Chapter Text
It had been a long time since Lucio had felt panic. It had been a long time since he felt anything but panic was an emotion he thought he had long since abandoned. However, standing upon the Sinners of Limbus Company and being constantly pushed back, all while his own mentor was battling a legendary Colour Fixer and was already on the back foot. Panic had become one of the few emotions left he could feel in a time like this. Yet he clung to one more emotion. Rage. He forced his rage to be his strength. Overcome them and complete your mission. Overcome them and kill Valencina while she’s weakened. Withstanding battles was more of Ren’s thing just as he was trained in defeating opponents in a duel as was the role forced on him by Valencina as his position as her “textbook”. Fight. Overcome. Hold out. His moment would come soon. He just had to hold out. He parried the shelled arm of the bug man. “ Why?” He asked him as he clashed blades with him. “ Why are ya just letting her push you around?” Lucio didn’t ask, instead pushing him back. “ Look. Just yield already. You’re too injured to fight.”
“ Yield…” He muttered, trying his best to ignore the pain. His injuries from being forced to face off with the Red Gaze hadn’t healed yet. Everything still hurt. However, he refused to stand down. “ Please… tell me what you think. Would Yoshihide have forfeited this battle? Or do you think… She wouldn’t have put herself in this situation to begin with?” He coughed, wiping blood from his mouth. “ I always knew… this day would come. The day… I would meet my end in battle. But I… I was hoping I would meet my end while duelling Yoshihide herself. Someone who I was suppose to match… Someone… who was meant to study me… as her textbook. So she… or whoever else… may learn from my mistakes… and make the appropriate corrections. But… in the end… I could not even do that right.”
“ Kid…” The bug armed man grit his teeth.
“ Ya right. Ryoshu wouldn’t have gotten into the mess you’re in.” The brutish man with the baseball bat told him. “ But she also wouldn’t have stood what you’re standing. I don’t care if that bitch took ya in or whatever. She don’t have any right treating you like a thing. Trust me. I’ve been in that situation before from a former brother of mine. I don’t get how you can just sit there and take it.”
“ I had nothing before my teacher took me in.” Lucio grit his teeth. It hurt to remember that time. Just a lonely boy rotting away in the slums of Q Corp’s backstreets, fighting with rats to survive as the lowest rung of a low tier syndicate who served a group who claimed to be aligned with the Thumb. It was a life he never wanted to go back to. One Valencina saved him from. In the end though, he was just taken from one hell and dropped into another one. He envied the other apprentices who served under the other nurse fathers. Albina who was elated to take part in Callisto’s twisted art works. Kira who had a father who doted on her with games and sweets. Ren who trained hard but without the bruises and scars of endless beatings. Even Sora, nervous as she was, seemed happy just blindly following the prescript sent to her pager device. On the surface, he tried relaying he was the same, serving Valencina without thought or question just as she’d ordered him too. But his imagination was always filled with the idea of driving his blade through her stomach or poisoning her drink and watching her choke to death as he watched. Imagination. Never reality. But oh how he wished he had that kind of courage.
“ Just because someone took you in doesn’t mean you have to stay loyal to them.” The bug armed man said. “ I could say to the woman who gave me this. I still fear her even now. But I’ve long since stopped following her.” Lucio glanced away. “ You don’t have to keep working with her, Kid.”
“ That’s my purpose.”
“ No-one’s purpose is being used by another.” The copper haired woman told him. “ Everyone has the right to find their own path in life. That’s what a friend of mine used to say, anyway. Don’t you want to be free?”
“ Of course I do. But-”
“ Come on, Kid. We’re on the same side here.” The bug armed man said gently. “ We both want to deal with that woman and get outta here. We can work together. Just give yourself a chance.”
“ Give… myself a chance?” A chance? A chance to be free? From Valencina? From the Spider House? Everything? Was that really a chance he had here? The sound of shattering glass broke him out of his trance as Valencina was hurled roughly into the room.
