Chapter Text
–House of Spiders, Corridor of The Thumb–
Exhaustion, soreness, hurt.
Lucio felt nothing but these three things as he knelt on one knee, using his curved blade as a support. His body was drenched in his own blood, and his bandaged wounds had reopened. The sounds of clashing blades echoed throughout the Thumb’s corridor. He was given less than a week to recover, and it didn’t help when Valencina's abuse continued after the raid in the LCE for his failures.
His vision was blurring by the second, and he wished he could just drop down and take two days' worth of a nap. Constant revision of his training, beatings after beatings, and scathing verbal abuse. The stress from these three tribulations had finally started to take effect, and now he could only watch as his Nursefather battled against the Red Gaze and the ‘sinners’.
Of course, the sinners were no match for his master; every attack they threw at her was read like an open book, save for a handful of exceptions. If it weren’t for the K Corp ampules, all three of them would’ve been mincemeat by now. He’s seen them survive right at death’s door after being hunted down like animals—multiple times—thanks to those ampules.
As for the Red Gaze, it was a different story. While the combination of his master's relic and Smoke war experience meant that she was able to avoid strikes from even a Color Fixer, it wasn't enough to overcome the raw power of the red-eyed man. With each swing, Vergilius overwhelmed Valencina's defense, her fiery temper burning as more hits connected over time. He was living up to the title of the most dangerous fixer of the City.
His breath grew heavier as he watched the battle.
“Why don’t you… yield? You’re too injured to fight.” A rough, tired voice spoke out amongst the clashes of blades; Gregor, they called him. Lucio knew it was directed towards him.
That’s right, Lucio, why do you keep fighting on? Why would you willingly give your life to this master of yours who does nothing but bring misery to your life?
The silver-haired boy exhaled. His violet eyes locked with Gregor’s. More blood started trickling down from his head as another wound opened.
“Please… tell me what you think.” Lucio’s exhausted voice responded, still retaining the calm and collected tone despite his present situation.
No… that’s not right. Valen- Master was generous enough to take me under her wing. She provided me shelter, warm food, and clothes. She turned me from a regular backstreet rat into something meaningful. So, it’s only right that I-
“Would Yoshihide have forfeited the battle by this point? Or do you think…” The Thumb Apprentice continued, his voice slightly trailing off in the last part. The clanging of metal intensified as he lost his voice.
Then, how long will you keep living like this, Lucio? How long will you keep enduring her beatings until you’re no more than a stain on the ground?
“...she wouldn’t have put herself in this situation to begin with…?” The silver-haired boy finished.
I'll kill... I'll kill her right after-
You keep telling that to yourself, but we both know it's a lie.
TANG!
The Thumb Nursefather’s figure slid across the room as she was knocked away by the Red Gaze, her relic overheating from the constant use. He could see small amounts of smoke starting to erupt behind the bangs covering her right eye.
“How many times do I have to remind you? Forget all that useless flourishing and just go for the heart! The heart!” Valencina’s voice roared, the cigar in her mouth hanging on by a thread as she rambled.
Your inaction will only bring about your demise.
“I've given you plenty of demonstrations, haven't I?!” She continued.
You know very well her abuse is here to stay.
Shut up.
“Are you really gonna make me watch those clowns mop the floor with you?!”
Do you really think you could endure more of those thrashings, humiliation, and scorn?
Shut up.
“Bloody hell, she sure is a gasbag. Tell 'er to shut up, won't you?” Another voice chimed in.
A mere Textbook is what you will forever be, and what you forever are. Nothing more.
SHUT UP!
Lucio’s senses snapped back to reality, taking in a sharp breath as he eyed the stubbled war veteran in front of him. The grip on his curved blade strengthened as he recalled the countless lessons that Valencina drilled into his head.
You could kill her now, Lucio. Look at her. She’s clearly spent from all that fighting, not to mention the state of that eye she's so proud of. She wouldn’t expect a direct hit from her own apprentice.
After all, she never expected much from you, did she?
Kill her.
