The Devils Cry Chapter 2-19

[eiahmon]

Title: The Devils Cry Part 2 Chapter 19
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.

19.

Thenal strode into N'mir'kus, his red eyes blazing with his rage. Elsec was going to pay for what he had done. Thenal didn’t care that it was how patriarchs were won and lost in the Bolverk family, no one, no one, attacked someone close to him and got away with it. He reached the door that led to his uncle’s rooms and kicked it hard, shattering the wood and sending it flying backwards off of its hinges into the room.

“Elsec!” he roared “Come out here!”

There was a moment’s silence, then:

“What can I do for you, dear nephew?”

Thenal summoned his lance to him before answering the question. “You can tell me what you did with my father.”

“Your father?” Elsec feigned confusion for a moment before continuing “Oh, you mean the traitor.”

“My father was no traitor.” Thenal snarled.

“He wasn’t? Are you sure? He is going against our emperor and willingly associating with the Valters family. That certainly sounds like a traitor to me.”

“Where. Is. He.”

“Safely locked away, where he can mislead this family no further. And now,” Elsec smiled smugly, holding up his right hand. On his index finger sat the heavy silver patriarchal ring. “I am the patriarch.” Though the ring had not contained any magic in generations, it was still wore by the patriarch.

Thenal snarled when he saw flakes of his father’s blood clinging to the silver band and brought his lance up. “Not for much longer.”

*****

Alastair watched the front doors of Kei’serse. Sooner or later, Himar, Exis, and Mesim would have to come home. And when they did... She felt her lips stretch into an evil smile. She reached down to the heavy pendant hanging around her neck and smiled again. Kastor had given it to her and taught her how to use it. She held up the electric blue stone in its heavy silver setting to where she could see it. Kastor had explained that they functioned the same way as the Sarcesti family’s pendants, allowing communication through them. Though, he had told her with a wink, they allowed for more direct thoughts to be sent through, not just images and impressions. It was a breakthrough that they had made several millennia ago, and they had never shared it with the Sarcesti. The pendant that she was holding in her hand had belonged to Sirce, and Kastor felt that Nestor would have wanted her to have it.

She took a quick glance around from where she was hiding under an illusion spell that Kastor had cast on her. The rest of the tower appeared to be deserted, since Kastor had ordered everyone to their rooms earlier. He did not want to take the chance that Himar, Exis, or Mesim might use someone else as a shield to make good their own escape if they were cornered. Satisfied that no one else was around, she settled back against the wall she was leaning against and returned her gaze to the front doors. They were the only way in or out of Kei’serse, as the wards did not allow direct teleportation in or out of the tower. The Alastor crackled as she laid it across her lap, and she could feel its rage.

“They attacked your son, Alastor.” she said lightly “My grandfather. I don’t think we should let them get away with that.” The sword crackled again in agreement. The sword then suddenly stilled, and Alastair looked up to see the doors slowly opening. She sent a quick thought to Kastor and received his confirmation just as they opened all the way and the one that Kastor described as Himar stepped warily in. She sent another thought to Kastor and sensed him moving in her direction. Himar looked around warily for a few minutes, and his gaze fixed on her for a brief moment, making her wonder if he somehow knew that she was there. Then his eyes moved elsewhere, and he turned back to the still open doors and waved for the shadow hanging back to come in. Mesim walked in, not bothering to be quiet or cautious, making Alastair wondered if they really thought so little of Kastor. Did they honestly think that he would never look for them in the tower? Alastair had to resist the urge to roll her eyes, instead watching as Exis followed Mesim inside, closing the door silently behind him.

“Stop!” Kastor’s voice, sounding usually commanding, rang out inside the empty entrance hall. The patriarchal magic wrapped around the three, stopping them where they stood as Kastor swept down the stairs towards them. He stopped in front of them and paced back and forth, his gaze flicking between them, as if he were judging the extent of each crime.

“Now that I have you here,” he said calmly, though Alastair could hear the steel behind his words “tell me, which one of you attacked my father?”

“I did.” Himar answered immediately, then his eyes widened in horror at his magic forced confession.

Kastor’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Why did you do that?”

“To remove him from the position of patriarch.” Exis answered, his own eyes widening.

“And where is he?” Kastor’s voice had dropped to a frosty whisper.

“In the Forgotten Levels.” Mesim ground out between clenched teeth, reminding Alastair of Luxian.

“How badly is he injured?”

