The Devils Cry Part 2 Chapter 17

[eiahmon]

Title: The Devils Cry Part 2 Chapter 17
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.

17.

Nestor got up from the table with a relieved sigh; he didn’t think the meeting was ever going to break up. It had lasted for several hours, though the end result would, hopefully, be worth the backache and headache he was currently suffering from. He waited until everyone had filed out of the room, and when he saw Zenedris Sarcesti leaving, he called for her to wait a moment. He had something that he had to say to her. Once everyone else was out of the room, he nervously approached her.

“Lady Sarcesti,” he began hesitantly “I just wanted to say...” He paused to take a deep breath. Damnit, it shouldn’t be this difficult! “... that I am sorry, for what happened last year, the attack on your home and family. I can offer you no excuses other than I ordered my family to do what Mundus ordered me to. I understand that you lost four members of your family, including your son, and all I can say is, once again, I am very sorry.”

Zenedris looked at him for a moment, and he had to stop himself from fidgeting under her gaze. She nodded sadly at him after a moment.

“I understand that you lost three of your family, including the brother that you had raised like a son.” she said gently “I know that you would not have succeeded in bringing the wards down if my granddaughter had not betrayed us. There is nothing to forgive, Lord Valters.” Nestor let out the breath that he had been holding, and he watched quietly as she walked away. Apology or no, he knew that he would blame himself for those seven deaths for the rest of his life.

*****

Still thinking about Nestor’s apology, Zenedris wandered into the main room of Lar’cincel, where Talthos, Sparda, Atalia, Dante, Vergil, Alastair, and the younger Vergil were gathered. She sat down in the nearest chair, and her gaze fell on the older Vergil, curled up, nestled against his father. Seeing him made her wonder about the block on his memories again. The signature of the spellcaster felt so familiar; she knew she knew it, but she just couldn’t place it. It felt similar to Talthos, but it wasn’t him. It also felt something like Sparda, but again, it wasn’t him. Then who...!

She snarled suddenly, bringing everyone’s attention to her.

“What is it, Liestia?” Atalia asked, concerned. Zenedris didn’t answer her granddaughter, turning instead to Talthos.

“Was Luxian given a magical education as a child?” she asked.

Talthos shook his head. “No, he showed neither aptitude, nor interest, in magic as a child. Why?”

“During the 2,000 years you were in stasis, could he access your spellbooks and other magical equipment?”

“Yes, I never locked such things away, since Sparda and Atalia studied them quite often. What are you saying, Zenedris?”

Sparda sat up and looked at her sharply. “Are you saying that Luxian used the time on his hands to teach himself magic?” he asked.

 

“Yes, I am, and I am also saying that the magical signature on the block on Vergil’s memories in similar, yet different, to yours and your father’s.”

Sparda snarled and leapt to his feet. “LUXIAN.” he roared “COME DOWN HERE NOW!”

A warbled “Yes, Cincel.” came from upstairs, and a few moments later, Luxian appeared, still jerking and fighting the magic.

“Did you cast a block on my son’s mind.” Sparda demanded, using the magic to force him to answer.

“Yes, Cincel, on both of them.”

Dante started. “On both of them?” Sparda asked dangerously.

“Yes. The half breed saw me murder his mother. I could not allow him to remember that. I didn’t plan on him escaping, but I hastily put one there just in case. But since I hadn’t had a chance to do it properly, it was weak, and it covered more than I intended it to”

Sparda turned to Dante. “Is your block still in place?”

Dante shook his head. “No, it collapsed when we went through the castle earlier.” Sparda turned back to Luxian.

“You will undo what you have done to Vergil.” he growled “And you will do it painlessly, and you will release all of the memories that you have unblocked. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Cincel.”

Vergil stood up; looking at Sparda in equal parts excitement and fear. “Can we do it now?”

“Do you have everything you need to remove the block?” Sparda asked, looking at Luxian.

“Yes, Cincel.”

“Good.” Sparda looked at Vergil. “Are you ready?” Vergil nodded, and Sparda turned back to Luxian. “Do it then.”

Zenedris went over to Vergil and told him to lie down on the couch, which he did, watching Luxian’s approach nervously. Sparda sat down and held Vergil’s head on his lap.

“Will this hurt?” Vergil asked, looking up at his father.

Sparda smiled reassuringly. “No Vergil. Removal of a memory block by its castor is painless. All he has to do is will it to crumble, something like what he did when he willed it into place. It’s the force of his will that formed it and that is holding it there. When he pulls his power out of your mind, it will fall without his support.”

“I hope that I don’t pass out like Dante did.” Vergil grumbled, trying to relax as Luxian knelt down beside him, ignoring Dante’s indignant “Hey!”
Sparda looked amused. “You probably will, since you seem to have lost so much.”