Kill her now, Lucio.
You’ve been waiting for this moment for your entire life, haven’t you?
After all that’s happened, this day has come.
Kill. Kill. Kill her! Plunge your sword deep into her heart just as how she taught you!
Lucio took in a broken exhale. The fire in his eyes burned brighter than ever. He slowly stood up as he took the straight sword that was lying right beside him.
“… I've always known that this day would come.” The silver-haired apprentice muttered as he regained his stance.
I’m sorry…
“But I was hoping… to meet my end while duelling Yoshihide herself… someone who was supposed to study… me…”
Because…
Despite his poor state, Lucio entered his fighting stance. He crouched forward as both of his swords rested at his sides.
“So that the next Textbook can…”
I still…
“… learn from my mistakes… and make appropriate corrections to its content…”
Can’t bring myself… to harm her.
“Hey, wait–”
With blinding speed, Lucio dashed towards Gregor, swinging both his swords horizontally across the man's torso. Two gushing wounds opened up on Gregor's chest, who had no time to react to the ambush. The damage was enough to push Gregor out of his Heishou identity, and the sound of a breaking glass reverberated through the corridor as the war veteran was pushed back.
“Stab the heart in front of you! Stab that bastard's heart! Now!” Valencina’s voice exploded, like a child throwing a tantrum.
Lucio scanned Gregor further; he was covering the wound on his chest as his breathing grew more ragged. Blood was gushing out of the wound to the rhythm of heartbeats.
“Hngh… stop…” The prodigal G.Corp soldier mumbled, just enough for Lucio to hear.
“This right here is why you still haven't graduated from being a Textbook, do you hear me?!”
Valencina’s callouts were white noise to him at this point. He’ll show her… he’ll show her that he still has some use. That he could be better than her ‘golden ticket’! That she won’t have to do without him! He’ll surpass her!
Gregor’s breathing had grown unsettled. His human arm moved to clutch his insectoid arm tightly, as if it was holding it back.
“Your breathing is growing irregular… I understand.” Lucio said.
“This place has a way of… driving people completely mad.” He continued, taking on the same stance as he did before. The air around him grew tense. He’ll end this with a singular strike to the heart.
A warm feeling overtook Lucio as a golden, fiery aura manifested around him, enveloping his body. He charged forward faster than anyone could have expected, using all his remaining energy on this one strike.
He inched forward closer, and closer, and closer.
Until he was suddenly jerked backwards.
.
.
.
What… happened?
He didn’t even get to process what had happened; it all transpired too fast for him to track. He could hardly breathe or move. He couldn’t feel his foot touching the ground. Was he... floating? Lucio’s eyes rolled downwards as the sight of a large bug-like appendage impaling his chest came into view.
Ah… so this… is how… it ends…
His vision began to fade. His body twitched, the last throes of his failing limbs. His violet eyes slowly lost their colour and life. His entire life flashed right before his eyes; many moments and regrets came to pass by. He could barely make out the voices that were speaking or shouting.
Before long, he couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything anymore.
This day, the Thumb Apprentice, Lucio Bognatelli, drew his last breath. In the House of Spiders. Murdered by G.Corp’s decisive weapon.
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–???–
The boy felt himself floating in darkness. So, is this what death feels like? Will he be going to hell? If he is, then he wasn’t feeling it. Or maybe, heaven or hell didn’t exist at all. Perhaps what awaits everyone in death is just a dark space of nothingness, all for their souls to wander around forever. A cruel punishment indeed.
Though he wouldn’t mind that at all, would he? His mind pondered back towards his childhood, when he was an average backstreets rat. His life was miserable in the present, but he was sure it was worse in the past. He had to scour garbage for food; it didn’t matter if the scraps were rotten. If it could fill his stomach, he’d eat it. He had to fight tooth and nail against other rats for survival, most of them seeking to harvest his organs to sell them; his youth meant that his organs were in their prime, therefore worth a fortune for a rat. He had to sleep in the corridors of an abandoned building or apartments; he never had enough money to rent a room.
