Chapter Text
SPARDA
38 years ago
Sparda had changed over the thousands of years of his existence. Where once he was a ruthless beast, feared by all in the underworld, these days he considered himself a family man. His love for humankind began long before Eva, but his love for her was far stronger than anything he had ever felt.
When he chose to stay by her side, turning his demon side away, he was prepared to give her everything he had as long as he could.
Dante and Vergil were not a part of his plan.
While he had mastered human nuances over the years, being a father was not a role he ever thought he would assume.
He feared for his sons, and fear was not an emotion he felt lightly. They were half demons, half of him. He knew how strong his blood was. The older the demon, the stronger the blood, and he was old.
When Eva announced her pregnancy, Sparda began to plan. There were so many things he needed to teach his children. He needed to help them learn to protect themselves, how to control themselves. Depending on their demonic traits, he may need to help them understand themselves in a world where few, if any, existed like them.
All of that, and more. How do you explain to a child why demons were evil? The nuance would be lost on a child.
The first time he held his sons, he feared he would break them. How could something so soft and gentle have come from him? The Dark Knight who had killed hundreds of thousands of his kin, and hundreds of thousands of humans before that.
The first time the twins cried in his arms, he handed them back to Eva as though stung, afraid he had done something wrong. Her laugh and her teasing was what saved him. What an incredible mother she made.
Protecting his wife, protecting his sons, would always come first, no matter what.
So, when the time came that his family was being threatened, Sparda refused to sit and wait for them to come. He took the fight to them.
It would prove to be the biggest mistake of his life.