The Devil of Zero

Disclaimer: Neither The Familiar of Zero nor Devil May Cry belong to me.

The Massacre

– The Devil –

Mott Estate Courtyard
Night

Mott's guards were startled when four high-pitched, eardrum-shattering screams emanated from within the mansion. This served to be a perfect distraction for the stealthy Frosts to sneak around and judiciously impale all of them on the reptilian Demons' icicle-claws. All of the guards, mage or not, died upon the Frosts' claws, and soon pools of blood scattered the estate's courtyard as the Frosts fed.

Vergil and Gelus strode leisurely through the remnants, swiftly moving towards the front door of the mansion.

"Those were some familiar screams." Gelus commented idly, with a wistful tone to his otherwise normal deep hiss.

"The screams of men so frightened beyond rational thought, their screams sound like women's'." Vergil described. "A common phenomenon for those like us, considering that's how everyone sounds when we deal with them." Then the half-devil frowned. "Entirely too much like those screams…" The screams of those who die by the Inferno. Vergil's pace quickened, bringing him to the mansion's doors in a moment as Gelus stayed behind to supervise the Frosts and Wyverns in their next duty.

A draw and a slice with Derflinger, slightly augmented with Vergil's Infernal Energy, cut the imposing set of doors in half…along with the stone wall they were set into.

"Owww! Partner, I know that your little trick makes it easier to cut, but you should still show a little more respect for a venerable old sword like me!"

"Venerable? Old?" Abaddon's voice echoed in Vergil's skull. "Come find me after another epoch, and then we'll discuss your age during your mid-life crisis!"

"Hmph. Old fogies." Zima's pleasantly feminine hiss grumbled. Vergil ignored the voices in his hand and head, moving forward through the entrance hall. It wasn't anything special according to Vergil's experience, merely another excessively huge and horrendously decorated mansion room, and simply less run-down than those Vergil had visited before. In the middle of the hall, a large group of guards were crushed together around a bald mustachioed man dressed in what had to be some of the gaudiest clothing Vergil had seen outside of Victorian-era paintings. That, he presumed, was Mott. Something strange about the formation struck Vergil, before he realized that the guards were also nervously glancing away from him towards the door that led further into the mansion's interior.

Just then, more screams echoed from within the mansion, making most of the encircling guards turn back towards the inner door, sweating, even as the ones immediately facing Vergil started twitching nervously.

"You!" Mott shouted, rather stupidly shoving aside his guards to point his wand accusingly at Vergil. "Worthless commoner! You and your conspirators will pay for this indignity!"

"Typical mortal." Abaddon scoffed. "Goes off blaming the first person he sees for the strange things happening in his home. Please, let me take care of him." Before Vergil could make any further movement, the door that most of Mott's guards were facing exploded outwards, showering the entire hall with splinters as a black blur smashed into the forward ranks, sending shattered pieces of chain-mail and weapons flying even as blood splattered the floor from the bones rupturing through the guards' flesh. Vergil caught a glimpse of the object as it was quickly withdrawn back through the now-open entrance. It was a black metal block about the shape of an elongated trapezoid, just the size of a large man's fist, attached to something behind the broken door by a similarly colored chain.

"Whoah." Derflinger muttered. "I'd hate to see the beast that could swing that little thing with so much force. Ooh! Maybe it's a big ogre or something!"

Mere moments after Derflinger's off-hand comment, someone walked into the room. In all actuality, 'walked' was a rather tame and basic description of the action. A more complete and accurate one would be 'traipsed with sensual confidence and absolute grace'. The person in question was a woman with an immaculate figure, of moderate height, and a rather large bust, all covered by a typical kunoichi outfit as depicted in modern media, a short robe-like tunic that looked like it should flash everyone in the vicinity the moment the woman so much as twitched one of her legs, colored black with red trim and a maroon sash wrapped tight around the waist, drawing attention to the hour-glass figure and large bust. The front of the tunic parted slightly at the top, with a neckline low enough to show a tantalizing bit of cleavage. From the thigh was covered in fishnet, showing off the woman's smooth, perfect skin. From the knee down were knee-high socks, ending in flat-heeled sandals.

The woman's sudden appearance and saliva-inducing movement had drawn every man's gaze to her bust and down, before Vergil tore his gaze from her admittedly gorgeous body and looked at her face. Her nose and mouth were covered by a mask, but what drew Vergil's studious stare were her eyes, black in the sclera with burning red, coal-like irises. It took a moment before the woman's features suddenly struck Vergil.

"No way!" The two Devil Arms chorused inside Vergil's head.