Now that he thought about it, perhaps it wasn’t really that bad compared to his life as a ‘Textbook’. Even when Valencina took him under her wing, even when she gave him everything he needed to live, nothing really changed. He kept being beaten, beaten and beaten. Words were screamed and shouted at him; he had lost count of how many times he felt as if he was right at death’s door just because of Valencina’s beatings. He had to fight for hope, hope that his master wouldn’t one day turn her back on him and cut him off for good.
Maybe she really was right; all he had to do was to let go of all threads of doubt within his heart. Simply do exactly as he was told without needing to question or think. Maybe he’d have fared better that way. It’s the one thing he’s good at, right? Hah, what’s there to do other than blame himself for countless reasons? Ramblings of a dead man.
Perhaps, he should’ve clung to life more… perhaps… he should’ve- no… Maybe, just maybe, he really wanted to be more than a mere Textbook.
To have a real family that would care for him, to be provided real love and to provide love in return, to have a reliable group of friends... That could be... comforting.
A very comforting dream.
Just as his musings were in full swing, his surroundings warped. Though he floated in space, he could feel the air rumble. Suddenly, he felt the need to open his eyes.
When he opened his eyes, he was met with a familiar sight. The Corridor of the Thumb back at the House of Spiders. He felt his own body; his injuries were gone, especially the hole in his heart. It was as if they never existed in the first place.
Was this… hell?
No, this was different. The air was cold, and a brown-orangeish tint covered the room, as if a coloured filter had covered his eyes. However, the most notable feature of all was the black-golden shards jutting out from the walls of the room, in all shapes and sizes and erratic patterns.
Lucio looked around. Just what was this place? The silence was intoxicating.
Just as he looked around the… weird corridor of the Thumb, he spotted something stranger. There was a large crater in the ground at a distance. That wasn’t there before. The Thumb Apprentice walked over towards the hole before looking deep into it. It was dark inside; he couldn’t see anything clearly, though he could make out a peculiar figure in white within the dark.
Intrigued, he dropped down to the basement section of the Thumb Corridor. He slowly approached the strange figure, quietly and with caution. The closer he got, the clearer this stranger’s appearance came into view. It was a woman with long straight brown hair, a white lab coat donned over a white sweater and a black skirt with stockings. She seemed to also be holding some kind of.. Clipboard? The first thought that came to Lucio’s mind was that he somehow found a feather of a Wing in this weird place.
“It’s rude to sneak up on people like that, you know? Especially with women…” The woman suddenly spoke, surprising Lucio as his eyes widened.
She then turned around, her ethereal purple eyes meeting with Lucio’s violet eyes.
“If it were any other woman, you could be considered a creep.” She finished with a chuckle, her voice soothing and calm.
By instinct, Lucio immediately reached for his blades, only to find himself grasping at air.
“Don’t worry yourself, I meant no harm… not like you could do anything to harm me anyway.” She spoke nonchalantly as she returned to gaze at the darkness just like before.
The violet-eyed boy made distance between her and himself. Even though she seemed innocent and harmless, his perception and senses were practically screaming at him that this woman was dangerous. Her voice, despite being soothing, carried an aura of death around it. He then followed her gaze, towards what seemed to be an unending void of darkness. What exactly did she find interesting about this?
“This world… is interesting. A civilisation plagued with constant misery, just like Terra.” The woman in white commented further.
Lucio then turned to the woman, seemingly confused by all the comments she was making. The air stagnated in this moment of pause. The woman’s silence wasn’t good news; it felt more like the calm before a storm.
“What are you-” Lucio attempted to question her, before he caught something in his peripheral vision.
The void that the woman was looking at was beginning to clear, showing more and more of what was inside it. Lucio faced the clearing void, now with curiosity rather than hesitation. Yet, as the dark fog began to clear, Lucio would find that very same curiosity quickly turning into shock.
