My headcanon on how Eva met Sparda. Please forgive any liberties, I have a fertile imagination and am not familiar with every aspect of the games. I also recommend listening to Hans Zimmer's soundtrack to Angels and Demons whilst reading to give atmosphere.
A woman in black balanced on the ceiling, senses primed for danger. The chandelier nearest to her was dim, casting deep shadows across the stucco work. She wove them around her, pressing herself deeper into the corner. Two guards passed below and she held her breath, preparing to drop to the ground and attack, but after one excruciating minute they passed, not looking up. Unfortunately they weren't the real trouble. Wards like spider's work threaded through the entire mansion, it was taking every magical ability she had not to trip them.
She flipped down, landing on the red carpet, soft shoes making the barest sound before pressing herself against the wall.
The guards were gone, all that remained were portraits in their gold frames staring murder at her. She ignored their eyes as she crept forward, Cloak of Unknowing wrapped tightly around her.
Sofia was right. Eva smiled as the ethereal notes of a soprano echoed up from the levels below. Today was the perfect opportunity.
Left. Right. Nothing at the next junction. She darted around the next corner and sped silently down the corridor, her mind still tracing the movements of the guards who had turned down the adjacent passage.
If Carlo's information is correct….Yes, there was the next pair coming down the East stairwell complaining they were missing the performance.
She slid behind a suit of armour, its polished height enough to shield her even if they did glance this way.
The chandeliers were brighter here, augmented by long Venetian mirrors. For a moment she caught a glimpse of herself - a slim black-clad figure, long blonde hair braided and pinned, drifting in and out of sight. A smile curled full lips. The Cloak of Unknowing was powerful but she couldn't rely on it entirely.
Male voices drifted down the stairwell and she slipped from behind the armour. Pausing for the merest instance to calculate distance, she passed down it like a shadow herself in the wake of the guards.
I have to keep close to give myself the greatest window of time…
Stopping at the archway to the next level she assessed her latest challenge. Loftier than the corridor above, the one before her was also more austere. Carven warriors and grim gargoyles lined the passageway and glared down onto the stone flagging. The crystal chandeliers had been replaced by candelabra with tongues of flame.
And you called yourselves the last defence against the Night…She thought acidly as she looked at the bestial faces.
The Order had been founded to guard the Perfect Amulet, passing it in secrecy from member to member, country to country for almost two thousand years. Yet looking at this and the malevolent wards laced throughout the building, it was clear the rot had set in longer than even Father Gabriele had imagined. But whether Lord Rosvenir who currently led them was a demon himself or just a tool didn't matter. Sofia's spies had assured her his reputation as an extravagant host would make sure he was at the exclusive recital below.
The notes of the aria welled up, amplified by the stairwell. A shame, the girl had the purest voice. Eva hoped not everyone was corrupted by Rosvenir's taint.
She smirked. But today, Lord Rosvenir, playing the man of wealth and distinction is going to be your downfall.
She had to act quickly. They might never get another chance. At least the guards with their red jackets and shining breast plates were easy to spot, even in the gloom. Up ahead was the entrance to the vault where her prize lay, but she would bet all she owned the eyes of those statues were more than just stone. The guards were saluting their compatriots at the vault door, halberds clanking to attention as they performed the change-over. She closed her eyes, focusing on the magic within, weaving it with deft grace around her until the Cloak of Unknowing meshed her from head to toe, but with enough subtlety it wouldn't set off the wards. She could only keep it up for so long.
God be with me.
The old guards, now relieved, had turned, marching into the darkness at the end of the passageway. Eva crossed the threshold, placing a foot on the floor of the corridor and checked the nearest statue's baleful gaze.
Nothing. It had worked.
She raced down the corridor, faster than the wind. The guards she had been following looked up, sensing nothing but a shift in air when a roundhouse kick snapped against the skull of the first, knocking him unconscious. A second took out his brother before he could even cry out, the Cloak of Unknowing whipping around them to silence the clatter of their falling halberds and bodies.