“ The fuck are you standing around for, Textbook!” Valencina snapped. “ Are you seriously struggling this much on fodder? Tch. Typical.” She readied her blade. “ How many times do I have to tell you? Forget all your useless flourishes and go for the heart! You ain’t a fancy ass duellist like the fucking Cinq. Don’t go for a disabling blow to the arms or the legs. Don’t bother trying to pierce their throat. Go straight for the heart!” She lunged at the bug armed man who stared at her with wide, shell shocked eyes. However, the Red Gaze got in her way, parrying the blow.
“ I… I…”
“ Don’t stutter, you useless clod.” She hissed. “ Are you really going to stand there and make me watch these clowns mop the floor with you?! This right here is why you still haven’t graduated from being a textbook. Do you hear me?! Get back into the fight!”
“ Bloody hell. She sure is a gas bag.” The brutish man scoffed. “ Shut ya damn trap, you hag! That lad ain’t yours to order around like a bloody dog.”
“ Heh? Ain’t he?” Valencina smirked. “ Maybe punks like you think people ought to have free will or some crap like that. What they really need to do is obey their betters! Ain’t that right, Textbook?” Lucio grit his teeth. Do exactly as you’re told. That’s what Valencina had ordered him to do. Do as you’re told or face the lash. But how could do as he was told when the expectations for him were so damn high? She wanted him to be some perfect fighter. A copy of Yoshihide, knowing every trick she did so anyone who watched him could replicate how she fought. His role was a textbook. If they lost Yoshihide, she’d drag him to the next best person and force him to fight them over and over until they learned his exact moves. He was never good enough for her. “ Ain’t. That. Right. Textbook?! Answer me, ya damn brat!”
“... Lucio…” He muttered.
“ What was that?”
“ I said!” He swung his blade at her, forcing her to quickly dodge as he shaved some hairs off her long fringe. “ My name is Lucio! Not Textbook!”
“ Tch. Where’d you get that mouth?”
“ Did I not say, Valencina?” The Red Gaze said in a threatening tone. “ Not to underestimate the significance of your conditional affection. Kick a dog enough times and they will eventually bite back. I would have thought losing your eye would have taught you such an obvious lesson.”
“ Grr! You shut your mouth!” She glared at Lucio. “ You’d better get your ass back in line! Did you forget your damn training?!
“ Not a single day.” He hissed. “ And because of that training, I’m going to do what I should have done months ago. I’m… going… to kill you! VALENCINA!”
“ Psh. Kill me?” She smirked. “ Fine. I don’t need you anymore anyway now my Ticket is back with me. I’ll put you down like the dog you are! Then I’ll take the Limbus Company slaves! Then I’ll drag Ticket back by the hair and remind her just who trained her!” She spun her sword around and charged at Lucio. Lucio barely had time to raise his sword to deflect her attack, being knocked through one of the bars and breaking a set of empty bottles. Before Valencina could strike again, the Sinners were in her way. “ Move!”
“ No!” The bug armed man said firmly. “ Let me ask ya a question. Did you train Ryoshu like you trained that kid?” Valencina smirked.
" Please.” She said. “ I haven’t really gotten started with Textbook compared to Ticket.” The brutish man growled as he heard that before swinging at her. Valencina easily dodged his attack before slashing back, carving a nasty scar across the man’s chest. “ What’s the matter, dog? Oh. Did someone try training you before? Must’ve done a shitty job.” She glanced up. “ You too, Glasses. I’m guessing someone trained you as a war machine for Old G Corp, right? That disgusting arm of yours betrays you. What was that bitch doctor’s name? Hermann?”
