Foolish Humans

It was late night in the cemetery. A few people in robes gathered around an alter with a goat on it. One approached the goat and slit it's throat and chanted a incantation to summon a demon lord. The ground rumbled and a sin rift appeared, and I was forced through. I grumbled angrily as I patted the dust of my coat. "My lord, We request-" one of the robed people said approaching me before I cut him off, literally, with Yamato. "You idiotic humans and your summoning rituals. I was enjoying a perfectly good time at my home when you brought me here." I said coldly as one approached me. "Are you really a demon lord?" She had asked and I gritted my teeth in anger. "Are you really a cultist? Why have you idiots summoned me?" I asked my voice filled with venom. "We would like to sell you our souls for fame and fortune, my lord." The woman replied, which made me laugh hard. "You morons have obviously read the wrong books. Your souls, they are pretty much worthless, And even if I wanted them, I couldn't make your rich or famous." I said opening a sin rift. "Though, my demons are a little hungry." I said as my peons jumped through and began to feed on the cultists.

Shadow appears through a portal to admire the fury of Vergils men feasting.. "How to you keep an entire army of demons fed.. It's one skill you have that has always baffled me."

I hear shadow and chuckle slightly. "There is no shortage of fools who wish to obtain the favor of a demon lord." I said calmly as I turned from the carnage. "Perhaps they'd like a different feast." I said with an evil glint in my eye. "of course I'm kidding." I said before snapping my fingers and Alice appeared with tea. I began to drink as my demons feasted. "Would you like something to drink?" I asked Shadow.

"Ha yeah, the blood of mundus. Though I think that goes for everyone. But yes I would. I'm in the mood to experiment.. Got any cheesecake flavored teas?" Shadow says with a hearty laugh.

I nodded at Alice and she gave Shadow a cup. "Mundus will die eventually, if you haven't noticed, my army is growing stronger by the day. I'm sure that his puny Phantom will fall to Kiran's firey temper." I said as I sipped my tea.

"True. As my power grows with ever minute of meditation.. Though I could never match to you and your damned armies.." Shadow says sipping his steaming tea.. "MY GOSH! IT DOES TASTE LIKE CHEESECAKE!!!" He exclaimed with surprise.

I chuckled at Shadow's reaction. "That is a special kind of tea. It's flavor changes to whatever the taster wants it to be." I said before drinking my own tea.

"The things the Hatter comes up with.. No wonder he's called the MAD HATTER" Shadow says with a hearty laughter.. "Wouldnt happen to know anything about that rod I gave you would ya? The strange ore that shocked me at the first touch.."

I shook my head. "I can't even touch it, and none of my generals are willing to go anywhere near it." I said as I drank some more of my tea, and handed Alice the glass. "Would you like to try and examine it?" I asked before holding my hand to my chin. "Perhaps Kairi could look into it..." I thought aloud.

"Yes. To both of your suggestions.. Kairi is good in these situations.. " Shadow says, "Where are you keeping it?"

I looked over at Shadow. "It's in my manor in the study. I had to have assistance from Kairi's Knights. apparently they can handle it just fine." I said casually.

I wonder what would happen if we refined it.. Shed all the stuff that isn't whatever.. It is away.. I know the first time it touched me, it hurt like hell, then from then on it didnt hurt me at all.. Shadow says opening a portal to Vergils Study.. "After you good sir" Shadow says with a snicker

I began to tap my chin, stepped through, then I remembered something and stepped back. "When you're finished feeding, be sure to burn the remains. I don't want another problem like in Traverse town last month." I said to my peons before coming through and walking to the mysterious ore. I put my hand up to it and I felt the burning sensation that I felt when I attempted to touch it before which caused me to quickly pull my hand away from it. "I've got a theory..." I said as I began to pace. "Perhaps this ore can revert you back into Cecil." I said while deep in thought. "Perhaps it will help you be able to shift back and forth from Shadow to Cecil and back again." I said, with pure fascination on my face. "You said that it doesn't burn you now that you touched it again right? Maybe I can't touch it because I'm completely demon now, and demons are denizens of the darkness. But since you used to be a paladin..." I stopped in mid sentence and began to look through my books and searching for something. "Maybe, just maybe. this 'ore' isn't ore at all, but a physical manifestation of the power of light that you discarded." I said before I smirked and caused Beowulf to appear on my right arm. I then grabbed the ore without problem. "I see..." I said with a delight.

