The Devil of Zero
Disclaimer: Neither The Familiar of Zero nor Devil May Cry belong to me.
The Mission
– The Devil –
Tristain Academy of Magic
Midnight
It was a bright night, as almost always in Halkeginia, Vergil found, what with two moons alternating in their respective waxing and waning cycles, the darkest the night ever got here was equivalent to a full moon on Earth. Long since finished memorizing the academy's layout, Vergil instead stood on the roof of the tower where Louise's room was, keeping watch over her and, by convenience of location, the rest of the school. Preferably, Vergil would have performed his vigil with minimal noise. However, he had not reckoned the consequences of having two sapient weapons.
"Ne, Abaddon."
"Yeah?"
"Devil Arms are made from Devils, right?"
"Of course."
"And Devils were once Angels, yes?"
"Correct."
"So, did Angels ever become Angel Arms?"
"Oh yeah, it happened all the time. Both sides commonly turned each other into weapons for either to use. Back then though, we didn't exactly have the process completed, and didn't have the…finesse to maim a soul to the point that it was non-sapient but still have its powers." Abaddon explained. "So, near the end of the War in Heaven, there were a lot of Devils running around with these poncy, effeminate Angel Arms that just wouldn't stop whining. You know what happened to the original Azrael? Sparda got so tired of hearing it bitch and moan that he just tossed the spear through a Hell Gate and onto Earth."
"Whoa, that must have been some whining." Derflinger commented.
"No kidding. I can still hear that stupid, annoying voice in my head. The last I heard about him, he was used to stab some tax-evading carpenter from Nazareth after his torturers got tired of hearing him scream from the crucifixion, and got buried somewhere in some place called Rome."
"Harsh."
Vergil sighed.
– The Zero –
Here Louise was again, in Vergil's body. This nightmare picked up where the last left off, Vergil falling, reaching out for the large broadsword and the twin amulets falling around it, descending towards what seemed to be a rushing river, pouring out over a protruding cliff. The sword landed tip first in the water, Vergil grabbing one of the amulets as he touched down with a splash. Opposite him, Dante, as Louise remembered his twin's name, landed similarly, the other amulet wrapped around his fist. Dante moved first, darting for the sword, but Vergil rolled forward and grabbed it, yanking it away from his twin's hands. The two stood apart for a second before Vergil focused on the amulet in Dante's hand.
"Give that to me." He ordered. Dante glanced at the amulet before hiding his hand behind his back.
"No way, you got your own." Vergil readied the blade, pointing tip-first at Dante.
"Well I want yours too." He said, stepping forward. The twins began circling.
"What are you gonna do with all that power?" Dante asked. "No matter how hard you try, you're never gonna be like father."
"You're wasting time!" Vergil growled, startling Louise, as it was the first time she'd ever heard Vergil anything near rage, the half-devil charging his brother. Vergil brought his claimed blade down on Dante, and the red-coated twin instantly brought his own enormous sword to bear, with Vergil catching it in his hand and Dante doing the same for Vergil's blade. Louise felt the pain as the sword sawed into Vergil's hand, and blood dripped down both of the blades.
"We are the Sons of Sparda." Dante said. "Within each of us flows his blood, but more importantly, HIS SOUL!" The twins separated, leaping back a few yards. "And now…my soul is saying it wants to stop you!" Dante shouted, pointing a finger at Vergil. Vergil just chuckled, a chilling sound to Louise's ears.
"Unfortunately, our souls are at odds brother." Vergil replied, holding a hand up. "I need more power!" He clenched the hand into a fist.
"And we're supposed to be twins."
"Twins…right…"
"Steal a soul for a second chance,
But you will never become a man!"
Louise was startled by the sudden reappearance of the demonic voice, in an even more harsh form. She had honestly hoped she wouldn't ever hear it again after that second dream, but her hopes were, alas, unrealized.
