Vesuvia's Gift - The Arcana - Lucio "Birthday" Fanfiction (Discontinued)

Part One: The First Hour

There's a feeling you get when you try to fall asleep, sometimes.

You close your eyes for a second and you suddenly feel like you've begun to fall.

You open your eyes and let out a gasp of air, feeling the bed under you. It wasn't there before. It disappeared when you were falling, but there it was like it never left.

You try to catch your breath.

Lucio was trying to catch his breath.

He had been trying to sleep all night, but each time he had been met by the same feeling. The falling feeling, each time he thought he could escape into sleep, but he kept jolting up over and over.

Not willing to admit defeat, he tried one last time to rest his head on his velvety pillows. He squeezed his eyes shut, muttering. He had woken up in fear so many times sweat poured from his forehead onto the plush surface, dampening it. It was disgusting, but just something else for the servants to fix. He flipped the pillow over, grunting and cursing under his breath. He buried his head with more pillows, making his whole bed a mess.

Sleep, damn it.

Lucio awoke once again, but this time with light pouring out his window. He smirked exhaustedly, thinking he had finally won over the night. He rose from the mattress, yawning and stretching with a sense of victory.

Only that victory was short-lived.

Where he had woken up wasn't his room, and the light he had felt on his face wasn't from any window. He had woken up somewhere damp and dimly lit, the only source of light was a single candle on the side of the wall. This wasn't even the palace, for that matter. This was a dungeon.

Lucio looked down at himself to see he was no longer in his robes. His torso and shoulders were heavy with dingy armor. His golden claw was replaced with a stiff iron gauntlet that ground when he tried to move it.

"What's the meaning of this?!" he hissed. He was met with no answer. Only distant and echoey drips from some leak in the stone ceiling. A drop landed in his hair. Lucio yelped and felt the area where it had landed, which lead to an even worse sensation, the sensation of greasy, unkempt hair. Panicked, Lucio leaned forward, finding a small puddle on the ground and looking downward. His heart sinks. What he saw was a man, barely recognizable. Long and oily blonde hair drooping over his eyes, which were dark and heavy. Scars ran down his chin and forehead. Scratchy stubble spread across and around his neck and jaw.

In disbelief, Lucio raised a hand to his own face and was terrified when the reflection mimicked his movements. He gagged. He couldn't believe the disgusting man in the reflection was him.

"What the hell is going on?" Lucio nearly screeched. "I demand to know!"

Suddenly, a loud clang followed by a bright beam of light spread down the hall, which Lucio could see through the cell door. Two large shadows bobbed towards him, and soon Lucio could see two hefty guards walking to his cell.

"Finally!" Lucio grinned. "You two! Get me out of here!"

The guards turned to each other, seemingly confused. One of them let out a short chuckle. "You heard him," they said.

The other guard lifted a ring of keys towards the cell and opened it.

"Great," said Lucio. "Now, get me out of this silly costume! I don't know what the hell happened to me but I expect a warm bath when I get back to the palace, and-- HEY!"

The guard who opened the cell had grabbed Lucio by the arm and locked it into their own, holding tight. The guard who chuckled did the same to the other arm. They both began dragging Lucio across the stone floor.

"What are you doing?!" Lucio shrieked, struggling against them. "Let me go! I am your leader! I am Count Lucio!"

"Think we left him in here for too long?" One of the guards said to the other.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said the other guard sarcastically. "This is obviously the 'Count of Vesuvia.' Just look at his face!" The guard gripped Lucio's chin and pointed it towards the other guard. The two of them erupted in laughter.

Lucio was shocked, so much so that he had stopped struggling against the guards. Had they forgotten who he was? No, that couldn't be. This was obviously some sick joke.

Where the beam of light had shown before was a large gate, leading to the outside. The distant sound of cheering and chanting leaked in from the bars that grew louder as Lucio was dragged closer and closer. The gate slowly opened with a terrible grinding noise that caused Lucio's ears awful pain, but the guards seemed to be immune to.

When the gates fully opened and Lucio's eyes adjusted to the afternoon light, he grew pale. The cheering had been familiar to him before, but the horrible truth of where it came from left his knees weak.

The coliseum was hot and dry, but thousands of citizens filled the seats to the point of almost overflowing. They all screamed and cheered when Lucio was tossed into the sand. Fear engulfed him. He tried scrambling back towards the gate but one of the guards shoved him back. The crowd erupted in laughter, some booing.

"Stop that!" Lucio yelled, the panic clear in his voice. "I'm not supposed to be here! You have the wrong man!"

"You keep telling yourself that, 'my liege,'" said the guard. "Let's hope you don't die too painfully, eh?"

Lucio glared back at the guard, but inside his heart was pounding. He couldn't mean...

Another loud grinding noise could be heard from the other side of the coliseum as another gate opened slowly. Lucio whipped his head back, and any last bit of bravery he had left dissipated in a second.

A looming figure lumbered out from the gate and the audience cheered so loudly it nearly deafened Lucio. The figure was more than six feet tall, with long black hair cascading down their face and back. Their massive body was adorned with the same rusty armor Lucio wore, only bigger and heavier. A large bear paw and chains hung from their neck.

Lucio knew this figure. He knew this figure very well, only his name escaped him. The only words that came to his head echoed and haunted him.

The Scourge.