Chapter 1 – Death and Rebirth
There was a scream, a blinding light, and the sounds of crunching metal and or shattering glass, then there was nothing but darkness for the little blonde female.
"Clover! CLOVER! Someone please! Get her out of there!" An older lady, who looked to be the mother of the child in question, screamed frantically as she was being dragged away from the carnage that was her car.
A string of paramedics and firemen rushed to the scene shortly afterward and worked as fast as they could to get the young child out of the passenger seat, and when they did, here was no good news to be relayed.
"…Ma'am, your daughter will need to be taken to the ICU as soon as possible. It seems that there has been some sever damage to her ribcage and cerebral cortex…" A female paramedic stated solemnly as the young child could be seen as she was carried away in a stretcher.
"C-can I please go with her? She's my only child… I don't want to leave her like this… Please…" the little girl's mother began to weep as she began to take in the chaotic sight before her eyes.
There was an accident, four cars head on collision into each other, but the only victims were this woman and her daughter, and what's more is that the drivers of the other three vehicles were no where to be found.
On a nearby roof, a figure could be seen, and nothing on his person could be made out, except for a single lens on his right eye. This was the legendary demon known as Sparda. A searchlight passed over his location once, and when it made the return trip, Sparda had disappeared.
"…Very well. You may ride with her and fill out the necessary forms. We'll have to do a background check on you to see if you have any prior offenses. What is your name?" an officer asked the blonde woman.
"My name is Stella, Stella Hartwell, sir…" Stella replied and was guided to the ambulance and took a seat next to the unmoving body of her daughter, Clover, who was around the age of ten years old.
In the hospital, Stella sat anxiously in the waiting room, hoping that her beloved daughter could be saved. She sat near the door of the ICU entrance, and by her was a man who wore a monocle, had his hair slicked back like an old businessman, and wore a suit that was purple and had a red collar, Sparda. He noticed Stella's dismay and tried to talk to her to ease her mind.
"Well, hello miss. May I ask what troubles you so?" Sparda asked with his face above a magazine, so that only his eyes could be seen.
Stella gave a careful look to the man whom she'd just noticed before she spoke, "I'm waiting to see if the doctors can save my daughter… We were in a horrid accident you see…"
Stella stopped and burst into tears again, and Sparda eased his way over to her side to comfort her.
"Rest easy fair Maiden… They will do all they can for your daughter… There is no need for tears." Sparda's smooth voice calmed her down and she looked into his eyes.
Sparda gave a soft gentleman's smile to Stella and she became entranced by his eyes. "I hope you're right…" Stella sighed hard and rested her head on his shoulder, to further ease her mind.
After several painstakingly slow hours, the doctors approached Stella, grim looks on their faces…
"Miss Hartwell? I-I… Have some rather unfortunate news…" A doctor with a bowl cut and big thin rimmed glasses spoke and got the attention of the two adults.
"She… She's…?" Stella managed to ask, only to get a nod, a sad slow remorseful nod from the doctor.
Stella was speechless and a torn expression crossed her face. Sparda rose and approached the doctor, "May we see her?"
The doctor nodded, "We… we did all we could, but…"
Sparda cut him off calmly, "that's all we can ask of you. Thank you very much."
Stella managed a soft "Thank you" through her choked sobs, and Sparda was there for her the entire time.
When the two get to Clover's room, it was silent, nothing could be heard, save for the slow beeping of the heart rate on the monitor nearby. Clover lie in the hospital bed with the covers over her person, and her arms over the covers and her eyes closed gently, as if she were asleep blissfully. Stella went to her and got on her knees to be more level with her child.
"Clover… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I couldn't keep you safe… I wish I could have been the one… it should have been me, not you here…" Tears slid down Stella's face again and Sparda slowly entered after her and placed his hand gently on her shoulder.
"Don't cry, it'll be better soon. You'll see."
"But… They said…"
"They said they did all they could, but perhaps you would like to go sit down while I say a few words to your daughter?"
Stella was about to protest, but when she glanced into Sparda's sapphire blue eyes, she had given in. "Please… help her if you can…"
Sparda gave a sympathetic nod, "I shall…" and he approached the side of the bed where Stella had just been. Sparda raised his hand over young Clover's forehead and spoke.