He saw a crystallised sculpture of a horned man, adorned with a pair of wings that also served as a cape; half his body seemed to be covered by something. The right arm, if it could even be called an arm, was viciously large and long; outstretched towards another sculpture, impaling it. The other sculpture was suspended in the air, held aloft by the arm impaling its torso.
Lucio recognised the features of the second sculpture… Is that… Valencina…?
Terror overtook Lucio briefly as he took a step back, his eyes locked towards the abomination that had struck down the imitation of his nursefather.
“I hope you wouldn’t lose yourself over this… after all, this is what you wished for deep down, isn't it?” The woman continued.
“You- what are you-”
Before Lucio could finish his sentence, a heavy feeling of drowsiness took over him, so potent that it made him drop to a knee. His eyelids were getting heavier, his vision blurring over.
“My, it seems it’s time for you to wake up. A shame you won't remember this encounter once you do.” The woman said as she walked closer towards Lucio, her eyes locking with his.
Eventually, Lucio would fall back first onto the ground. He couldn’t fight the drowsy feeling; the more he tried, the more exhausted he got. The woman then walked towards his left side, tilting her head downwards to face him. Lucio couldn’t make out the woman’s face anymore thanks to the blurriness of his vision.
“Hmm, I hope that you fare well in Terra, Textbook…” The woman crooned, spitting the last word like a venomous barb at the Thumb Apprentice.
A few more seconds passed before Lucio fell unconscious, then his being slowly faded away from this plane of existence; all of which were witnessed by the mysterious woman in white.
“An Oracle’s Proxy granted freedom.”
Somewhere, a man donning a porcelain mask could be seen overlooking the waves of Iberia’s coast.
“A Sottocapo bestowed her old authority.”
A woman dressed in red executed another rival famiglie’s Don over the mutilated bodies of his own men.
“A Brother given another family.”
A white-haired man wearing flashy sunglasses was seen ripping off the front teeth of someone who mildly inconvenienced him.
“A Maestro and Docent offered a blank canvas.”
A mechanical amalgam works on his next piece, accompanied by old-fashioned music and his apprentice, who simply watches.
“A child bequeathed her time.”
A star of the Pinky stargazes alongside her apprentice on top of Rhodes Island’s landship.
“...And finally, a Textbook given the chance to be rewritten.”
Somewhere in Lungmen, a newcomer opens his eyes once more.
“This will be one interesting experiment for sure… wouldn’t you agree, my dearest Doctor?” The woman said, her trapezium irises gazing into the darkness fondly.
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–Lungmen Slums–
Darkness was all Lucio could find himself in once more. Slowly, he felt the senses return to his body. He could feel his hands move, although not much; just small twitches. He felt his hand rub against something solid. Most likely the ground, concrete by the feel.
Next, he could feel himself breathing again. He could feel each particle of air flowing in and out of his body. He felt his own chest puffing up and down. Even though he had been
impaled right through his chest in what felt like just a moment ago.
Eventually, the small twitches of his hands turned into large jolts. It flew wildly to his side, grasping the ground as his battle-honed instincts screamed at him to wake up. His eyelids began to lift, although shakily. The sight of a blue sky accompanied by blurry towering buildings filled his vision, the blur starting to clear away with each blink. It felt like a blind man opening his eyes for the first time. Little by little, the boy had regained his vigour to lift himself.
As he regained his vision, he scanned the area around him. He seemed to be in an alleyway of a street, judging by the buildings to his right and left, providing just enough space between each other for at least one fully grown person to walk through. He shakily stood up, using the walls as support. Naturally he'd be in a weakened state, considering how exhausted he was from the battle he was in.
Yet, the elephant in the room had yet to be addressed. How the hell was he still alive?! He swore he felt his own heart get ripped out by that war veteran, and that he was floating in the void just moments ago! He touched his chest again, still in disbelief. There was no hole, as if he'd never been impaled in the first place..
He could only erratically exhale at that revelation. Did someone preserve his head? Revived him just to dump him in the middle of nowhere in some backstreets? No, that wouldn’t make any sense at all. He felt two familiar weights on his waist and back. Ah, right. His weapons were still here, thankfully.
