The Crystal Sarcophagus

PART 10

Vergil didn't waste any time. The following day he set up a training program, starting with fitness exercises to increase their strength and stamina. Of course Damian had to question the need of those.

"We are half-devils. If we need more strength and speed we just trigger. I don't see why we should run around the field and tire ourselves out."

"Do not doubt the necessity of anything I make you do. You should be able to win most fights in your human form. Triggering should be an emergency measure. And remember, these exercises will also increase the power of your devil-form. I mean to make you unconquerable. Start running, Damian."

Reluctantly the teen started running. After half a dozen tours of the field in front of the cabin, Vergil stopped them. Instead of going in for breakfast he made them jump on the spot, as high and fast as they could. Any of the children that were really tired, rather than trying to get out of the exhausting workout, were allowed to proceed to the cooling down part of the programme. Finally, when everyone had done as much as they could, they were allowed to go in for breakfast.

Jim didn't escape the programme just because Vergil needed his body to communicate directly to the group. In between giving orders he left the boy's body, and Jim was happy to exercise with the others. It made him feel more part of the group, even if he had to stop way ahead of the others.

Vergil was satisfied that all, including Damian, had done as much as they could. It was strange that not one had jumped exceptionally high. He would have to teach them to tap into their powers without triggering.

After breakfast came training in ranged weapons. Vergil explained the need of learning the use of them.

"Sometimes you may not get close enough to your opponent to use your sword. Some demons, especially those that don't look human, fight with poison, acid, fire, and more besides. They will attack you in various ways, but their methods have one thing in common. You will not be able to get near them and you will have to kill them from a distance. "

"I have my father's guns," Tyler said. "I absorbed them together with my sword and my father's sword. That's how I kept them while in the orphanage."

"That's what Damian and I did as well. Even Tessie hid her mother's swords and knives. Only Nicholas and of course Jim had no weapons on them," Carrie explained.

"You did well. Your parents' weapons are your legacy."

"That's what Mom always said, when she told us stories about Sparda and her friends. That's why I took them for Cody and me; because of Mom."

"We were all told from the moment we could understand: when something happens, before you cry, before you can grief, secure the weapons. Father would make me repeat it every day, and Mother would complain, 'Nice that, Azza. Talking about our deaths before breakfast.'"

"I don't know any more what my father looked like," Nicholas said quietly.

A sudden gloom had settled over the group as they remembered the parents they had lost. Vergil felt Jim's sadness, and recognised it as the paralysing feeling that the loss of Dante and Eva had caused him when he was the boy's age. Recognised it, but didn't feel it. He didn't even remember what loss felt like, only that because of those feelings the demons had been able to pin him to the gravestone. The memory of those emotions had been wiped away the moment his devil had been activated. That's why he didn't know what to do; how to stop the sadness from overwhelming them.

Tyler did. The boy who was cool and composed, but who understood completely what his friends went through knew what to do. Take them out of their sad memories with the question they had wanted to ask since Vergil had told them about the importance of being able to kill an enemy from a distance.

"What was your ranged weapon of choice, Vergil?" Tyler asked. "I believe you're not a fan of firearms. I got that impression when you said Jim could use guns."

One by one the children came out of their sad musings, wanting to hear the answer to Tyler's question.

"I despise firearms. No true warrior should use them," Vergil answered. "I had summoned swords."

"Summoned swords? What? You called them or something?" Damian asked.

"Or something."

"Can you show us?"

"I am using a human body. It may not work."

"We could try," Jim said, giving Vergil that strange feeling again of being in control of a body, but not its mouth.

Without another word Vergil tried to bring his summoned swords into being. What appeared were six blades, shorter than his usual swords, though longer than a dagger. He let them spin in a circle, then let one after the other fly at the target, hitting it six times.

"Can we do that as well?" Nicholas asked, breaking the awed silence.

"I do not know what any of you may or may not be able to do. Not every demon or devil can do this."

"How do we know if we can or not? Is there a trick to it? How did you find out?"

Vergil ignored the last question. His father had taught him, and he couldn't reveal his relationship to the great Sparda yet.

He just said, "Imagine a weapon, sword or dagger, see it become real, open your eyes. If it is there in front of you, you will eventually be able to summon several at an instant, but it will require practice."

