Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lucilla held her grip tight over the wrist of the Celestial commander, dragging him further into the cover of the nearby forest from the Cradle of Truth. Her body ached horribly, her head hurt badly and she could feel blood slowly oozing out of her and splattering onto the ground. She was lucky that nobody had been following the two, as she wasn’t sure she or the Celestial were in any shape to fight at the moment. Especially not when he was still dazed from the horrible barrage of memories they both suffered under. She continued to pull him further into the forest until their knees both crumbled and they hit the floor. She could feel her breathing coming out hard and labored, as she turned to face the Celestial– Liberta, Liberta was his name.

Liberta… The name felt so foreign and familiar all at once on her tongue, even as she whispered it to herself while looking at him, studying his features. They were familiar, the light blue hair that was certain to be feathery and soft to the touch, his striking blue eyes that reminded her of a man with blonde hair, and a face shaped much like her own. He was breathing hard too, his breath coming out in short gasps as he tried to wrap his mind around everything. Me too , Lucilla could only think, I’m right there with you . She still felt rage, vengeance urging her to burn the forest to the ground and take back what’s hers. However, instead of moving her arm to pick her scythe up again, she moved her arm to grab tightly at Liberta’s hand to pull him close. 

The smell of Celestial blood forced its way into her nose as she hugged her brother tightly. Her other half, her little brother. If the gods truly did care about the world around them, why did pseudo-gods like Elijah and Lailah abandon them to be separated? Why now was she only ever reunited with her brother? Why are her fathers missing? Such questions were useless, but she couldn’t help but think them as Liberta’s hands gripped her tightly, as if afraid she’d fade away. Rage filled her once more, yearning to be satisfied by the blood of Conrad, and Morgana and every single being who aided them, yearning to take back her family and keep them safe for eternity. After a moment or two, of simply getting used to the touch of her brother again, she pulled away. She put on a smile, though it felt forced and pulled at her cheeks, and stood up, holding her hand out,

“Let’s go, Liberta!” She chirped, forcing cheer into her high-pitched voice. “We’re gonna make them pay for what they did to us!” 

However, unlike what she expected to happen, Liberta simply frowned and shook his head. She frowned too, pulling her hand back and making an inquisitive sound, crouching to be on level with him,

“We,” He began, voice soft and gentle. “We have to get our fathers back first.” 

It was a sound argument, and Lucilla fully agreed. In fact, that was her plan to begin with, so she was glad they were on the same page regarding the subject. She already had it envisioned in her head now, despite how much it hurt still, about how they’d free the Celestial and the Hypogean, see their fathers again and get revenge on every Celestial and Hypogean who ever had a hand in the separation of their family,

“But we can’t do anything right now,” Liberta continued. Lucilla’s line of thought stopped immediately as she stared at Liberta. “We’re in no condition to travel as we currently are, we need to rest.”

“But resting isn’t going to get anything done!” How could Liberta even suggest such a thing? They couldn’t take a moment and wait, they just.. They couldn’t! However, Lucilla’s body seemingly protested against her as well, aching terribly and begging her to take a moment to heal. 

“Resting will get something done, like a plan and course of action.” Liberta shot back. It was at that moment the fire in Lucilla’s heart burned low enough for her to see Liberta’s blood, because now she was feeling the full effects of the injuries she sustained from Liberta, and she could see Liberta’s exhaustion from his own injuries so clearly. She felt her features soften against her will, even as her heart tore itself in two. Eugene and the Celestial Pigeon… no, Eugene and Gavus would have to wait. For now, she had to focus on getting her and her brother somewhere safe for them to rest. She breathed in deeply, to shake off some of the pain and grabbed Liberta’s hand, squeezing it gently,

“Fine, we’ll do it your way. Not because I’m exhausted and in pain or anything, but…” She trailed off. Her head hurt too much to create a viable excuse as for why she would concede otherwise. Luckily, Liberta made no comment on it, only a humorless smile that Lucilla mirrored. The two siblings dragged themselves towards the nearest tree, leaning against it. Now that there was a chance to sit down and process everything, boy , did Lucilla’s mind start processing. She thought about the diary entries, how close she felt to Eugene already despite fuzzily having him in memory. Her last memory of him was a forced reassurance in his face and voice, giving her a gentle look as she screamed and thrashed in the arms of Conrad. 

She remembered storybooks, tales of grand Esperian heroes. Wilders, Maulers, Lightbearers, even the Graveborn had their own tales since Annih abandoned his duties. She remembered a warm voice telling her about Talene, Elijah and Lailah, even a story snuck in about a man named Leofric from Eugene. She remembered a Hypogean saying that they should be ready to fight one day, and little Liberta asking why they would need to. Innocent, naive. How could they have known only a few days later they would be screaming and thrashing in arms that held them tightly enough to bruise? That their fathers would be forced to their knees across from each other, forced to stare into one another’s eyes and at their anguished children? How were they supposed to know that the happy days they had weren’t going to last? 

How was she supposed to know? 

Lucilla heard a sob next to her, quiet and soft. If it had not been for the silence of the forest, Lucilla most likely wouldn’t have heard it either. She looked over towards Liberta, and watched, just for a second, as he sobbed quietly. Tears were escaping his eyes, obviously against his will, as he pressed his hands to his face and curled in on himself. She sniffled in response, unsure if she truly was emotional at the moment, or if she was feeling the emotions of her little brother. Either way, it didn’t matter. Not now. She curled herself around Liberta, beginning to sob herself. So many thoughts were whirling in her head, and it still hurt, everything hurt. Her body hurt, her heart hurt, her head hurt, her memories, her little brother, everything. It all hurt, and she felt like a little kid again, crying over the pain that brought her vision to the stars and forced her to her knees. 

Liberta managed to move himself to where they were hugging once again, sobbing openly and crying. His cries were ugly, gut-wrenching to hear, as he mourned at the same time she was. She couldn’t stop herself from digging her face into his shoulder, holding on tighter than she thought was possible. If she was hurting him, he didn’t say anything, only continuing to cry.

They were crying themselves to even more exhaustion, she realized after what felt like hours. The emotional moment dragged them through the mud further than they already were, to the point where Liberta had clearly fallen asleep. His breaths had calmed, falling to a rhythmic flow that told her he was deep in slumber. She wasn’t that far herself. Her eyes felt wet and her eyelashes sticking together from her tears, and she could barely keep her eyelids open. Her arms felt like lead, even as she tightly held onto the sleeping form of her little brother, and her body’s ache was dulling to make way for unconsciousness. 

With little resistance, Lucilla fell asleep.

The night was fully upon them by the time Lucilla woke up, still wrapped around her sleeping little brother. Her wounds were already healing, her magic humming beneath her skin and stitching the muscle, skin and everything else that was broken back together. Her head felt much better too, it was no longer throbbing with pain anymore, so she could only imagine the memories finally settled within her head. What was most notable, however, were the teardrops still making their way out of her eyes. Had she been crying, even in her sleep? What did she dream about that made her cry? Lucilla wasn’t much of a cryer, if she was honest. When she was a child, it was always Liberta crying. She favored laughing off the pain and making something good out of it. But there truly was no good to be made out of this other than to move forward.

Speaking of, they had some discussion to do. She pushed lightly at Liberta’s shoulder, using a kind of gentleness she wasn’t used to. Now that she was thinking about it, this entire situation had her acting out of character. Normally, she would have thrown anyone else off her by now, yelling at them about how insolent they were to sleep on her. But Liberta? No, never. Perhaps it was instincts of an older sister, and he certainly was a tough kid, but he was still a kid (She deliberately ignored the part where she was a kid too. She couldn’t be, not after everything.). He was still little Liberta in her eyes, even when she briefly forgot about him. However, even with gentle shaking, Liberta didn’t seem to want to wake up. She frowned, removing herself from his hold and standing up.

