Work Text
From the outskirts of Fortuna, the smell of death and iron filled the breeze; leaving behind a scene of violence and animalistic survival. Blades of grass covered in demonic ash, and the remnants of blood. The familiar scent of death was nothing new to the young Sparda, of course- but the particular smell of another demon left his hackles raised. He followed that scent until it led him to a pathetic scene before him; a 17 year old boy like himself laying in the grass, innards pouring from his abdomen as he stared back at Vergil with almost no life left in his eyes. The fact the other boy was even conscious was impressive to the swordsman, as the area around him was pooled with the young ones blood. The young boy weakly removed his tattered robe, a futile attempt to wrap it around the grievous injury. Vergil made no attempt at saving the life of the dark skinned boy below him, choosing instead to study the pityful scene. He inched closer, sniffing like a dog; a demonic scent on the seemingly normal looking boy. “Are you a demon?” Fathomably, the injured demon let out a painful sounding wheeze that the silver haired boy gathered was supposed to be a scoff. Vergil tightly wrapped his wounds with the purple rags that were meant to be a robe, attempting to carry the figure on his own to his secluded home near Fortuna. The task was no easy feat, and the Spardakin had surely overestimated his own strength. “You better be something interesting, or else I will have thoroughly wasted my time…,” he grumbled, setting the boy in his rickety old bed once they had arrived. Perhaps a break from his intense studying of the town would be nice, especially if he did happen upon an anomaly. To his disappointment, the boy had passed out from blood loss upon their arrival, and Vergil was once again inconvenienced. Hours into the evening though, he heard the body stirring from behind him as Vergil read his poetry. Immediately upon waking, the odd boy unwrapped his abdomen to see the wound was looking far better than it had the previous few hours since he'd passed out. With a sigh of relief, he painstakingly propped up on his elbows. “You're a demon too. You reek of it.” Vergil stiffly snickered, closing his book to focus on his new topic of interest. The boy's voice did not match where it came from; a deep and rich tone, while his body seemed frail and almost effeminate. Was that offensive? Self consciously, Vergil discreetly sniffed himself. “Are you holding me for ransom, or something? I promise you, I'm really not worth all that much.” Vergil cocked an eyebrow, “I've never met another half-breed before,” he stated plainly as he studied the other boy. “First of all, I'm pretty sure that might be a slur,” the boy shooed the swordsman hands away from him, “and second of all, I'm not going to let you perform some creepy experiments on me, so forget about it unless you wanna die.” Purple sparks filled the air, the young demon calling forth his scythe. His energy being depleted from his own injuries, causing the scythe to slip from his fingers and clatter against the wooden floor. “How terrifying.” Annoyance creeped along the boy's neck, and Vergil couldn't be bothered by the other's attitude. “You're not a child of Sparda,” he stated, watching the new wave of emotions go across the demon's face as he tried to figure out Vergil's motive. “Of course I'm not. I'm,” the boy sheepishly avoided his gaze before answering, “... uh, well, I don't really know who my parents are. That pack of reapers I was with…,” he stifled any emotion from breaching, “they were my pack. So, as far as I know, I'm one of them too. I'm Lucious.” “Lucious… curious. Reaper's are very low intelligence creatures, I highly doubt you're one of them,” Vergil retorted as Lucious gave him an offended scowl. “Though, taking you in as a packmate is highly… curious.” Lucious couldn't help the embarrassed feeling from washing over him, as if he had control over who he had been raised by. “They loved me like I was their own nestling…,” he began, chewing his lip. An unreadable expression was on Vergil's face, and he'd come to know quite soon that most of his expressions were unreadable. A thumb brushed over a dark marking on his cheek, another hand swatting it away. “I'm not a fucking petting zoo,” he growled, causing a chuckle to escape Vergil's expressionless demeanor. He raised his hands up in defeat, “Fine, but if you choose to stay here and heal, then I suppose I should introduce myself..” . The coming days were not easy for Lucious. He had come to learn very quickly how territorial his new roommate was with his belongings. Sometimes, he would wonder if he was allowed to even breathe the same air as Vergil. “Are your reaper brethren looking for you?,” Vergil asked over tea. Lucious flinched at the question, staring deeply into the dark liquid in his glass. “I don't think there's anyone left. Those damn soldiers got a lot of us,” his grip tightened on the fragile teacup (not a hannibal reference), and the swordsman seemed to understand the loss he must have felt. Though, the half-reaper was very good at masking it. Silence hung among the two boys, both too young to have already experienced such immense loss. Although Vergil was used to living in his grief, he felt somewhat sympathy for another having to live with it as well. Perhaps his heart hadn't withered away after all. Lucious was making somewhat of a quicker recovery than he had initially thought, though his healing was not nearly as quick as Vergil's own. It was almost hard to believe his organs were spilling from his stomach just two days before. “It's cool you met your demon parent. I heard he was a cool guy, I guess,” the two boys lay together childishly under the night sky. Vergil hadn't remembered the last time he had done something so…. Meaningless, but warming. The silver haired boy lacked a response, finding it difficult to remember much of his late father. “I don't remember,” was all he stated. Tattooed arms reached the sky, as if to pluck the stars straight from it, and Lucious dreamily wondered if he would have a chance at knowing his lineage. “You have a firmer grip on who you are, and what you can do. An extent of your power, and maybe even some more. I don't quite know anything about myself, really.” “I know Magick, and I know that sometimes I can… uh, turn into a different creature.” “A different creature?,” Vergil asked quizzically. Lucious seemed to sit up at this, a bit shy explaining to his new… companion? Friend? He wasn't sure. Vergil seemed to just tolerate his presence. “Yeah! It's like…. If I get real worked up, I can turn into like… an actual demon. I don't really like doing it though. I'd rather focus my strength like this.” Vergil sat up as well, “I can, and I think it would be an incredible waste if you didn't hone into such a power. I want you to show me your true form.” The tattooed demon hunched into himself insecurely, fingers tangling through long thick curls. “I don't… think I want to.. I like pouring my strength into my human side. I can't rely on my demon half.” Suddenly, a bolt of blue electricity ignited before him before knocking into his thin frame at high speeds. Vergil had triggered, almost challenging the other. Broken horns nudged the boy, encouraging him to trigger as well. Lucious struggled underneath him, writhing without any use. When his grip tightened, the fellow demon felt himself trigger in panic; a cloaked stone faced demon appearing before Vergil's eyes. His form was almost statue-like, and there was no denying he had somewhat of a resemblance to a reaper. Lucious let out a pitiful chirp, his demon still not enough to match Vergil's own strength. Letting go, the boy skittered off and hissed, intimidating no one. “I can help you attain power. You won't have to worry about Fortuna killing your loved ones again,” Vergil growled lowly, and the offer sounded somewhat tempting. Lucious let go of his trigger, gripping his abdomen as he had used up the last of his energy that'd been towards healing. “Power isn't everything to me. Although, I should brush up on my training,” he dusted off his newly sewn and washed robe. Lucious is unknowingly about to open up and entire can of Vergil shaped worms.