A/N: Shit. I just deleted everything I had just a second ago on accident. Words decided that it wanted to count my characters rather than my words, which is how I judge how long my chapters are… and I tried to copy it and hit the wrong button… sighs, anywho, I'll shut up now.

ThatEdditor: I'm glad you like how things are starting out, I really like writing them, the two character just mesh well together, writing young Vergil is easier than I thought, I'm hoping that it'll make things easier when I go to write him as the angry nineteen year old half devil we all know and love. And yeah, tragic endings are the best aren't they? ;p Don't worry I'll finish it, I never leave anything unfinished.

Practice

"Anthony?" Madeline called up the stairs to the young half devil who was still sleeping, usually he beat her at getting up in the morning but he had been fairly engrossed in his book last night and she didn't want to disturb him. Now she was regretting that decision as it was nearly ten and there was still no sign of him. There was no answer so she sighed and headed down the hallway of the modest home and pushed open his door. The only thing she could see from the gap was a puff of white hair sticking out from beneath the covers. She smiled and walked over, gently rubbing his shoulder and getting little more than a muffled grunt in return.

"C'mon Anthony, you gotta get up at some point, or do you just plan on sleeping the day away?" she asked and got another grunt in return.

"Alright, fine, I won't help you practice anything today." She paused, there was a small sigh and then Anthony sat up, his white hair sticking up in all directions and yawned hugely, rubbing the corners of his eyes. Madeline couldn't help the small laugh that slipped from her lips, though she got a glare for her efforts. Anthony grumbled and stood, grabbing some clothes from his drawer before shuffling, still half asleep, to the bathroom.

"Do you want breakfast?" she asked as she passed by, there was a mumbled answer that sounded suspiciously like 'yes'. "What do you want?" there was a pause this time

"Ham on toast." Madeline rolled her eyes, that boy could eat like there was no tomorrow, which surprised her considering how small he was, and yet he ate like he was growing like crazy. Her mind flicked to his demonic form, he was growing in a way, wasn't he though? The woman sighed and started breakfast in the kitchen. Luckily she had cooked up some Canadian bacon for herself and figured with how non-picky Anthony was that that would also be okay with him. When he shuffled into the kitchen a few minutes later and promptly began eating like he'd been starved for a week she figured she was right.

"What do you want to practice today?" she asked him, they had started a rule that every morning when they both got up she would help him practice some sort of fighting, or training, or something, she knew it gave him something to focus on, something that wasn't the death of his mother or the loss of the only family he'd ever known. Most of what happened is that he ended up explaining a lot and she was mostly there just to bounce ideas off of but he didn't seem to mind, he had said it helped him think through things to say them out loud. That was most definitely something she could relate to.

"I want to see how long I can hold my demon form." He said, his blue eyes completely awake now and full of strong determination. "I want to be just as capable in that form as in this one. I need to be stronger and that form is definitely stronger." He looked at his fingers and watched as they warped into claws. It was getting easier for him, even Madeline could see that plainly.

"Alright then, let's see if we can get you in the air then." She said and Anthony paled slightly

"I… I don't know about that…"

"Are you afraid of heights?" she asked, completely surprised by this, she never thought that the young half devil was afraid of anything

"N-no!" he denied quickly, way too quickly, the older woman smiled gently

"Well then, we better get started hmm?" Anthony finished his juice and they headed into their secluded back yard. Madeline appreciated not having close neighbors even more now that she was helping a young demon practice fighting technique and skills. Anthony took a deep breath and then there was a flash of blue lightning and a small devil stood in his place. He looked at her and she made a flapping motion with her arms.

"C'mon, at least give them a flap or two." Anthony looked at the wings that still hung fairly limply against his back and sides, they seemed bigger than he remembered… though he was still growing, as both a human and a devil… he concentrated and lifted them only slightly from his backside. It was strange and more difficult than he anticipated to control a limb he didn't normally have.

"Is that the best you can do?" Madeline teased, she knew she was pushing him, but sometimes that was all he needed was a little push and he would accomplish something absolutely astounding. Anthony glared at her and then at his wings, they would obey him dammit! He tried again, gaining a little more height and feeling far more tired than he thought he would, how would he ever fly like this? Madeline crouched down in front of him

"You can do this, they're just weak because you don't use them, think of them like you do with your sword, just an extension of your body." Vergil nodded at her, he could do this, he closed his eyes and commanded the weak muscles to pull and they did, it was a struggle but when he opened them again his wings were fully extended. He grinned at her and then felt his entire form slip away from his grasp.

"Dammit!" he cursed

"Anthony!"

A/N: That was pretty fun :)

Till next time,

-Winged Element