She pondered what she should do, since they didn’t really have time to be sleeping in the middle of the forest. They were still close to the Cradle of Truth, too close for Lucilla’s liking. She had to wake Liberta up, but how? She pursed her lips, scanning the forest for something– anything. Crimson and yellow eyes landed on a spider, scuttling about. It looked similar to the one her friend had given her at the base back in the Cradle of Truth, and she smiled a little at the thought. She hoped they were doing well, and that they weren’t worrying about her… What was she thinking? She scrunched her face up, and quickly scooped the spider up,

“Sorry not sorry, Liberta.” She put the spider on his hand, watching it scuttle up his arm. She sat down a few feet away, watching as his face scrunched up much similarly to the way hers did just mere moments ago, though the spider did not seem to stop its exploration. It ran up Liberta’s arm onto his shoulder, then to his chest, seemingly lost. Liberta shifted slightly, and Lucilla was beginning to doubt this would work. Luckily, the spider pulled through and seemed to make its way onto Liberta’s neck. His eyes shot open as he quickly sat up, scaring the poor spider into crawling back down from his neck. He took a moment, maybe two, to come back into awareness while Lucilla smiled innocently. Blue eyes gazed at her with suspicion, then he looked down to seemingly figure out what that crawling feeling was on his body.

Lucilla couldn’t stop herself from laughing at Liberta’s subsequent scream. He yelped so loudly she swore some birds woke up from their nest, swatting at the spider frantically. She quickly took the spider off him, laughing all the while,

“That was not funny, Lucilla!” He whined. Lucilla set the spider down, grinning,

“It was.”

“It wasn’t!” 

“It was, as the older sibling, it most definitely was,” She had a smug smile on her face. “And you weren’t getting up, it was a win-win.”

“For you, maybe.” He muttered, before smoothing his features from upset to calm again. Lucilla frowned at how easily he seemed to do it, but said nothing of it. “So, shall we get to business then?” 

“‘Shall we’? How old are you, 100?” She commented, hoping to get another rise out of him. However, he stayed silent and unresponsive to the bait, leveling her with an unamused stare. Fine. “Fine, business it is then. What do you want to discuss?”

“First of all, we should exchange information. We both know the basics, like Papa and Father’s names. But we don’t know what each other knows.” Liberta shifted into sitting with crossed legs, playing around with his magic a little as he spoke. Lucilla wasn’t sure if he was aware of the habit, but she, once again, chose not to say anything in favor of responding,

“Well, I know that there was talk of a Hypogean Defector from a few years ago when me and my crew were gearing up for the war,” She began. “I asked them about it, and though they didn’t give me a name, they talked about him using his title, Fool of Chaos, and said that he was put in the Infernal Gaol since Leofric vouched for his life and usefulness.”

“Infernal Gaol?” Liberta questioned. Lucilla hummed, nodding,

“Your pigeon buddies probably don’t know, but Hypogeans keep prisoner of war settlements when it comes to our own blood or strategic plays. The Infernal Gaol is one of them, mainly utilized for conditions where the prisoner is expected to never be traded away or to leave.” She explained. “I, personally, have never used it and my superiors or buddies never saw it useful to actually tell me where the damn thing is. So, we’ll have to go looking for it ourselves.”

Lucilla would’ve laughed at the look on Liberta’s face if the situation wasn’t serious. He looked tired, not in a physical way, but in the way where you hear bullshit and you think wow, that’s bullshit . He looked like that, and Lucilla agreed with him in this regard. It was bullshit that she wasn’t told where the prison was. Liberta opened his mouth to say something, but closed it, seemingly thinking better of what he was going to say. She waited in impatient silence, about to open her own mouth to speak again to demand him to tell her what he was going to say, but Liberta spoke up before she could,

“I see.” He fiddled with his magic a bit more, sparks of blue and yellow dancing between his fingertips. “On my end, the information is fairly simple. I knew of Ga– Papa prior to the diary entry pages being found since he was a fellow apprentice of Master Morgana, and it was hard to erase his presence in the Sanctum… But I had always assumed he died, since Master Morgana refused to talk about him other than a vague story, and her expression would always get cloudy and dark when I asked.” 

Liberta’s face became troubled as he paused, letting the words sink in. Lucilla couldn’t miss the implications, even if she tried, because they were very clearly there. Liberta was saying there was a chance the pseudo-gods killed Gavus. Lucilla’s heart fired up immediately, begging her not to listen and to quell the doubts as soon as possible. Gavus couldn’t be dead! He just couldn’t be! Lucilla sent Liberta a hard stare,

“But he’s not dead.” She said firmly. Her voice left no room for argument. “So, since he’s not dead, where would he be? Do you have an idea?” 

“Uh-uhm, right. Well, the only place I would think of is the Penitentiary of Justice. It’s a prison near the Sanctum that’s very high security for high-level threats or important prisoners. I haven’t actually visited or seen it myself, I’m not allowed to, but Master Morgana taught me a little about it.” Liberta’s voice stumbled a bit at the beginning, as if pulled out of his own thoughts. Good , she thought, Don’t think about something that won’t come to pass . Though, one detail caught her attention,

“Is Gavus really that important of a name among the pigeonheads?” She asked. Since he was an apprentice under Morgana, it probably made sense. But still, she couldn’t really find the similarity between her papa, who read her bedtime stories and learned how to cook just for his kids, with an important all-knowing Celestial,

“Well, he was the apprentice before me, and I’d imagine that if… I’d imagine that Master Morgana would keep him close rather than send him to another prison since she cares about him,” Obviously not , Lucilla bitterly thought. Morgana sounded as bad as Conrad, but somehow worse. At least Conrad didn’t pretend to care, but it seemed Morgana did. “He was also very powerful, according to some of the Celestials who knew him.”

Of course he was, Lucilla and Liberta saw it firsthand during the invasion of their home. But hearing it, hearing that he was powerful enough to be considered a high-level threat… She felt pride blossom in her chest. Lucilla hummed,

“I do know that the Infernal Gaol isn’t as important as the Penitenta-something of quote unquote Justice.” She rolled her eyes when she said ‘justice’. “It’s just one of the jails that we have.” 

“A jail they weren’t giving you the location of,” Liberta commented. Which, fair. “But if what you say is true… Then I believe we should try looking there first for Papa. It might be easier for us to take on without the worry of a major Hypogean outcry.” 

Lucilla nodded her agreement, not to mention she was pretty curious what the Infernal Gaol even looked like. She promptly stood up, dusting her dress off and holding a hand out to her little brother,

“Well then, we got our plan, Libby!” She chirped. Liberta rolled his eyes, taking her hand and letting her pull him up,

“Please don’t call me Libby. And we still don’t know where the Infernal Gaol even is. We’ll have to find its location first.” What a spoilsport her little brother was. She stuck her tongue back out at him,

“Fine, Bert , where do you suppose we go? A Hypogean camp? Yeah, sure, they’ll tell us when pigs fly.” She crossed her arms. Liberta’s face went to shock, before turning incredulous, 

“Bert?” He asked himself. “ Bert? No– No, focus Liberta. Focus. I have an idea that might or might not work.” 

Lucilla raised an eyebrow, picking up her crimson scythe, 

“And what is that, dear brother?”

“How do you feel about going into a town?” 

What?

“What?” She asked, confusion pausing all processes in her brain so she could process the suggestion. Liberta smiled sheepishly under her gaze,

“I was just thinking… If there’s anyone who’d know about the Infernal Gaol, they might be in a town and willing to talk about it. A–and it’d be a great way for us to properly rebuild our strength.” The last excuse was bullshit to Lucilla’s ears, but she let it slide. “Not to mention… We may come across someone who knows a lot about Hypogean settlements, since it’s not just Celestials fighting the war.” 

She hummed, thinking about the suggestion. They had no other leads, and she really didn’t feel like storming every single Hypogean camp she knew of, since that’d alert the Hypogeans to her and Liberta still being alive and around. It would be best to keep the cover of an unknown fate, rather than alert them to her presence. So, she nodded,

“Alright then, a town it is. Lead the way, Libby!” 

“Please stop calling me that.”

“Bert, then!”

“Not that either!”

Chapter Text

They ended up traveling for quite a few days, and in that time they managed to learn a lot about each other. Mainly, Lucilla learned that Liberta had never gone outside the Celestial Sanctum properly. A concerning fact of his life, one Lucilla was certain was the fault of Morgana, but it was cute seeing his reactions to very simple aspects of the outside world. Liberta also learned that Lucilla was awful at social interaction, something she blamed on loneliness since she never had friends (Gee, thanks Conrad!) prior to one single guy. This made it “impossibly funny” to Liberta when they would occasionally run into a traveling merchant, as Lucilla, disguised as a Mauler, would fumble over her words trying not to order the poor person around. Lucilla, however, thought Liberta’s opinion on what’s funny and what’s not shouldn’t count, since by the end of those interactions, Lucilla was always certain her soul had left her body and it was never going to come back.

