The Devils Cry Chapter 2-22

[eiahmon]

Title:The Devils Cry Part 2
Rating:PG-13
Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and it’s characters and situations are the sole property of Capcom. I am making no money or profit off of this fanfiction and no copyright infringement is intended. On the other hand all original characters and situations are mine so please don’t run off with them without my knowledge or consent.
Summary: A year after the events in “The Devils Cry”, things in the Sparda family have calmed down, well, as much as possible with them at any rate. But when strange things start happening, including a reappearance of Alastair's dreams of the unknown castle, they realized that they still have a long way to go.
SPOILER WARNING!!!: Spoilers for all three Devil May Cry games.

22.

Rithas groaned as he slowly came to. His head still ached fiercely from the information overload he had suffered earlier, yet he felt strangely... filled, complete. Only then did he realize that he had been missing something his entire life, something that he hadn't even noticed was gone. He raised his head from the couch it had been lying on and looked around, only to groan in sudden pain and slam his eyes shut. After a minute he cracked them open again and took another wary look around.

Colors were all he could see. Bright colors that swirled and pulsed around those in the room and the room itself. The Spardas were all a cool grayish white The Sarcestis were a pale blue, while the Valters were a bright, electric blue. The Ximorn were a fiery red, the Itarls seemed to have no color, but Rithas could see something swirling around them. The Sris were a vibrant green. He looked down at himself to see that he was surrounded by black. He wondered to himself what the colors meant, but the answer bubbled up from somewhere in his subconscious almost immediately: auras. He was seeing the color of magic. The colors of the auras matched the color of the families’ element, or non element as in the Spardas’ case. The Spardas were non elemental, the Sarcestis were ice elemental, the Valters lightning and water, the Ximorn fire, the Itarls, wind, and the Sris, earth. He looked down at himself, and saw that he was surrounded by swirling black, the same color of the power that had been drawn from Mundus. He looked up, a smile blossoming across his face.

This was it; the power that had been stolen from the Bolverks thousands of years ago, the power that they had feuded over the Valters with, because they believed that the dual elemental Vatlers had stolen it. He sat up, noting that he was in the main room of Lar'cincel again, and looked around at the other members of his family. Thenal was sitting close to him, and he felt his gaze drawn to the ring on the younger demon’s hand. The patriarchal ring glowed with its own magic, and Rithas felt a sick feeling settle into his gut. The ring had stayed with Thenal, which could only mean one thing; the patriarchal magic had seen him best to lead the family, which meant he would not get the position back, even if he killed Thenal for it. The magic would definately declare him unfit for that and go to someone else. So that put an end to the Bolverks' long history of using bloodshed to determine the Patriarch. Rithas brooded over the lost of family tradition for a moment, until it dawned on him that that meant no more looking over one's shoulder. No more the family being led by someone who was unfit for the job simply because they had killed their way to the top. The magic would choose who it deemed best, and if they failed to measure up, the magic would choose someone else. Thenal looked over at him and smiled, and for the first time, Rithas did not see the guarded look of one who must always look over his shoulder in his eyes.

And Rithas decided that it had all been worth it.

*****

After spending a few hours resting at Lar'cincel, the remains of the Bolverk family returned to N'mir'kus to collect their dead. In all, six children as well as nine of the females had been lost, including Rithas' own wife. The family mourned over the bodies before washing the blood away, dressing them in clean clothes, and preparing the funeral pyres. One weapon was destroyed with the body, while the rest, including any Ensouleds, were placed in each family’s armory or library to be used by those who would need them.

All members of the Seven families attended the funerals, standing in silence as the flames lit up the barren plain. Once the fires had burned down and only ashes were left, everyone assisted in scattering them around N'mir'kus' foundations. Then the Seven returned to their towers -with the Sarcestis returning to Lar'cincel - to rest.

