Chapter Text
Ever since Yoshihide left the House of Spiders, her Nursefathers have been waiting years upon years for her to return. In the meantime, each Nursefather took in an apprentice under their wing. The apprentices were supposed to hone their skills until they reached Yoshihide’s level—and yet, no matter how many years flew by, they would never reach her level.
The disgraced Sottocapo of The Thumb, Valencina, took a child from the Backstreets under her wing. The child would have been deceased if it wasn’t for her, she named him Lucio. Valencina housed him under a roof, fed him warm food and taught him the Palermitan Style—so it was only right for him to obey his master’s every whim under gratitude…
…Right?
Yes. Of course. The child obeyed The Thumb Nursefather for years ever since his retrieval from the Backstreets and arrival to The House of Spiders. Even if she verbally and physically abused him, even if he was constantly belittled down to his very utility—Textbook, and even if she never gave him true, maternal love. The resentment for the woman, despite his gratitude, ran deep through his veins.
A harsh swing of Valencina’s rapier slices a small chunk of Lucio’s hair, and the second and third swing—both delivered within a second, clash with her apprentice’s sword and apply pressure onto him.
A small grunt came from Lucio’s lips, the grip on his blade’s hilt tightening. His foot slowly slid back against the ground, a bead of sweat trailing down his bloodied face. There was a flicker of mild distress in those violet eyes of his, which The Thumb Nursefather caught on.
A cruel smirk forms on her lips, her grip on the searing rapier firm and unyielding, despite their collided blades. “Hah? What’s this, Textbook? Your form is getting rusty.” Her voice is a taunt, her teeth clenched around the burning stubble in her lips.
She grasps her weapon’s hilt with a steady grip, then twirls her rapier rapidly and creates a barrage of fast-paced attacks that has her apprentice quickly clashing with his own blade to block and fend them off.
Lucio is only able to hold up for a few measly seconds, before a thrust from the rapier causes him to stagger, creating a clean cleave that slashes through his vest and creates a slight gash across his torso. The grip on his blade falters, silently wincing as the sharp pain spreads across his body. That other moment of weakness allows The Thumb Nursefather to sheathe her rapier and grab another sword from a different sheathe, a straight-sword with a revolver barrel and lunges at Lucio. She slashes the straight-sword around and strikes his arm, creating another large cut across his forearm, but she misses the revolver barrel shot. Perhaps it was intentional.
“Just seein’ that sloppy grip on your blade pains me…” Valencina says with a sigh, loosening her grip on the straight-sword. Her fingers reach for the burning stubble in her lips, taking a long drawl. “I told you, Lucio. When you’re pressured by an opponent, don’t let even the slightest hint of vulnerability seep through your form, it creates an opening for them. Haven’t I beat that into your head over and over again or were my words all fucking wasted?!"
“...Apologies, master.” Lucio replies, regaining his footing. “I will keep working on my form until I am a perfect, tailored Textbook.”
“Hm.” Valencina raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a smug smile this time. Lucio had managed to scrape the side of her cheek with his blade, and the cut on her cheek started oozing blood and trailing down her face. "Then clearly you need to work harder if you want to be a perfect Textbook for Yoshihide!" She sheathes her straight sword and grabs her rapier, whirling it wildly and relentlessly slashing at Lucio. He's tried years to accommodate to Valencina's rapid attack patterns, since he was taught the Palermitan Style as well for the same amount of time he's tried to adapt to his master's attacks.
…However, that Relic of hers always gutted his chances at hitting her.
Lucio lurched backwards as he blocks a particularly rough slash from Valencina, the impact of the collision reverberating throughout his whole body. Despite this, he doesn't let even the faintest flicker of surprise show in his eyes as she told him, which allows him to body-swerve the next few hits. He swings his blade—barely making a cleave across her one of her coattails, before she roughly forces the rapier at him. He's barely given enough time to process it, he tries to evade it, but he twists his ankle which causes his legs to trotter to the ground and allow Valencina to jab at him with rapier to make a few pierces in his skin and draw blood. Lucio had to restrain from hissing at the pain.
"Hmph, so much for "progress." Lucio, your progress is sad and utterly pathetic." Valencina sneered, grabbing the burned stubble and tossing it onto the ground—angrily crushing it with her foot. “Well? You STILL have a lot to learn, and you have to spar with the other apprentices in an hour or two so tidy up!” Valencina yelled through angry and gritted teeth.