“I know I crushed his skull and broke his neck.” Himar replied “I put the collar on him too.” Kastor growled. “Collar?”

“A power blocking collar. He never even had a chance to start healing before I clapped it on him.” Himar exclaimed almost gleefully.
Kastor snarled, and Alastair never saw his hand move. She blinked to see Himar lying on the floor, blood pouring from his mouth. Kastor touched his pendant for a brief moment, and a few moments later, two other silver haired demons appeared from elsewhere in the tower.

“Lestor, Vector.” Kastor commanded “See to it that these three are... suitably housed, while I go look for our missing patriarch.” The two nodded.

“You three,” Kastor snarled “Go with them. Do not fight them, do not try to get away, and do what they tell you. Understood?”

Three nods and three forced out “Yes, Serse”s later, the three were led away, and Kastor returned upstairs to his father’s study, Alastair following close behind.

“So,” Alastair said, once the study door had closed behind them “Rescue then?”

Kastor sighed. “Unfortunately no.”

“What! Oh, come on!”

“If he is in the Forgotten Levels, Alastair, then Mundus is likely aware of out plans. Trying to rescue him would be suicide for both of us.” He sat down heavily in the desk chair. “But if we leave him....”

“If we leave him what?”

“He’ll probably die, either from Mundus himself or from his injuries.”

“I’ve had my head dashed in and my neck broken, and I healed.”

“He has a power blocking collar on though, and it will restrict his healing abilities. It likely stopped them altogether. And even for a demon, a head injury left unhealed for too long can be fatal or crippling.”

“So we have to get him out, then, before it kills him.”

“You are right, but I’m not sure how...”

“Storm the place, kill everything that moves, rescue Grandpa Nestor, come back here, have a party.” Kastor managed a dry chuckle. He had to admit it; he liked her personality. She reminded him of Sirce in that regard. He held his head in his hands for a moment before he looked up at her.

“Shall we go get him then?” he asked, rising from the chair.

She grinned, and the Alastor crackled. “We shall.”

*****

Elsec summoned his own spear and dodged the thrust of his nephew’s Ensouled. Thenal knew that he was more powerful and had a more powerful weapon, but his uncle was older and more skilled. He pulled his lips back from his teeth; this would prove to be at least an interesting fight.

“What’s wrong, nephew?” Elsec taunted “Do you miss your dear daddy?” The words stung, but Thenal refused to rise to the bait, remembering his weapons training. Lose your temper, his father had warned, and you will die. He twisted to the side to evade the tip of his uncle’s lance and countered, smirking evilly when he grazed the elder demon’s shoulder. The small wound sealed immediately, but it was enough to make Elsec snarl in fury. If Thenal could get him worked up into a rage, then he stood a much better chance of winning this battle. He jumped back to avoid the swing of his uncle’s lance, noting that he had overextended and grinned; the elder demon was already making mistakes.

Behind him, he could sense other members of the Bolverk family filing into the room, gathering in the corridor, watching the one on one battle. They knew that this would decide who would be the one to lead the family.

*****

“How can you tell exactly where he is?” Alastair asked quietly as she followed Kastor down into the Forgotten Levels.

“I can sense him.” Kastor replied “They also didn’t take his amulet away, so I can sense him through that as well.”

“Mighty smart of them.”

“Yes well, Mundus and his servants were never known for being intelligent.”

“No surprises there.”

Kastor gestured for her to be silent, and they pressed themselves into a small alcove in the fleshy wall and waited as several lesser demons passed.

“As much as I would like to storm the place.” he said once the footsteps receded “We need to be careful until we actually get to him, at least. If they know we’re coming, they could move him, or kill him.” He stepped carefully away from the wall, using his sword to chop away at the blood sucking tentacles that had sensed prey and come out of the wall and floor.

“Dad told me about these things.” Alastair growled, slicing at them with the Alastair as they reached for her. When it didn’t work, she snarled and jumped into the air, summoning the power of the Ifrit gauntlets as she did so, causing her body to burst into flame. The tentacles cringed away from the flames, their tips burned, and receded back into the wall. “And he said that was the best way to get rid of them.”

The corners of Kastor’s mouth twitched. “Let’s continue on. We still have a long way to go yet.”

“Lead the way, uncle mine.”