While they were traveling, they decided on a town, too. Lucilla had suggested offhandedly that they could go to Saltwater Town, as it was a place some Hypogeans would head to due to the back alley deals that would happen. It wasn’t too unknown for a Hypogean to be a customer or client, though it was all considered hush-hush among the town. Despite that, it was a start, and a good lead too in Lucilla’s eyes. So, after running into one particular traveler, some kid named Rowan, they managed to secure a route to Saltwater Town and began to head in that direction. The journey was relatively quick, with Lucilla and Liberta being divine in origin, so it was no surprise to either of them when they found themselves outside the town.

So, what had been preventing them from entering the town? An argument. Lucilla was going to disguise herself as a Mauler for the entire time, but she just had to mention off-handedly at some point prior that her magic concerning that area was shaky at best and it might give way since it wasn’t a skill she was properly taught or had to focus on. Liberta had some issues with this arrangement, since he argued that he didn’t want the townspeople to be scared nor did he want Lucilla to get hurt, so he thought it would be best if he went into town alone instead. This was a very obvious problem for Lucilla, and seemingly not an obvious one for Liberta, so they were arguing a little ways in the cover of the forest next to Saltwater Town,

“I’ll be fine , Lucilla! Trust me. I was a commander just as you were, do you really think I can’t handle myself alone?” Liberta said. He was obviously trying to keep his calm, but frustration seeped into his tone and made it obvious that his irritation with the argument was growing.

“That’s not the problem! You know that’s not the problem! The problem is you haven’t interacted with the outside world enough to confidently handle this, and I have! I can use my magic to disguise myself, the villagers won’t know a thing! You’re overreacting.” Lucilla hissed, pacing back and forth. Her voice had raised a bit, and she was so close to tearing into the nearest tree. Why wasn’t he listening to her? Lucilla wondered if he simply had some leftover hatred for Hypogeans as she knew she had her own biases still against the Celestials, but that shouldn’t extend to her ! She never extended her bias to him, so why can’t he do the same for her? 

“And you can’t confidently use that magic! Lucilla, the people of this world are not that friendly to Hypogeans, we don’t know what could happen if your disguise falls.” He reasoned. Some reasoning that was! Damn it, damn it all. She hissed again, this time without words. “Let’s just calm down and–” 

“A Celestial and Hypogean? Haven’t seen that kind of mix in a while.” A third voice said from nowhere. Immediately the siblings got into a fighting position, Lucilla digging her feet in and holding her crimson scythe, whilst Liberta backed away from the voice and held up his wand. “Whoa, whoa, easy there.”

The third voice revealed itself to be a dwarf, holding his hands up. He had a long beard, brown and braided, with a green gem and gold band. He looked middle-aged, and seemed to be some kind of mechanic or something. Lucilla tightened her grip on her scythe, but Liberta lowered his wand slightly. The dwarf sighed,

“Kids these days,” He muttered to himself. “Listen up. Are you Eugene’s squirts?” 

It seemed as though time stopped the moment the dwarf mentioned Eugene’s name. Lucilla and Liberta looked at each other, a silent conversation happening between the two. Lucilla dropped her defensive stance slowly, with Liberta facing back towards the dwarf. The dwarf in question squinted,

“Did Eugene not tell either of you about me? I’d have thought his friend would.” The dwarf scratched the top of his head. “I’m Kadrin, a friend of Eugene’s.”

Kadrin… Kadrin. She rolled the name over and over in her mind, testing its balance and weight. Meanwhile, Liberta spoke up,

“Erm, yes. We are Father’s kids.” His voice was uncertain, as though he were testing the waters. Lucilla supposed he was, this was their first interaction with someone who saw them as they were and not a simple traveling Lightbearer and Mauler pair. Kadrin hummed, nodding,

“Thought so. You were arguing about getting into Saltwater Town, ey?” Kadrin eyed both of them to confirm if he was right. It was at that moment that Lucilla was hit with a question,

“Wait, how much did you hear?” She asked. It felt reasonable to ask, but Liberta shot her a look. She didn’t know what that was about, the question was perfectly fine! So she shot Liberta a look right back.

“About half of it. You two got pretty loud at one point. Mostly you.” Lucilla’s face heated up with embarrassment at the call-out. She asked how much he heard, not who was the loudest! Lucilla shot a look of betrayal at Liberta’s horrible attempts at hiding his amusement. She mentally listed him as top priority on her vengeance list. He’ll get another spider awakening for that, or maybe she’ll get more creative. “What’s the exact issue?”

Before Liberta could speak and ruin it for her, Lucilla opened her mouth,

“Well, Liberta and I were wanting to get into Saltwater Town but my disguise magic isn’t very good and Liberta thinks I should just wait outside the town. Except I have to protect him by order of our dads, so he can’t go in by himself.” She explained, pointedly ignoring Liberta’s glare. “Not to mention, he hasn’t stepped a foot into the real world since ever and now he’s suddenly acting like he can handle an entire town by himself!” 

Kadrin scratched his beard, listening to Lucilla’s story. Liberta, on the other hand, rolled his eyes,

“But you can’t keep a disguise up for the entire time! Who knows if, and when, you’ll be found out?” He said, frustration beginning to bleed out into his tone. It was as if Lucilla wasn’t getting it, even though the opposite was true. She glared at him, about to open her mouth when Kadrin butt in,

“Girl, how long can you hold a disguise?” He asked. Lucilla made an ‘eh’ gesture with her hand,

“About 30 minutes? An hour if I try to push it, but it doesn’t last that long usually.” She noted. Kadrin made an understanding hum, scratching his beard once more before pointing at Lucilla,

“You,” He moved his finger to Liberta. “And you, and your fathers can come back with me to the repair shop. Speaking of, where is Eugene and his bud?” 

Silence met the dwarf, who squinted his eyes at the two siblings. Liberta looked down, and Lucilla uncomfortably shifted. He seemingly connected the dots in his mind, a look of pity flashing over his face. Kadrin shifted a bit, seemingly unsure of how to progress, and Lucilla wasn’t quite sure what went through his mind at that moment. A billion things, maybe. Perhaps he connected the dots to the more logical conclusion, that Eugene and Gavus had been killed for their union, leaving behind their two children to pick up the pieces of a broken family. Lucilla found herself convinced that would be the case if they stayed imprisoned, because what good were having two living fathers if they were dead to the world, and thus to her?

“Girl,” Kadrin called. “Disguise yourself, we’ll head out now. You too, boy.” 

“We have names, you know.” Lucilla grouched. 

“Oh really? I haven’t heard you introduce either of yourselves.”

“I’m Liberta,” Liberta chimed in. “That’s Lucilla.” 

“And that’s bullshit!” Lucilla exclaimed. “You heard me say Liberta’s name! I said it! Clearly to you!” 

Kadrin grinned, and Lucilla belatedly realized he had been distracting them from the original topic to get rid of the somber mood. She grinned back, thankful. Plus, they had good news to deliver to Kadrin anyway… As soon as they got to his repair shop, that is. 

After the siblings disguised themselves, the three made their way through the town with little incident. Apparently the townspeople had better things to do than scrutinize a Mauler, Lightbearer and a dwarf, and the three had a nice conversation. Mainly about what Kadrin had been up to outside the town. Apparently, the dwarf had a request to fix something by some hot-shot human earl, having been recommended to this earl once by a friend. The earl requested that he fix something, which he did dutifully, though he explained he doesn’t really do out-of-town fixing often. Just for the rich guys with large sums of money who would be willing to pay. A fair and understandable deal, considering he was the only one working his repair shop and taking the time to travel out for just about anyone would be time better spent in the shop fixing someone else’s stuff, so Lucilla could understand it.

Once they got to the shop, Kadrin locked the door. It was a signal to Lucilla that she could drop the disguise, and she did so gladly. The glamor washed off her face and body like makeup, and she watched as Liberta took the hood off his head. Kadrin settled down behind the front table, looking at both Lucilla and Liberta with something in his eyes, an emotion she couldn’t figure out. He leaned forward, clasping his hands together, as the look on his face hardened,

“So,” He began. Kadrin waited a moment, as though hesitant on if he should broach the topic. “Tell me what happened to Eugene and his friend.” 