“Yes, master.” Lucio nodded with closed eyes, turning around and walking towards his room. He shut the door behind him, and once he was sure Valencina was occupied with something else, he let out a long exhale. His fists clenched tightly in frustration, the pain from the wounds he sustained from his master flared and burned, like a haze of fire had just settled onto his very bones. The blood started seeping through, staining his clothes in a deep sanguine red.
He walked towards a counter to grab some bandage rolls and gauze, discarding his torn shirt and then steadily applied the bandages to himself. He wrapped the bandages around his torso and then his forearm, then, Lucio walked towards his closet to grab a new uniform and fit it onto himself. None of his "old" (roughly a day or two old) wounds had been healed yet, and here he was, already applying new ones on top of it.
The Thumb apprentice grabs a wet cloth and wipes the blood from his face, then wipes some blood from his two blades. He started brushing and redoing his hair properly afterwards and left his room again, but not without a final glance around The Thumb Corridors. Valencina left again, it appeared. So, without another word, he himself left the corridors.
He strolled around the main hallways of the House of Spiders, occasionally encountering the other apprentices and giving them brief glances, but they were mostly quiet as well. Save for The Middle apprentice—Kira, of course. She was shoving comic books, Fixer merchandise and stuff left and right into the other apprentices, encouraging them to indulge into the “peak” she indulged in… And based on her stubborn insistence, she probably wouldn’t give up even if she were denied over and over again.
"Yo, Sora!" Kira holds out a comic book and shoves its panels out in front of Sora, trying to persuade her. "Look, look! It's the new best-selling Fixer comic this month, spare me a minute or two, will ya?? If you aren't gonna check out the Cloudburst Blade, then at least see this one! You're all missing out on such BADASS stuff!"
Sora nervously glanced around, her fingers awkwardly fidgeting even with her restraints. She takes a step back, trying to avert her gaze from The Middle apprentice. "I- I- I'll check it out another time, Kira... I swear!"
"Bruh, you guys all say "later" or "another time" or "not right now" and that's just your way of having me BUZZ OFF. Like, bro, there's no way you expect me to fall for that again, right?" Kira scoffs, pouting. She lowers the comic book, staring at Sora intently.
"U-Um..." Sora's pupils dilate as Kira stares at her menacingly. "M-Mister Rien is calling me, I have to go... I'm so- so sorryyy!!" In a fit of panic, she dashes off.
"Wha, HEY!!??" Kira calls out, her mouth hanging open. She scoffs irritatedly, turning over to Albina. Albina stares at her expressionlessly, holding Fascia by her side. She seems very disinterested, but WHO CARES! Kira tries again but gets ignored by Albina the moment she opens her mouth. She rambles in lengths about her comic, but Albina didn't even bother looking at her anymore-- because she was fixated on Fascia. Albina started talking to the fleshy blade again, smiling and cherishing it, as if Kira never existed in the first place. Kira, noticing this, grumbles under her breath.
"Albina! Come here, please!" Callisto calls out for his apprentice.
"Coming, Maestro!" Albina's ears pick up the sound of his voice, and she runs off to the direction she hears it in.
It was only about time Kira would turn to Lucio and shove her crap into his face- so, despite his twisted ankle, he tried to sprint past her as fast as he could without making too much noise. Fortunately, she was too busy brooding and grumbling that she didn't hear Lucio's footsteps fading in the background.
Lucio suddenly bumps into somebody. The first instinct was to immediately apologize, that was until he turned around to see who he bumped into. It causes him to pause before the first syllable was even spoken. Short black hair, a black turtleneck with a coat over and a dark hakama… And the familiar weapon.
The Pinky (Dihui Star)’s apprentice, Ren.
“Ah, Lucio.” Ren says, his dark eyes meeting the other’s violet ones. His arms were wrapped around a large, white Odachi, almost taller than the man’s frame itself.
After a moment of hesitation, Lucio attempts, “I-”
“...Mm. No, you need not to apologize, for it is my insignificant self’s fault that has failed to notice your presence.” Ren shook his head, interrupting the apprentice’s words. The man’s words and tone of delivery were deadpanned and he looked utterly calm despite his self-belittling words.
Ren approaches Lucio. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I am alright.”
“...” A beat of silence as the black-haired man registers the response, a flicker of doubt in those dark eyes, but he doesn't pry further. “Well, you are my sparring partner for today… Are you prepared for that, Thumb Apprentice? It is an hour from now.”