“ Shut up…”
“ Heh. Looks like I hit the nail on the head. I heard all the rumours during the war, y’know? How G Corp was run by this mad scientist who performed human experiments to create the ultimate warriors. The Maggot Prince? The Moth Princess? The Lord of the Flies? Heard they were planning to make another one but the war ended before they could unleash that monster. Shame. I’d have loved to carve it open just like I did to so many of your old comrades.” She chuckled. “ Some had multiple arms, y’know? I had some fun breaking all of them. Like tearing the legs off a beetle. One. By. One.” The bug armed man's teeth rattled as he ground his teeth together, trying his best not to let Valencina get to him. Lucio felt sorry for him. Valencina was an expert of getting under people’s skin, not only physically but mentally too. Thankfully for him, the Red Gaze decided she’d been talking long enough and lunged at her. “ Grk!” Valencina struggled to hold back the intimidating colour grade fixer. As Lucio stood up, he noticed that Valencina was showing an emotion he never thought he’d see from her of all people. Fear. As much as she was acting as her usual haughty self, she was terrified. She knew she could die. That flash of emotion renewed his vigor. He moved again. As the Red Gaze pushed her back, Lucio struck again, slashing upwards as she moved closer to him. Valencina narrowly avoided the strike. “ Tch. Still rebelling, huh?”
“ One set back shouldn’t stop you from achieving your goals.” Lucio said. “ Is that not what you say?”
“ Cocky little shit.” A rush of heat caused Lucio to step away as a stream of flames struck Valencina. Looking over, Lucio noticed that the forms of the Sinners had changed. He remembered them doing this from their first duel. The power of the clock headed manager allowed them to morph their followers into other forms, drawing out strange power from somewhere. The bug-armed man’s new form looked less hinged, his eyes dimmed by grief and his bug arm replaced with an arm mounted flamethrower. Laughter filled the air as the brutish man crashed down from the sky, dressed in the red feathered cloak and torn bamboo hat of the Heishou Roosters. Finally, the copper haired woman rushed towards them, dressed in a Liu uniform. Combined with the blazing sword of the Red Gaze, it was clear that they planned on burning the Thumb Corridor to ash. Drawing his heated sword, he decided he’d aid them in that plan.
Watching the Sinners fight from an outside perspective was a curious thing. The way they fought was as if someone invisible was whispering in their ear, acting in perfect sync with each other and knowing when to back up to let the Red Gaze or himself act. It was as if some force could see the battlefield from a distance. The Clock Headed manager wasn’t with them but he wondered if, somehow, they were still affecting the battlefield. Despite being out numbered five to one, Valencina also showed why she was such a feared Capo back in her day. Lucio wondered how strong she was in her prime. Due to her prosthetic eye, she was able to predict and calculate how her opponents would attack and evade them. However, there was only so much she could do against the Red Gaze’s ferocity. Slowly, her injuries grew and she began to slow down which meant her injuries built up faster as she could no longer rely on dodging and countering. As the brutish man clashed with her, grinding sword to sword, Lucio saw his opportunity and rushed in. As the man leapt away, he swung, not giving her the time to recover her stance. With his straight sword, he pushed her gilded blade upwards before thrusting with his blazing katana. He wasn’t expecting it to work. It never had in the past, she’d simply danced away from his killing blow in training. However he felt the tearing of fabric and then flesh. His eyes widened in shock as he realised what he’d done. Valencina coughed, looking down at her chest with a shaky expression before collapsing. Against his better judgement, Lucio caught her as she fell.
“ W-Well I’ll… be damned.” She said weakly. “ You actually… listened. Right… through the heart…” She spluttered, coughing up blood. “Impressive… form…”
“ Teacher…”
“ Heh… What you getting… all teary eyed for?” She asked, managing a weak but cocky smirk. “ I thought… This is what you wanted… Well… done.” She laughed slowly. “ I guess… you weren’t a waste of effort… after all. Lu…ci…o.” She fell limp, her sword falling from her hand and clattering against the floor. Lucio fell to his knees. For some reason, he started to cry. Why was he crying? He hated this woman. This woman who had caused him so much suffering. And yet… and yet… He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“ It’s alright, bud.” The bug armed man told him. “ Let it out.” Lucio did, weeping over the body of the woman he’d just killed. He’d achieved his dream. He defeated Valencina. Proved to her he was more than just a textbook to train another. So why? Why did he feel so empty? Why did he feel he lost more than just a mentor?
