It was always blood. Would there ever be a memorable occasion in his life that didn't involve blood? That Scourgefucking red liquid seemed to paint every inch of Lucius' existence, so why was he surprised that his entire body had been painted with it now as well?

Every inch of him, bleeding. He shouldn't even be alive.

Was he even alive?

The entire sanctuary had crumbled on top of him and Anthony. It was the last thing Lucius could remember, and how could he possibly have survived that?

He opened his eyes, instantly closing them again because of the bright light. Was eternal damnation in The Waste filled with scorching daylight?

No, it was just regular daylight, and Lucius blinked to adjust his sight.

He was in his room. His eyes stung, his head ached, his throat was clogged up and parched, and his body was heavy, but for some miraculous reason he was alive and in his room.

Someone else was there as well, and Lucius released a hoarse sigh of relief. He still had no idea how, but Anthony must have conjured amazing strength to get them both out of there in such a short time.

To Lucius' disappointment however, it was not Anthony.

"Tom?" Lucius croaked, voice barely audible.

Tom Reed was in the process of scratching blood from underneath Lucius' nails with a thin, sharp tool, and he must have either been awfully focused or deep in thought because it took him a while to realise Lucius had addressed him.

"Oh, good," he said as he met Lucius' gaze, then he picked up a small brush with a long handle, dipped it in a bottle, and grabbed Lucius' chin. "Open up."

"Wh--" Lucius didn't have the strength to protest as Tom began brushing the inside of his mouth. It had a strong, dry taste, and while it was nice to have his mouth cleared of gore the brush was far from comfortable.

"Try to endure it," Tom said as he brushed closer to Lucius' throat, causing the latter to gag. "You'll feel better soon."

As if it wasn't bad enough, he then brought out a string to scrub between Lucius' teeth, and by Dyris was he ruthless. Lucius would just bleed even more with that kind of technique.

"There," Tom said, and Lucius let out a breath of relief again, only to try and crawl away backwards a second after as Tom shoved the aforementioned bottle into his mouth. "Drink. Don't swallow though, but wash your throat with it."

The taste of blood and alcohol in his throat was disgusting. Tom was prepared for it though and held out a bowl for Lucius to half-spit, half-vomit the mix into it.

"I don't deserve this," Lucius gurgled in between spitting out thick saliva and bloody alcohol. "I almost died. In fact, I'm pretty sure I should be dead."

"One would think." Tom nodded in agreement while handing Lucius a cup of water. "According to Anthony you lost more than enough for your organs to stop working."

Lucius gazed down at his body as well. Tom had done a rushed job washing away most of the caked blood from his skin, but it was still red-tinted with small spots decorating him all over.

Then he realised he wasn't wearing clothes, and while his bottom half was covered he still pulled the sheets up over his chest.

Tom pinched his lips together.

"I'm the only one who knows," he said, voice trying to comfort. "I insisted on washing you like this instead of all of us throwing you in a bath. It's less effective, but I figured you'd prefer it."

Lucius' mouth fell open, impressed by Tom's reoccurring ability to switch from socially awkward scientist to remarkably compassionate friend in the blink of an eye. It caught him off guard every time.

He cleared his throat, downing half the cup of water before speaking again.

"Yeah, I... I do prefer that." He tried to look around the room nonchalantly, fixing his gaze on the sheets underneath him that had gone from white to almost completely deep red. "Guess these will be hard to explain to the cleaners, huh?"

"Oh, no, we're throwing them away." Tom looked up from cleaning his brush with a grimace. "We don't need that kind of drama."

Lucius tried moving the corners of his mouth into a smile, but it was a futile attempt. Then he looked down at his trembling hands, brow furrowing.

"Is that... All, then? I'm alright despite everything?"

It was unbelievable, and Tom didn't look much wiser. All he could muster was a shrug and what little he could provide scientifically.

"You're still suffering blood-loss, that much is certain, but not nearly as much as you should have even if survival had been a realistic option." Tom walked over to Lucius' drawer to pick out a shirt. "No worries though. I've sent Richard hunting to find some raw liver for you. It'll work wonders."