“I’m preparing for that, yes.” Lucio nods.
“Would you like to come with me in the meantime, as we wait?” Ren asks suddenly, which causes Lucio to contemplate his answer... But he agrees to the offer.
He’s rarely spent time with the other apprentices in The House of Spiders, and they themselves rarely spent time with each other. The Nursefathers barely got along with one another, so it made sense their apprentices would have similar experiences…
But frankly, Lucio didn’t mind spending time with the other apprentices when he got the chance, since they were only able to interact with one another through spars.
Ren moves again, giving Lucio a brief glance as if gesturing him to follow. He does, and they eventually walk to The Pinky’s corridors. The Pinky’s corridors—bathed in soft hues of azure and purple lighting, were usually very quiet despite the area’s vast and spacious size. There was evidence of frequent cleaning. Ren guides him to a table in the middle of the corridors, the table had two cups of green tea, which Ren encourages the other apprentice to drink. It seems like the tea was just brewed, perhaps no more than fifteen minutes ago, judging by its lingering warmness.
“Was this for your master?” Lucio asks, holding a cup with his scarred hands and bringing the warm, green tea to his lips. He sips it, savoring the bitter-sweet and earthy taste.
“Indeed, it was. Thirty minutes ago, my humble self had brewed green tea for my master, but she subsequently left before I was able to hand or deliver it to her.” Ren explained calmly, settling down beside the table as well on his knees. He sets the Odachi down on his lap and grabs the other cup and brings it to his own lips. “I decided I could brew a new cup for her later, so I do not mind if you drink that one.”
“How is it?” Ren asks him, his eyes studying the other’s expression.
“I like it.” Lucio mumbles. “It is well-brewed.”
A small, curt smile forms on The Pinky apprentice’s face, a low hum emanating from his lips. He seemed content with the silver-haired man’s answer, as he was the only other person aside from his master, Araya, that got to try the tea he brewed.
A peaceful silence followed after Lucio’s answer, the two apprentices drinking green tea in quiet serenity. Then, Ren decides to ask to break the silence, “Where is your master now?”
“My master is likely out drinking again.” Lucio replies, sipping the last bit of green tea from the cup. For a moment, he simply holds the empty cup as he explained absentmindedly. “She left early in the morning after our training session.”
“Is that so? That woman always seems to be dowsing her body into booze…” Ren mutters to himself, staring down at his half-drunken cup and its faint reflection. “My master does not drink, and she does not talk to me often, but I am very devoted to her for teaching somebody like my insignificant self her style.”
A pause, before he continues. “Despite her emotionally volatile nature, I wholeheartedly believe that she deserves happiness and my utmost respect.”
“I see…” Lucio muses at those words. Yeah, that sounded about right. All the apprentices were victims in the cycle of abuse in The House by Spiders—and also due to being affiliated with the Fingers at this point…
“Well, we do not want to be late to our own sparring match today, do we?”
“No, I’ll follow you.” Lucio shakes his head, then puts the empty cup down onto the table. Ren stands up and walks around The Pinky’s Corridors for a moment, before he eventually opens a door. He leads the both of them to the House of Spiders’ rooftops, the same area the two frequently sparred in.
The two apprentices stood a few meters away from one another and drew their blades. Ren’s fingers curl around his Odachi’s handguard, as if he were about to pull the weapon out of its scabbard while Lucio grabs the sword (katana?) by his waist and points it at him.
Lucio was already hurt, he had sustained a few wounds from his master during their training session, but he hoped the bandages he applied on himself would at least hold up for a couple minutes during his and Ren’s spar. It wasn’t like he could just tap his way out of it; it was not the first time he was forced to spar or fight while injured—he's fought the other apprentices and Valencina with broken bones, nasty bruises and cuts.
Ren suddenly dashed forwards and almost imperceptibly pulled the blade out of its case, creating a singular pristine slash and then sheathed his Odachi again. Lucio swung his blade once—twice, then deflected that slash and hurled his own sword at Ren, but the man evaded the attack.
Ren grabs his Odachi by the scabbard’s midsection and swings the case at The Thumb apprentice, using it as a blunt object. Lucio bashes his own sword against the clunky frame, causing a spark and a tremor. The sudden amount of force he used causes Lucio's injured forearm's muscles to ache, but he tries to ignore the "mild" discomfort. Lucio holds onto his weapon firmly, putting weight and pressure onto Ren.