"Young Clover… I shall bestow upon you the powers of a devil… and thus, you shall rise again and live life anew with naught but your memories of your mother…"
The lights flickered on and off for a moment, then Clover's heart rate had returned to normal, and her hair had turned platinum blonde. Sparda looked over to Stella and gave a smile. "She's just fine now…"
Stella smiled and hugged the legendary devil. "Thank you so much mister…"
"Sparda."
"Thank you so much Mr. Sparda… You saved my baby… I don't know how to thank you…"
Sparda smiled again and replied, "Well, you could accompany me to my home for the night, right? It's rather late on a Saturday, and I'm sure you could use the rest."
"I think I'll do that…" Stella turned to Clover, 'I'll be back to see you tomorrow Clover. Good night…" with that, Stella gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead, and Clover groggily mumbled, "Good night, mom" in response.
Sparda and Stella turned to leave, and Stella was in that much better of a mood. A passerby doctor noticed the change in Stella's demeanor, and rushed in to Clover's room and was shocked to find that Clover had made a full and complete recovery.
Sparda's vehicle was a replica of Al Capone's car, except it was a shiny ruby color and the rims were freshly polished and reflected the gentle lights, and the tires were the traditional white walled type.
The car ride to Sparda's mansion was uneventful except for the occasional questions and answers from each of the two adults. When Sparda returned home he was greeted happily by his two young sons, Vergil and Dante.
"Dad! You're back! See Vergil? I told you dad was getting a new mom for us!" Young Dante said happily as he noticed Stella enter behind his father.
"Heh, well she's very pretty. Dad you certainly know how to pick the girls." Young Vergil smirked and approached Stella.
"I'm Stella, What's your names?" Stella propped herself on her knees and offered her hand to the young boys.
"Ah, Stella, I see you've met my two sons." Sparda removed his coat and returned to introduce his two young sons.
Vergil was dressed in a blue t-shirt and shorts; Dante was in a red tank top with silk shorts on. The two twins were preparing for bed.
"The boy in blue is Vergil." Sparda stated and Vergil shook Stella's hand then gave a gallant bow, like his father would.
"It's nice to make your acquaintance, Miss Stella." Vergil smiled and turned to go to his room.
"And the boy in red is Dante." Sparda stated and Dante sprang up and shook Stella's hand as well, but gave a smug smirk as he did so.
"It's nice to meet you Miss Stella." Dante gave thumbs up and dashed away to his room as well.
As the twins went to bed, Sparda gave Stella the grand tour of his stately mansion and the two got more acquainted.
The following day, Stella and Sparda picked Clover up from the hospital, and when they returned to Sparda's mansion they were greeted by Vergil and Dante.
"Hey dad, who's the girl?" Dante asked, and pointed at Clover.
"Yes, father… Who is she? Is she related to Miss Stella?" Vergil added and walked over to Clover, who hid behind her mother a bit.
"Ah, Clover, no need to be shy… These are your new brothers, Vergil and Dante." Stella introduced the two boys and they waved in acknowledgement.
"Relax little dear, the boys won't bite. They'll be good to you, I promise." Sparda gave a laugh and sipped on his tea.
Clover slowly approached the two boys, cautious of what might happen and shyly introduced herself, "Uh, I-I'm Clover…"
Vergil smirked and extended his hand, "The name's Vergil, nice to meet you Clover."
Clover and the spiky haired brother shook hands.
"…It's nice to meet you too, Vergil…"
Then Dante came up and slid in between the two. "I'm Dante. I'll make sure you feel right at home, okay Clover?"
Clover nodded and stepped back, looking at her mother.
Vergil got Clover's attention again, "So Clover, you wanna see the rest of our house?"
Dante chimed in, "Yeah It's huge! Come on. We'll show you around." With that, the two twins helped Clover get used to them and them to her.
Over the course of a few months, Stella and Sparda grew closer, as did their children, and within the following year, Stella and Sparda got married, and that bonded Clover as his daughter, and she and Stella were happier than they had been in a long time.