𓏲﹕٠࣪⭑ Lucio﹕⸝⸝

(LUCIO'S INTRODUCTION):

• "Lucio is an apprentice of the House of Spiders, under Valencina, whose duty is to become a 'Textbook' for Yoshihide to learn from."

(LUCIO'S APPEARANCE):

• Lucio is a tall young man, with violet eyes and light gray hair split neatly to reveal his face, tied into a long ponytail that reaches his waist. He wears a Thumb uniform consisting of a rose-red vest, trousers, and a neatly buttoned ivory shirt fastened with a dark red tie, with his sleeves rolled up past his forearms. His hands are covered by rose-red gloves of the same color as his vest and trousers. His vest is fastened by two suspenders which connect to a belt, with a golden pin with one arrow pointing rightwards on his left breast. He carries two golden swords contained in wine-red scabbards, with gilded hilts and tips on the scabbards - one longsword with a striped pattern on its back, the other smaller with a spiral pattern at his left hip.

(LUCIO'S PERSONALITY):

• Quiet and steadfast, Lucio carries an air of professionalism unlike his mentor. Even in the face of immense adversity and scolding, he remains calm and collected, ready to continue his efforts even while confronted by the possibility of loss. Given his role as a possible tutor, he is expected to be prim, proper, and dutiful. Though he frequently criticizes his opponents' forms in combat, his words are not as harsh as his master's, as he attempts to use them as a point of growth rather than disappointment.

• Despite Valencina's abuse of Lucio, he feels permanently indebted to her for feeding and sheltering him, and is not willing to admit to her cruelness when asked. However, his combat passives demonstrate that he actually burns with resentment towards her, and has long been aware of her depravity, considering it his responsibility to eventually take her life.

(LUCIO'S STORY):

• At one point in his life, Valencina rescued Lucio from the Backstreets, giving him food and a home while he was a nobody with little future. He became Valencina's Apprentice, and the woman trained him in the Palermitan Style, intending to use him as a "textbook" for Yoshihide, to refresh her training upon her return to the House of Spiders. Like nearly all the Apprentices, Lucio was not formally a member of the Thumb, although he was expected by Valencina to conform to the Finger's rules of propriety and respect towards one's betters.

• Similarly to her treatment of Yoshihide, Valencina was extremely abusive towards Lucio, routinely beating and berating him, as well as expecting complete obedience from him. As Lucio felt indebted to her for having rescued him from his fate, he bore the abuse silently, although in time he grew to resent his master and repeatedly considered ending her life in her sleep. In one event, Kira recognized his hostility and asked if he was going to kill Valencina, although Lucio outright denied this and rejected Kira's advice.

• In preparation for Yoshihide's return to the House of Spiders, Lucio was instructed by Valencina to obtain information regarding Limbus Company and the people Yoshihide had been associating with, with him conducting research both on the company and on notable members such as Vergilius. Lucio would eventually make up his mind to kill Valencina after the House of Spiders completed this mission.

• While Vergilius was out with Charon, Saude, and Pilot, Valencina and Lucio ambushed the group, intending to keep the Color Fixer occupied during the House of Spiders' raid on the Limbus Company HQ. Knowing of Charon's importance to Vergilius, Valencina ordered her apprentice to kidnap and use her as a hostage. During this initial skirmish, Saude's arm was severed as she held on tightly to Charon, allowing Lucio to escape with the girl and then trail after Saude as she ran for backup.

• Lucio was able to locate Saude within a truck typically used to transport members of the Before Team, which was then occupied by the Sinners. He destroyed the roof of the vehicle, falling into it with an unconscious Charon in his arms and with several Ring-provided manikins as battle help. Wasting no time, he engaged in battle with the Sinners, where he utilized the Palermitan Style in attempts to dispatch his enemies. Recognizing this style, Ryōshū questioned its use before being informed of the man's status as her previous Nursefather's "textbook", aiming to replicate Ryōshū's abilities for her to re-learn the techniques. With this revelation, the Nursefather herself arrived on the scene and began scolding Lucio. As the two were not yet done fighting, Vergilius burst in shortly after and began clashing with Valencina again.

• Eventually, the Sinners were able to travel to Limbus Company HQ using the truck's Backdoor portal, and Lucio and Valencina stayed behind to continue distracting Vergilius. While Valencina related her twisted views on Lucio to Vergilius' relationship with Charon, Vergilius saw through her attempts to goad him into unsteadiness and focused on dismantling Lucio during the battle rather than the Nursefather of the Thumb. Lucio suffered great injuries during this encounter, as while the threat to Charon's life was severely hampering Vergilius' opportunities and cool-headedness, the Red Gaze was still more than capable of ripping through them. When Valencina eventually received the news that the Dihui Star had retrieved the Golden Boughs from the HQ, she gave Charon back to Vergilius and departed with Lucio.

• Later during Limbus Company's retaliative raid against the House of Spiders, Lucio was with his master in the Corridor of the Thumb. Vergilius, Rodion, Heathcliff, and Gregor eventually arrived, finding Lucio still injured and Valencina drunk. After some provocations from both sides, Valencina ordered Lucio to prepare for battle in spite of his injuries. Lucio proceeded to fight against the three Sinners while Valencina fought one-on-one against Vergilius; as the battle escalated, Vergilius and Valencina joined the others, and the Limbus Company team's strength began to overwhelm the two.

• When Lucio was wounded to the point where he could no longer fight, Valencina ordered him to continue attacking. The Sinners, recognizing that the youth needed urgent treatment, attempted to convince him to surrender rather than risk his life for someone who didn't value him.

(The story is cut from here because after that, Lucio died, which is not going to be canon in this main event of the scenario.)