Well, Lucilla appreciated how direct he was being. She glanced over at Liberta, gauging briefly if he wanted to respond, before responding herself for both of them,

“Eugene and Gavus have been imprisoned by the Celestials and Hypogeans… Not in that order. But the plan is, we are going to break them out!” She proudly proclaimed. Lucilla felt an elbow in her ribs, and she shot a glare towards Liberta, who gave her a stink eye right back.

“Lower your voice, please.” Liberta began, and Lucilla felt her face heat up a bit. “Thank you, Kadrin, for allowing us shelter here. We would not like to involve you, though, and we only merely came here to receive intel. We will not stay long.”

“I don’t want to be involved directly anyways,” Kadrin began, face yet again unreadable. “But Eugene… I owe him. I’ll let you two kids stay here until it’s time for you to get going.” 

Liberta smiled, one that was grateful yet graceful, serene and practiced. “Thank you, Kadrin.”

Lucilla was about to begin another conversation when Liberta turned towards the door, walking towards it,

“And where do you think you’re going?” Lucilla called out, putting one hand on her hip. She tried her best to do an ‘older sister’ voice, but she wasn’t sure if it was good enough. Maybe she’d ask for some tips from… someone. She’ll come up with a solution! No, focus, Lucilla. Focus! She tapped her foot impatiently to add to the effect,

“I’m going to go looking for intel. Since you are in the town, and Kadrin is allowing us refuge, I figured that time shouldn’t be wasted.” Liberta lifted the hood up, hiding his halo and effectively disguising him for the moment. If anyone looked a bit too closely, they might have suspicions, but the excuse of him being a very devout lightbearer typically waved them off. Lucilla scrunched her face, about to speak, but Kadrin beat her to it,

“Come back by nightfall, you hear? If you’re late, I’m sending your sister after you.” He left no room for argument in his voice. Lucilla shot a look of betrayal towards Kadrin, about to speak her own piece, but Liberta had already left the shop. She frowned, walking towards the door and setting her crimson scythe down beside it, then turning to face Kadrin,

“Why’d you let him go?” She asked.

“Do you not trust him?” Kadrin responded.

“I trust him completely! I just don’t trust his social skills!” 

“He’ll live.” Kadrin shrugged. “You can’t be at his side forever, and I’m sure he’s smart enough to avoid being taken advantage of by backwards deals.”

“But what if he’s not?” Lucilla questioned, beginning to pace. “What if those Pigeonheads didn’t teach him much of anything about how people lie and cheat? What if he gets hurt?”

Kadrin snorted at hearing the word ‘Pigeonhead’, but he didn’t comment on that specifically, instead asking a simple, “And if he doesn’t?”

“What?”

“What if he doesn’t get hurt?” Kadrin repeated. “He’s not a little kid, and you’re both strong. I know I just met ya, but you can tell these things when you get older, and right now, I can tell you, he’s capable enough to do it on his own.”

Lucilla frowned. She didn’t like being met with the idea she was worrying over nothing, and maybe she was. Maybe, she was also upset that she couldn’t do anything but wait. Maybe she didn’t like the idea that her little brother could go out and get intel while Lucilla had to hide because of her Hypogean nature. Maybe she didn’t wanna feel useless–

“Stop pacing.” Kadrin said suddenly. “Come with me.” 

He took her upstairs, where a workshop was. It was loaded with unfinished gadgets, gizmos and doo-dads. She gazed curiously at them, but followed dutifully behind Kadrin instead of wandering off. Kadrin grabbed an unfinished ‘thing’ from a shelf, taking it to the desk,

“This is one of the personal projects I never got to finish. If you have enough energy to be pacing, you have enough energy to help me finish it.” Kadrin explained, sitting down in his chair. “All you need to do is watch and give me tools as I need them. Can you do that?”

Lucilla let out an offended noise,

“That sounds so simple, even a baby can do it! Of course I can!” She puffed her cheeks out, leaning over Kadrin to watch him work. They worked in silence, mostly, only being broken by Kadrin’s call for a tool, and Lucilla’s question of what that tool even looked like. Eventually, Kadrin started explaining the mechanism of the gadget to her, but it was all flying over her head. After a while of Kadrin explaining how it worked, and what he was doing, she interrupted him,

“Can you… tell me stories of Eugene?” She felt embarrassed to ask. It felt like too vulnerable of a question but… Kadrin was a friend of Eugene’s, and was her closest way to connecting to him at that moment. She watched as Kadrin paused, before hearing a chuckle sound from the dwarf,

“Just as rude, huh.” He commented to himself, low but not so low she couldn’t pick up on it. He raised his voice afterwards. “Hell, why not. I hope you pay attention to these more than you did my explanations.” 

Ah. Called out. She smiled sheepishly, oops.

Liberta let out a small sound of frustration by the time the 19th person turned him down. Nobody knew anything about Hypogean settlements, and those who did say they knew something felt uncomfortably close to cultists, so he tried to veer away from asking them. But it seemed like he might have to ask them eventually, which he really didn’t want to do. The townspeople kept eyeing him with suspicion too, which would’ve been fine except for the fact he was pretty sure they were lumping him in with the cultists. Sorry to burst their bubbles, but Liberta was not going to be taking advantage of people who are vulnerable emotionally and put them into mentally and physically dangerous situations. No way, no say, no how! 

Except why are the cultists the only ones who knew anything about the Hypogeans?! Why can’t he get a normal person who just so happened to like Hypogean movements in the war enough to study them? 

Breathe in , Liberta inhaled, breathe out. Compose yourself, you’re a Celestial , Liberta thought. He felt a small bit of shame arise in him, simply adding to the mass amounts that had been plaguing him since he and Lucilla had fled the War. Guilt and shame was all he had to feel these days when he was alone with his thoughts. Shame for leaving Master Morgana and the rest of the Celestials and guilt for feeling shameful about leaving the Celestials when they were the ones who hurt his family. Guilt for betraying Master Morgana and his friends, shame for even considering he was feeling guilty. He wished that everything was only a matter of misunderstanding, that the Celestials couldn’t be the bad guys at all! A sick feeling flooded through Liberta’s veins at the thought, not because the very thought of the Celestial’s disgusted him, but rather it was the cold ice feeling of knowing that his thoughts were a lie.

The Celestials could be bad people, Liberta knew that for quite some time. The Hypogeans had the freedom that they could be bad people without it affecting anything about them, they could freely admit to their sins and be proud of it. The Celestials, however, had a habit of committing moral wrongs for the sake of long-term rights. They found themselves unable to help the everyday people, yet only able to kill someone’s son, or their entire race, for the sake of the world Honas had created. Perhaps it was just, but Liberta thought it was old-fashioned. He once asked, as a young child, to Master Morgana a question. It was innocent, as all childish questions are, and it was about if there was another option. If they could help find a happy ending for everyone, not just a hard sacrifice. Because he was a child, Master Morgana had picked him up and petted his hair. She explained to him that because they are Celestials, they are able to make the hard sacrifices and bear those sins, for they will always be forgiven for it. That was their role, and their duty.

Lies , Liberta thought as the memory came to mind. For it was all lies, and he would not say it wasn’t. There was always another option, and if there wasn’t, then who had made it so that there wouldn’t be? Why not blame them? Why did someone innocent have to be the scapegoat, the killed, or the martyred? He knew the answers to all the questions, but admitting them was much harder. After all, it’s hard to blame gods who are asleep, dead, or otherwise gone. Anyways , Liberta entered a tavern. His eyes widened at the sights he saw.

Sound was all around, from the lively music playing from the bards and musicians, to the conversations of the patrons. Even though the sun had barely made it past the horizon, there were already many people inside with alcohol. Liberta presumed that the liveliness was due to some kind of event, because he’s not sure why else there would be that many people. The joyful and jolly atmosphere of the tavern had Liberta feeling hopeful and smiling just a little. He stepped forward and further into the tavern, dodging patrons and employees alike until he made his way to the bar. 

It wasn’t so packed that the bar was full, but the seats were almost all taken. He chose a place near the end of the bar, next to some red-headed man with some kind of guitar leaning next to him. Liberta sat down, soaking in the experience one last time. The small tinge of longing begged him to join the joyful atmosphere, to meet some people and make some friends, but Liberta pushed it down. He had no reason to indulge in childish wants to join in on a lively atmosphere, not when he had business to do. So, he called down the bartender, who skeptically eyed him,

“You don’t look old enough to be in this area of the tavern, kiddo.” His voice was gruff, and Liberta shifted a bit under his skeptical gaze. He gave a sheepish smile, 

“Sorry, I really am not supposed to be here but,” Liberta sat up a bit, straightening his posture. “Do you happen to know any Hypogean settlements that would contain the Infernal Gaol?”