The action had started, Dante pulling out those pistols of his to hammer Vergil with lead. The more regal of the twins was already counteracting this action, pulling his curved blade and swinging it in a tight circle, impossibly intercepting each and every round. The assault of gunfire paused momentarily, allowing Vergil to perform his dimension-splitting attack, dark orbs engulfing Dante's position, only for the red-coated half-devil to leap out of them, dodging the extra-dimensional attacks.
"My chosen torture makes me stronger,
In a life that craves the hunger,
A Freedom and a quest for life,
Until the end the judgment night!
Dante charged forth, attacking with what seemed to be a million stabs. Vergil managed to deflect a few of them, but the rest penetrated his body, impaling him again and again. Louise could feel the pain clearly, and yet Vergil lost none of his focus. A swipe of his sword interrupted Dante's continued assault, simultaneously opening a gaping wound in his twin's stomach. Rather than falling to the ground trying to hold his guts in, as common sense told Louise he should, Dante instead leaped back, firing his guns again. Then Louise realized that for all the stabs, Vergil was apparently not much worse off.
"Stepping forth a cure for soul's demise,
Reap the tears of the victim's cries,
Yearning more to hear the suffer of a,
Of a demon as I put it under!"
Dante drove forward again, his enormous blade set like the stinger of a gigantic insect, piercing Vergil through before drawing back and assaulting him with several heavy slices. A skilled interception with Vergil's blade staggered the red-clad twin, opening him up for a quick dash forward with a flurry of slices. At this point, both twins were starting to wear down, despite the impossible regeneration Louise could feel occurring with Vergil. Then…something happened. Suddenly, Vergil felt stronger, faster, and his wounds healed up near instantaneously. And then, Dante changed. He became a best, a red-scaled monster with a grinning, fanged maw.
"Killed before, a time to kill them all,
Passed down the righteous law,
Serve a justice that dwells in me,
Lifeless corpse as far as the eye can see!"
The demonic voice repeated the last four words of its latest chant as the changed twins clashed again and again, Vergil using his new claymore-like blade when he teleported above Dante and sliced down, a blow that Louise felt certain would bisect a heavily armored knight only creating a quickly-healed gash on the demonized man. They attacked with gusto, neither giving ground, neither advancing as the flurry of blades intercepted each other, deflected, and occasionally struck true. And then suddenly, the twins' transformations reversed as they backed off, and a new voice sounded.
"Bless me with the,
Leaf off of the tree,
On it I see,
The freedom reign,"
Vergil took the claymore in two hands and threw it at Dante, the blade impossibly spinning as it coursed towards the red-clad twin. He deflected it with a cloud of bullets, some of which struck Vergil but inconvenienced the half-devil no more than a fly would Louise. Then he changed again, teleporting to Dante and slicing out with the curved blade, only for the twin to jump high into the air, leap off of some sort of magical red platform, and jump off another that appeared vertically. Vergil was already cutting through dimensions when Dante landed, a few of the slices connecting and cutting up his twin more.
"We are falling,
The light is calling,
Tears inside me,
Calm me down."
This new voice was more comforting to Louise, lighter and softer than the original, something necessary with the horrifying visages and actions of the twins. The fury displayed by the two in their combat was honestly terrifying. Dante had transformed to match his twin again, and the two were tearing each other apart.
"Midnight calling,
Mist of resolving,
Crown me, with the,
Pure green leaf,"
Their ferocity only seemed to amplify the longer the battle continued. Brutal slashes that would have instantly killed any normal human merely wounded the devil twins for a moment, although the fatigue was clear to Louise.
"Praise to my father,
Life of vengeance, a passive test,
Blessed by the water,
Until the grave I will rest,
Black night, Dark sky,
Engage the pressure until it crumbles,
The Devils cry,
The existence of the lifeless black souls!"
The soft and demonic voices sang in concert as the brothers amped up their attacks, Dante charging his blade somehow with a crackling red energy that he unleashed in a powerful slash, while Vergil Summoned his Swords, the spiraling blades proving hard for Dante to avoid. And even with fresh wounds, healing slower now, the twins continued to attack.
"Bless me with the,
Onward to the sacred battlefield,
Leaf off of the tree,
Where justification and limits are revealed,
On it I see,
Tools of steel in rage they conquer,
The freedom reign,
Weed out the killing of victim's stalker!"
