Trigger Warning: There is gore material in this chapter as well as mild sexual indications toward an teenage Vergil, so please do not continue if this makes you uncomfortable.
Thank you,
~Jello
The scene of the ruined house met Vergil's gaze, leaving him aghast at the sight of it. He was standing out in the clearing that made up the front yard with the strange woman in red, Jeanne, beside him. The structure was charred, damaged and so dead in appearance. The fire had long since been put out, and his mother's corpse was no longer in the yard. Surely she had been buried or devoured by the demons who attacked.
Unfortunately, it seemed as though it had at least been a few days since the attack, which left Vergil to wonder a few things. Was Dante alright and where was he? How long had this woman been watching him while he was out?
Vergil knew it was probably futile to come here, but he couldn't help being drawn to his home, since he knew of no other place to go. His blue gaze seemed misty as he walked into the busted door.
"Dante? Dante... are you here?" He called softly, his voice barely stirring the silence of the musky home. Nothing stirred in response, and it left him standing there in the dust and ash, without words and terribly alone. Vergil seemed to hear the reverberation of his own voice, and it left him in more discomfort than before. He was afraid to explore the home for fear that Dante was gone. But he was the big brother... he had to be strong for Dante.
Slowly, Vergil stepped onto the lowest stair, jumping at the creak of the wood that groaned in protest to his weight. He hesitated once more before just taking a deep breath and running up the stairs to check Dante's room. "Dante?!" He cried, his voice cracking in both agonizing fear that he'd find his brother dead and the possibility that maybe he was gone forever. But upon stepping into his brother's bedroom, he could see the burn marks and the closet door which was completely unscathed by the inferno that had consumed much of the house.
The boy heaved a soft sigh of relief at the sight. Dante had been protected by their mother, he was sure of it. Of course she'd save Dante first, he was the baby of the family. Vergil finally managed a small smile at the thought of Dante out there somewhere, alive and well, though most likely alone. Unless someone had helped him like Jeanne had helped Vergil... Speaking of Jeanne, Vergil turned to look at her, but there was no sign of his strange crimson angel.
"Miss Jeanne?" Vergil called out timidly, somewhat concerned by the situation. Was she under attack? Or had she left as she had warned him of? Vergil hurriedly rushed down the stairs to check for any sign of her. She was gone... as though she had never been there to begin with. Vergil had stumbled out into the grassy yard when he spotted her figure stepping through a portal away. "Thank you miss Jeanne!" He shouted after her as the portal closed behind her fleeting figure.
Now truly left to his own devices, Vergil took a deep breath and recollected his thoughts. He must find a way to protect his brother, and be strong as his mother requested. To do that, he would need the strength to fight and protect Dante. He can't even find his mother's body to pay his respects to her. No... as a brother, it is his duty to move on and protect his brother.
It was then, that Vergil set out into the world, determined to become the most powerful warrior he could be... to protect what mattered. But he never did find Dante until it was all too late.
Standing at the precipice of a rock outcropping, the youth stared down at the bleak valley below with an icy blue eyed gaze. He had little left that he still cared for, and here he was, seeking yet another way to improve himself. He had found teachers to help him study and become skilled in his fighting, but even so, there was much to be desired. Vergil knew there was much he lacked in terms of power. No matter how much he struggled, there would always be someone stronger. He had been searching fruitlessly for his brother, to find and protect him no matter where he was. Sometimes he felt like he should give up hope, but other times, he knew his twin was still somewhere, alive and probably alone like Vergil himself.
Of course there had been kind-hearted people at first who helped Vergil, but almost always it ended in betrayal. For few did not know of the snow haired son of Sparda was lost, and wanted by nearly all for the blood running through his veins. Even one of his sword masters had sought to kill him after a time of apprenticeship. If not to take his power, many wanted to put a stop to the evil he might unleash one day. Carrying the legacy of Sparda was no easy task for the teen. But he could cling to the fact that his one remaining family member was out there somewhere, safe and sound. Vergil could feel that Dante was still alive, for some bond they shared told him so.
While that thought provided a measure of solace to the lonely soul, it didn't do much to soothe Vergil's guilt and loneliness. More than ever before, he felt the need to be stronger, to seek out more powerful foes and begin to devour their power where they might have taken his. He'll never let another creature, be it man or beast, to touch a single person he cared about.
This was one such day, where he lay in wait for his prey who would appear in the valley below to feast upon the lost villagers who'd fall under the spell of it's call. Vergil had done his research on the creature, a naga of some kind. Her preferred prey were little boys and young men. Doubtless to create a new generation of her devilish offspring and to provide dinner once that was done.