The next day, or what passed for a day in the Underworld, the Valters family executed Mesim, Exis, and Himal for their plot to murder a patriarch. Then their bodies were dumped in a lower part of the Underworld for lesser demons to feast on. Traitors were not given proper funerals. Nestor, who had been moved to his own bed in Kei’serse under Liris’s watchful eye, had still not shown any signs of regaining consciousness. The only sign of hope was that he had not gotten any worse, and that fact was the only thing that kept Kastor from making the decision to end his misery.

With Mundus gone, Talthos and Zenedris gleefully raided his personal chambers to see what secrets that he had been hiding, and they found quite the stash. Books and artifacts stolen from the various families were squirreled away in hidden rooms, and with them, the pair were able to piece the whole story together and explain to the others.

“23,500 years before Sparda’s rebellion, “Zenedris began, explaining to the assembled family heads in the main room of Lar’cincel. Luxian was there as well, under patriarchal orders to say and do nothing. “Lemian Bolverk was born to Lals and Sese Bolverk. It was obvious to everyone that his body was frail and weak, though his magic was incredibly strong, by anyone’s standards. Powerful magic or not, the Bolverks had planned to execute him for his weakness, but his maternal grandfather, Valters Patriarch Arilan Valters persuaded then to let him live and see if he gained in strength.”

“Apparently he didn’t, or if he did, it wasn’t enough.” Talthos added “The Bolverks were the Underworld’s peace keepers then, using their ability to shapeshift into anything that they had seen once to assist them in their endeavor. Because of this, they valued strength more than any other family and were cold and distant to him, and after five centuries, the Bolverk Patriarch expelled him from the family, and Arilan Valters adopted him. Unfortunately, the Valters aren’t too kind to him either. As he grew up, his magic strength only increased, though his body remained frail, and he began to research possible ways to steal magic from another demon, and at some point, his research was successful.”

“21,100 years before Sparda’s rebellion, Lemian used his own considerable power to rip all traces of magic away from the Bolverk family, leaving behind only to shapeshift into a misshapen skeleton, to better show how spineless and twisted he believed them to be. He then muddles with their memories, leaving them believing that the Valters had stolen it, explaining their dual elemental ability, starting the feud between the two families. He then crowned himself Lord of the Underworld.”

“As you can imagine, the Six were not pleased by his announcement and sought to bring him down. After fending them off multiple times during the next 1,100 years, he used his power to create life, bringing a white haired demon that he named Almen Sparda into being. Almen was much more powerful than any demon had ever been before, and he was ordered to protect his Emperor from the others, which he did, faithfully. Some five centuries later, after watching the other demons interacting with their families, marrying and having children, Almen expressed a wish to have a family of his own. Pleased with his servant’s loyality, Lemian agreed, kidnapping Hilaas Valters and giving her to Almen for his wife.”

Here Talthos looked up from the book he was looking at and looked at Kastor. “Sparda family records indicate that she was unwilling to be with him at first, but when he treated her kindly and never forced her to do anything that she did not wish to, she grew to like him and stayed with him willingly after that.”

Kastor nodded. “Valters records say that she was with him willingly as well.”

“Not long afterward,” Zenedris continued the tale. “Almen and Hilaas had a son that they named Isa Sparda, Talthos‘s grandfather. Unbeknownst to them, Lemian had placed a spell of them that prevented the Spardas from having any more than four in any generation. He feared that, if left alone, their numbers would grow too large, and they would become a threat to him. 12,000 years before Sparda's rebellion, Isa married Kemin Sris, and a thousand years after that, the two had a son, Ilik Sparda. Shortly after Ilik's birth, Lemian commanded that they bring the other six families into line by whatever means necessary, even killing them. The Six had grown restless and angry under Lemian's rule, and he feared a rebellion. When the Spardas balked at harming those that they had grown to consider kin, Lemian took some of their power away, leaving them still more powerful than the other families, but nowhere near their previous level."

"11,000 years before Sparda's rebellion, Ifrit Ximorn is born, and roughly 3,000 years later, he crafts his powerful Hellfire gauntlets. Eight centuries after that, Mundus is born, and we still do not know who his mother was, or what happened to her, or even if he had a mother. 1700 years later, Ifrit begins to openly voice his dislike of having a single entity running the Underworld instead of each family running it jointly, and not long afterward he dies mysteriously, while being only middle aged for us. Four centuries later, his gauntlets vanish from the Ximorn family armory."
 