They all wanted to try and summon some weapon or other, but Vergil didn't let them.

"This morning you have target practice. You can try the summoning this evening, after the last training."

They grumbled a bit but the cold look from Vergil's ice-blue eyes in their friend's body soon ended that. Vergil observed and corrected where necessary.

Tyler proved to be a crack shot with his father's guns, so at Vergil's insistence he practiced with some of the other weapons. Tessie had already shown she could throw fast with accuracy. With a little practice she would be as good as Tyler with his guns. Nicholas, Cody, and Jim were beginners. They would need time, but they were young and full of enthusiasm. Vergil was sure they would catch up with the rest.

Damian could have done better, but he was annoyed that he hadn't been allowed to try summoning swords.

"I don't know why I couldn't try," he mumbled to himself.

Vergil had heard the complaint and startled Damian when he answered, "Even if you can summon swords, you still have to reach your target."

He pushed five throwing knives in the teen's hand.

"Pretend these are brought into being by you. Try to get five in a row on target. Then six, then seven, then eight. When you have achieved that, you can practice summoning. I trust you will be honourable."

Carrie was a different problem. The girl was a good swordfighter, but only mediocre with the target practice. She was a reluctant fighter, except when she was defending the group and their home. No doubt she felt it was her duty, otherwise she probably wouldn't touch a weapon, any weapon.

Vergil approached the girl.

"Carrie, you either practice and fight wholeheartedly or not at all."

She looked down at the boy she loved like a little brother, but observing her were the cool eyes she had seen shining with murderous intent.

"I don't understand. I'm not a bad fighter, aren't I?"

"No. When you jumped in front of Tyler you were even very good. You should be like that all the time."

"Why? We're not in some kind of war."

"You are. You are a half-devil, and your mother was an ally of Sparda. Those are two reasons why the Demon World will wage war on you. Your options are to hide among humans until you are found out one day and killed, or to take the war to the demons. Your friends call themselves Sparda's Army and have chosen the second option. Decide what you want to do, and do it."

Vergil turned away from the girl. Then he left Jim's body and instructed the boy on the use of throwing knives and the weapon he dreamt of, shuriken. By the time Vergil had finished his explanation and Jim had started throwing his missiles at the targets, Carrie had resumed her practice session. When Vergil saw the determined look on her face, he knew she had decided to fight.

Just as Damian had finally managed to hit the target eight times in a row, Vergil announced the end of the training session. They had been busy all morning and it was time for lunch. Afterwards Vergil ordered them to help Jim with clearing the table and doing the dishes, so that they could all go out together.

Jim stood on his box washing the dishes while the others were either drying them or putting them back in the cupboard. He sent a telepathic message to Vergil.

"Thanks, Vergil. This is a lot better than doing it on my own. You're a useful friend to have."

"Flattering, I'm sure. You will still have to do the training, boy."

Jim smiled broadly. Vergil felt the boy's satisfaction and wondered if Jim had tried to wind him up. He shook his head. Meeting that boy was probably the best thing that could have happened to him. He felt at peace watching the seven children laughing and teasing each other.

Once the work was done they all went out carrying their swords. Vergil slipped into Jim's body and started with a sparring session against the three oldest teens. Damian was much more careful this time round. He concentrated on his opponent, and didn't add any flash twists or moves.

"You have learned quickly," Vergil said. "Continue like this and you will be a great warrior, worthy to be in Sparda's Army."

When he faced Carrie, he saw determination on her face. She would show him that she meant to be a useful part of the group. She was a good fighter, something he already knew, just a bit too inclined to defend rather than attack.

"You need to take control of the fight. Defence is good, but you run the risk that your opponent makes the fight his. You have to dictate the rhythm of the fight, not the person you are fighting. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I think I do."

"Good, continue practising with Damian, and let him feel it whenever he tries some flash tricks."

Next in line was Tyler, who seemed a bit nervous, despite his best efforts to hide it. To help the youngster Vergil started off with some easily blocked cuts. Slowly he increased the pressure. Tyler had always enjoyed pushing himself to the limit. Soon he forgot his nervousness and matched Vergil perfectly. Their attacking and parrying remained in unison. Even when Vergil kept increasing the speed of his attacks, Tyler followed easily. The others had stopped practicing and watched the fight with interest, and in Carrie's case with more than a little apprehension.