“Wonderful.” Vergil closed his eyes when Luxian’s hands touched his temples, and Sparda gently reassured him that Luxian was under the control of the patriarchal magic.

Zenedris sat down nearby, knowing that Luxian could do nothing without Sparda’s leave, but wanting to be nearby anyway in case the younger demon tried something. It was possible to literally destroy someone’s mind during the placement or removal of a block. She noticed Atalia doing the same. They watched as Luxian closed his eyes as he searched for the block he had created, knowing that he was finding the tendrils of his power that held it up and pulling them out one by one. Vergil visibly winced everytime a thread was pulled out.

Vergil felt the threads of Luxian’s power being withdrawn and felt the block weakening with their loss. He felt cracks beginning to appear and memories began to slip through...

...the day he had been given the Yamato. He could feel the power thrumming through the enchanted blade...

...playing video games with Dante, and their mother’s threat to take away their PS3 is they didn’t stop fighting over it....

...chuckling at his father’s elegant dress looking completely out of place in a Dairy Queen...

Vergil groaned quietly as he felt the cracks widen into gaping holes, and the trickle of memories increased to a torrent.

...the night Sparda had left to go out on a job and not come back...

...the feeling that he would never be happy again when he realized that Sparda was gone...

...the night Luxian came to the castle...

...waking up in Lar’cincel...

...ensouling the Yamato..

...the Temen-ni-gru...

...trying to kill Dante with the Force Edge...

Luxian pulled the last tendril of his power free, and with its loss, the block crumbled, causing memories to rush forward. Vergil let out a pained moan as his mind throbbed with the force of the lost memories settling back into place.

...falling into the demon world...

...facing Mundus and failing...

...imprisonment for his failure to kill Dante...

...losing himself in the pain and torture...

...Mallet Island...

...the day his son was conceived. It was the act that started to bring him back to himself...

...smuggling the boy to the human world, using the directions the voice whispered in his mind to get out of the demon world. He knew that voice...

...the face of his torturer. That face, it looked so familiar. It looked like...!

“NO!” Vergil sat up with a scream and scrambled away from everyone “No, it wasn’t her!”

“Verg?” It was Dante that knelt beside him. “Who is ‘her’?” Vergil shook his head; he did not want to speak of that!

“Let’s get you upstairs to bed, Verg. Since you didn’t pass out like I did-” Dante grinned. “you’ll need to get some shut eye.” Dante stood up, pulling Vergil with him. “Let’s go.”

Vergil didn’t protest; a long nap sounded like just the thing. He leaned against Dante and let his twin lead him upstairs.

*****

Nestor stepped into his private library, Kastor following him close behind.

“When are you going to tell everyone, Father?” Kastor asked as he put up some privacy wards.

“Not at the moment. I may not tell everyone at all, only those who need to know, such as your uncles or your brother, in case we don’t survive. If we die, those are the ones the patriarchy is likely to jump to, and they need to know what we are planning, so that they may finish it.”

“But Hital is not of age yet.”

Nestor shrugged. “True, but if the magic feels that he is the only one fit, then it may jump to him regardless. We can’t predict what the magic will do.” He handed Kastor a small canvas sack. “Hold this open.”

“What is this, Father?”

“You will see.” Nestor turned to face the shelves in front of him, and Kastor noted that he did not recognize these books. With a whispered word, Nestor gestured to the sack, and books began flying off of the shelves and into the sack, shrinking as they did so. “Lady Sarcesti will be happy to have these back.”

“These are Sarcesti books?”

“Yes, after Dali’mar’ne was destroyed, I had Lestor and Vector gather up all of the books that they could find and bring them here for

safekeeping.”

 

“But the fire...?”

“The books are fireproofed, just as ours are. Shame that the protection spells on them keep me from reading them. I could have learned quite a lot from them.”

Kastor smiled. “Shame.” The two stood in silence for a few moments, Nestor directing shelves of books into the sack as the previous ones emptied. It seemed that Lestor and Vector had rescued the entire Sarcesti library, which was the largest in the Underworld, and larger than many in the human world as well. Once the last of the Sarcesti books had gone into the sack, Kastor pulled the drawstring shut, and Nestor waved his hand over it, casting a spell that would allow only Zenedris Sarcesti to open it again.

“Kastor, would you kindly take that to Lady Sarcesti, please? Then come directly back here.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Be careful, Kastor.”

“I will, Father.”

Nestor followed Kastor out of the library and watched as his son left the study and, a few moments later, left the tower. He then locked the library doors and returned to the main part of his study. He sat down at his desk, and began to think on the plans that had been made during the meeting at Lar’cincel. So absorbed in his musings, he sensed the attack behind him too late to dodge it. He fell out of his chair and crumpled to the floor, the back of his skull crushed, his neck broken, to lie in an expanding pool of blood.

