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Gloria and Balthazar stood on the edge of the hill, looking down at Sparda's house amongst the woods. Several Pride demons were hanging nearby, waiting for orders

"I think we should attack the place right now," Balthazar suggested

"There would be spells and charms to prevent that," Gloria said, "Duh"

"So we gotta break the spell then"

"There would be more than one. And knowing Sparda, it would be the strongest he could find, which makes it very difficult for us"

"Well, looks like we gotta figure out a way to get into that place"

"No duh, Captain Obvious"

"Alright, let's head off. At least we know where he lives"

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"Keep it coming, keep it coming, that's it, now you're getting it"

Vergil smiled and swung his wooden sword, as Sparda blocked and stepped back, blocking the next move, before moving around his son, who followed after him, as Dante, Nero and Celeste all watched. Well, Dante was watching. Nero and Celeste were busy with their colouring-in books. Sparda blocked Vergil's move and placed his sword on the ground, defeating him. Vergil sighed and lifted his sword up

"Dante, you want to have a go?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

Dante jumped up from his seat and hurried over, grabbing a wooden sword for himself and heading over to his father, as Vergil sat nearby his siblings, watching his twin train with his father

"Have fun, Verge?" Celeste asked without looking up

"It's training. Of course it's a little bit fun," he answered

"Uh-huh"

Sparda and Dante continued training, as Eva came into the room, carrying a plateload of sandwiches and drinks, setting them down nearby

"Lunch is ready when you want it," she called, "Oh and Christophe, there's someone at the door who wants to see you"

Sparda frowned, blocking Dante's move, before telling him to sit down and heading over to his wife, putting the swords away

"Who is it?"

"Don't know. She has short white hair and dark skin. Seemed a little skanky"

Eva didn't see Sparda go pale, as she was busy brushing Celeste's hair

"Uh, Eva, stay here with the kids, okay?"

"Yeah, okay"

Sparda left the room, closing the door, before heading to his office and grabbing his handguns. Holstering them, he went to the front door and opened it, seeing Gloria standing there before him, a smile on her face

"Hey gorgeous"

"How the hell did you find me here?" Sparda demanded

"Housing records," Gloria replied proudly, "Found you with ease"

"Right then. How did you manage to get within a hundred metres of this place? There are spells to prevent you demons from coming here"

"Well, babe, I'm only half-demon, so therefore the spells don't apply to me, do they?"

"I wouldn't know. I've never met a half-breed before"

"Guess it's your lucky day"

Her fist slammed into his face, throwing him away from the door. Sparda swiftly drew his handguns and aimed, as Gloria lunged inside, kicking both guns away from his hands, before lifting him up onto his feet and swinging her fist. Sparda blocked and slugged her in the face, but she barely flinched as she kicked him along the ground

"I thought that the mighty Sparda would be all powerful. I thought that his punch would at least send me flying into last week. Wonder what happened. You get weak over the years?"

Sparda slowly got to his feet, as Gloria shrugged and lashed out with a kick. Sparda blocked, as she followed up with a punch. He caught her fist in his own and smiled

"Maybe it's been such a long time since I've had a decent tussle"

He punched her in the face, before driving his elbow into her ribs, then landing an uppercut on her jaw. Gloria stumbled back, an angry look on her face. Sparda continued to smile, as Gloria growled and lunged at him. Sparda stepped back, punching her, but she responded with a punch of her own, throwing Sparda through the air. As he got up, she charged at him, but he leapt up out of harm's way onto the second floor, as Gloria leapt at the wall, pushing off it and landing before him

"Neat trick," he said

She smiled and struck, as Sparda kicked her in the stomach, before grabbing a book off the shelf and using it to block her punch, before smacking her in the face with the book. Gloria glared at him and kicked, as he blocked and threw the book at her. Gloria batted it aside, before lunging forth with a punch. Sparda sidestepped her, grabbing a large heavy book off the shelf and dropping it on her head, taking her down. Grabbing her by the leg, Sparda tossed her off the second floor, before leaping down after her. By then, Gloria had gotten to her feet and caught Sparda, throwing him through the air. He hit the floor hard and groaned, as Gloria walked over to him

"Yes, I have to say, you have gotten weak. The Sparda of the old age would have me beaten and humiliated by now. What happened, Sparda? Did you turn human?"

She frowned at that and walked over, grabbing him by his shoulders and lifting him up, before taking a sniff of his scent, her nose scrunching up and a look of disgust washed over her

"You have become human"

She drove her fist into his stomach, winding him, before dropping him to the floor with an elbow strike to the back. As she leaned down to grab him, Sparda whipped out Ombre and shot her in the face. Gloria reeled back, as Sparda got to his feet, drawing out Luce and shooting her several times. Gloria gritted her teeth. Although the bullets weren't actually penetrating her body, it still annoyed the hell out of her

"Christophe?"

Sparda turned around to face Eva, who frowned as she looked between him and Gloria, noting that Sparda looked beaten up and had his guns in his hands

"What's going on?" Eva demanded

"Ah, so Sparda's a human and he got married," Gloria smirked

"Get out of here, now!" Sparda growled

He raised Luce and fired a bullet into her head. Gloria glared, before walking out of the mansion, as Dante and Vergil entered the room

"We heard gunshots," Dante said, "Who were you shooting, Dad?"

"Oh, nobody, son," Sparda answered

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"I hear you went ahead and visited Sparda," Balthazar said

"Yeah, so what?" Gloria said, shrugging her shoulders

"And I'm guessing you and Sparda didn't sit down and have coffee"

"Of course we did. He even had these coffee biscuits. Really nice"

"Uh, what? You and Sparda actually had coffee together?"

Gloria rolled her eyes. Balthazar could such an idiot sometimes

"No, dork, of course not. We had a fight and I found out something very interesting"

"Yeah, that's what?"

"Sparda is a human. And he's married to a human"

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not"

"Well, this may actually work out in our favour"

"And I'm guessing he would have kids, at least one or two"

"Did you see any?"

"No, but like I said, I'm just guessing. How'd you go with the protection spells?"

Balthazar sighed

"No luck. We're still looking"

"Well, you better hurry up and fast"

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Matier answered the door, surprised to see Sparda standing before her again

"Sparda, what can I do for you?"

"I need a spell to regain at least a good portion of my demon powers"

"What? Why? Is this about Balthazar and Gloria?"

"Yeah. They know where I live now and Gloria can get past the security spells"

"Alright then, come in and I'll see what I can do"

"Thanks"

Sparda entered the house and headed to the kitchen, as Matier went through her books, trying to find the right spell to help her friend out

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