Eventually the moment came when Tyler could no longer match Vergil's speed. With his next attack Vergil cut the teens arm. Tyler dropped his sword and Vergil stepped back immediately to show the fight had ended.

"As soon as that cut is healed, I want you to team up with Cody. He is inclined to use flash movements. Don't tell him he is wrong, let him feel it. Cody is a half-devil. Any small cut will heal easily, and he will learn sooner that way."

"Yes, of course," Tyler said. "You are right. I was too easy on them, on all of them."

While Tyler started to train with Cody, Vergil was facing the young boy's sister, Tessie. He soon discovered that the girl had a lot of patience, circling him, waiting for an opening to hit home. Just like he had done before, he feigned tiredness and lowered his sword. Tessie, seeing a possibility for attack, charged forward, only for Vergil to parry with ease. His follow-up strike didn't reach her though. She had managed to trick away from him.

Next she used subterfuge by seemingly going for a wild attack, only to trick behind him. She roared with disappointment when she found that Vergil had whirled round fast enough to block her sneak assault on his backside.

Following this Vergil decided to test her defence. Some attacks she parried, but mostly she tricked away from her opponent. She still tried to catch him unawares by tricking behind him, but his sword was always in the way of her strike.

"Have you got eyes in the back of your head? How do you know where I will be when I trick?" she asked Vergil.

"I know because I observe you. Most people give away their intentions in subtle ways, a look, a twitch, a slight movement towards the place they want to move to. You are actually very good, and with more speed you might even have hit me."

"That'll be the day," Tessie said obviously disappointed that none of her tricks had worked.

"Indeed. That day you will be a great warrior. Now, go and get Nicholas. I believe he went to do some more target practice."

Nicholas needed more training than any of the others. The three oldest teens had had regular training before they had lost their parents. Tessie and Cody had seen their mother practising her skill, and had played with plastic swords and darts with suction cups. Using real weapons had only been the next step. Nicholas hadn't even known his parents, hadn't known anything about his descent. The first time he had held a sword was after the group had left the orphanage. Despite this he had quickly acquired enough skill to help the rest when they had been attacked, but Vergil realised he needed more training to stand a chance against the more formidable demons that would doubtlessly come. True, his devil had not been awakened yet, but Vergil was sure that had more to do with luck than skilful fighting.

With Nicholas Vergil started with some low level training, correcting the boy's posture and the way he used his sword. Nicholas adjusted his stance immediately. Slowly Vergil increased the intensity of the drill. Every instruction he shouted at the boy was acted on instantly. Nicholas' father, Madar had been Sparda's second in command. Vergil was sure that meant Madar had been the best swordsman. The son clearly had the same aptitude as the father. Given time, and not even too much time, Nicholas would be as good as his father.

"You have made progress," Vergil said when he finished Nicholas' training session. "Go to Tyler and send Cody here."

Cody came quickly, running as usual. Vergil thought he was still more like a child than Nicholas and even Jim who was two years his junior. Whether this was because he still had his older sister to look out for him, or because he was naturally easy-going, unconcerned, and fearless, Vergil couldn't say. To Cody the whole world was a toy and he enjoyed playing with it.

"Hi, Jim," he said when he stopped in front of Vergil. "How is it to have someone inside of you?"

"Strange," Jim answered. "Like watching a movie, only being right in the middle of it."

"Like virtual reality?"

"Yeah, maybe, I don't know. I don't know what that feels like."

"Neither do I. Sounds good, though," Cody said.

"Yeah."

"Enough already," Vergil snarled taking complete control of Jim's body again. "Cody, get ready for your lesson. Jim, pay attention. It is your turn next."

ooOOoo

Author's Note:

revolverwild: thank you for the review.

Also thanks to Unknown-Ark and aznkhoa for following the story and adding it to their favourites list.

While you are in the Fairy Tale/Devil May Cry crossover section I'd like to point out my friend Jimli's story 'Quiet Beauty, Roaring Beast'. A wonderful combination of Beauty and the Beast and Devil May Cry. It's not hard to find. There are only four stories in this crossover fandom. Careful though, it's M-rated. This show is for adults only.