"Siesta!" It had been a long time since Vergil had been anything close to stunned or flabbergasted, but under the circumstances it was understandable.

The Asiatic maid-turned-demonic-ninja twirled the weapon in her hands; an item Vergil realized was a kusarigama, a sickle-like kama attached by chain to a heavy metal weight. The kama swung quickly on the length of chain Siesta let slip, before she whipped it about with a single, violent movement that made the blood-red blade glint in the light before it sliced into the second rank of guards. As the arterial blood spray colored the marble walls and floor red, Vergil noted an Infernal presence, not as powerful as Abaddon or Zima when he'd first come across them, or even in their current state, but noticeable and definitely greater than that of the Frosts. And then, another, just underneath it somehow…

Vergil found his eyes drawn to the kusarigama, the metal of the weapon somehow gleaming brighter as the blood sprays gravitated towards its blade.

A non-sentient Devil Arm…

– The 'Maid' –

There seemed to be a veil draped over Siesta's sight. Everything was tinged with a bloody red, and somehow her vision was both blurred and sharpened…it was strange. And yet, it also somehow seemed right. The only way Siesta could describe it was like she was two different people, one drunk and morose, the other ecstatic and darkly joyous. The men who had assaulted her now lay in the bathroom, two cut into pieces at every joint, one decapitated, and another with his entire torso crushed, ribs stabbing into his lungs and chest cavity leaking gore onto the once-immaculate floor. She at once felt distraught and gleeful about that, considering that she was the one who had done that to them, with a strange, otherworldly weapon that had apparently formed itself out of shadows along with her current outfit.

Despite her contradictory feelings about the casual murders, Siesta found herself cheerfully and sadly going through Mott's castle and committing more murderous actions, until she left the halls behind her liberally painted with blood and gore and corpses. Soon, the guards ran away rather than face her, and they all seemed to be heading the same way. So, Siesta followed, the weapon occasionally swinging out randomly to cut apart a wall or smash into the floor.

And then, she reached the entrance hall, where the guards clustered around the bastard that brought her here. Then, both parts of her were agreed.

Mott was going to pay. In particularly painful amounts of flesh.

But first, to get around his guards. A large chunk of the guards massing around the noble were already dead, slain by Siesta's opening moves. There were no more than twenty guards left, and most of those were on the other side of Mott, facing towards the entrance doors.

No problem.

– The Devil –

Vergil watched, still shocked, as Siesta moved, shadows flickering around her as she advanced towards Mott and his guards. The guards that were closer to him, in what might have been an admirable display of loyalty if it wasn't to the gold their despicable employer paid them, reoriented themselves to face Siesta. They never got the chance to do much more though, as Vergil took advantage of their sudden distraction to attack them. Derflinger's blade, charged with Vergil's Infernal Energy, cleaved straight through the rather pitiful chainmail and leather ensemble they wore, the half-devil's strikes cutting many of his targets in half and leaving them to fall in pieces. Then, just as quickly as he struck, he stepped back into his original position, flicking Derf out and spattering blood onto the corpses.

Siesta's assault, while not as fast, was just as devastating, the surviving guards falling in pieces and being crushed as she danced her way across the room towards Mott. One guard had the distinct misfortune to get his neck tangled in the kusarigama's chain, choking before a tug tore the black metal through his neck like a saw through a tree trunk, spraying blood onto the man's nominal comrades.

The only real threat came when Mott waved his wand, summoning water out of pots that had been placed in the corners of the room, gathering all of the liquid and compressing it until he lashed out with it, high-pressure water cutting through the pathetic remnants of his guards, slicing at Siesta. Vergil felt no surprise when the burgeoning part-devil gracefully jumped forward and twisted, allowing the whip of super-pressurized water to pass under her with no harm done as the blade of her kusarigama spiraled out, extending as the chain lengthened itself. Siesta landed like a cat, in a low crouch, and tugged on the chain, the kusarigama moving in a way that defied mortal physics to slice cleanly – rather too cleanly, Vergil felt – through Mott's arms and torso, separating them and leaving lower body and arms below the elbow to fall to the ground as the upper halves fell back slightly. Mott's blood spray arced out, spattering onto the floor just a few millimeters from Vergil's boots.

Just when he though she was done, Siesta whipped the other end of the kusarigama out, the weight scribing a perfect half-circle in the air as it impacted on Mott's torso with all the force of a falling meteor, all focused into a small puny area. The crunch of Mott's ribcage collapsing into his chest cavity was matched by the crunch of the marble floor, cracked by the weight.