Though, if he was still alive, then… the House of Spiders- No, are they really…? No, no, no. He needed to go back NOW.
So, he slowly walked towards the light in the distance, unable to see anything through it due to how bright it was. Little by little, the light grew larger and larger. It seemed as if he was walking right into the afterlife. Eventually, his naked eye couldn’t handle the brightness, as he began to shield it with his forearm.
Before long, the boy had found himself exiting the alleyway. The light of the day overwhelmed his eyes, used to the drab colour palettes of the City. It took a moment for his vision to adapt, providing him a clear view of his current location. Rest assured, Lucio had never been more confused and shocked in his entire life.
Instead of the typical messed-up and dirty view of The City’s average backstreets, his eyes were quickly met with the view of a bustling city, with clear blue skies and countless infrastructure. Was he in a nest? Next, his eyes darted towards his surroundings. The buildings looked poor and cluttered, the road looked unclean, seemed like a dead match for the backstreets. So definitely not a nest. What district was he in?
Lucio directed his attention towards the bystanders who were walking or sitting along the road. Were those animal ears? He'd heard of H Corp's animal-like assassins, was he...? No, the shadows of H Corp wouldn’t dress like beggars, nor would they be found sitting on the street pathetically. Just what kind of place was he in?! Was he somewhere in the outskirts? No, no, no. There’s no way the outskirts could have a bustling city like this, especially when it’s filled to the brim with countless monsters and impurities- At least that’s what he thought.
Just as the Thumb Apprentice’s brain was processing all this newfound information. He felt something bump into him harshly.
“Oi! Watch where yer’ goin’!” An aggressive voice called out.
Lucio looked towards the one who bumped into him; a man dressed in formal wear and a brimmed hat, something poking out of said hat. Were those… wolf ears? Accompanying him would be four more people dressed in the same style as he was.
“Wait a minute…” The man paused for a moment as he squinted his eyes, observing Lucio deeply, before coming to a conclusion based on his style of clothing. He smirked arrogantly and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Well, well… what do we have here? Someone from another famiglie?” He continued in a pompous tone.
Famiglie? A member of the Thumb? No, nobody in the Thumb would have animalistic features. Argh, all this thinking was making his head-
“Don’t you know that our Don runs the shit here?!” The swaggering mafioso continued to boast. “Matter fact, where’re yer’ features? Ya Aegir or somethin’?!”
Aegir? What in the-
“Hah! An Aegir? I didn’t know they’d swim up here just to land themselves a famiglie role!”
“Shit! Shouldn’t you be swimming in the sea?!”
“Guess you sharp-eared freaks didn’t have enough after conquering the sea, ay?!”
“Hah! What kind of backwater famiglie hires a damn fish!”
Without wasting a moment, all five mafiosos laughed at Lucio, thinking they had lowered his morale and damaged his self-worth just by mocking his traits. Yet, Lucio merely stared, his deadpan gaze completely lost in their ‘insults’. Why were they calling him a fish? What was the meaning behind that? Was that some kind of new slang he's behind on? Maybe he should’ve spent more time with Kira so he could understand these things better.
“I…” Lucio attempted to talk back, but the mafioso quickly shut him down again.
“Bah! ‘Nuff of that! You should’ve known better than to step foot in our don’s territory! So you oughta be ready to pay the price!” The arrogant mafioso declared as he yanked out a dagger from his coat. His peers who were watching began to cheer him on excitedly. Bystanders began to clear as they didn’t want to get roped into this one-sided beating.
A bead of sweat trickled down Lucio’s head. Was this guy serious?
“Sir, please, I do not wish for a fight at a time like this-”
“Oooh! Coming up with reasons to save yer’ skin now, eh?! Hwell, it’s too late for that!” The man immediately charged onwards as he swung his blade towards Lucio’s face. Of course, for someone like him, that strike was telegraphed easily, which he avoided with minimal effort.
“Tsk! You got lucky! C’mere!”
