[open] january catch-all

[birdflipping]

Who: Nero and you
What: New Year's celebrations and assorted quests
When: Throughout January
Where: Camelot, the Edge of Dusklight Woods
Warnings: Nero's potty mouth, prompt 3 will include mentions/depictions of character death

1. FIREWORKS
a (closed to Alice) - [Nero's not the type to get excited about fireworks, of all things, but he knows a certain someone who might appreciate the show, considering she's never seen a fireworks display before. So he takes Alice to the crowd gathering around Camelot's castle. Nearby, there's a board displaying the minutes and seconds left counting down until the new year.

He's keeping hold of her hand through the crowds so that they don't get separated, at least until he finds what seems to be a good spot to get ready for watching the display. Then he looks down at her, and grins.]

It'll be really loud, and it might seem scary at first, but I promise it'll be fun when you get used to it.

b (open) - [Feel free to spot Nero around! Perhaps you bump into him during the fireworks display, grabbing a midnight snack at a stall somewhere, or maybe once the crowds are starting to thin out and people are heading home.]


2. QUEST - SHADLIN SHOWDOWN
[It's quite the trek from the city to the edge of the woods, and Nero is yawning, bored already. He figures it'd be easy money, so he agreed to it, but he's not expecting much from how vague the description was.] This quest kinda seems like bullshit to me. Eyes watching people? Weird noises? Who the hell cares. There's probably all kinds of monsters hiding in there.

[Nero is already complaining to whoever his partner is for this quest, as they travel to reach the Edge of the Dusklight Woods. He has his blade and his (thankfully now enchanted to magically reload) gun in tow, but it's more of a precaution than anything. It's starting to get dark as they arrive, the sun dipping low below the horizon.]

Maybe if we ask 'em nicely, they'll mind their manners and stop staring.


3. MIRROR, MIRROR
["Brave of soul" is a trait Nero is confident enough in, so he agrees to help with at least this portion of the quest ("pure of heart"... not so much). He'll go right ahead and lead the way into the cave, cocky grin in place.]

Come on! Worst fears? Bring it!

[For all his bravado, he soon goes quiet when he hears a certain song begin to echo through the cave. He squints, looking around for the source; evidently the voice is deeper within.]

... You hearing this? [He mutters to his travelling companion. He's apprehensive, but he knows he doesn't have a choice but to press on ahead.]


4. WILDCARD
[Anything else you want to play out? Write your own starter! Feel free to shoot me a PM or PP over at moonsilver if you want to plot. I'll match brackets or prose if you have a preference.]

Comments

[honorkept]

I suppose that is just not my nature.

[ He breathes out his nose -- was that a slight laugh? Maybe. ]

Still, I at least have a person that will mention when it is too much.

[birdflipping]

[Nero grins.] I'll rag on your ass as much as you rag on mine? Sounds like a fun change of pace.

[As far as he's concerned, that's as good as permission to give Credo crap whenever he thinks he needs it. How the turn tables...]

[honorkept]

As I am no longer your superior, I suppose it cannot be helped that our relationship must change.

[ He lets out a long, suffering sigh.

A thoughtful hum finishes the sigh as he gives a small nod. ]

But I think that there is something good in that, too. It means I can experience more of what it means to be your family.

[ Even if Nero is the grandson of the Savior, even then ... he still can only see him as Nero. Is that blasphemous? He wonders. ]

[birdflipping]

[Nero smiles.] Oh yeah? Just like the good old days?

[Even if it feels like a lifetime ago. When Credo's parents were still around, before he got fully wrapped up in his work with the Order, they'd definitely been more like a family then. Hell, even in the early days of Nero training to be a knight, there were plenty of good times. It was only after that things started going downhill.]

Bet it's nice to be relieved of command, after all those years running around after His Holiness's nasty wrinkled ass.

[honorkept]

It is ...

[ He pauses as he thinks about how he wants to finish that sentence. ]

... difficult to put into words. I felt the weight of all that His Holiness requested and commanded me to do, but there were times... that I was proud of my position and the good that I could do.

[ Those times, though, became few and far between. But -- ]

And you? You said that Dante gave you the task of watching over the world. Are you relieved to be able to rest, Nero?

[birdflipping]

Honestly? Not really. I love fighting demons.

[Credo makes it sound so serious, but that's really what it boils down to. And he's always been that way, not that he could have admitted as much in the Order. Everyone took it so seriously and talked about their sacred duty or whatever, while Nero was there to have a good time. It was part of the reason he was better off fighting alone so he could really let loose.

In hindsight, maybe that was one of the clues he wasn't exactly human, even if he was in denial about it.]

Plus, with Dante and my father in the Underworld, they've probably been beating the crap out of anything too big and nasty before it can even cross over to the human world. Makes my job a whole lot easier.

[honorkept]

[ Credo opens his mouth.

He immediately forgets what it is that he is going to say. When Nero had mentioned that Dante had given him the duty of watching over the world, he accepted it as meaning that the Son of Sparda was going to rest in some way himself.

Somehow, his thinking was extremely shallow, but he blames it partially on having to accept a lot of information so suddenly.

And it seems like he is once more accepting a lot of news suddenly. ]

They are in ... the Underworld?!

[birdflipping]

Yeah. So... [Nero was trying to avoid telling him the full story, both because knowing the true nature of the other son of Sparda would be a shock to him, and because he's given him enough information already. No need to overload the guy.

It seems inevitable he'll have to at least explain some of it, however, so he'll offer a vague summary.]

A big demon tree sprouted in the human world from the Underworld. It feeds on human blood, and grows a fruit every few millennia that gives whoever eats it the power to be the next demon king. Wouldn't you know it, a shitty demon called Urizen wanted the throne, so we had to stop it.

Dante defeated Urizen, blah blah blah... [He waves a hand as if to say 'long story'.] Only way to cut the tree down is to go to the Underworld and cut the thing off at the roots, though. My father could do that with the Yamato, so he left with Dante, and I hadn't seen them since.

[Until Dante got yanked here, anyway, but he presumes Vergil is still down there.]

[honorkept]

[ Well, we don't have time to unpack all of that.

Credo drums his fingers against the cup in his hand. He takes a deep breath in as he processes what was said. ]

Then, the two of them are on a holy quest in order to save humanity.

[ This much he can accept and comprehend, at least. Because while he believes that the Order became corrupted as soon as it sought power, while he accepts that those in power of the Order were no better than the demons they attempted to purge, he still believes in the teachings. ]

And you will protect it until their return. [ He nods. ] That is quite a task, but ... I believe in you all.

[birdflipping]

They're really not on any righteous crusade to eliminate evil, so don't give them too much credit. They're just fixing a bunch of fuck ups because I told them to.

[Though he supposes it's the same thing with the same goal in mind, in the end, so maybe Credo has a point. He shrugs, smiling.]

Yeah, you don't need to worry about a thing back there. We just need to focus on whatever the hell is going on here.

[honorkept]

You told them to?

[ It's less that Nero told them, but that the two Sons of Sparda actually listened to him. ]

But that's right. Nothing will end up going well if we end up being unable to save everyone.

[birdflipping]

Uh, yeah? Kinda had to. They were too busy fighting each other, so I had to step in and remind them about the bigass demon portal that needed closing. Slapped them around hard enough to make them listen.

[Because brute force is the only language this family understands, apparently.]

Don't care what the legends about Sparda say, those two are complete idiots. Putting them together just makes them dumber.