Ren’s other hand snakes to his Odachi’s tsuka, Lucio notices last second but Ren swiftly pulls the Moonlight Azure Blade out of its scabbard before he could fully register it and jabs the sharp edge at him. Lucio manages to dodge it; the jab misses his body but slices a piece of his sleeve.
“Hmph…” The Thumb apprentice huffs. Lucio doesn’t let his guard down and quickly regains his ground—despite the other man’s abrupt and swerved attacks. His ankle throbbed with every abrupt jerk of his legs and attempt to dodge Ren's attacks, and the pain often forces him to wobble and rest for a few seconds. This allows Ren to strike him easier sometimes.
Ren glances up at Lucio’s blade, noticing that there were flames around the serrated edges of his katana this time. Lucio suddenly thrusts the ignited blade into Ren, who barely manages to block it with his Azure Blade. He could feel the heat radiating off it. Then, Lucio swings the blade again, causing Ren to stumble slightly but he recovers fast enough to fend off the next few moves.
The Pinky apprentice creates enough distance to sheathe his blade again, closely watching if Lucio would close the distance. Once he’s sure the other man would, he pulls the Moonlight Azure blade out and quickly puts it back into the scabbard—Fallstar Slayer. An immaculate cut that is far larger than any other one he had made so far.
Lucio, who was anticipating that Ren would use that move, puts his katana back into the case and uses other hand to pull the one-handed longsword out of his back sheath—the weapon glowed with a feverish red and a blazing yellow, its aura a clear indication that he had used propellant ammo. Specialized, hot-powder blank cartridges used to propel his sword. Concentrating before the attack delivers, he focuses his strength on his next moves and commences a strong thrust that pierces through Ren’s skin, lacerating his flesh and creating two tears: one along his torso, and the other one along his shoulder.
“Ghh…” Ren makes a sound of pain, his grip momentarily loosening on his Odachi’s tsuka. His other hand reaches to clutch his pierced shoulder, the stinging heat from Lucio’s longsword clearly getting to him. An indiscernible smirk formed on The Pinky apprentice’s lips, a bead of sweat trailing down his cheek. “The Palermitan Style, mm?”
Meanwhile, the Fallstar Slayer slash created by Ren slashes right through Lucio, creating more gashes and a bigger cut on the already wounded man. The new, sudden sear of pain causes him to grunt in pain and go on his knees, plunging his longsword into the ground to support his weight and clutching the side of his abdomen. Great, he’s wide open now. Lucio initially tries to stand up to continue the battle, but he isn’t able to—something more than the old wounds and new wounds he got was aching, and it’s weighing him down.
He sees the faint silhouette of Ren raising his Odachi reflected onto the rooftop’s grounds, and he was expecting him to strike his vulnerable form—but he doesn’t. All he hears is the man’s weapon slowly being sheathed back into its scabbard.
An uncomfortable beat of silence settles onto the two. Lucio is almost tempted to ask why—but then Lucio musters up his remaining strength to get up, and his ears barely pick up the sounds of heavy footsteps rushing over to him. Lucio feels a pair of arms hold him down back into that crouching position, and his violet eyes widen in surprise as he processes the sudden action.
“...Ren?” Lucio mutters, any other words beside the name stuck in his throat.
“Refrain from moving.” Ren says in a gruff and commanding voice, albeit an underlying softness and concern in his tone was evident.
Ren holds Lucio for a moment, ensuring the silver-haired man had no intentions of moving. He slowly pulls back after a moment but still wraps his arms around him. The two only silently stared at each other. A shaky exhale left The Thumb apprentice’s lips, going practically limp on the other as he was given the chance to show weakness.
“This battle ends now.” Ren murmurs firmly. He glances over to the blood seeping through Lucio’s sleeve, paying close attention to a particular wound by the man’s forearm. It soaks the fabric, and he could tell that these wounds were gotten frequently. “Did your master do this?”
“Yes. She did.” Lucio whispered quietly, gritting his teeth at the stinging pain. He was used to it, but it didn’t mean he liked it.
“I see…” Ren’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier? I wouldn't have minded." The next few words are soft, and the sudden softness shocks even Ren himself. Lucio was used to hearing his master’s abrasive voice whenever he failed, so Ren’s soft one was something new to him. “The winner of this spar means nothing to me anymore."
Then, before Lucio even knows it, his eyelids flutter close and he passes out right on the other apprentice. Ren is surprised by the sudden weight in his arms, but he still holds the man firmly.
“...He must have lost too much blood.”