*****

Rithas blinked his eyes open again. He groaned when he felt the flaring of pain from his chest and knew that the injury was still not healed. He turned his head to see that Lord Valters still had not moved. He did not know how long he had been asleep, but he feared that too much time had passed for the Valters patriarch to have any chance at healing. Taking a quick glance around the rest of the room, he was startled to see several guards standing at the door and stationed around the walls. He felt suddenly wary; something was going to happen, he knew it.

“Bolverk’s awake.” one of the guards growled “What should we do with him?”

“Leave him be.” said another “Lord Mundus wants him to feel the pain for a while before he disposes of him.” Rithas groaned again and closed his eyes, pretending to fall unconscious again, though he was listening hard to the conversation around him.

“I heard the Bolverk tower doesn’t have any wards on it.”

“It does, but they can’t control them anymore.”

“That should make things easier.”

“Much easier.”

“If one member of the family has gone against Lord Mundus, then they all must pay.”

“They will. Lord Mundus wants the entire family destroyed.”

“I look forward to it. I found spitting the children on their parents’ weapons to be quite fun.”

“Does the traitor here,” Rithas felt a sharp kick to his ribs that nearly made him pass out for real. “have any children?”

“A grown son, and one daughter who is still a child.”

“Don’t forget his wife.”

Even with his eyes closed, Rithas knew that he was surrounded by malicious grins on all sides. He had to repress a shudder at the idea of anyone laying hands on his wife and daughter. He wondered briefly how Mundus had known about the plans that had been made at Lar’cincel before he came upon his answer: Elsec. If he had been alone and in no pain, he would have growled furiously at the thought of his brother. So Elsec had told Mundus about their plans and then attacked him. He could no longer feel the comforting weight of the patriarchal ring on his finger, so that meant that Elsec had taken it, and the title of patriarch, for himself. He wished he had killed his brother all those years ago; it would have spared him the trouble he was dealing with now.

“We’ve been warned to expect Lord Valters to try and rescue his father at any time.” The conversation picked up again, and Rithas banished his thoughts and paid attention.

Lord Valters? Kastor must have inherited the patriarchy then. he thought Would he risk coming down here? Yes, he would. Damnit, it’s a trap!

*****

Thenal sidestepped to avoid his uncle’s clumsy charge and lightly thumped him in the center of his back with the shaft of his Ensouled. Elsec, overbalanced and overextended, stumbled forward, and a light tap to the back of one knee from Thenal’s lance was all it took to send him falling forward.

Thenal didn’t give his uncle a chance to rise. Planting one booted heel firmly in the middle of the elder demon’s back, he rammed the blade of his lance through Elsec’s neck, going all the way through, pinning him to the floor. Blood and air gurgled from Elsec’s mouth and nose as he found his airway blocked and crushed. Thenal reached down and roughly pulled the patriarchal ring from his hand, before slipping it on his own finger.

“This,” he said, holding his hand up so the ring was prominently displayed for everyone to see “Belongs to me.” He gripped the shaft of his lance with both hands. “And now, to end this.” Still holding Elsec down, he pulled the blade out, tearing out what remained of the elder demon’s throat and neck with it, and rammed it as hard as his strength would allow through the base of Elsec’s skull. The demonic metal ripped through the flesh and muscle, meeting no resistance from bone at the joint of skull and neck, severing tendons, arteries, and nerves as it went. Finally it touched the large nerve that, like in all higher animals, connects the brain and spinal cord. This critical bundle of nerves controls breathing, blood pressure, and the heartbeat, and destroying it is the one easy way to kill a demon with one blow. The blade of Thenal’s lance easily sliced through the thick stem, cutting it cleanly in two. Elsec’s eyes widened as his heart and lungs, no longer receiving signals from his brain, ceased to function. A moment later, the red irises of his eyes dilated fully as his brain shut down.

Thenal looked up at the assembled members of the Bolverk family, feeling secretly glad that Elsec had no wife or children that may wish to take revenge, and held up his hand with the ring on it.

“I claim this ring and the position that goes with it.” he snarled “Does anyone wish to challenge me?” He didn’t want to say that, feeling that it would only invite trouble, but his own father had said it years ago, and besides, it was protocol. He looked around at everyone, glaring at each face that looked back at him, daring anyone to step forward. No one moved. He lowered his hand and smiled dangerously in satisfaction.

“Now then,” he began “let us -”

Dust sifted down from the ceiling, causing him to pause in mid sentence. He looked up at the ceiling just as more dust sifted down, and weaponry on Elsec’s walls rattled on their racks. A tremor passed through the floor, causing everyone to shift nervously on their feet and look around. Thenal opened his senses and felt around for a moment before he turned back to his family.