"That would be a miracle.. Though at a cost to the Clan no? I did feel something odd about it when I touched it, an odd sense of familiarity. My only fear, Vergil, is that this is yet another one of the tricks Mundus used on me.. I don't remember a good portion of the things he had me do, or how he got me to do them. But... Nevermind, the stone, yes. I didnt hurt when i grabbed it the second time, but after the first shock I've been.. Seeing things.. In my dreams, like nightmares of what I had done under Mundus spell, and also things before Turning to what seemed eternal Darkness, I even remember my wife now.. I cannot remember her name, but i remember her face. It only comes it dreams.. I want to test something though, only if you see it safe due to the odd nature of the 'Stone'.. I would like to sleep in an enclosed room, with the ore in my physical presence, and if possible, spiritual aswell, because when I managed to take the power mundus gave me and use it against him and escape to the caves where i spent the few years meditating, there was ALWAYS something drawing me to the area that I found that rock. " Shadow says with innate seriousness and a facial expression he never remembered using, he was actually thinking deeply on something for a change, instead of acting on impulse. Shadow knew he was changing, or was he reverting..?

I smiled. "Very well, you shall be monitored as well. If anything were to go wrong, I'm aborting the experiment. Do you understand?" I asked as I placed the ore in Shadow's hand. "And if you were to revert back to Cecil, you won't be a dark knight nor a paladin, but somewhere in between, you don't need to leave the clan if you don't wish it, and we'll call you a dark paladin." I exclaimed as I led him to one of the spare rooms within the house. "Alice will be in to check on you every fifteen minutes." I stated as I opened the door.

"Thank you Vergil. It's much appreciated. Alice. Every ten minutes if your not busy please." Shadow says walking to a small bed with a wooden nightstand next to it. Shadow places the rod on the nightstand and lays down. Shadow thinks to himself, what awaits me..? Shadow is asleep in less than 5 minutes and rapidly becomes flooded with strange memories, and flashes of light.

Alice gave a curtious bow. "As you wish Master Shadow." She said as she left the room and ran up next to me. "Do you think it wise to allow him to perform this experiment in our home Master?" She asked me. I turned to her. "If anything were to go wrong, like Shadow's darker persona gaining control, I trust you'd take care of it Alice. Besides, you haven't had a good fight in a while." I said with a chuckle. "That's not funny, Master." Alice said as she skipped down the stairs like an innocent child, it's sometimes hard to believe that she is actually a vicious demon sometimes. I shook my head and headed to my study.

Shadows body begins to put of a faint glow.. He is thrashing around the bed and cursing words in a strange language. With a massive gasp shadow screams and his whole body emits a wonderfully bright light. When the glowing stops shadow says, "Well.. That hurt like hell, but I dont feel different.." Shadow wonders to himself *What the hell just happened?*

Alice bust into the room in her adult form. "Shadow what happened?" She said with a large butcher knife in her hand. "I heard a noise and thought you were attacked." She explained.

"Alice.. That was me.. I don't know what happened. Go get Vergil please. I need his ears to hear this come from MY mouth. You don't need the Butcher Knife by the way Alice" Shadow says rubbing his temples.

Alice gave Shadow a glare before leaving the room to get me, we came in Alice had the knife tucked into her belt as she leaned against the door and continued to watch Shadow. "What is it you need, Shadow?" I asked as I came in and sat in a chair.

"It hurt" shadow goes on "It felt like a flood of heat entering my body and I have no other way to describe it." Shadow continues rubbing his temples. "It gave me a horrible headache. Though I remember HOW to bend light.. But I can't do it!"

I held my hand to my chin. "Well, we're going to have to continue on with the experiments I think, that is if you would like to." I explained before I began to think about something I read. "There is a place that has a large mirror, and when you look within your darkness will take form. it is the only place to purge yourself of your darkness and regain power of the light. Once the purge is complete, I will return the darkness to you as well if that is how you wish to do it." I explained.

Shadow moves his hands from his head and looks at Vergil, he says "That will help me accomplish many of my goals. I have many tasks I cannot do without another element than Darkness.." Shadow lays back down and reminds Alice "Ten. Minutes."

I nod as I stand up and head for the door. "Very well, we'll set off for Mount Ordeals tomorrow." I said as I went out. "Master, why mount ordeals?" She asked me and I chuckled. "I know a lot about my allies, this includes shadow, I've had the generals investigate his world, his father 'lives' in mount ordeals, and apparently, by note of his former comrades, that is where he went to purge himself of darkness the first time." I explained as I walked down the hallway toward the master bedroom.