"3,699 years before Sparda's rebellion, Mundus murders his father to take the throne. Six centuries before Sparda's rebellion, Alastor Valters and his wife, Lilith," Here, Zenedris looked over at Kastor. "vanished while out wandering around, leaving their oldest son Nestor to raise his brothers. 120 years later, Akemus Sparda is born to Sparda Achida Sparda and his wife Atalia. 335 years later, Mundus decides that he really wants to rule the human world too, so he declares the start of the human/ demon war.> Patriarch Luka Valters protests such an action, and a year later, he and his three sons are all murdered by parties unknown, though we assume now that Mundus was responsible. Luka's nephew, Nestor, becomes patriarch, and suspecting what has happened, he commits his family to the war, so not to have anyone else murdered."

"22 years later, Mundus notes that Sparda is losing focus in the war. Wanting to keep his best general committed, he quietly kidnaps the three and a half century old child, murders him, and sets it up to make it appear as if humans are responsible. Fuelled by Sparda's rage, we were set to take over the human world." Talthos looked over at his son. "Sparda, if you would explain this part?"

Sparda sighed and nodded. "I eventually overheard Mundus speaking to one of his guards, telling him that Akemus had been too powerful and could have started a rebellion once he grew old enough. To prevent this, he had killed my son and covered it up. I was in shock for a short while, before I realized that I could not serve such a creature. I rebelled, with my family's knowledge and blessing, and during the course of it, I met, fought, and drew with Bolverk Vimors Bolverk. Not long after I encountered my mother and sister, who said that they had been sent by Mundus to stop me. They wished me well, and Areceli demanded that I write to her."

"When they reported to Mundus about their failure to stop you," Talthos swallowed heavily before continuing. "He killed them." Zenedris gave him a soft look before picking up the tale.

"Shortly thereafter, Mundus somehow managed to convince Aselni Sarcesti that forcing Talthos Sparda into stasis will allow them to keep him safe from Sparda. Talthos was summoned to the throne room, and Aselni cast the spell on him. According to Mundus' notes here, he nearly managed to throw it off. He was then placed in Mundus' private chambers."

"Not long afterward,“ Talthos, having regained his composure, picked back up. “Sparda fought Mundus is his thrown room and was able to defeat, but not kill, him. He then sealed Mundus is his throne room, allowing him enough time to seal the Temen-ni-gru. Not long after that, the temporary seal on the throne room breaks.”

“Four hundred years later, Atalia also overhears who was truly responsible for Akemus’ murder, and using what remained of their marriage bond, contacts Sparda, who helps her to leave the Underworld. A half century later, artifacts are stolen from various families: the Death Sentence from the Sarcesti family, the Melancholy Soul from the Valters family, the Pride of Lion from the Bolverks, and the Guiding Light from the Sris. Mundus makes no mention of why he stole the artifacts, but we do know that they were used as keys to open doors and such on Mallet Island when Dante Sparda passed through there centuries later.”

"Three centuries later, Sparda begins keeping track of the gates that he has found in a large book. Just under fifteen centuries later, a large gate is opened in the Swiss Alps, large enough for Mundus to come through if he wished. Sparda manages to defeat the demons pouring out of it and send them back to the Underworld, including his brother, Luxian. He manages to partially seal it, but not completely so, so he builds a castle over it to better keep an eye on it." Talthos nodded to his son here. "Correct?"

Sparda nodded. "That is correct."

Zenedris continued. "A few years later, Mundus becomes aware of the book that Sparda carries, and he beings sending teams to try and steal it. Sparda realizes that he can no longer keep the book with him, and he hides it somewhere, where Mundus and his spies are unable to discover."