The man next to him choked suddenly, spooking Liberta and drawing both the gaze of the bartender and Liberta to him. He waved a hand, letting out a quick “I’m fine” while not-so-subtly drowning a bit in his alcohol. Liberta frowned, but the bartender quickly pulled his attention away from the choking man,

“Now why would you want to know about something like that?” The man sounded suspicious, much more than he was before. Liberta looked around, before leaning forward,

“I think I lost someone important to me there, and I need to know where it is.” Liberta said earnestly. The bartender seemed to think for a moment, and Liberta grew hopeful. Then, the man shook his head,

“Don’t know any kind of settlement near this town, if there were we’d all have left by now.” The bartender said, crossing his arms. “Is that all?”

Liberta nodded, his hopes dashed completely. He watched as the bartender left to go serve someone else, and let his head hit the top of the table. Other than interrogating every single person in the tavern, he was running out of options and time. He had to be back soon, and he wasn’t sure if it was nightfall already or not. He got up to leave, but the red-headed man who choked earlier grabbed his wrist, an easy-going grin on his face,

“So, you’re looking for the Infernal Gaol?” The man asked. Liberta jolted, yanking his hand back. Something about that man’s grip…  “Easy, easy. I’m not gonna hurt ya over this.” 

Liberta never once lost his suspicion, even after the man stood up with his guitar. The man held out a hand, a grin on his face,

“I’m Lavan, stage-name ‘Lavatune’.” The man introduced himself. Liberta took the hand, feeling slightly uncomfortable once more. It was vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t place a finger on it. Lavan’s eyes glinted red, and it was at that moment that Liberta realized it. Lavan must have realized it too, since he tightened his grip over Liberta’s hand and dragged them both out of the tavern before Liberta could even say anything.

Into an alleyway, under the cover of night, Liberta stared bewildered. A Hypogean! He pulled his hand away once the shock wore off, readying Gemini Equilus for a potential battle. Lavan put both his hands up near his head,

“Whoa, whoa, easy there, lil’ dude.” Lavan’s eyes shifted again to red, the glamor fading just the smallest bit to reveal the blacked sclera as well. “I don’t mean to harm ya unless you mean to harm me.” 

Liberta lowered Gemini Equilus slightly, before raising it back up,

“And how am I to trust the words of a Hypogean?” He asked.

“Because I’m here for a festival.” Lavan answered simply, keeping his hands raised. “And I don’t need no kindsa fights dullin’ my vibe, ya know? My concerts ain’t gonna play nice if my bass is all banged up.”

“Your… Bass? Wait, that’s not a guitar?” Liberta couldn’t stop himself from asking it. He stared at the bass, feeling a little bit embarrassed he thought it was a guitar. Lavan’s hands moved to his face, a groan of some kind of long-suffering sounded from behind the hands as Lavan pulled them down his face,

“Everyone, everyone , mistakes it for a goddamn guitar! ” He growled, inhaling deeply and moving to lean against the wall. “Nah, it’s no guitar. It’s a bass, I call ‘er Bawling Bass.” 

Liberta lowered Gemini Equilus, looking at the bass with wide eyes. He stepped a bit closer unconsciously, 

“So you’re actually a musician?” Liberta asked, moving his gaze from the bass to Lavan. He wasn’t sure if he should be surprised that a Hypogean had interest in actually learning music.

“Oh, hell yeah I am! You should check out my music at the concert tomorrow, kid, you seem like someone who’d enjoy a good bit of rock’n’roll.” Lavan smirked. Then his smirk dropped as he lowered himself to crouch against the wall, patting the area next to him as a silent sort of ‘come sit next to me’. Liberta stayed where he was, tilting his head. “You’re looking for the Infernal Gaol because someone close to you was taken, right?” 

Liberta nodded. He had to give it to the Hypogean, the guy was literally right next to him as he gave this information and choked on his drink. It wasn’t all that surprising, so Liberta nodded. Lavan made a thinking face. He stared intently at Liberta, as if trying to find something in him. He got up and stepped forward, leaning down right in front of Liberta to inspect his eyes a bit more closely. Liberta felt the urge to back up, but the alley wall was behind him and he had nowhere else to go, so he stayed firm and held the others' gaze.

“No shit, you do have his eyes, huh.” Lavan whispered. Lavan got up, stepping back once more and letting out a bitter laugh. “Those bastards.” 

Liberta watched the other man, confused. Lavan dragged another hand down his face,

“Alright. It’s the least I can do, fucking hell.” Lavan muttered to himself. “Listen up, kid. Real name’s Lavatune, and if my hunch is correct, then you’re one of the misfit children an old friend of mine ran off to raise. Is my hunch correct?”

Liberta eyed Lavan– Lavatune, frowning,

“The eyes?” He asked. 

“You have his eyes. A glint of ‘em, here and there, but you’ve got his eyes. Yellow sparks on a blue winter morning, kid.” Lavatune made a vague gesture. “He had yellow sparks on a crimson sky. Can’t forget eyes like those, not even now.” 

Liberta paused. Lavatune was implying, in a not-so-subtle way, that he knew Eugene personally enough to know the color of Eugene’s eyes, and he saw some of that color in Liberta. An unknown warmth flashed through Liberta as he processed what it meant. Sure, Liberta and Eugene weren’t related, but the mere idea that he had at least some features of one of his parents made him feel proud. Liberta pushed down the warm unknown feeling, stoning his features as he nodded,

“I am Liberta, son of Eugene and Gavus, and I’m looking for Eugene. Do you know where the Infernal Gaol is, Lavatune?” Liberta put on his ‘commander’ voice, standing tall and staring hard at Lavatune. Which… admittedly may not be the best way to go about this, but it was the only way Liberta could think of to continue the conversation professionally without acting like a child. Lavatune huffed and shook his head,

“Damn Annih, it really is him.” Lavatune muttered, and Liberta wondered if half of this conversation was simply Lavatune thinking out loud. Maybe it was just a Hypogean thing… or maybe it was a Lavatune thing. “Alright kid, let’s strike a deal. I’ll tell you where it is… If you come see the concert tomorrow.”

Information coming at a price, classic Hypogeans. Liberta was about to say no, but– wait, what? 

“Go to the concert tomorrow?” Liberta repeated incredulously. 

“You keep repeating a lot of what I say. Are you sure your ears are workin’, kid?” Lavatune paused. “Wait, wait, are you deaf? Hard of hearing? Do you need me to do sign language? What sign languages do you speak? I know at least as far as Oakenfell sign language but I’m going to be clueless if you know any others.”

“No, no… No sign languages, I’m uh, I’m not deaf or hard of hearing.” The sentiment that Lavatune was willing to accommodate was a bit nice though. “It’s just, I didn’t expect such important information to be given away at the price of enjoying music.” 

“Oh.” Lavatune barked out a laugh. “Oh I see. Well, consider it a favor for an old friend. Here’s a slip of paper that’ll let you backstage.”

He handed Liberta a neat little ticket with the words ‘BACKSTAGE VISITOR’ scrawled on it in messy script. He turned the ticket over, unsurprised to see ‘LAVATUNE’ scrawled on it. So this was Lavatune’s handwriting. Somehow, it was very fitting for the rocker in front of him. Liberta inspected it, before looking back up at Lavatune,

“Does this work for two people?” He asked. “My sister, Lucilla, is also looking for our fathers with me, and I doubt she’d want to miss this.” Not to mention, he felt safer if she would be able to come with him. Lavatune leaned back and nodded,

“Yeah, I’ll tell the guys at the stage to let anyone with that bit of paper and their friends in. Oh, and before I forget, venue's in the town square.” Lavatune’s voice was barely hiding his glee, and Liberta, despite the circumstances, felt himself get a little bit excited. After all, this would be a concert! Liberta nodded, thanking the other as he turned to go,

“See you soon then, Mr. Lavatune. Thank you for the deal, we’ll be there!” Liberta waved goodbye and began to walk out into the street.

The moon glimmered beautifully in the night and– uh oh. 