Lucius' stomach turned.

"... Beg your pardon?"

Tom snorted, handing over the shirt with a smile.

"He's gone to buy liver from the butcher. Liver that we will cook."

Lucius laughed weakly as he made an effort to sit up and receive the shirt.

"Not sure I feel safe anyway. I've seen the three of you trying to prepare food."

"Well you're free to do it yourself." Tom adjusted his glasses and smiled again, only for it to fade away as he looked at Lucius' chest, and he drew a deep breath. "So... There's one more--"

"Lucius?" Anthony flung the door open, as unbecomingly as usual, and Lucius hurriedly pulled the shirt down over his head.

"Anthony..." Tom said it in the tone Lucius was thinking, and Anthony threw his hands out in frustration.

"Well I heard the two of you talking, so he's clearly awake."

"That doesn't mean you should walk in without knocking."

Anthony scowled, backing out of the room and closed the door before knocking on it.

Tom and Lucius shared a look.

"Just come in," Tom said, shaking his head while gathering up his medicine kit. "I will take another look later to see how he's doing, but I imagine you'll want to talk to him alone."

Anthony walked into the room again, meeting Tom on his way out and they both gave each other a shoulder pat before parting ways.

Lucius scanned the man as he sat down next to him. In a way it was underwhelming that he looked the same as usual. There wasn't the slightest hint of what they had gone through earlier, and Lucius' eyes fell to his blood-smudged skin again, painfully reminded of what the Scourge had said and done.

It was only fair, he supposed.

Why had he thought that he could be rid of something like that? From what he'd heard and read, Scourges rivalled the strength of archons, and no mortal with their faith placed in The Unity would dream of just up and challenging an archon's power.

Perhaps he'd placed more hope in Dyris helping him than he liked to admit.

And what was Anthony thinking now? Had he reached an accurate conclusion, or was he expecting an explanation? He had to be. Who wouldn't after a display like that?

"So..." He smiled sheepishly. "... That happened."

"How are you feeling?" Anthony's concerned stare made Lucius look away. Despite how ridiculous it sounded, he would have preferred to laugh it off and pretend it wasn't so bad. He wouldn't have to lie his way through an event like that, and Anthony wouldn't have to know what was going on.

"Well, I... I mean, I'm sore." Lucius shrugged, trying to meet Anthony's gaze again but his eyes kept flickering away. "And a bit upset about the outcome, I suppose, but Tom says I'll recover so it's-- It's nothing to—"

Anthony pulled him close, and Lucius struggled to draw a breath as the embrace overwhelmed him. It was the last thing his indifferent facade needed.

"I can't imagine what it must have been like," Anthony whispered, mouth distractingly close to Lucius' ear. "And I was scared that I'd lost you, in such a horrid way too."

Lucius' fingers curled into Anthony's shirt, nose scrunching up as he tried to remain calm.

"I was scared too," he admitted, feeling rather silly about such an understatement. "I can't even bring myself to think about the things I saw for too long, and I don't understand how I'm alive, or... Why all that horror happened in the first place."

He could guess though. The Scourge had mentioned the exorcism opening a rift between planes. Perhaps lesser blights could be pushed back into The Waste that way, but it also risked a reverse effect, with things from the other side leaking into their plane as well.

Lucius narrowed his eyes. They'd had no idea. They had thought it was some minor inconvenience they just had to banish, but Lucius had brought them an entire Scourge, and an entity of pure corruption entering their plane was bound to have terrifying consequences.

"I've never seen an exorcism before, but I'm certain it was not supposed to look like that," Anthony said, backing away from the hug slightly to look Lucius in the eyes. "Either the priests did something wrong, or maybe you're right and there really is something haunting you."

"I dunno what to do if so." Lucius' shoulders fell, because he genuinely wondered what would happen. Even though he was alive now, Wrinkleface was clearly not fond of him at the moment and it had made it very clear over the years just how miserable it could make Lucius' life.