"Four and a half centuries later, Mundus learns that Sparda has remarried - a human woman, and the two have twin sons. He immediately begins plotting on how to use those children for his own devices. When the boys are twelve, Sparda is captured by Luxian and Bolverk Vimors Bolverk while out hunting. He is imprisoned in the Forgotten Levels with a power suppressing collar. Three years later, the Luxian is able to punch through the seal under Sparda's castle to allow him - and only him - access to the human world. He kills Sparda's wife while she is trying to protect her children, and kidnaps Vergil Sparda, the elder twin, while Dante is able to escape, aided by Atalia Sarcesti. Unbeknownst to them, Luxian was able to hastily cast a block on Dante's memories to prevent him from remembering the gate."

"Luxian and Mundus begin a careful run of conditioning and brainwashing to get Vergil to mold into what they want him to be. Later, he manages to ensoul the Yamato, and Mundus and Luxian are unable to figure how he did it, and Vergil cannot tell them how, just that he knew what to do."

"I was guiding him through it." Sparda spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him, including Vergil, who had a look of dawning comprehension on his face.

"You were the voice I heard." he said "I though it sounded familiar."
Sparda smiled. "The power suppressing collars did suppress much of my power, but not all of it, allowing me to reach out and touch his mind."

Talthos gave his son a calculating look before picking up where he had left off: "When it becomes apparent that Vergil will not allow himself to be molded as easily as they want, Luxian steals a portion of his soul, removing many of his emotions and his ability to realize the consequences of his actions. A few years later, at the age of 21, Vergil is allowed to leave the demon world, but not before Luxian places a powerful block on his memories, making him forget his time in the demon world and leaving him with a powerful drive to unseal the Temen-ni-gru and claim his father's power. He collaborates with a human scholar named Arkham to do so, and in the end faces his brother, who has come to stop him. Dante wins the battle, and Vergil willingly stays in the demon world. He later challenges Mundus, not remembering their previous encounters, and loses. He is then imprisoned and tortured until he becomes a mindless soldier for Mundus.”

“Thirteen years later, Mundus tries to enter the human world through Mallet Island. Dante prevents this, once again facing, and defeating, his brother in battle. A year later, Argosax the Chaos, which had been cast into a secluded part of the Underworld centuries ago by Mundus, sought to enter the human world and succeed where Mundus had repeatedly failed, using a human named Arius as his puppet. Mundus learned of the plan and, seeing an opportunity to end that branch of the Sparda line, sent Bolverk Vimors Bolverk to settle the score. Bolverk challenged Dante twice before losing in their third battle.”

“And he was one tough sonofabitch too.” Dante muttered “Had me worried on more than one occasion.” Rithas looked over at Dante and smirked, while those nearest to them chuckled.

Zenedris continued. “The following year, Mundus sends Sirce Valters to the human world, with instructions to get pregnant by him and any means. He believed that he could raise the child himself with his own ideals and thus bring the Sparda line fully back under his control. She succeeds, but did not realize that Dante had planned for such an event, and he managed to contain her, until after Alastair Sparda’s birth. He lets her go, and she returns to Mundus empty handed. He kills her as punishment for her failure.”

“Three years later, Mundus, still determined to have a Sparda child to have as a soldier, sends Cele Itarls down to the Forgotten Levels, with the same instructions that he had given Sirce Valters, only this time, with Vergil. She also succeeds and lives in Mundus’ private chambers during her pregnancy, never seen or visited by anyone but him. After the child’s birth, she tries to return to her family with him, and is killed. The child is given to Luxian to care for, and Luxian names him Larcersa Sparda. Three years later, Vergil, who has started to return to himself, manages to escape his cell, and smuggle three year old Larcersa out of the Underworld and to his brother’s shop. Vergil is recaptured, but somehow manages to convince his guards, as well as Mundus, that he is still out of him mind.”

Talthos smirked. “Unbeknownst to them, the power blocking collar around Sparda’s neck had begun to weaken, allowing him greater telepathic abilities, and he guided Vergil out of the Underworld.”