Swing after swing, none of them could reach Lucio; he’d give this man a rating of Grade 7 at best. It was funny how mediocre he was, compared to the airs he put on.
“You have a poor form, are you really trying to strike me or the air?” The silver-haired boy casually critiqued as he continued avoiding the mafioso’s strikes. “Of course, your biggest mistake yet is bringing a knife to a sword fight.”
“You- Shut your trap!” The arrogant, now irritated mafioso fumed. The laughs and smiles of his peers quickly died as they realised this ‘one-sided’ beating they thought they were going to witness came out differently than expected.
Haah, this is getting tiring.
Within the next thrust of the blade, Lucio drew his curved blade with enough speed to deflect the knife in time; the force of the parry was enough to send the knife flying upwards out of the mafioso’s hands. He didn’t even provide the surprised mafioso a second to react before following up with a harsh pommel strike towards the face, taking him down in a single strike. He could’ve cleaved him into two if he wanted, but he couldn't take the risk. Allegedly, he was aligned with a famiglie; not to mention Lucio still needed information about this strange place.
Silence filled the air. The fallen mafioso’s peers had their expressions quickly turn into a mix of shock and slight fear as they witnessed their friend be felled within a moment. Lucio flourished his blade, entering a casual combat stance. He then faced the four other mafioso, who were all staring at him with their jaws hanging open.
If they’re roughly the same level as that man was, I should be able to handle them.
“Face me, all four of you.” He challenged the other mafiosos, his tone was firm and bold as he pointed his cleaving blade towards the group. “I will receive you all at once.”
Safe to say, it was a one-sided beating all right. Just not how they thought it would go.
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Lucio is perplexed. He’d never thought he’d be more lost in his entire life.
After the one-sided battle which ended in many severed limbs, and a short interrogation session with the last man standing who had surrendered the moment he saw limbs flying, Lucio had come to a terrifying conclusion.
He was no longer in the City, nor was he somewhere in the Outskirts. He was in a different world entirely.
Well, this should explain the animal ears, right? And how there was such a bustling city settled in the middle of nowhere; this wasn't the outskirts, infamous for its harsh conditions for survival. It was... an entirely new landmass.
The Thumb Apprentice had to sit down for a while to take all of this in. Now that he thought about it, it was like one of those shows Kira always badgered him about. Even though he paid no mind to it, she talked about it often enough for him to pick up some characteristics of said shows. One of the most common ones was how the protagonist died in ‘reality’ and found themselves reborn in another world instead of the afterlife.
It was terrifying; he’s lost, he’s confused, where should he go? What happened to the House of Spiders? Did they all lose? Did they manage to triumph? What happened to Valencina? The Nursefathers? The other apprentices? What should he do now?
Panic overtakes the Thumb Apprentice’s mind as he stumbled between unanswered questions.
What should he do now? What was there left for him here? Does this mean he was finally free from the spider’s thread?
Suddenly, the sound of a rumbling stomach interrupted Lucio’s thoughts. He looked down towards his own belly. Seemed like his biological clock had snapped him out of his thoughts.
Right, focus on the task at hand right now, Lucio.
When was the last time he ate? Not to mention, he had just fought in a gruelling battle. He then faced the group of twitching mafiosos, who were moaning as they clutched the stumps their limbs were attached to. They should have their wallets with them, right? He stood up and walked over towards a mafioso, fixing a glare at the man until he handed over his wallet. Inside, he saw a blue banknote, with strange writing that vaguely reminded him of the characters used in H Corp. Even stranger was that he could read in this unknown language, somehow. ‘100 LMD’.
“LMD… is that the currency here?” Lucio pondered as he stuffed the banknote inside his pocket before going over to each mafioso and looting their wallets. Soon, he accumulated over 1000 LMD from all five mafiosos. That should be enough, right?
Now prepared, Lucio turned to face the bustling city of Lungmen, a cold feeling of apprehension creeping up his entire being. For the first time in a while, he will be alone once more. With a step, he walked towards the districts of Lungmen.