Vergil was his own bait for this trap. He would overcome the overwhelming odds before him and emerge more than victorious. He'd take her demonic power for himself. With a sigh, Vergil swept his white hair back in his typical style and got to his feet, holding Yamato in his clenched fingers. He cannot accept defeat, no matter what.
The boy was flying through the air toward the ground at an alarming speed, and yet his face seemed perfectly composed when he braced himself and rolled upon landing to prevent the full damage of the fall. Of course it still hurt, mainly his shoulder, but nothing he couldn't shrug off without too much effort.
As the youth got to his feet and rolled his shoulder out to clear the ache, he looked around at the new surroundings. It was bleak, with scrawny trees and unfriendly flora that seemed to loom hauntingly over every appearance of a path. This forest reeked of absolute menace and unfriendly welcome. It mattered little to the young Vergil who simply rested the Yamato on his shoulder and began to advance. With his brown boots crunching upon the drying grass, and blue eyes looking sharply for any movement, his very approach exuded a guarded stance. He would be ready to strike at any moment. He knew this beast would be far more stealthy than he, so he must sharpen his senses to anticipate her.
His heart thumped away in his chest as adrenaline rushed through his veins, filling him with a sense of both dread and excitement. He kept his breaths slow and calm, to maintain his careful concentration despite the excitement of the hunt.
A snap of a twig spiked his attention directly to his right, but he caught himself to keep from charging in. Yes... she knew he was here, didn't she? He was only fourteen, but his senses were keener than any human and he could feel the aggression in the air and it wasn't coming from him. An intense hunger was driving this beast, and not a kind he would enjoy.
Vergil forcefully relaxed his muscles and pretended not to have heard the twig, instead concentrating all of his efforts on locating the source. Where was she? She is of the same nature as a snake, so she wouldn't have broken the stick unless it was deliberate, as snakes are stealthy beasts. Which could mean only one thing. She was planning to attack from the opposite, or another direction.
In one swift movement, Vergil had drawn the Yamato and spun to slash the oncoming beast that shot from behind him with fangs bared and long black tresses flowing. A loud cry and a hiss indicated his blow had at least cut something, but he wasn't swift enough to stop the lash that shot out from her snake trunk to slap him back with her tail. Vergil grunted in pain as he was thrown against a tree and jumped back up to his feet to observe his enemy now that she was fully revealed.
The naga itself was a beautiful creature, with a pale face and large yellow eyes that had slits like a serpent. She had long coal black hair that fell mostly over her eyes, cut partially by the slash Vergil had just given her. She wore no clothing whatsoever, so her round breasts were completely exposed, though Vergil hardly cared. He was more focused on the study of her potential threat level. The naga was muscular and lean, with scales starting just below her naval and increasing into a giant snake-like trunk that tapered into a tail after a long distance. He couldn't be certain how long that tail was, but she was definitely angered by the bleeding wound across her shoulder. Vergil hissed softly between his teeth when he noted how shallow it was. How pathetic of him.
The beast narrowed her amber eyes as a soft hiss emerged from between fanged teeth. She pulled back as though a cobra might to strike, with Vergil preparing to defend himself. Perhaps he had overestimated his own reflex speed? Snakes are known to be fast. So he must simply become faster or die.
It was a blur of movement paired with a burst of adrenaline as the female shot past Vergil who slashed once again to try and fend her off. But she had fooled the boy, darting beside him rather than full on charging him and swept her slithering tail across his ankles to whip his feet out from under him.
Vergil let out a cry of surprise as instead of his envisioned defense, he found himself face first in the dirt. With a hiss of his own, he moved to jump to his feet, but the snake had hardly hesitated as her tail began to wrap around his slim body, specifically pinning his arms to his sides and rendering the Yamato useless, though Vergil only tightened his grip as the coils surrounded his body.
"Don't sssstruggle, boy." The naga hissed softly, running a finger over Vergil's smooth cheek as if she were gloating over her prize. But despite her croon warning him not to struggle, Vergil thrashed with every ounce of strength in his body, and even went so far as to bite at her finger.
"Release me, beast!" He growled in a mixture of anger and panic as the naga grabbed him by his cheeks, forcing him to look at her as her tail constricted ever so slowly to halt his movement completely. He still had a grip on Yamato, but it did him no good if he could not swing it. He grimaced in pain at the continued constriction, just enough to make it painful, but before it could break any bones.
"You are not like the humansss." The soft words emerged from pale lips as her forked tongue shot out to taste the air, though she didn't hesitate to touch his face with the wet appendage while she was at it. She seemed pleased by the taste she had of the boy's smooth flesh, but Vergil was more angered by it than anything else. He knew it meant that she would have a taste of the power coursing through his veins.