“ I feel… cold.” He said quietly, gently lowering her to the floor. “ Valencina… I hated her. I hated her so much but… Why don’t I feel happy? Why… do I feel cold?” None of the Sinners answered him. Yet, from the pained expression in each of their faces, he realised that they all understood. The Red Gaze closed his eyes.
“ Even if it is a complicated relationship, losing the person who cared for you hurts. The same goes for losing one you’ve cared for.” He said dryly. “ What matters from now is what you do with that tragedy.”
“ I… see.” Lucio nodded slowly. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and looked down at Valencina’s sword, stuck into the carpet of the ruined corridor. Slowly, gently, he placed his gloved hand over the hilt and pulled it free, staring at his face in the golden metal, running a thumb over the revolver wheel built into the blade’s guard. Valencina had told him in a drunken rant how she’d gotten this blade. Earned it after fighting tooth and nail to climb through the ranks of her family. Taken in when she was dismissed. She always had it on her, the last piece of her glory that she had left. But now Valencina was gone. Soon, the Spider House would be gone with it. His future was his to do with as he wanted. But for a man like him, what could he do? He turned to face the Sinners and bowed. “ Thank you all… for believing in me where I did not.”
“ Heh. Don’t worry about it, bud.” The bug armed man smirked. “ It just didn’t sit right with me lettin’ her abuse you like that.”
“ What are you going to do now?” The copper haired woman asked. Lucio’s vision wavered. Behind them, the Red Gaze sighed deeply.
“ We can deal with that when we’re out of here. Come on. Our part of the operation is over.”
***************************************
Lucio swallowed as he looked at the crowd ahead of him. “ T-Tickets please.” He said, slightly embarrassed from the words coming from his mouth. “ Like that?”
“ With more confidence!” Charon demanded. Lucio grimaced.
“ Tickets please!”
“ Good!”
“ Lucio?” Gregor looked at him in surprise. “ What are you doing here?” Lucio glanced away. A lot had happened since their return from the Spider House. All the Nursefathers had fallen. Other than Kira, now split in half apparently by Matthias, all the Apprentices had also fallen. Albina… There had been more, hadn’t there? Lucio found he couldn’t recall them. The figures were there in his memory but they were just distorted shadows now. Yoshihide had something to do with that, or so he’d been told. He wondered what Limbus Company would do with him now. Would they imprison him? Force him to join them? Abandon him on the streets? He learned three days after returning and being confined to a small bedroom that he’d been assigned to the Red Gaze, Vergilius’ care. It was ironic. When the Spiders had invaded Limbus, he had kidnapped the girl the Red Gaze cared most for and kept her as a hostage. Now, that same girl was ordering him about the bus. Officially, his role was Ticket Collector or so Charon had said. Unofficially though, he was to defend the bus when the Sinners weren’t present to do so and look after Charon when Vergilius was away on missions. His role was to prevent the very thing he’d done when everything started.
“ I hired him.” Vergilius said. “ It was decided we needed the extra hand since it would seem I cannot always rely on you to defend this bus.”
“ I hope we get along.” He bowed.
“ I’m sure we will.” Gregor said with a grin, patting him on the shoulder as he passed. Others greeted him, either giving him a genuine welcome, like Hong Lu, or with suspicion, like Outis. Yoshihide was the last to board.
“ You killed Valencina.” She said. Lucio nodded.
“ You also trained under her. I assume you know why I did it.”
“ I do.” She stepped into the bus. “ Y.G.O.C.” (You’ve Got One Chance)
“ Of course. And thank you.” Ryoshu smirked before walking past him.
“ Smokey confusing. What did she say?” Charon asked.
“ She…welcomed me in her own way.” He said. He didn’t believe he deserved to stand with the woman he was only meant to serve as a mere textbook for. However, fate had been kind to him for once in his miserable life. Now he had a chance to do something with it. Something he could be proud of. It was a chance he vowed never to squander.
“ Time to go.” Vergilius said. “ Take your seat, Ticket Collector.”
“ Yes sir.” Lucio nodded, sitting down as Charon gripped the wheel in her hands.
“ Vroom Vroom.” His new life began now.