Bonds and Unveiled Mystery

The following Day Nero and Ren finally woke up in the hotel room.

[Rise and shine both of you] the first thing Nero and Ren heard after waking up was Aria's voice. " What happened to us " Nero asked, his voice fully displaying his confusion. [ You both dropped unconscious as soon as the fight was over ] " But this is not the first time I have fought a battle like this," Ren also questioned in confusion. [ It most likely happened due to the first resonance between the both of you ] at Aria's explanation Nero and Ren fell into deep thought as now that they remember yesterday their powers were much more magnified, which might have led to exhaustion.

" I am Sorry " Nero was the first to break the silence, Ren shifted his gaze towards Nero and asked "Sorry for what ". " For my illogical behaviors, " Nero began, " In this life I realized that how much f***ing annoying I really was, always trapped in guilt, pain, and sadness. I even had the nerve to take it out on you, like when I claimed you knew nothing. But from the very start, you were a part of me, and I got angry at you for making sacrifices." Nero sheepishly smiled as he acknowledged his past mistakes. " Your anger wasn't groundless if I saw you sacrifice for me then I would also be angry " Ren shook his head and admitted that he would have done the same.

" What was the reason of your anger? " Nero asked as he didn't exactly know the reason of Ren's anger. " I wasn't that angry at beginning because I knew you changed yourself but as soon as I saw you, all those memories of our encounters came flooding back at once and I decided to at least give you a nice beating " Ren laughed as he explained his impulsive behavior.

" Nah! You have the right to do that after all I was such immature older brother.." Ren interrupted Nero " How are you the older one ". Nero was taken aback. "How am I not the older one? I was born before you," Nero pointed at himself, stating it as a matter of fact. " That was in previous life, Now we are of the same age " Ren got up from the bed and said as he emphasized their ages.

Nero also got up from bed and summoned Yamato, saying, " I have Yamato means I have the power of oldest son of Sparda. So, I am oldest " He pointed at Yamato to make his point. " Bullshit ! How is that even make sense " Ren also summoned Dante and countered.

[ You TWO! stop fighting just after getting up ] Nero and Ren instead of stopping simultaneously asked Aria " Aria, Who is older among us ?". [ Does it even matter? You're both acting like kids fighting over a piece of chocolate. You have so much to discuss, yet here you both are arguing over who is the oldest ?, To me it looks like I am taking care of two younger brothers and now don't you dare start about who's the middle one!] For the next five minutes, Nero and Ren stood there, listening to Aria's scolding like two kids.

" So, how were you....you know created ? " Nero's tone turned serious as he asked Ren although he had a guess but still he wanted to hear it from Ren himself. Ren sat on the bed and began recounting his story with complex emotions on his face " Sigh! You probably have some idea already. My body was a result of an experiment carried out by the Holy Spirit Cult and the Spirit Pagoda. I don't remember much but so far all I know is that this Body was created to host a very powerful consciousness because when I regained my memories, there was so much soul nourishment energy that my martial soul automatically awakened and my soul's size which was smaller than yours due to my separate consciousness, expanded to a point where it felt as if I had a complete body in our previous life " Ren stopped to catch a breather and continued " What I am certain of is that this body was designed to kill Mom and Dad because their genes were used in the experiment as for how the Holy spirit cult acquired it remains unknown, From my memories, it's clear that whoever was behind the experiment had fear for something that Dad and Mom discovered, but I don't know what happened to them because about a week after they saved me, Mom teleported me somewhere far, only telling me that it would be dangerous from that point on. In those final moments, all she told me was to find you. They were truly the kindest people, Despite knowing that I was a created to kill them, they never showed any hostility to me. In fact in that very short amount of period we spent together, they treated me with the same love and care they would have given to you " Nero patted Ren's shoulder as he could understand how hard it must have been for Ren.

" Why didn't you come to see me right away? " Nero asked Ren with confusion evident in his voice. "Two reasons," Ren began, his expression contemplative, " Firstly, I knew that you would be still trying to suppress your pain and not deal with it and secondly, I wasn't in the best state myself. Even though I knew that Mom and Dad's death was not my fault but still the guilt was there and if I showed up without resolving that then I would have become what I have been trying to stop you from becoming. In fact I almost went down the dark path but similar to how Vergil's mental projection guided you, Dante's mental projection also showed me that our Mom and Dad only wished for our happiness " Ren laughed as he explained everything to Nero. Nero fell silent as he knew that what Ren said was True.