Her eyes had widened and pupils dilated as though she were in the midst of an ecstatic episode as she caressed his cheek, but pressed her clawlike left thumbnail into his flesh. Just a bit. Just enough to draw blood that she greedily lapped up with her forked tongue.
"Y-You... Your blood... You carry...!" The naga nearly moaned at the sensation of power running through her taste buds. But her momentary distraction provided the opening that Vergil needed to move just enough.
He gripped the Yamato and focused all of his power into a forced swing. Anything to cut himself from this prison of serpent flesh! He was met with the satisfying resistance that could only be snake scales. Finally! He jerked away as best he could when the naga shrieked and writhed, but he cried out when the tail tightened around his legs, pulling him off of his balance and on his back in the forest floor. A closer view indicated that he had not severed the serpentine trunk as he had hoped, but instead had cut deeply into her body, not quite enough to expose the bone of her spine.
"Youuuuuu! Folissssssh boy!" The naga hissed as she dragged the child closer to her, wounded tail and all wrapping around his arm to crush it beyond use and pin him down. She was slowly adding pressure to his arm with the sword while her eyes narrowed and she lunged forward to the struggling child.
Vergil could feel the wet of her blood soaking into his clothes as he writhed. He could feel the force of her tail on his arm slowly pushing it to the point where he knew it would soon snap. And snap it did, almost at the same instant that she had sank her fangs into his thin neck. Vergil could not help but to cry out in pain as his arm lay listlessly by his side and a burning sensation spread from her fangs throughout his body. Following the burn was a slow numbing sense that seemed to make both pain and feeling fade away. She was using venom on him?! He had sorely underestimated his opponent. Now he knew not of what his fate would be. He could only guess that she would try to devour him like all other demons tried to do thus far.
No attempt that Vergil gave made her so much as move, to the point where Vergil was beginning to succumb to it. He could hear the purr in her tone as he fought to maintain his consciousness. His eyes slowly dulled as he began to fade into blackness, unaware of what fate befell him.
When he awoke, he could hear a heavy rasping sound, like something heavy was being dragged across an uneven ground. It took him a moment to realize from staring at the trees moving above him, that it was in fact, him who was being dragged on the forest floor. He slowly tried to turn his head, but nothing was responding to him despite all of his efforts.
Darkness covered his vision as the light was snuffed out. He could only guess he had been drug into some kind of cave, based on the moss and the sounds of bones rattling when his body was scraping the rock beneath him. Slowly but surely, he was regaining the feeling in his body. He lifted his blue eyes and began to search around, his pupils expanding to capture more light in the room.
The details began to appear slowly to him, revealing a rocky cavern with slightly luminous moss that was coating the rocks and the ceiling, bathing the room in a dim light. He caught the glint of the white bones scattered across the bottom of the cave. But most notably, was the female beast who grabbed him by his broken arm to lift his still limp body and a piece of what was once a rib, that she slammed into his forearm which punctured flesh and part of the stone. It had in a sense, trapped him there, just as his bones had finally reset with their rapid healing.
Vergil gritted his teeth, determined not to satisfy her with the sound of his pain. He would bear it! But she while she lifted his other arm, he took a quick look around to locate his one friend in this situation. Yamato, where had she put it or did she abandon it out in the forest? His eyes widened in pain when the naga repeated the action with his unbroken arm and essentially crucified him to her cave wall. He was bleeding, and knew he would heal rapidly, which is probably why she did it in the first place, but for now he lowered his angry blue eyes on her in a baleful glance.
"You are not afraid?" The naga seemed curious as she reached out to touch his cheek once more and ran her slim fingers down his smooth flesh to the place she had bitten him earlier, already healed.
"I am afraid of no simple beast like you." Vergil spat as he jutted out his lower jaw in determination, defiantly challenging the bitch to try her best. Of course his words spurred her into action. She hissed violently, and dug her claws into his neck.
"Were it not for your blood being ssso rich and perfect for offssspring, I'd devour you now. But..." Her amber eyes gained a wicked glint as she smirked at him and drove her claws into his flesh and began to drag them down, cutting his shirt and coat while she did. "You heal ssso sssplendidly." The naga gleefully observed as the wounds caused by her claws began to close and heal of their own accord.
Vergil was trying his utmost to be silent, but he squirmed in discomfort at the burning sensation of her claws digging through his body. He gritted his teeth and knew this could only mean one thing. It infuriated him. This foul creature dares to think she can create offspring with his blood? With the blood of Sparda? It made him want to laugh in derision. She could see it across his face and in his hate filled glance.
But something else caught her attention that made her halt. She noticed a glint under his shirt that made her pause and brush the tatters of fabric out of the way. The pendant on his neck that emanated with power. She gave a soft coo before fingering it softly, curiously.