“Where is he?!” Lucilla stomped down the stairs. She was barely holding herself back from rudely racing out of the shop, merely slowing her pace enough so that she wouldn’t trip down the stairs. As soon as her feet touched the ground floor, she was off in the direction of her scythe. It hummed with Hypogean energy, magic responding to her emotions confidently. She gripped it tight, allowing the stolen magic in it to flow over her and bend her own magic into a powerful weapon. Lucilla didn’t bother turning back to tell Kadrin she was heading out, that much was obvious, so she simply reached for the door and opened it.

To find Liberta standing there. Awkwardly. Lucilla’s mouth fell open from the shock, and Liberta was looking wide eyed at her. They stared at each other for a second, maybe two, before Lucilla grabbed Liberta’s wrist and dragged him into the shop, slamming the door shut behind him,

“Just where were you?!” She hissed, pointing her scythe at him. Liberta pursed his lips, tipping the sharp edge of the scythe away from him,

“Don’t point that at me. And, I was out finding a lead, we established that’s where I was.” He crossed his arms.

“We also established a curfew!” 

“I didn’t mean to go out for that long! Look, calm down, I’ll tell you what happened but I don’t want you yelling at me the entire time.” They stared at each other, long and hard, before Lucilla conceded. She pulled the scythe back, and walked away to set it down. 

“I hope you have a good reason, then!”

As it turned out, he had both a good and a horrible reason. Lucilla listened as Liberta explained what happened at the tavern, meeting a man named Lavan who turned out to be a Hypogean named Lavatune, and a concert,

“... And that brings me to now,” Liberta concluded. “I’m planning on going to that concert to see if I can learn more, and I asked him if you could come too, and he agreed.”

Lucilla gave Liberta disbelieving look, 

“Are you sure you want to trust what he says?”

“It’s our only lead, and he found out that we were related to Eugene! So I figured it would be good to check it out.” 

“Good to check out until he kills you.” She muttered, glaring lightly at Liberta. “Don’t want to sound like a spoilsport, but are you sure that he’s the only lead?”

“Yes.” Liberta leveled her with a stare. “I tried asking everyone I could find and he’s the only one not willing to make me join a cult to get the information I want. He just wants me to go to a concert! How bad can it be?”

“Say that again, but slower, and keep in mind he’s a Hypogean. Not everyone in this faction is friendly, Liberta.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying, we should keep trying.” 

Liberta puffed his cheeks out and ignored her, 

“Listen, it’s a lead, and who knows, he might be friendly! If Father can be nice, why can’t he?” 

“Because Dad wasn’t nice at first? Because I know Hypogeans?”

“You know Conrad . He’s not everyone else.” Liberta stressed. Lucilla huffed, lightly glaring as she thought it over. Even if what Liberta was saying was true, it would be bad on her pride to even give in. But it was the only lead they had that Liberta could find, and nobody else seemed to want to talk about the Hypogeans in this backwater town... Lucilla gave a defeated sigh, as she turned away from Liberta,

“Fine. But if it turns out to be bad, I’ll say I told you so.” Hopefully this goes wrong, so I can say that . She thought. She was about to leave the topic alone until she heard Liberta quietly say ‘Oh no’,

“What?”

“I may have forgotten to ask him to tell me when the concert was.”

“.. Liberta.” 

“Yes?”

“You’re an idiot.”

“I know.” 

“Good. Glad we agree.” Then, she was off, heading upstairs to find Kadrin and figure out where she and her stupid little brother were sleeping. 

Chapter Text

Lucilla tapped her foot as Liberta and Kadrin wrapped up any nerd-talk they were having. Apparently, since Liberta got back, the two managed to hit it off by talking about the gadgets and gizmos that Kadrin had lying around, not about the cool stuff, no no. That’d be too simple. No, they’re talking about the nerdy, boring stuff. The kind of stuff that had Lucilla wanting to claw out her eyes and go to sleep. That stuff. Who knew her little brother was so… Nerdy. Eurgh. She had to fix that, pronto. Not as a pride thing, but rather so she wouldn’t be forced to listen to any future gizmo-gadget-goo-goo talks. But that wasn’t the point. The point was the fact that Liberta and Lucilla had agreed to leave early (much to Lucilla’s hatred of the morning) so that they wouldn’t be able to miss the concert whenever it happened. 

However, much to Lucilla’s detriment, Kadrin needed some help before they left, so Lucilla was busy tapping her foot impatiently while Kadrin and Liberta were at it. Fun. Totally. Weren’t they supposed to be going to a concert so they could get their dads ? Not… Whatever this was. Lucilla exhaled particularly hard through her nose, interrupting the conversation,

“Not to be responsible or anything but Liberta, c’mon! We have to go soon.” She glared lightly at Liberta, who glanced in her direction. He almost looked disappointed, though she didn’t get why he would be. They already had plans, and they could always come back and visit Kadrin anyway. It wasn’t like he was going anywhere. Liberta smiled politely to Kadrin, dipping his head slightly,

“Lucilla’s right, we have to go soon. Thank you so much for letting us stay here Mr. Kadrin, it was more than we could have expected.” Lucilla nearly rolled her eyes at how polite Liberta was being. Kadrin was practically their uncle with all he knew of Eugene, why should he be that polite as if he were talking to a stranger? Kadrin seemed to take a similar stance, shaking his head,

“Enough of that ‘Mister’ nonsense. You’re making me feel old, boy.” Kadrin huffed. “Now, I don’t want either of you coming here injured or failed. Once both of you step foot out, you’re gone until you can bring back your fathers, you hear me?” 

“Yessir!” Lucilla chirped, mocking a salute. Liberta nodded his head, moving to stand next to Lucilla. Kadrin looked them over, nostalgia glimmering in his eyes for something Lucilla couldn’t properly recall. Perhaps Kadrin was remembering a time he told her about, a time where Eugene and Gavus stood similarly in the door. Perhaps he was seeing something similar in her and Liberta that she couldn’t,. The thought that he was possibly seeing Eugene and Gavus in them gave her a kind of pride, as well as a determination to get them both back. Kadrin nodded, as though giving his approval, 

“Alright then, both of you, out! Hypogeans are bad for business.” Lucilla barked out a laugh, waving goodbye as Liberta blinked owlishly at her. She grabbed Liberta’s wrist, dragging him out of the workshop before he could ask what her laugh was about. Liberta would find out when Eugene was back, because then he'd be able to tell Liberta all about Kadrin and Eugene's goodbyes. 

They made it easily to the venue with Liberta’s directions and Lucilla’s speed. Did they accidentally run into or run over some people? Maybe. Lucilla wasn’t keeping count, and Liberta always made sure to apologize before they could fully exit ear-shot, so she wasn’t concerned. Plus, she was getting herself excited– a real concert! By a Hypogean! She hadn’t had the time to go to musical concerts when she was still operating under the codename “Dusk”, when she was still considered a weapon. Her only concern was fighting and getting stronger, or rather, getting Conrad’s approval for once. Joys and pleasures of humans were mostly kept to a minimum, so things like concerts and art were to be destroyed and never enjoyed. 

She wondered, briefly, if Conrad had purposefully kept her away from such things. Did he fear she would follow in Eugene’s footsteps because he didn’t want to lose her? Or did he simply not want his weapon to gain a mind of her own? She knew the real answer, Conrad was easy to read after all. But a tiny part of her, the little part that grew stormy and hurt when he would only give her a glance and nothing more, yearned for him to simply not wish to lose her . 

She exhaled a little harder, gaining a questioning look from Liberta. No explanation was given, as she batted away the traitorous thoughts. 

The venue itself was crowded, fans of ‘Lavan’ were already gathering long before the concert seemingly began. If Lucilla had half a mind on her, which she did, she’d say that they were all magic’d. Which they were. It was quite obvious, actually. She had always been sensitive to magic in the air, absorbing it and channeling it, but even without her sensitivity anyone with a mind could tell. This was the work of a Hypogean, and the cult-like following was simply a suggestive form of magic. It worked similarly to hypnosis, but Lucilla wouldn’t quite call it that. More like a siren song laying gentle suggestions that ate away at the subconscious.

Whoever this Lavatune guy was, he wasn’t all goody-two shoes judging by the crowd that was gathered.