Eva had no time to hide them, the drain of the spell was eating into her veins and the pressure of deceiving the wards was already mounting into a migraine at the back of her head. She looked up at the vast wooden doors in front of her, decorated in fanciful shapes and twisting with wrought iron. Inside magic sang to her as sweet as the soprano below. Her gloved hand traced the ornate golden lock. Once she opened this it would only be a matter of time before the Order appeared. She took out a glowing orb from a small leather pouch and placed it against the keyhole. It melted, shivering into the metal in concentric ripples. The iron tracery wriggled like the vines it resembled and Eva braced herself for some sort of counterstroke, but the doors opened with barely a sound.
Inside a wide chamber beckoned, roof strutted with a ribcage of beautifully carved wood. Stars picked out in gold after the Moorish style winked at her as she quickly stepped inside and closed the huge doors behind her. Sunlight poured from diamond-paned windows at the far end of the room, revealing the treasures within. Tomes, wands and swords, all resonating with power, stood on stands and plinths at regular intervals around the perimeter, each illuminated by a metal sconce. But it was the ancient tapestries to either side of Eva that caught her eye. In the first a dark figure, horned and winged, faced the infernal hoards alone. In the second he pushed them back, a mighty sword hewing snarling faces as fire spun around him. On the her right the story continued, the same warrior locked in combat with a monstrosity of eyes and hands that sought to rip him limb from insect limb. In the last scene the demon and its multitudes lay in pieces beneath the warrior's cloven feet as he held his sword aloft and light blazed upon him.
So they still pay lip-service to the legend of Sparda. She thought as she looked at the images. How can they see all this and still plan to reverse what he did?
She had always loved the story - a devil struck by justice, the slayer of his own kind, but perhaps Father Gabriele was right and Sparda was just another fabrication. After all, what demon could truly forsake the darkness? How could love move the heart of the heartless?
The final tapestry ahead of her seemed to belie that thought. Framed by the windows it showed Spada still wreathed in power, but his face was sad, wings drooping as he placed his sword against the breast of a priestess in white, their hands joined around the gold and ruby of the Perfect Amulet, blood dripping between their fingers.
And below them the item itself.
Eva grinned and ran towards the object of her desire. It was locked within a crystal display case, cushioned on red velvet, and hardly needed the light of the windows as it seemed to glow from within.
Just as Father Gabriele described. She thought. A double pendant made of rubies, one in gold, the other silver. Light and Darkness, joining the two worlds together…
Chills ran up her spine. She couldn't hear the performance through the thickness of the walls. Had Rosvenir felt her breaking the door's seal? Or the gargoyles seen her passage through the corridor?
She raised her hands to the crystal case and with Second Sight saw the magical weaving that protected it.
A shame you couldn't protect the people from yourself, Rosvenir. Eva thought and channelled the sentiment into her weaving. She drew the opposing pattern in the air with luminous blue lines. It flared and both spells cancelled each other out. Eva sagged, her energy further depleted. She dropped the Cloak of Unknowing, husbanding her magical reserves for escape and blew on the crystal causing it to shiver into dust.
The Amulet shone as if recognising her, light sliding off its strange faceted surface. She sucked in a breath and with shaking reverence picked the pendant up and secured it in the inner pocket of her tunic. Even through her gloves she could feel the spark as she touched it.
"I commend your taste," a deep voice said from behind her, "but I'm afraid I can't let you leave with that."
Eva leapt. The doors hadn't opened, she would have heard it! She looked behind her to see a tall handsome man with silver hair standing in front of them. A fine purple coat stretched over powerful shoulders and a monocle twinkled from his left eye. From his expression he seemed amused.
"Lord Rosvenir, I presume?" She said, returning the attitude.
Her hands slid slowly towards the pistols at her hips. His grey eyes followed the movement and she stopped.
"Indeed." He looked her over as she did him. "It saddens me not to avail a beautiful woman of equally beautiful jewellery, but that amulet, as I'm sure you are aware, is somewhat special."