The rather blunt display of power only merited an arched eyebrow from Vergil. Once more composed both inside and outside, he cast his studious gaze about the room. Some of the Frosts, Gelus at their front, had snuck in to see the source of the Infernal Energy they had felt, and they were staring appreciatively at the bloody carnage Siesta had left.

"Hmm…Flashy and quick. Not a lot of enjoyment…hmph. Looks like one of your kind Ice-Wench." Abaddon judged.

"No, see that shroud of shadows about her? She's one of the Darkness." Zima rebutted.

"Somewhat unrefined." Vergil noted, walking forward with his usual stride. "Crude, even." He said, making an offhand gesture towards the random sprays of blood that decorated the entrance hall, the side-effect of Siesta putting too much force behind her strikes.

"Hmm, actually, she might be a Blood…look at her weapon." Studying it now, Vergil could see that, rather than blood dripping off of the kusarigama's blade; it was dripping up, onto the blade, from the floor. The puddle that was underneath it was actually being formed by small rivulets of the red fluid that trailed from the corpses.

"Interesting." Siesta didn't move as Vergil stepped forward, ignoring the blood that stained the bottom of his boots. She seemed to be focused on Mott's corpse, to the exclusion of all else, even ignoring the Frosts that slunk by her to get at the guards' bodies. The Son of Sparda simply stood to the side, studying Siesta as she herself stared at Mott. Then Derflinger spoke up.

"Well, crap. She's in shock." Gelus joined Vergil standing in front of her, and made a snapping motion with his claws next to her ear, the long talons producing a loud snick sound.

She didn't respond.

"Well, that's a problem."

Devil Arm File: Chi no Ishi, Kusarigama of the Mountain

Among the very few Demons to have risen to claim lives as Devils, Chi no Ishi was one of the even smaller number of Demons that were generally amicable to humans. Most of his two thousand years as a Devil were spent posing as Tengu in Japan, allowing travelers who successfully climbed his mountain residence to request his services, in exchange for their service or an acceptable bartering item, so long as they showed proper respect. In World War II, an elderly couple approached him for protection for their only son, who flew fighters in the war. Chi no Ishi accepted, in exchange for the promised service of their son after the war. However, he was unable to carry out his end of the deal, when the man was killed in battle by a Devil working for the Chinese, and both Devils were drawn into the world of Halkeginia by a portal formed during an eclipse. After their fight concluded, Chi no Ishi felt guilty for his failure, and took the man's form in an attempt to live his life for him. Eventually, the transformation spell leeched out enough Infernal Energy that Chi no Ishi became in danger of death, forcing him to seal himself into the blood of his descendants…waiting to fade away. At least, until Siesta was threatened.

Summoned by Siesta, Chi no Ishi was turned into a kusarigama, a kama with a blood-red blade attached by a black chain to a fundo, a heavy iron weight. There are golden Japanese characters inscribed on both the kama and the fundo, the kama's blade bearing the character for blood, while the fundo is carved with the character for stone. Chi no Ishi is able to manipulate its weight's mass, allowing it to fly light as a feather, yet strike with all the force of a mountain. This ability extends to the wielder as well, allowing them similar abilities, and capable of jumping far greater distances than otherwise, and striking with much greater force. Chi no Ishi's kama seeks out and attracts blood, and is able to pierce whatever physical protection a target may have. The chain can change its length, extending and retracting as needed for long- and short-ranged attacks. Due to his weakness, Chi no Ishi was unable to retain his sentience, but even diminished as it was, his soul is still bestially aware, and will strike those who threaten his descendants.

– The Author –

Well, crap.

And I promised myself I wouldn't do this anymore.

All I can say is that shit's been hitting the fan here…but that's my problem. At any rate, between personal problems and writer's block, I had the first 1500 words of this chapter stuck on my hard drive while I started reading more than writing. Personally, reading is a bit of a problem for me, since I read rather fast, and any story of less than 100,000 words I can finish in the time between waking up and eating breakfast. So I go through a helluva lot of material here on FFnet. Recently I've found myself tearing through the Naruto archives, found a few good stories there.

Been thinking about doing one myself…

What! No, no! You don't have time for that.

Hmm…Wind Release: Spiraling Bullet…

Nein! Gehen Sie nun auf die mechanischen Dateien zu arbeiten!

Ahem.

Now, before I post this, two things: First, if anyone who speaks decent Japanese could tell me if Chi no Ishi really means Bloodstone, I would appreciate it. I've been using Google Translate for most of my foreign language writing...Second, if more of you don't start reviewing, Vergil will be doing quite a bit more than looming over your shoulder.

Knightmare Gundam of Ni