“Go! Get your weapons and hide the children! We’re under attack!” he snarled. “NOW!” he roared when no one moved. He watched as everyone scrambled to do as they had been ordered and saw his mother ushering his sister away. Once everyone had cleared out of the way, he left his uncle’s rooms and returned to the first floor to await whatever Mundus was planning.

*****

Kastor couldn’t shake the sense that something was wrong. The Forgotten Levels appeared to be deserted. Ever since Vergil Sparda’s escape the previous year, the area had been packed full of lesser demons, and security had only been increased when the Sarcesti family had escaped. He had expected to have to evade several guards on the way down, maybe even fight some of them. But since they had hidden from that one group, he and Alastair had encountered no one, and it was beginning to worry him. Alastair too, appeared concerned, and she kept a tight grip on her sword with one hand, with her other hand under her coat, resting on, what had she called it? a gun? Following his senses, Kastor led them down to a cell set in a corridor that, to judge by the moans, cries, and screams, was full of prisoners. Yet again, no guards were in sight.

“Something is seriously wrong here.” Alastair said quietly.

“He is this cell.” Kastor said, stopping in front of one of the flesh covered doors “Yet you are right. Something is off about all of this. Where are the guards? Why is everything down here so quiet?”

“Maybe we don’t want to know.”

“Probably true.” He reached for the door latch, grimacing in disgust as the fleshy substance retracted away from it, and opened the door.

The first thing he saw once his eyes had adjusted was Rithas Bolverk lying on the floor in the center of the room. He winced at the sizable wound on the other demon’s chest before his gaze swung over to the far corner, where Nestor was lying, quiet and still. He started over to him, barely paying attention to the fact that only the areas where Rithas and Nestor were lying were illuminated. The rest of the room was in near total darkness.

Kastor knelt down beside his father, brushing the blood tangled hair away from the wound on his the back of his head to get a better look. The back of the elder demon’s head was crushed, his skull shattered. He could clearly see the broken neck, the bones there sitting oddly. Nestor was barely breathing, his heartbeat weak and faltering.

“We have to get him out of here and get this collar off.” Kastor said quietly “Or he’ll die.”

“It’s only been a few hours!” Alastair hissed “It couldn’t have done that much damage already!”

“He is little more than human with this collar on, and of course, a human would already be dead from this kind of injury.”

“Run Valters.” Rithas’ voice, sounding weak and hoarse, suddenly startled them both. He looked at the dark haired demon. “Run damnit, it’s a trap!”

Kastor whipped his head around, sensing for the first time the lesser demons in the room. The room was suddenly brightly lit, and he saw the dozens upon dozens of them that lined the walls and were now crowding around him, Alastair, Nestor, and Rithas. He could see the blue light of lightning coming from the Alastor as Alastair jumped into the group. Summoning his own sword, he stood in front of his father, determined not to let anyone touch him. Reaching under his jacket to his pendant, he touched it lightly and sent another thought to his uncle Lestor before focusing on the hoard in front of him.

 

Sparda, Talthos, and Zenedris all looked up from their large stack of books when the library doors swung open, and the elder Vergil walked in. Lestor Valters came in right behind him.

“We have trouble.” Vergil said calmly before stepping aside and letting Lestor come into the room.

“Kastor and Alastair were ambushed in the Forgotten Levels.” Lestor said. “And N’mir’kus is under attack.” Sparda growled; trust Mundus to throw a wrench into their works. He turned to Vergil.

“I need you to find you brother and bring him up here. Do NOT tell him about Alastair though. I need him to come up here, not run off of some half cocked rescue attempt.”

“Okay, Dad.” Vergil said quietly before turning and leaving the library. A few minutes later, Dante and the younger Vergil appeared.

“So what the hell is going on?” Dante asked, looking around at everyone.

“We’re going to have to proceed with our plans a little sooner than planned.” Sparda told him. Dante’s face darkened.

“Something’s happened to Alastair and Kastor hasn’t it?” he growled.

“Unfortunately, and it seems that we will have to move our plans ahead and act sooner than we planned as a result.”

“What happened?”

“Alastair and Kastor were ambushed in the Forgotten Levels, and the Bolverk tower is under assault as we speak.”

Dante leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms. “So what do we do?”