" Do you have something like this with you right now ?" Ren asked Nero as he brought out a necklace with red gemstone inlaid. " Yeah, I do. Why? " Nero responded, curious about Ren's question, who explained " Dad handed this to me saying that this would guide us forward ". Nero didn't waste any time and brought out another similar looking necklace with blue gemstone inlaid. As soon as the two necklaces arrived at each other's vicinity, a vibrant purple light enveloped them, gradually fading to reveal a small, cube-like soul tool with a purple hue. " What do we do with this ? " Ren asked Nero who shrugged his shoulders indicating that he also had no idea. [Both of you, simultaneously drop your blood onto the soul tool ] Aria explained after seeing their confusion at how to proceed. Following Aria's suggestion, Nero and Ren dropped a drop of their blood on the soul tool.

The soul tool lit up with various blood colored markings and soon a projection emerged from it, " Sure enough! " Nero exclaimed after seeing that the projection was his father's. " It seems like you two finally met, " Nero and Ren's father Arlo spoke which clearly hinted that he knew they both would meet " You both must have grown so much, and I don't even know how your years would have been without us—especially you, Ren. We gave you so much responsibilities and pressure when we didn't even gave birth or took care of you " " Dad No it's not like..." Ren tried to explain while extending his hands towards Arlo's projection but his hands just passed through it reminding him that the projection was memory, Nero could only pat Ren on shoulder as there was nothing they could do other than listen to their father's projection. Arlo's projection continued " But I'm also glad that you both have each other now. There will be quarrels, fights, laughter, and many other things between you, but one thing I'm certain of is that you'll trust each other with your lives. I always wanted to have a brother whom I could rely on without even thinking, I wasn't able to have that luxury but looks like my sons would fulfill that wish for me."

Perhaps sensing something, Arlo's projection turned to the main purpose of its appearance, explaining the significance of the soul tool. " I am not gonna waste anymore of your time and come to the main point, This soul tool which I am entrusting you both with has different locations marked in it. At each location there is a number which can only be acquired through your bloods, the first half of the numbers is the coordinate to the knowledge for which your Mom and I were killed and the second half are coordinates to the place where I've left our belongings and my final message—explaining the reason for my death and how I managed all of this—is recorded"

Arlo paused for a moment, his voice filled with emotion, and then continued with tears in his eyes, " Nero, Ren, until you both reach 17, you're safe. Our enemies won't be able to sense you or attack you directly but once you both turn 17 they'll come after you with full force. I wish I could have done much more for you two but this is the best I could come up with. Honestly Your Mom and I are not sad at our death as it was to protect you both, If faced with the same choice again, I would willingly give up my life for you two once more. Farewell Nero and Ren. Know that We both loved you both deeply " With those words, the projection vanished, leaving Nero and Ren in tears as they were overwhelmed by their parents' love and sacrifice.

After both brothers gathered their emotions, Ren was the first one to break the silence. "I will focus on the coordinates," Nero, not fully understanding the meaning behind Ren's words, asked, "What do you mean?" Ren took a deep breath and explained, "What I mean is that after three years when we are strong enough, I should be the one looking for coordinates and you should go to Shrek." Nero instantly retorted, "Why can't we both go to Shrek?" "Nero, didn't you hear Dad? We only have 7 years, and whatever it is that Dad and Mom discovered is crucial for our growth," Ren explained in a raised voice while pointing at the soul tool. "Why does it have to be you, Ren?" Nero asked again. "Because firstly, only you can make sure that Aria has all the knowledge she requires, and secondly, if I somehow fall into grave danger, then you can rescue me using Yamato's ability. I can't do that to you because I don't have the ability to get somewhere far so quickly," Nero rubbed his eyebrows in frustration upon hearing Ren's reasoning. On one hand, he knew that Ren was right, but on the other hand, he didn't want Ren to again take the hard path.

"Nero, you don't have to worry. I am not always going to be in danger, and I want to experience this life from a different perspective. I am not taking a hard path or anything, and you also know I have Dante's legacy. Perhaps this is the way through which I can grow the fastest," Ren assured Nero, understanding why Nero was not supportive of his decision. "Sigh," Nero sighed in resignation, realizing that there was no other way. "Come on, I am still going to annoy you for the next three years," Nero joked and slapped Ren on the back. Nero laughed, and they both decided not to dwell on these matters for now.

" Nero, Are you awake? " their laugh was interrupted by Xu Xiaoyan, whose voice came from outside of the room.

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Next chapter would probably be the last chapter of East sea arc