afterwards, and this time when the dream that would take him to the other world came he almost welcomed it. 

This world hurt too much to be in right now.