Sparda smirked. “We teach Mundus the true meaning of Hell.”

Dante smirked in return. “Sounds like fun.”

“But before we can do that, there is one other thing that needs to be taken care of.” Sparda beckoned Vergil to come closer. Vergil looked puzzlingly at his father, not understanding what else needed to be done that involved him. Sparda placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders and closed his eyes for a long moment.

“Yes,” he murmured “A power block, caused by wearing a collar for so many years. The block is strong, stronger than the one that was on your memories, but this one does not require a specific person to break it. Yes, that should work.” He pushed Vergil down into a nearby chair and knelt in front of him without taking his hands away. Sparda dropped his human form for his natural form and gathered his power, focusing it into his hands. Vergil squirmed uncomfortably in the chair as he felt his father’s hands growing hot. A moment later, he felt Sparda’s power shoot down into him, tearing a surprised shriek out of him before he could stop himself. He fell back in the chair, Sparda moving with him so not to lose contact. He felt Sparda’s power racing through him and felt his own body getting hot, feeling as though it was trying to burn out an infection. A second later, he felt a flood of power surge up from within him, rising to meet his father’s. He gasped when he realized what had just happened, and had just enough time to send his father a grateful look before he passed out in the chair.

Sparda took his hands away and stood up, morphing back into his human form as he rose to his feet.

“Dante,” he said quietly “Take your brother up to bed. I suspect he’ll sleep for a few hours.”

“What did you just do?” Dante asked as he easily hefted Vergil up into his arms.

“I jump started his power and burned out the block. He should be able to access it now, after he wakes up. It may take him awhile to come back to full strength though. Now get him up to bed so he can rest.”

Dante nodded and carried his brother out of the room, and Sparda turned back to his father and cousin.

“We need to get in touch with the other patriarchs.” he said.

*****

Rithas watched through eyes hazed over with pain the two on one hundred battle that was going on around him. Valters and the Sparda female seemed to be holding their own and winnowing down the opposition’s numbers quite easily. Valters was standing in front of his prone father, refusing to move from his position, and the girl was over by the door, slashing her way through the lesser demons as they attempted to crowd and overrun her. For being part human, he had to admit that she was quite skilled and powerful. As he watched, she launched into a crazy series of moves and slashes, which cumulated with her planting her sword in the floor and spinning around it and finished with one powerful swipe and a smug “Down and out.”

She grinned widely when she stood up, having cleared considerable space in front of her. “I knew that I would learn that one of these days.” she said happily before she charged across the room to smash into the large knot of lesser demons that had formed in front of Valters. She and Valters made short work of them, and soon the cell was empty of all but the four of them.

Valters carefully scooped his father up into his arms, while Sparda came over to Rithas himself and knelt beside him.

“Can you walk?” she asked quietly. Rithas tried to set up and gasped as doing so pulled painfully on his wounded chest.

“I guess not.” she said thoughtfully before she put an arm around him and helped him sit up. She then started to speak in an annoyingly perky voice. “I’m Alastair Sparda, and I will be your guide today through the bowels of the Underworld. Please keep your arms and legs within the car at all times and do not attempt to stand from your seat until the car has come to a complete stop.” Rithas looked at her, wondering what she was blathering on about, even as she carefully pulled him to his feet and let him lean against her. “We begin our tour in the lovely Forgotten Levels, where the lowest of the low are locked up for eternity. If you listen you will be able to hear the calls of those suffering eternal torture.”

Rithas tried to shake his head, but doing so caused a wave of dizziness to wash over him. When had madness struck the Sparda family? Even as he pondered this, she was gradually leading him over to the door, letting him lean on her so not to pull on his wound. Valters, with his father in his arms, reached the door first and carefully pushed it open. Seeing no one, he gestured for them to follow him out into the corridor.

“Is this place deserted again?” Alastair asked once they were out in the corridor and the cell door was shut behind them.

“Seems like it.” Valters replied “I have the feeling that Mundus expected that group to be able to overrun us easily.”

“I love being underestimated.”

“Let’s get these two to Lar’cincel. Am I right in the assumption that your grandfather can remove the collars?”

“You are.”

“Then let us go, before Mundus remembers to check if we’re dead or not.”

Shifting his father to one arm, Valters brought his sword back out and led the way down the fleshy corridor. Alastair wrapped one arm around Rithas’ waist to assist him and carried her sword in her other hand as they followed.

Chapter 18 -- Chapter 20

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