*****

Kastor walked across the plain towards Lar’cincel, careful to keep an eye out for anyone that may cause him trouble. After everything that he had learned, he felt that there was no such thing as too paranoid. He knew that there were a few in his family that did not like his father as patriarch, and those same few did not want him to inherit it. No one seemed to be following him, but he could sense someone watching him, and it made him very nervous. He could seen Lar’cincel coming nearer, and he was about halfway there. Now he just had to...

Kastor gasped and stopped when he felt the brush of magic across his skin. He knew immediately what it was, and he turned back and started to run back to Kei’serse, when he was stopped by the magic judging him fit and settling down on his soul as the family crest appeared as a ring on his right index finger. He looked down at it in horror and hoped that his father was still alive. He quickly looked at the names around the crest and was relieved to see his father’s name still there. Nestor was alive, but something must have happened to him to prevent him from carrying the position of patriarch anymore. He started to run back to Kei’serse - he had to see if Nestor was alright - but the appearance of three people coming out of the tower and striding towards him stopped him. As he watched horrified - he knew what they would do when they caught up with him - they were joined by several lesser demons.

Kastor turned and ran.

“Get him!”

Kastor recognized the voice of his granduncle, Himar, the one who had been the most opposed to Nestor as patriarch. Even as he ran for his life, he felt rage at the one who had no doubt done harm to his father begin to burn within him. There were too many lesser demons for Kastor to face him safely, but once he had Himar alone...

He growled in anger as he ran towards the safety of Lar’cincel.

*****

Alastair was leaning back in her chair, reading a book she had found. She was having trouble with the language - she hadn’t studied Greek in years - but it was quite interesting, a compilation of the myths and legends surrounding Alastor in human history. The sword, lying across her lap, crackled whenever she chuckled about some of the things he was rumored to be responsible for.

“Seems like you were quite the naughty boy, great-grandfather mine.” she said, amused. The sword crackled again. “Don’t deny it; you’re guilty.” She smirked. Her smirk turned into a frown when the sword did not settle after a second or two. “I was just joking, you know.” Her frown deepened when the sword seemed to grow only more agitated. She picked it up and looked it over for a moment, then her eyes widened. She jumped up from her chair, dropping the book to the floor.

“Dad! Grandpa!” She started to run out of the room, nearly colliding with them when they ran in.

“What’s wrong?” Dante asked frantically. He hadn’t heard her yell like that since she was a little girl convinced that something was trying to get out of her closet.

“Something’s happened to Grandpa Nestor! We have to find him!”

“How do you know this, Alastair?” Sparda asked.

She held up the Alastor. “Alastor told me.”

Dante and Sparda looked at each other, then they looked at Alastair. As one the three of them moved to the front doors.

*****

Kastor dropped his human form to move faster, hearing and sensing them closing in on them. Lighting flickered across his body as he sprinted across the plain to Lar’cincel. He kept his eyes focused completely on it, and he felt a rush of relief when he saw Lord Sparda, his son, and the girl that Nestor said was Sirce’s daughter step out. The girl began running towards him, drawing his grandfather’s Ensouled as she went. She was followed closely by Lord Sparda and his son.

Kastor felt the claws of the lesser demons swiping at his back, and a second later, something connected solidly with the back of his head, sending him stumbling forward. It would take more than that to kill him, much less render him unconscious, but it would slow him down a little until the injury healed. Someone pushed against him, knocking him down to the ground, and he felt that someone trying to get something around his neck. He knew the power locking collar for what it was, and he fought his attacker, knowing that the patriarchy would jump to someone else once the collar was on him, and that someone else would be in danger. He felt two others pin his arms down as the lesser demons clawed at him, shredding his clothes and ripping out strips of his flesh. He felt the collar going around his neck as whoever was on top of him tried to lock it on.

“Get off of me!” he screamed, and to his surprise, three of his attackers did just that. Ah, the patriarchal magic... The magic had no effect on the lesser demons though, and they continued to tear at him. He summoned his sword to him and slashed wildly around himself, trying to clear enough room to allow him to stand up. Pulling the collar off and tossing it aside, he rose to his feet just as a white haired, blue clad blur smashed into the lesser demons, scattering them. Kastor watched, somewhat dazed, as the girl made short work of the lesser demons, using the Alastor sword with great skill and efficiency. The sword crackled angrily as she hacked and slashed her way through the crowd.

“Are you alright?” Lord Sparda asked, watching as his son joined in the fray.