Liberta opened his mouth, probably to make some sort of justice-centered comment about something or other, but before he could speak, Lucilla had already grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards where the stage was set up. Nope, they were not backing out now just because of some moral compass. Liberta argued for them to go, so they were going whether he liked it or not. The stage itself wasn’t really anything impressive, only a wooden platform really. It didn’t seem out of the ordinary for a backwater town like this, though Lucilla was surprised they even had a stage. That felt like it’d be more Oakenfell to have something such as that on hand. But, hey, who was she to judge? Maybe Lavatune made this happen too,

“Alright, pigeon-boy, show them your permission slip!” Lucilla chirped once they arrived where she presumed ‘backstage’ was. Though it looked less like what Lucilla would expect a proper backstage to look like, and more like… a vacant building next to the stage. Is that really what ‘backstage’ meant? Disappointing. Liberta rolled his eyes (he rolled his eyes! Lucilla was rubbing off on him already!... Why’d he roll them in a circle though?) and showed the ‘ticket’ to the two low-ranking guards. They were probably there to make sure none of the fans messed with Lavatune, but Lucilla couldn’t help but think that was overkill. 

They eyed the ticket with… some skepticism, but the signature on the back pretty much said it all. She was pretty sure nobody else would write ‘LAVATUNE’ so stylized like the guy himself. The guards parted, making way for the two. Lucilla slipped past without much thought, while Liberta thanked them. The ‘backstage’ was more disappointing inside the building, with a few strangers tuning instruments on wooden furniture,

“Didn’t expect you two to show up this early.” A masculine voice called. Liberta perked up immediately, while Lucilla glanced for the origin of the voice. Her eyes settled on a red-headed man with a grin on his face. He stepped over easily, taking a quick look over Lucilla, “This your sister?”

Liberta nodded, and Lucilla waved. The man, supposedly ‘Lavatune’ nodded, before walking away and gesturing for the siblings to follow him,

“C’mon, you can hang out in my designated area.” Lucilla could practically hear the unsaid words of not wanting anyone unwanted to hear what the conversation might be about. Stepping forward, Lucilla followed Lavatune away from the main area.

“I’m not sure if this is just sad… or dingy. I’m certain it’s both.” Lucilla commented. Liberta felt a gray hair grow from his scalp. The nerve of his sister, really, to be this rude. The entire way over, she had been making comments or asking unnecessary and slightly invasive questions. All of which, Lavatune handled with a grace of his own, but Liberta found himself prickling with anxiety that one question might be too much, and that she’d insult him. 

The chances of it were relatively unknown, but Liberta’s head was certain it was high enough to worry about,

“Blame the budget, kid. I have a better place back at Oakenfell, might meet your high standards then.” Lavatune’s voice was lighthearted as he replied, maybe even amused. A good sign in any case. It meant Lucilla wasn’t insulting the Hypogean, which was the last thing they’d have needed. Liberta turned his attention away from the conversation, instead inspecting the room Lavatune was staying in. It was very average, with wooden flooring and furniture, and a hastily placed mirror. There was very little decor aside from the nightstands, possibly due to the fact this was most likely quickly put together for the festival musicians. 

Lucilla was more than happy to sit on the bed, chatting with Lavatune freely while Liberta spent his time investigating the room. Part of his unease was indeed due to the reality that Lavatune could be insulted by Lucilla’s questions, but the other part moreso lied in the crowd for Lavatune that had gathered at the stage. Lavatune had said that the festival didn’t start until midday, and that he wasn’t up for at least a few hours after that, but the crowd seemed adamant at staying until Lavatune played his music. Obviously, it was the workings of Hypogean magic, he could feel the eldritch energy when they entered, but bringing it up wouldn’t do any good. Especially not when they were in the presence of the one who casted such a spell. 

Firmly, Liberta reminded himself that he was not here to act as Commander Dawn, disciple of Morgana. He was here as Liberta, someone unrelated to the war of Hypogeans and Celestials. A child built for a different war, born before this one, but raised to be a son. It was not his place to tell Lavatune to knock it off with the magic. So, he simply stood aside to listen in on the conversation,

“Why’d you choose the name Lavan in the first place if your stage name is just gonna be your real name?” Lucilla kicked her feet. 

“Think of it like an extra layer of protection. Names are powerful, and this is just a way I get to protect my true name by making it trickier to find. If I’m referred to as different people, Lightbearers and Celestials have a harder way of tracking me down as a consequence.” Lavatune explained, combing some of his hair back. Liberta wondered if Eugene ever had a fake name, or if Eugene was the fake name. “Not to mention, it’s nice to pretend to be normal for a bit. To forget you’re a monster for a second. Not that I hate being one, I’m proud of who I am, but… Fans are nice, and they don’t like monsters.”

Liberta frowned. Fans as in mortals..? Liberta rarely got to care about mortals, despite his role as a Celestial. Master Morgana had always said they were above mortals, above their selfishness. He had readily agreed to such words, despite the gross feeling it left in his stomach whenever he saw Celestials ignore prayers directed towards them. Lavatune, meanwhile, seemed to care about their opinion of him quite a bit. Liberta wondered how hard that must be. To be labeled a monster just for something you couldn’t control being born as, and want a positive opinion of your creations– going as far as to hypnotize an entire crowd's worth of people for it, only to ever be second best to those who rarely look at mortals at all. 

Lucilla frowned, 

“Why do you care so much about them?” She asked. Liberta couldn’t blame her for the question this time, he was curious too.

“Well, aside from your father and a few others… Not many Hypogeans care for art like music, and I doubt the Heavenly Bastards upstairs would ever let me play a concert for them. I found a home with the people in this world instead, playing music for them and playing as one of them.” He smiled, reminiscing about something Liberta couldn’t see. “Y’know, your father was the one to introduce me to the idea of playing music for them. Said I would have a better time gaining popularity in Oakenfell rather than the Hypogean Camps. He didn’t like many Hypogeans, thought them all to be too brutish for his tastes. But I’m glad he introduced me to playing for mortals, it finally feels like I know what the word ‘home’ means.” 

“...Is that why you think this is the least you can do?” Liberta piped up. Lucilla jumped, looking at Liberta who had sat right next to her. He glanced back at her innocently, unsure of what spooked her. Perhaps she was so engrossed in Lavatune’s words that she forgot he was there? Lavatune’s smile became bitter,

“Couldn’t do anything for him then. I’d at least like to do something for him now. Once my concert’s done, I’ll tell you both where the Infernal Gaol is. Deal?” Lavatune walked a few steps towards the siblings and held out a hand. Liberta grabbed it quickly, to both his and Lucilla’s surprise, looking Lavatune in the eyes. 

“Deal.” 

Afterwards, things settled into comfortable silence. That was, until Liberta suddenly brought up the fact that Lucilla’s disguise magic was– in polite terms– not up to par,

“Are you serious?” Lavatune asked. Lucilla glared at Liberta, opting to whack him when Lavatune briefly took his eyes off them. The Hypogean made a little ‘huh’ sound when neither sibling spoke up. He looked at Lucilla, studying her for a moment before shrugging. “I’m a bit rusty when it comes to casting an illusion on other things, but I can give her a minor one. Plus, if anyone notices, uhhh… They won’t.”

He made an air guitar motion to get the point across, which made Lucilla laugh and Liberta blink.

Well, that was one way to do it, Liberta guessed.

The crowd was much larger by the time the concert for the festival rolled around. Lucilla and Liberta stuck to standing near the stage, watching as more and more people arrived for the festival. According to some musicians they overheard whilst coming out of the room, it was supposed to be a music festival to boost the Celestial Twins’ goal in uniting all peoples. Playing music to aid their ever-long dance. Liberta found it a sweet sentiment. One that he’s sure the twins would have enjoyed if they were there. He had never met them up close, only saw them every few years when they had the time to attend Celestial celebrations and meetings. 

From what he had seen of them, they were dazzling. Everything that a Celestial should’ve been. Lailah carried herself with dignity, stepping so lightly you could barely hear her. She moved gracefully, as if every movement of hers was a dance. Her eyes were yellow, pale and piercing, always gazing towards something not there as though she could see the strings that wove all beings together in harmony. Elijah, though rarer to see, was not far off. He preferred, often, to stick behind Lailah and listen. He never spoke up that much, allowing Lailah to do much of the speaking for him. Liberta always assumed the twins had a psychic bond, one that allowed them to sync up so well.

Or perhaps, they just knew each other that well. Either way, they were both kind Celestials. They cared, too much in Master Morgana’s opinion, about mortals and the unification of all creatures. She had once made a comment about them, telling Liberta that they were naive and hopeful because Dura made them to be. That they were the tatters of what Dura and Annih used to be, and that was why they strived for peace in a way war would never allow. Master Morgana disagreed with the twins often, she often believed that if able, they would heal the bonds between Hypogeans as well. Liberta wondered, when he was so young, why that was a bad thing. Didn’t all living creatures deserve bonds? He’d ask. 