"What isss thisss?" She asked him while letting the amulet rest on her palm, studying it's red gem closely. She could see the etching of Vergil's name on the setting and scraped her thumbnail on the surface to see if it was soft or as hard as the gem appeared to be and then jerked the amulet off of his neck.
"You dare... You dare to touch that...?!" Vergil's voice shook with unrestrained rage at the very fact that she dare touch his most precious gift and made him snap. The last thing his mother ever gave him, and she had the gall to take it. Every part of him felt the intense desire to make her burn for tainting the purest thing with her disgusting touch. He lifted his upper lip in a snarl as he summoned every power within him to break free. He needed that power... that power...!
Then, like the instant of chains breaking off from the wrists of slaves, Vergil felt it. That overwhelming sense of control, and power coursing through his veins. It burned, and yet felt just right. His veins glowed with a pale blue light that began to trigger a reaction that Vergil didn't mind a bit. The bones of his hand began to shift and warp as spikes began to grow from his body. He braced his feet on the wall and began to push with all of his might.
The naga had slithered back in pure awe as she observed the glowing boy. His eyes were a brilliant blazing blue glow as his facial structure warped and changed into a demon. A full on demon with insectoid features, but most notably, a fierce rage on his face. And the fact he tore away from the bones restraining him, incinerating the old human bones into dust and ash.
Fear quickly replaced the naga's awe when she realized the she was the direction of his anger. She began to slither toward the exit, her eyes wide as the beast that had once been a child shot from the wall, leaving a crater behind as all four of his wings extended to halt before he struck the other wall. A bluish glow filled the cavern as then shot at the beast who was beating a fast retreat for the exit.
He caught the very end of her tail, clutching it with his own spiked claws as he pierced the scales as smoothly as butter. She let out a shriek of pain as she thrashed and shook, trying to get loose from him but in vain. Vergil breathed a low growl as he began to pull her back, dragging her entire trunk back by an arms' length before he slammed another hand full of claws into her flesh to drag her back yet another arm length back. Movement by movement, he dragged her closer to him, his rage being marked into her very flesh as she was being drawn closer to her inevitable doom.
Her shrieking and thrashing continued up to the point where he was nearly at her trunk. Her hissing and wailing was continuing as she tried a desperate attempt to strike him and subdue the demonic side he had awoken.
But her teeth were caught by his left thumb that jutted in between her jaw, while his fingers curled around to hold her head by his grip while keeping her jaw from closing with his thumb. He brought her so close to his face that she was staring into those endless wells of blue light.
"This..." He spoke slowly as his right hand released her flesh to take the amulet from her hand with a firm but tender grasp. "Belongs to me." Vergil growled in pure hatred for her very filthy existence as he placed the hand with the amulet to his chest while she whimpered in fear, unable to form words with his thumb restricting her jaw.
He growled fiercely as he began to increase the pressure of his grasp on her jaw, pressing tighter and tighter to make her jaw finally snap under his grip. He didn't so much as flinch as the beast screeched in pain as her jaw unhinged uselessly and blood splattered across his face and her body. He had put the amulet back upon his neck so he could use his other hand. He reached to grab either side of her skull while her tail wrapped around his body, trying to crush him while she struggled to get free from this growing headache.
The demon continued to apply the pressure to her skull, growling intensely as she writhed beneath the force. Vergil let out a roar as he pushed to the breaking point, crushing her skull in a splatter of bone, and brain matter. He gritted his fang like teeth in disgust and shook himself off as the creature writhed slowly and weakly to a halt in death. He dropped her crushed head, letting her trunk hit the ground in a dull thump. Stepping away from the corpse, Vergil narrowed his eyes and looked at his clawed hands.
So this... this was the power he had awoken by rage? He knew he must use it to learn. To become stronger and stronger till none could stand before him and his might. Vergil breathed out a small snarl as he felt the Yamato call out to him. He slowly turned his gaze toward his beloved sword and approached it, grabbing the weapon where it had been discarded by the now dead beast of the forest.
Almost the instant his fingers wrapped around the handle of the blade, Vergil's demon form faded back into a slim boy, trembling from the power that had flooded his very being. Vergil was panting as he sheathed the Yamato and began to walk out of the cavern, barefooted and clothes in tatters from his transformation before. He looked a mess, with dirt and blood flecks covering his toned chest. But one thing was for certain, Vergil was stronger stepping out of that cave than he was going in.
But something that clashed completely with the forest surrounding the cavern entrance caught his glance. A feminine form in a garish crimson red. He could only stand there in shock at the familiar figure he had nearly convinced himself to have been created by his imagination. He spoke her name in soft awe and surprise.
"Jeanne..."