“Yes, thank you.” Kastor replied “But my father is in trouble. Something has happened to him.” As they watched, the last of the lesser demons - a Blade - fell under the Alastor, and Lord Sparda put his hand on Kastor’s shoulder. “Come. Let’s discuss this inside.” Kastor allowed himself to be led to Lar’cincel, with the Sparda heir and his daughter following close behind.

*****

Rithas Bolverk sat quietly in his family’s small library, looking over the large book that contained the family’s birth records. Something seemed off to him, and it had been bothering him for awhile. Lord Sris had raised a good question; where did the Imperial family come from? They couldn’t have just appeared out of nowhere! What’s more, the appearance of Mundus’ human form had made him think of something, and he was trying to see if his suspicions were correct. He flipped idly through the pages, looking for anything of interest, when he saw something that caught his eye.

Lemian Bolverk
Father: Lals Bolverk
Mother: Sese Valters
Child showed significant physical weakness and a high magic level at birth. Execution held off by a request from Lord Arilan Valters, who is the child’s grandfather.

Rithas sat back thoughtfully. He looked at Lemian’s birth year and saw that the child was born 2,400 years before the first emperor appeared. He flipped forward several pages and saw that Lemian had never married or fathered any children. Maybe he had been executed later? Putting the birth record book aside, Rithas reached for the book that held records of executions and such. Looking through it, he found that, while Lemian’s life had been spared, he had been ousted from the Bolverk family as a child due to his weak body and refusal to partake in any weapons training. He had been taken in by the Valters family.

Rithas felt a sense of nervous excitement, believing that he was on the trail of something important. He started to rise from his stool, intending to go to Kei’serse and speak to Nestor Valters. Maybe the Valters’ record books could tell them the rest of the story. But before he could stand up all the way, he felt a burning agony rip through his body, making him gasp as all the air was driven from his lungs. He looked down and touched the bits of his lungs that were clinging to a lance that was protruding out of his chest, the tip of it lodged in the podium that the books were resting on.

“Vigilance brother.” a voice taunted in his ear “Careless, careless.”

“Elsec, you...bastard.” Rithas groaned as blood burst from between his lips.

“Now, is that anyway to speak to your older brother, Rithas? Come, why don’t you rest awhile?” The lance was ripped back out of Rithas’ body, pulling him backward off of his stool, pulling his right lung out with it. He collapsed to the floor, hearing Elsec laugh quietly as he felt something cold clamp around his neck. He felt Elsec picking him up off the floor.

“Lord Mundus wishes to have a word with you.” was the last he heard before he faded into unconsciousness.

*****

“I have to go back to Kei’serse.” Kastor said as he mopped his face with the sleeve of his jacket “Something’s happened to Father.”

“How do you know?” Lady Sarcesti asked. Kastor held up his hand, showing her the patriarchal ring. She gasped.

“I need to go back there and find him.” Kastor said, then his eyes narrowed. “Once I find him and see that he’s taken care of, I’m going to find Himar and rip his heart out.” He then looked down at himself, surprised. He had never acted like this before!

“Well, if you’re going to raise a little hell, I’m going too.” Sirce’s daughter - what was her name? Alastair? said, stepping up to him “I just found someone from my mother’s family, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose him already. Besides I’m going stir crazy sitting around here. If there are some asses that need kicking, I wanna be the one doing it!” She glared at her father and grandfather, as if daring them to tell her no, and the Alastor sword crackled, as if in agreement. Kastor had to suppress a laugh.

The Sparda heir did laugh.

“Alright,” he said “If it’s alright with-” He looked at the ring on Kastor’s hand. “Lord Valters, you can go.”

Kastor shuddered. “Don’t call me that. My father is the rightful lord, and as soon as he’s able, he can have this damn ring and the title that goes with it back.”

Alastair looked at him. “May I accompany you?” she asked, grinning widely. He did chuckle then.

“Of course, you may.” He stood up from the chair he was in and held out his arm to her. “Shall we go, my dear niece?”

She took his arm. “Of course, my dear uncle.”

The Sparda heir groaned. “Quit being so disgustingly formal already.” Lord Sparda laughed.

“Oh wait, I almost forgot.” Kastor took the small sack out of his pocket and handed it to Lady Sarcesti. "I'm sure that you'll be happy to have this back."

"May I ask what it is?" she asked as she took it.

"Your library."

"Oh yes, I am very happy."

Kastor grinned. “It will be interesting to see what you come up with.” He turned back to Alastair. “Now, let us go rescue your grandfather.

She grinned back at him. “I look forward to it.” The pair walked out of Lar’cincel, the Alastor crackling with a mix of anger and excitement as they went.

Chapter 16 -- Chapter 18

Back to the Archive