There were chuckles and grins at this, and Zenedris smirked and continued. “Sixteen years later, Mundus learns finally of where Sparda had hidden his book: with the Lefant family, a French demon hunting family, and he sends Luxian to slaughter the family and take the book. They get every member but one: Adele Lefant, who was in Paris with her boyfriend, Larcersa, who had been renamed Vergil by his uncle.” Everyone in the room turned to look at the younger Vergil then, and his cringed and ducked his head. It had been a year, but he still felt a great deal of misery and guilt over the massacre of the Lefant family. The older Vergil placed his hand on his son’s shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. Atalia looked at her grandmother, and the two appeared to be having a silent conversation for a moment (which they likely were) before Zenedris nodded in understanding before beginning to speak again. “Not long afterward, Dante’s office is attacked, and the book is stolen. Mundus says here in his little diary that it was to keep them from learning of the gate in the Alps. Right around this time, the elder Vergil slips and reveals his sanity to Mundus." She looked over at Sparda, who was grinning. "Do you have something to add, Sparda?"

"Yes, I do." he said "It was also right about this time, that I was able to reach out to my father and weaken the stasis spell on him, allowing to partially regain consciousness."

Talthos looked sharply at his son. "That was your voice I heard while I was under, explaining things to me."

"Yes, it was."

Talthos couldn't help it; he laughed. He dropped the book he was holding and sank down into the nearest chair, laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face. Everyone just looked at him for a moment, before Zenedris snorted, starting to giggle quietly. Her giggles quickly turned into chuckles and then into full out laughter, and from her the mirth only spread, until everyone in the room, sans Luxian of course, was laughing along with them.

 

After a few minutes, Talthos managed to bring his laughter to a stop, pick up the book he had dropped, and stand back up.

"Afterward, Vergil managed to elude his guards and escape to Lar'cincel, where he cannot be harmed. Mundus, for reasons that he doesn't explain, opts not to tear the wards down to get to him. My guess is that he knew that doing so would disillusion Luxian, and he needed him for a tool."

Zenedris closed the book that she was holding. "I decided to help Vergil return to the human world, as a favor to Talthos." Talthos's head whipped around to look at her; this was news to him. "With some help from my granddaughter, Atalia, I was able to send him to her home there, but not before the wards around Dali'mar'ne fell, in part due to an onslaught by the Valters family, but also due to help from my granddaughter Aselni, who had been convinced that assisting in the capture of Vergil would be beneficial to us. Of course that wasn’t the case, and once the wards fell, we all know what happened to us.” She then sat down, leaving the rest of the story to be told by Talthos.

Talthos also sat down; he hadn’t fully recovered from being in stasis yet, and the battle had worn on him heavily. “From what I have learned speaking to my eldest son and my great granddaughter, Alastair -” He nodded in her direction. “he had been sending her dreams of the castle in which he had his human wife lived before their deaths. He was trying to tell her of a portrait of me that hung in the castle, the back of which he had written a letter to his two sons about the gate in the Alps. Eventually they do find the portrait and read the letter, prompting them to come down here. And we all know the rest.”

“So his ultimate goal was to bring the Sparda family back under his control?” Sri asked, looking and sounding like he didn’t believe it “That’s the most twisted and convoluted plot that I’ve ever heard of. Why go through the trouble? He would have had an easier time just killing you all and starting over.”

Talthos nodded; he couldn’t believe it himself. “We know that, but Mundus was never the smartest one around. At least his father had some sense, I don’t know where it went in Mundus’ case.”

Everyone in the room was silent for several minutes afterward, absorbing all that they had been told. And then Terln spoke up.

“What do we do now?”

Alastair jumped up on the table. “I know what we’ll do. We’re gonna throw a huge ass party, all of us! We’ll have plenty of alcohol and food and great music, and we’ll all have a blast! That’s what we’ll do! So all of ya get up off your asses and let’s go already!”

Another round of laughs and everyone started rising to their feet, some leaving to go to their own homes, others wandering around Lar’cincel, looking for things that they would need.

There was a party to be thrown after all.

Chapter 21 -- Chapter 23

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