Despite themselves, Louise could see the twins continue to flag. Even as they attacked each other with their all, the fight weighed upon them, tiring them, until neither could maintain their transformed states. Vergil continued to strike with both claymore and curved blade, Summoned Sword launching themselves at Dante, even as Dante himself fired his guns to destroy as many of the blades coming towards him while avoiding the rest and Vergil's own attacks, until he found an opening to strike with his greatsword.
"We are falling,
The powers proved to end the madness,
The light is calling,
Upon I take it to end the savage,
Tears inside me,
The rays of light a truth of meaning,
Calm me down,
To my father the blood is pleading!"
A strike from Dante deflected an attack from Vergil's blade, but the claymore bit into his shoulder, the blood barely seen among the red of his coat.
"Midnight calling,
A just rage for all to feel,
Mist of resolving,
With innocent cries and hatred squeals,
Crown me, with the,
The gore of evil seems to satisfy,
Pure green leaf,
When slain and maimed and pacified!"
A snarl ripped itself from Vergil's lips as he struck Dante again and again and again, the blood flowing more freely than ever as both of his blades sliced into his twin's flesh until a strike from the claymore lifted him into the air, whereon the blue-clad devil teleported above him and struck down with the force of a falling dragon.
"Bless me with the,
My chosen torture makes me stronger,
Leaf off of the tree,
In a life that craves the hunger,
On it I see,
A Freedom and a quest for life,
The freedom reign,
Until the end, the Judgment Night!"
And then Dante counterattacked with a combination of hacks and slices that drove Vergil back, towards the source of the river as he was forced back continually. And then, a final strike…
"Watch the footsteps but never follow,
Praise to my father,
If you want to live tomorrow,
Blessed by the water,
Steel a soul for a second chance,
Black night, Dark sky
But you will never become a man!
The Devils Cry…"
"Dante…" Vergil gasped, forced to his knee. "Am I…being defeated?"
"What's wrong?" His twin demanded, back towards the waterfall. "Is that all you got? Come on, get up! You can do better than that!" Vergil's fist clenched and his hand tightened around the claymore's grip. Growling, he forced himself back onto his feet. And then an ominous rumbling echoed throughout the world.
"The portal to the Human World is closing Dante." Vergil explained, steadying his stance. "Because the amulets have been separated."
"Let's finish this Vergil." Dante said. "I have to stop you, even if that means killing you." Louise was at once horrified and curious. Just what was Vergil doing that made his own brother want to stop him, even killing him? Vergil responded with a flourish of the claymore, bringing it behind him as he charged Dante. The red twin responded in kind, dragging his blade through the water as they ran forth to clash again. As they reached each other, Vergil brought his sword up for a devastating downward strike…only for Dante to slice his blade out horizontally, slicing through Vergil before he could attack and sending a spray of blood arcing out.
Vergil staggered, dropping the blade point-first behind him and his amulet before him, reaching down to pluck the golden pendant with the red jewel out of the water, and turning to look at his twin.
"No one can have this Dante," Vergil said, voice still steady despite great pain. "It's mine." He was panting now, stepping back towards the waterfall. "It belongs to a Son of Sparda."Dante seemed to realize what his twin was doing, and rushed forward only to stop, with the tip of Vergil's sword at his throat. "Leave me and go." Vergil ordered. "If you don't want to be trapped in the Demon World…I'm staying…this place was our father's home…"Vergil stepped backward, slipping off the precipice. Dante reached forward, but a slash of Vergil's sword stopped that before he could do anything.
And with Louise seeing through his eyes, he fell into darkness…
Louise's Bedroom, Student Dormitory
After Midnight
Louise rocketed up in bed, panting and sweating again. Shuddering, she glanced to the side to see, surprisingly, Vergil resting against the wall by her door. The half-devil studied her, noting her condition.
"Another of my memories?" Louise nodded. Vergil contemplated her. "I assume that it was my duel with Dante."