"That's a shame." She said with a smile. If he wanted to flirt so could she. "You have such an unusual collection…" She gave the room a cursory glance as she sidled over to a nearby claymore. "I couldn't help but admire it…"
Admire it? This thing was hideous. Its hilt was comprised of a ribcage topped with a demon skull. Still it might prove useful…
"Well my lady, if you wanted to admire my collection you could have done me the courtesy of a request. I am missing a rather special performance because of this."
"My sincerest apologies, Lord Rosvenir." Eva said as she caressed the edge of the sword.
"If you are planning to duel me," his voice was definitely amused now, "I'd choose that sword over there." He nodded to an elegant blade on the other side of the Perfect Amulet's empty plinth. "Yamato is longer than the average katana but it's better balanced for a woman."
"Duel you?" Eva quipped as she turned her back on him. "Why would I want to do that?"
In a lightning quick motion she grasped the claymore and turned, hurling it with magically imbued force at Lord Rosvenir. He gaped as the sword sank through his chest and impaled him high on the carved doors behind.
She watched with satisfaction as the blood dripped down the damask silk and ruined the brocade jacket beneath.
"That was for humanity, you smug bastard." She said and strode towards the windows.
Throaty chuckles froze her in mid step.
Eva turned to see Lord Rosvenir throw back his head and laugh with the blood still gouting from his chest.
"Well, well, I guess I did deserve that." He said and then sickeningly heaved himself forward until the blade and its oversized hilt cut through him and he fell to the ground still laughing.
Eva swallowed the vomit rising in her throat. "So you are a demon."
"What gave it away?" He replied, dusting himself off and picking up his monocle which had fallen in her attack. "You however, are something much more interesting."
She pulled out her guns and fired, lacing him with enough rapid-fire rounds that he was pushed back against the doors again. She edged closer to the windows, squinting through the smoke to see if she had finally put him down.
"I'm curious…" his voice said from within the haze, "if a sword didn't work, why did you think bullets would?"
"They're blessed bullets." She said, reloading and trying to keep the rising panic from her voice. I've trained for this. I'll bring him down, him and all his kind!
"So they are." Rosvenir said as he emerged from the clearing smoke. "Silver-capped and filled with holy water if I don't miss my guess?" His smile was pained. "They do pack quite a sting."
"Who are you?" Eva snapped, holstering her weapons and trying to buy time. If this monster was at the heart of the conspiracy she must take him out, but the Perfect Amulet needed to be gotten to Father Gabriele and La Luce. Without it, these traitors couldn't enact their scheme.
"Forgive me." The demon smiled. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself properly." He gave her a courtly bow. "My true name is Sparda."
"Sparda?" She spluttered, her eyes going automatically to the nearest tapestry. "The…the Legendary Dark Knight?"
"It's something of a grandiose title, I'll grant you." He sighed and stretched out a hand behind him. The claymore that was still riven into the doors leapt to his palm. "But one does tend to collect them over the centuries…"
Eva's heart plummeted into her stomach.
Is it true? Is it him? What is going on here?
And worse if it was him then how was she meant to face the Dark Knight himself?
"Now I've given you my name." Sparda said as he levelled the sword at her, red energy licking up its edges, "I believe it's time for you to give me yours, Lady…?"
"I don't care who you are or what you do to me." She spat and gathered the last of her magical reserves. "Humanity deserves to be free of your taint!"
She blasted him with raw power, lightning bolts of energy surging through her into a geometric mesh that closed on its target with lethal force. The Heavenly Seal - her last resort. As the barrage faded Eva threw her last prayer to the Divine and smashed through the window, flipping end over end to the distant street below.
There will be at least another part to this but I can't guarantee it turning into a full on story as I don't think I can commit to that even though I want to. We'll see. Please let me know what you think, reviews really do matter. Did you get all the references? I've made Eva into a bit of a badass here because a) why not b) tired of the saintly mother who just stays at home trope c) her original creator transformed her into a powerful witch in the Bayonetta-verse. I also enjoyed extrapolating a sort of modern/renaissance world for them. DMC has some interesting influences. Sparda's POV is next hehe. I'm also working on several other one-shots in the same verse when they are married with the twins so look out for those.