“No.” Master Morgana had said, her voice firm and holding no tone for argument. Liberta, only seven years old at the time, could do nothing but listen to the goddess. “The Hypogeans are not, and never will be, living creatures. They are dead things, they are born from Annih’s betrayal and his evil. It is foolish to wish goodwill for any of them.”

At the time, Liberta could only take that as the truth. At the current, Liberta knew it to be a lie.

He felt guilty, again, for thinking such thoughts against Master Morgana. Surely she only had a different view of the world, her divinity making it hard for her to understand. She had a strong, innate sense of justice. Right or wrong was often dictated by her, as she was the goddess of justice to begin with. Many of such things fell under her jurisdiction. Even if they felt personally wrong to Liberta, it was his duty as her disciple to uphold her declaration of what ‘Justice’ meant. 

Only… That was who Liberta used to be, wasn’t it? But his identity was no longer that even though it was hard to get that fact through his head, when that had been all he ever was for so long. Perhaps he was more Disciple Liberta, Scion of Dawn, than he thought he was… What a painful thought, truly. One not meant for the joyous atmosphere of the festival. He decided to focus his thoughts elsewhere.

So, he focused on the lively crowd, the people cheering for the musicians on stage as they played. Their melodies flew through the air, gracing his ears. He could even see Lucilla getting excited, smiling widely. Was this her first time at a concert? Liberta smiled for her. She was tapping her feet a little to the music, always jumping up to respond to the musicians that reached out to the crowd and stopping herself last minute. As if remembering her little brother was there, watching her. The excitement was contagious, if he had to be honest.

It wasn’t hard to miss when Lavatune hit the stage, a low bass strumming as he walked up. The song began slowly, Lavatune’s voice singing near immediately. The song itself soon built itself up, heightening the excitement of the concert until it reached a crescendo with the first chorus. Some extremely dedicated fans were singing the lyrics along, and Liberta could see Lucilla laughing giddily. He couldn’t stop himself from laughing too. Lavatune sounded rough in a way that was appealing to the ears, and Liberta was even certain that not even the Celestial Twins could turn their eyes away from his talent. He sang with passion, power filling his voice with every line.

The true climax of this song, however, had to be when Lavatune screamed. It had Liberta jumping and Lucilla yelling in excitement (and surprise). The scream pierced the crowd melodically, somehow the words he scratched out of his voice were arranging themselves into something Liberta couldn’t say sounded bad . Unique? Yes, but bad? Never. Liberta found himself smiling even after the scare of the scream, noticing how at home Lavatune looked on that stage. The Hypogean truly looked happy, happier than Liberta had ever seen him be in the short time they’d known each other. He sang loud, proud of his voice and his music. He played his bass expertly, drawing people in even without the need of his magic. 

Lavatune smiled charismatically when the song reached its end, 

“Hello Saltwater Town!” He yelled, getting a bunch of yells back. “Haha! That’s the reaction I want to hear! How are you all tonight?”

More yells, even screams, met him back. Lavatune raised a hand, silencing the crowd easily. He ran that same hand through his hair and shook his head,

“It’s insane! I get to be here with y’all tonight!” Lavatune’s voice was full of a warmth that felt too genuine. Liberta wondered if this was a longtime dream of his, or if he was always this happy performing. “I’m thankful, really, that I’m able to play for this festival. Never have I thought my songs would reach your ears, but hell, here I am!” Lavatune inhaled, finding Lucilla and Liberta in the crowd. He smiled, “This next song is one I wrote to show my gratitude to some old friends of mine. I haven’t played it often, but hey, maybe some of you from Oakenfell will recognize it!”

Gratitude for Eugene , Liberta’s mind supplied, though it was expertly hidden as gratitude for his fans. Lavatune began to play a much calmer song, expertly bringing down the energy after raising it so high. Giving a rest for the crowd, allowing them to sway softly to the gentleness of his voice. The only instrument that could be heard was the bass, the only voice that sang was Lavatune’s. With the way the lyrics were going though… Liberta had a feeling this song wasn’t just about Eugene, and a small part of him grew curious. Who else was this song written for? It felt obvious some parts were about Eugene– speaking of someone who gave Lavatune the chance to be heard, who heard his music and pushed him to create, which lined up with what Lavatune had said about Eugene.

But the rest of the lyrics spoke of someone else, a mysterious other person who worked to help Lavatune blend in, to feel like a person and not like the monster that he thought he was. Liberta wondered, then, if Eugene also knew this mysterious other person. If they were a Hypogean, Celestial or mortal. If they were still in Oakenfell. Liberta wondered if he was reading too much into these lyrics in reference to his father.

The rest of the concert went about the same way, Lavatune’s music controlling the energy of the crowd effortlessly. After the slow song, he amped the energy back up again and began to sing another high energetic song, yet this song seemed more ruthless than the first. Liberta wondered if almost all of Lavatune’s music had a dark theme to them. Perhaps it was the style of the musician, yet Liberta wasn’t against it. The unique sound was quite pleasant on his ears, after a bit of getting used to it. He could believe he’d listen to it for sheer enjoyment, a sentiment he would not believe he had a week ago. Liberta glanced at Lucilla, and saw she was practically cheering now, enjoying the high energy of the song as well. 

His cheeks were hurting from how much he had smiled tonight, this was the most fun she was probably having since they left the Cradle of Truth. This was the most fun he was probably having as well! He focused his attention back on the music, ready to lose himself in it once more.

Perhaps that concert was necessary. Is what Lucilla thought when they finally went back to Lavatune’s room. The festival went deep into the night, celebrating many different musicians. Even after Lavatune’s turn was over, Lucilla and Liberta ended up staying to listen to some more songs before heading back. The moon was nearly reaching its peak in the sky, and Lucilla found herself still brimming with excitement. She hadn’t expected concerts to be that much fun, even though the set-up wasn’t as extravagant as she thought it would be.

When they got Eugene and Gavus back, she decided she would demand them to take her and Liberta to a concert. Maybe she’d demand them to take her to Lavatune’s. She couldn’t say she wasn’t a fan after that. Speaking of, the Hypogean ended up joining them on their way back to his room. He apparently had been meeting with some fans, and spotted the siblings heading back when he was finishing up. By the time they made it to the room, all the adrenaline and excitement had left her body, letting her poof back into her true Hypogean form. She also ended up flopping face first onto Lavatune’s bed, groaning as she did so.

She ignored the sounds of Lavatune cackling and Liberta fretting, instead focusing on the softness of the bed that really wasn’t supposed to be soft now that she thought about it. Perhaps she truly was that tired. She had been keeping up her disguise for longer than she thought she would, and her magic felt like it was going to explode. Like overusing an underused muscle. Except magic. You get it, right? Lucilla felt like that, basically. 

By the time her body felt rested enough, she came back to a conversation,

“–You can’t be serious.” Liberta was saying, his voice full of disbelief. 

“No, I’m joking.” Lavatune deadpanned. “I’m serious. It’s in the Scorched Valley.”

Lucilla peeked an eye open, pushing herself up to look at the two.

“But that’s so…” Liberta trailed off, frowning. Lucilla eyed Lavatune,

“That’s the point, kid. It’s horrible to the prisoners, and hard to get to by most. They didn’t choose that spot just because they liked lava baths.” Lavatune himself grimaced. Lucilla tilted her head, snapping her fingers in Liberta’s direction,

“Libby, what’s this about?” She asked, and wow , was that her voice? She sounded more tired than she realized she was. 

“The Infernal Gaol, uh…” He paused, looking at Lavatune for some kind of confirmation. She grew frustrated with the lack of a complete answer, and Lavatune nodded. Lucilla gestured for Liberta to continue, an eyebrow raised. “It’s in the Scorched Valley.”

Oh.

Huh.

Lucilla blinked, then turned back over and flopped once more on the bed. Liberta made a confused sound, but all Lucilla could think was, That is a problem for Future-cilla. Not Sleepy-cilla .

The last thing she heard before she passed out was,

“... She does know that’s my bed, right?” Lucilla does know, Lavatune.

“I don’t think you’re getting it back, sir.” Damn right. 

Goodnight.