"Y-yes it was." Louise confirmed, still shuddering slightly. They were silent for a moment, Vergil still studying her as she struggled with her reawakened curiosity.
"Go ahead and ask your questions." Vergil sighed. "We may as well get it over with." Louise hesitated before she asked.
"What were you doing that caused you two to fight?" Vergil was silent for another moment.
"Gaining power."
"Huh? Gaining power? What do you mean by that?" Louise asked.
"Exactly what it sounds like." Impossible as it was, Vergil actually seemed a little irritated. "I was in the process of acquiring greater Infernal power, through my father's sword."
"So that's what it was…"
"Indeed. Any other questions?"
"Well…during the fight, I saw Dante change into…something…what was that?" Vergil nodded, apparently recognizing what Louise was talking about despite the lack of description.
"The Devil Trigger. An ability where we take on a form more expressive of our souls, growing stronger, faster, and more resilient."
"That sounds useful."
"It is, but-" Vergil interrupted himself, frowning as he moved from the wall in front of the door. Seconds later, there was knocking, first two long, then three short knocks. Both of them recognized the sequence, Vergil opening the door and stepping aside to allow the cloaked princess in.
"Princess Henrietta!" Louise greeted her childhood friend and ruler, before going to one knee before her. Vergil settled for a more restrained bow.
"Please, no need to stand on ceremony, Louise." Henrietta chided. "We are friends, aren't we?"
"O-of course, Your Highness!" Henrietta shook her head ruefully at Louise, before turning serious.
"Louise, Sir Vergil, I'm afraid I'm going to have to request a favor of you."
"How so?" Vergil queried.
"As you know…well, as Louise probably knows, I am engaged to marry a prince of Germania." At this, Louise's face turned sour. She absolutely despised that nation. "Due to the rebellion in Albion, Tristain is in danger, and so I must marry into the Germanian family in order to secure us militarily."
"So that's why…" Louise looked depressed. Henrietta, judging by her tone, had no desire to go through with this marriage.
"Indeed. I've long given up hope of marrying my love. Unfortunately, the Albion nobles inciting the rebellion have no desire to see this marriage happen, and have been searching for a way to drive a wedge between Tristain and Germania…and may have found it."
"Princess! What is this thing?"
"A letter."
"What kind of letter?" Vergil asked.
"…I cannot say."
"I see."
"Where is it?" Louise asked.
"It is already in Albion, held by Prince Wales of the Albion Royal Family. It's a disaster!" Henrietta lamented, going over and sitting down on Louise's bed. "If he is captured and the rebels send that letter to the Germanians…the alliance will be broken, and Tristain left to defend itself against Albion's forces!"
"Princess, this favor…"
"I'm terrible for asking Louise, but you and your familiar are the only ones I can turn to in this situation! To ask you to go to Albion, while it's embroiled in this civil war between its nobility and its royalists…"
"What are you saying? Whether the fires of Hell," – Vergil scoffed – "Or the maw of a dragon, I would go anywhere for you Princess! Leave this matter to us, the two who captured Fouquet, the Crumbling Earth!"
"Oh Louise, I am undeserving of your loyalty and friendship!"
"We shall go to Albion, find Prince Wales and recover your letter!" Vergil stared at her, until Louise was removed from her fervor and into a nervous sweat. "Ah…if you're amiable, Vergil?"
– The Devil –
Vergil considered. From what he'd learned by questioning Siesta and Louise, Albion was, literally, a floating continent in the sky, with mountain ranges and a sizable dragon population that they used in their aerial forces, not to mention a similarly large fleet of air-ships that might well have been ripped out of the pages of a fantasy novel. And judging from the discussion he'd witnessed just now, it was embroiled in civil war.
Maybe I could find a decent opponent there.
"Very well." He assented. "But first, why don't we take care of our eavesdropper?" The confused expressions of Louise and Henrietta lasted until Vergil wrenched open the door, revealing the blond figure of Guiche de Gramont, who looked as though he would soil himself at the sight of Vergil.
