Hey everyone! This is my first DmC story, so any constructive criticism is very welcome, but no flames please! I'm writing this story with Springflowerangel who has some awesome stories for DmC as well, so I recommend you check them out too! None of the original DmC characters or anything belong to me, I only own my OCs. I hope you guys like it! Review please! :D

~Chapter 1~

A tall middle aged man donning pure white robes with gold detailing along the collar and edges wrung his hands nervously as he made his way quickly into a side chamber of the large church recently rebuilt since the defeat of Sanctus several months earlier. The large church remained mostly the same. Dozens of pews formed neat and orderly rows, with aisles decorated with white and cream colored rugs, surrounding a platform in the center that had a large organ settled off to the side to accompany the songs sung by the ever popular Kyrie during the masses.

The man's towering 6'5 muscular build was very unusual for a head priest. His jet black hair was shaggy around his nervous gray eyes and slightly pointed nose. He shook his head to shoo the hair away and searched the church, ensuring that no stragglers were left after today's mass, quickly opening the mahogany door and slamming it shut behind him.

Once he made sure that there was no one in the room, he walked up to the summoning circle he had painstakingly drawn on the floor the night before, shapes littered the circle in chalk, forming an elegant design. He placed the chalice of rum in the middle of the circle as an offering to tempt an appearance out of the demon he was trying to call.

"O great demon duke of hell, grant me your wisdom and power!" The man chanted. The circle on the floor glowed a deep red, becoming too bright for the priest to look at. He shielded his eyes, and once the glowing dulled, he peeked his head out from behind his robes and gasped at the sight before him.

A very large creature stood in the circle, easily 7' tall and extremely well-muscled. The oddity however, was that he had the face of a leopard with surprisingly calm deep red eyes. The leopard spots continued along his arms and down his back, leading down to a tail swaying lazily behind him. He was wearing only a dark tanned loincloth encrusted with jewels and diamonds the priest had never laid eyes on. Large clawed hands gripped the chalice as the creature watched the man with cautious, yet peaceful eyes, taking a swig of the expensive rum.

The man dared not speak until the creature finished the offering. When the beast was finished, he lowered the chalice to the ground and growled to the man, "I am Flauros, Great Duke of Hell. What do you wish to request of me human?"

The priest was shaking with fear as he approached Flauros slowly, gauging his reaction to every movement. The leopard-man let out a deep throaty chuckle and crossed his arms over his chest, his tail swinging with his amusement, "You needn't fear me mortal. I am merely here to hear your request. I wish you no harm. What is your name?"

"M-M-Markus sir…" The priest responded quickly, "I-I-I was h-hoping you could help me…I want power and I need your help to get it." he continued, slowly gaining courage as he spoke, only to revert to his terrified self when Flauros fixed him with a glare and growled.

"Foolish mortals. All any of you wish for is power. If it iss power you seek, you must find the path to it alone. I will help none get something so fickle."

Markus panicked as he saw the great demon beginning to leave. "Wait!" He cried, " I have a parting gift for you, I understand that you may not help on my quest for power, but I wish for you to leave with a favorable opinion of me!" Flauros paused as he watched the man pull an amulet out of his robes. The amulet was a glittering silver color with a deep red ruby as a center piece, intricate lines swooping around the center in a decorative pattern with a beautiful silver chain attached at the top. Flauros was enthralled by its beauty and failed to notice the man slowly making his way forward until after he threw the chain around the demon's neck and the ruby flashed a bright red color.

Flauros roared in pain, gripping his head with one massive hand, ripping at the amulet with the other.

"Foolish human! What have you done to me?" He roared at the priest as his eyes begun to lose focus as they grew cold and hard.

"I have given you the Pandora's Amulet! It was given to me by a man of great wisdom. He said by giving you the amulet, you would be forced to bow to my will!" He smiled as he thought of the great power he would have now that the demon was under his control. Little did he know, Flauros silently made his way behind him, gripping the back of his neck and lifting him off the ground, switching his grip to his throat as he turned him around to face him. He yelped as his feet left the ground and when he looked into the eyes of Flauros, he saw nothing of the calm demon he witnessed at the summoning. The eyes were cold and bloodthirsty, and evil smirk playing on his face as he growled out an evil laugh.

"Hahahaha! Stupid mortal! You have unleashed my dark powers! However I need a body to remain in this world. Hmmm…I think yours will do nicely. Now let us just see what has been going through your head and do away with that pesky soul of yours shall we?"

Flauros forced the priest Markus to make eye contact, as his own eyes searched through his thoughts and memories. He saw in these memories an old pastor telling of a legend of a young girl who possesses a power beyond anything this world has seen. This girl seemed to hail from another world and would appear when she was needed most. There was no image of the girl in the man's memories, but he could tell the man thirsted for this power. Well, I believe I will just have to take this power for myself.

He proceeded to call the soul out of the human body in his grasp and replace it with his own. Markus struggled against the grip on his throat, slowly suffocating as his captor grinned in malicious amusement. As a last ditch effort as he felt the demon slowly taking over his body, he ripped the amulet from the demon's neck. With a bright flash of red, the demon roared and disappeared. The priest sighed with relief as he struggled to regain his breath, only to scream in pain when a roaring was heard in his head.

Disgusting human! What have you done to me! Flauros' voice screamed through Markus' head.

Markus gripped his hands against his head as he adjusted to the voice. "I-I have you trapped! Hahaha! Your power belongs to me now!" Markus let out a hysterical laugh as the demon snarled at him in defiance.

I will be the slave of no human! He fought desperately against the human's remaining soul, trying to gain control of the body. However his soul was still exhausted from the transfer, so he was unable to gain control. He growled in anger, and paced at the base of the man's consciousness…biding his time until he could be fully released.

Markus slowly rose to his feet, feeling the blistering power lingering from the addition of the demon soul to his body. He let loose an evil smile as he confidently walked out of the small room.

"Well. Now that I have power, I have a maiden of legend to find."