This is a kiriban giftfic for MOONLIGHT SHADOW HUNTRESS, as thanks for reviewing Seas in Incarnadine.
They requested Vergil, and if possible Vergil/Lady.
I hope you like this AU!
Flung off the tower, she thought one of her bullets might have winged him, but it wouldn't be enough to draw a little blood. Not when he was a demon now. Thank goodness she'd had that grappling hook into Kalina Ann. Holster these guns, draw Kalina Ann, fire it: she had a chance of getting back up top before he left…
Something grabbed her ankle.
She looked up to see disdainful blue eyes.
Lady had already been falling fast enough that no human should have been able to catch her and hold her steady like this, not without having to brace for the impact or being knocked to the ground.
She fired.
That knocked his head back, but instead of letting go he threw her to the right and behind him. The impact of her body on the floor knocked the wind out of her. Because of that, it took her longer than she would have liked to roll to her feet, her guns pointed at him.
"It's already been a day," the demon said, lowering his hand from his mouth. The bullet hole had already vanished. She saw his hand open, and something dropped to the floor. Her bullet. "And now here's you."
She fired: the bullet bounced off some kind of thin sword. She kept firing until she'd emptied the clip, but he deflected them all.
While she reloaded, he sheathed the sword. "One red eye… that might be enough to survive the portal opening. Good. I don't have the time to escort you out of here, I need to keep my little brother from doing something unforgivably stupid."
"What would be unforgiveable to a demon like you?" she demanded, gun raised again.
"It's a family matter," the demon said, hand still on the hilt of his sword, daring her to make something of it.
"This is my family matter," she insisted. "My father's the one who summoned this tower, he's trying to unleash the demons!"
"It was my brother's blood that broke our father's seal on this tower and allowed it to appear. My brilliant younger brother has taken it into his head that he's strong enough to invade the Underworld singlehandedly and kill Mundus for sending his assassins to kill us and our mother." He'd raised his hand to rub at his temples.
Obviously she took the shot while his vision was partially blocked – that sword was out of its sheath to deflect the bullet in a motion so fast she could barely see it.
"Even Dante isn't that stupid, and he's too determined to be as human as possible to lower himself to the study of the kind of demon magic it would take to raise this tower or re-open the portal. Is your father human?" he asked her as though she hadn't shot at him.
"He was," she said. "I don't know anymore," she said quietly. "He killed my mother, did all of this to get a demon's power."
"Dante hates demons: he wouldn't listen to one even if it promised revenge on our mother's murderer, but a human sorcerer…" the demon sighed. "Dante can't know the man killed a child's mother, but he'd want to believe what your father is telling him, when it's vengeance at stake… Thank you for telling me about such a personal matter: hopefully I can use your father's crime to convince Dante that he's being tricked." He bowed slightly.
She drew Kalina Ann while he looked away, but didn't fire, holding the gun ready to meet a possible charge.
"Although apparently I owe the man for manipulating my little brother like this, since it's a family matter, I'll leave your father to you if you leave my little brother to me."
"Why should I listen to a demon?" she demanded.
He looked at her, somewhat surprised. "I try to stay below the radar, but I thought Dante's name was infamous in the hunter community. My name is Vergil: I'm one of the Sons of Sparda. Our mother was human," he added after a moment.
"That fairy tale…" her father was obsessed with it, it was what started all of this.
"It's as real as the stone beneath your feet. Where do you think we are?" he asked her. "This is Temen-ni-Gru, the tower to the Underworld our father sealed two thousand years ago. If just any sorcerer or demon could break the seal, the memory of Mundus' invasion wouldn't have had the time to fade into a fairy tale. That's why Mundus' assassins tried to capture the two of us the night they killed our mother. Our father's death broke the seal on Mundus and allowed his revival, but it seems this seal was made with his blood instead of his life. The tower may have awakened, but if it was fully unsealed there would be a portal in the sky above us and we'd have a demon army pouring through. I'm glad you know better than to trust devils, but I'm the son of the Underworld's most infamous traitor. Even if I didn't want revenge on Mundus for the deaths of my parents, sheer self-preservation would motivate me to defend the human world. My mother died to keep Mundus from getting his hands on me: if Dante gets himself captured by Mundus now with this insane quest to avenge her…" His hand tightened on the hilt of his sword.
What the Demon Emperor would do to his little brother, his family…
"I don't trust you, demon," Lady warned him, just so they were clear, "but if I see your brother I'll tell him that my father is a murderer."
"He's my twin brother: he's wearing a red coat, has a two-handed sword and a pair of guns in holsters at his hips. What does your father look like?"
"He's bald: the markings on his head shift and change now. He's wearing black."
"I'd offer to wound him or tie him up to be sure he can't escape your vengeance, but there's too much risk a lesser demon would find him and steal your kill," Vergil said.
"Don't you lay a finger on him, demon! He's mine," she warned him.
He nodded. "Understood. Don't worry, I should be able to avoid fighting him. I've been dodging Mundus' assassins long enough that I'm hard to trap. Feel free to shoot Dante as much as you like, just don't kill him. If he gets wounded badly enough maybe he'll finally realize he can't survive a fight with Mundus as he is now."
"I don't make deals with demons… But I guess promising to kick a demon's ass when I see him in exchange for you leaving my father to me is just what I was going to do anyway," Lady had to admit. She still didn't lower her gun or trust this demon.
He nodded in acknowledgement. "If that's settled, we both have far more important matters to attend to than standing here talking." He turned towards the edge. "You came from the top of the tower… if you haven't seen my brother…"
Lady ran to the edge. "He jumped," she said, feeling stupid as soon as she said him. She'd seen him jump, that was why she ran to the edge of the tower. What? Why? Some impulse to catch him, keep him from going splat, the way he'd caught her? He didn't need the help any more than she'd needed his help.
He was right: she had something important to do, she couldn't waste any more time staring after some demon. Standing on the edge, facing up towards the tower, she fired Kalina Ann.