"Guiche de Gramont." Vergil intoned, reaching a hand out to grab the boy's collar and lift him to eye level. "I believe I demonstrated what your potential fate would be in our last meeting if you ever crossed me. The fop's face whitened considerably, and Vergil was reasonably sure that he would pass out if he became more scared.
"Gramont? The son of General Gramont?" Henrietta asked, stepping forward and placing a hand on Vergil's arm. Vergil lowered the boy back to his feet, yet keeping a grip on his collar to keep the idiot from collapsing.
"Y-y-y-yes your majesty!" Guiche stuttered. "I would like to offer my services!" Vergil stared at Guiche. Why in the world would the fop want to go on such a dangerous mission as this? Then he noticed Guiche's face, kept firmly locked on Henrietta's, slowly regaining its color and more.
I see.
"Are you saying that you wish to help me?" Henrietta asked.
"Most assuredly Your Highness!"
"Your father is a great and brave noble, and it seems you have inherited his qualities. Please then, Sir Guiche, would you aid this unfortunate princess." And then Guiche fainted, murmuring something about Her Highness calling him by name. "Oh dear…Is he alright?" Vergil dropped Guiche.
"Merely over-excited." He said. "Now then, I suppose, given the nature of this mission, we shall depart at the soonest time convenient, tomorrow morning. Do you have any information as to this Wales' whereabouts?"
"I have information that he is camping somewhere in Newcastle."
"…"
"Er, I have knowledge of Albion's geography, having visited with my sisters once before." Louise said. Vergil nodded. Then, Henrietta moved to Louise's desk, using her quill and ink to scribe a letter on parchment, rolling it into a scroll which she sealed with hot wax, summoned with magic. Judging by her expression, Vergil could very well guess the nature of the letter.
"When you meet Wales," She said, handing Louise the letter, "Give him this note. He should return the letter in question immediately." Having said that, she also took a ring from her finger, giving that to Louise as well. "This Water Ruby, given to me from my mother, should help prove who you come from to Wales. May it also be a charm of good luck and shelter you from Albion's harsh winds."
– The Author –
Next, Vergil meets one of the few people who could possibly give him a workout. You know, like pitting Deathwing against Edward Cullen.
I really enjoyed writing this chapter's dream-sequence. Primarily because of the lyrics. Devils Never Cry is frakking epic.
On a side-note, I've been working off of the anime up to this point, but have now discovered a source of the light novels, translated, so I guess I'll be working more from those from now on.
Review Replies:
bakapervert: No problem.
pyromania101: He's never going to get either back, not really, although I may finagle something similar…
Takeshi Yamato: Glad to hear it.
He'll get more before I'm done, and I shall ensure to make them suitably devastating.
Eh-heh…sorry, I haven't actually done with it. This story just seized my attention…I'll get on it.
Orchamus: Oh man, I could see that happening in some fanfic, definitely. Not this one though, although they'll probably come away from a meeting with deep respect if not exactly kind feelings.
krtys: Thank you.
EVA-Saiyajin: Thank you, and I'll try.
Infinite Freedom: You should be. Ohhh, you should be.
HolyKnight5:…Mwahahahahahaha!
Thanks for the idea.
Altair: Nope. At the moment, you could consider this story to be happening concurrently with Devil May Cry 4' story, so no Yamato for Vergil. Not quite…
DMC: Thank you, I'll try.
Nivek Beldo: Pretty much.
Well, the Devils haven't been around for quite long enough, and given the fact that they come in many forms, they're more considered random beasties than a single, supernatural species as they should. Most of what they change is the stuff from the summonee's world, and the legends and interaction from there.
Yeah…contract's got nothing on Vergil.
kane: Sorry about those.
At the moment, I'm kind of focused on this fic, so the updates should come more or less quickly, until I start to get bored…if ever.
Kojiro Kun: Well, Abaddon is kind of unique in this case in that is was previously known to and claimed by the academy, for all the good it did there. Vergil will have an easier time with the others…although it'll be harder in one way.
Lunatic Pandora1: I'm glad it does.
Nah, not Gungnir since that's a spear. He will get some pretty interesting Arms though.