Martyrdom: Keeper's Requiem
Disclaimer: I have no ownership over the elements of Devil May Cry that are included in this fic.
A/N: I wrote a fic with a similar title a while ago but it sucked really bad. Anyway, this is totally different, but I just wanted to keep my title.
Synopsis: Set at the time of the prequel Devil May Cry 3, Vergil and Arkham try to activate the tunnel of the Temen-ni-gru. When they succeed, they continue to attempt at opening the portal to the Demon World to find it impossible. It seems that Sparda had a few tricks up his sleeve when he had shut the portal down: there is another ingredient hidden inside the Temen-ni-gru. Dante and Lady arrive and they discover what Vergil and Arkham are up to. Soon, it turns into a race to find the secret ingredient first.
The Prelude
The library was empty, save the young man that stood under a vague light who flicked through an old book engraved with curly gold patterns. His silver hair was slicked back to reveal stoic, wintry grey-blue eyes. Over his pale skin he wore his navy blue vest and tie, together with navy trousers that possessed the texture of a reptile's skin. On his feet, he wore tan, knee-high buckled boots. He also wore tan, fingerless gloves that complemented his boots. Then, on top of everything, he wore a long, high-collared coat of blue silk with white embroidery of thorns and an interior of orange. Against the bookshelf rested a sheathed katana tied with a yellow ribbon. That ribbon had no purpose. None of which was known to others. It could have come from his father when he had received it, or he could have put it there for decoration. But, enough of the ribbon; a bald man was approaching from the darker side of the library. A strange scar covered one side of his face, never ceasing to move. Vergil paid no attention to him, he was busy.
"So," Arkham began with his deep and calm voice that would probably never have or never will break to the sorrow of tears, "You're looking for the book of ancient legends, the tale of the demon warrior Sparda?"
Vergil closed his eyes and slammed the book shut in response. "That's not what I'm looking for," Vergil replied in his impassively monotonic voice that hissed at the sound of every 's' he pronounced adding a reptilian malevolence to his tongue, "Leave me!"
He slid the book back into place with his eyes still watching the bookshelf emptily.
"Then what are you looking for?" Arkham continued as he slowly walked closer, "A demon that impregnates a woman who then bears twin sons. That's the story, isn't it?"
There was a flash of silver and the tip of Vergil's katana was barely an inch away from Arkham's neck. Arkham briefly wavered backwards, but a diabolical quality never ceased to sparkle in his heterochromic eyes. He slowly walked forward with his soft footfall echoing off the cold walls of this abandoned library.
"People inherently fear evil," he murmured, although the words came out clear and were registered deep into Vergil's head, "However… occasionally, a person may become seduced by evil."
Yamato disappeared just as swiftly as it came with the guard clicking into the sheath. Vergil kept one hand on the sheath and the other on Yamato's hilt.
"What," Vergil queried, "are you getting at?"
"Share with me," Arkham answered, his head bowing over the book he held to his chest as though never to part from it, "the story of Sparda."
Chapter 1: Introit
Cursing, a silver-haired boy struggled through thick, silky webs. He could barely see through the gossamer that clung to the walls, floor and roof of this provisions room, and now, he was stuck smack-bang in the middle of one web while reaching for a strange artifact that shimmered and glowed with some supernatural radiance.
"This place sure needs a good janitor," he grunted as he snatched the glimmering ball of mystical power out of the ornately decorated place in which it was reserved. Humungo-jungo mistake!
Down from the roof descended the meanest looking of all arachnids: gigantic eight-legged freaks.
Shoving the ball into a pocket he mumbled to himself, "I can tell that no-one's been around here to call the bug control. Alright, it's exterminating time!"
Whooping and yelling out in excitement, the young man ran along the walls like a madman. He unsheathed the large doppelhander sword – Rebellion – that was strapped to his back. His red leather trench coat was now blanketed by a thick layer of spider webs and so were his brown leather pants. He wore short brown boots and dark fingerless gloves that too were swathed in thick web material.
He hacked and slashed madly at the huge creatures occasionally mixing his long-ranged weapon attacks with those of his close-ranged weapon attacks to unleash devastating combinations.
Now done, he hadn't even worked up a sweat and his somersaults and twirls had cleaned up the mess of webs had been there earlier. Now left were the pipsqueak spiderlings that scurried about and tried their best to bite him to no avail. He simply leaped onto them and crushed them all under his boots.
CRUNCH! SQUELCH! CRUNCH! SQUELCH!
"Ah," he sighed when he observed the green, gooey mass that was splattered on the floor.
Then, he hurried along to find somewhere where this ball would fit. The sound of crashing water reached his ears as he reached the door to the subterranean lake that lay beyond.
There was a waterfall some distance further, and there was an opening behind it. He had to hurry if he didn't want his brother to do anything that would bring disaster upon Earth.
Dante bolted through the cave leaping and beheading the simple demons that lurked within the cave.
He crossed a thin and winding bridge of stone and stopped at a wall with the sculpt of a nude female. The said female sculpt had an upturned palm as if she were holding something unseen. He observed the weathered patterns in the sculpt's palm and compared it to those of the strange ball that he held. He placed the ball into the sculpt's palm and watched as the sculpt collapsed into the wall and was raised to reveal a red door. He entered without hesitation.
Once inside, the door shut behind him and he examined the place. The entire room was lit by dozens of candles. Before him stood a grand stage with red curtains and a modern, kick-ass speaker system.
There was a purple mist that descended upon the area and there were the squeaks of many bats gathering together on one place. He grinned suggestively as he saw the tall woman who materialized before him.
Further down in the tower, a young woman was fighting a multitude of demons in solitude. She toted her large multi-purpose gun Kalina Ann as the last demons fell as they were turned into Swiss cheese. She landed on the floor in a crouch and straightened up to watch the last demon fall.
"Welcome back," she mumbled.
On his scythe, she saw a strange shadow that engulfed a whole part of the room. Something or someone was standing at the center of it. Turning around with her pistols held up steadily, she searched the place for the strange shadow. There was nothing. Glancing back at the fallen demon's scythe, it reflected the room perfectly.
"Stupid scythe!" Lady cursed, turning towards the door to get higher in the tower.