Then again, something had to be off. Why hadn't it killed him back then? By all logic, it didn't even need to do anything else after Lucius started bleeding like that. That alone should have been enough, but Lucius was alive somehow.

"Do you..." Lucius hesitated. Perhaps it was unwise to keep talking about the event, should Anthony begin to suspect things even more, but there were things he had to know. "... How much do you remember? Or... See? I mean, I was pretty occupied at the moment."

The corner of Anthony's mouth twitched in a grimace, and he lowered his gaze.

"After you fell to the floor, a fire engulfed the platform, and I'm certain it was not a regular fire."

Lucius nodded, aware of that much.

"Well, yes. It was purple."

"The priests caught on fire immediately. I had no chance of saving them from that, but..." Anthony balled his fists. "... I thought at least there was a chance of saving you, so I— I tried getting through the flames."

"But they got you good." Lucius recalled the state of Anthony's skin and clothes when he'd reached him. "Must've taken you some time to recover."

"I tried to get up as quickly as I could," Anthony said with a voice of remorse, as if feeling guilty the fire had incapacitated him to such a degree. "But the arch priest had already gotten to you, and I... Don't know what happened to him."

He met Lucius' gaze again.

"Do you?" he asked, and Lucius paled. "... I don't want you to have to relive the moment, but I just don't understand why he would act like that. Why— Why his body started doing... That."

Lucius only shook his head, mortified expression being appropriate regardless of knowledge.

"He said something to you, right?" Anthony continued, placing a hand on Lucius' hand. "Do you remember what?"

The nausea Lucius had felt at the sanctuary returned, and it was apparently obvious enough for Anthony to regret his question.

"It's— Never mind. I apologise." He removed his hand and attempted a nervous smile. "Probably doesn't matter anyway, right?"

Lucius glanced down at his now lonely hand with disappointment.

"Though there's... Another thing, I suppose." Anthony sighed, forehead wrinkling as he hesitated. "Just before the arch priest collapsed something happened to the other priests as well."

"... What?" Lucius' stomach turned before Anthony could even say something. Mostly because the priests had already died at that point, so why would something happen with them?

"Well, something... Started moving from them," Anthony continued, confirming Lucius' nausea. "Like a trail of dark liquid, or-- Or maybe soot? It looked wet though... Either way, all of the trails began moving towards you, and kind of... Moved along your body to be absorbed by your skin?"

This time Lucius retched, bile forcing its way up his throat and Anthony hurriedly handed him the bowl from before.

That was how he'd survived. It had to be. The Scourge had used the priests' bodies to replace what he'd lost. He had no idea how, or if that was what had actually happened, but it made him throw up regardless.

"You're here though." Anthony tried cheering him up again. "Whatever happened then is over now, and if you ever feel like something's wrong we will figure it out."

He reached into his pocket to produce a harmonia. The frame wasn't of any colour of the archons though, but rather a pale yellowish white.

"Bones," Lucius said as he inspected it. It wasn't rare for people to create harmonias from the bones of their loved ones after their unburial, but Lucius hadn't actually seen one before. "From a relative?"

"My mother," Anthony confirmed, and Lucius looked at the necklace again with arched eyebrows. He'd never heard Anthony mention his mother before, and couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't received a painting as well.

"I've heard they're powerful." Lucius looked up at Anthony again. "That the soul of that person can enhance the harmonia's ability to protect their loved ones.

"Yes, we each got one," Anthony said as he lowered it. "Me, Ethan and Damien."

Lucius pinched his lips together, trying to not ask the obvious, insensitive question, but curiosity won the battle.

"... Can Ethan use it though?"

Anthony sighed, a pained expression shining through his smile.

"As much as Mother loved him, even after what happened to him, it seems harmonias can only protect a loved one so much. His unholy state can't handle it."

"That's gotta sting," Lucius said, voice lowering to show sympathy, but he also had to summon a sensitive side so he wouldn't add a 'literally' to his sentence.

"He still has it." Anthony's smile turned more genuine, but still with a sadness in his eyes. "Keeps it around and treasures it. He just can't wear it or touch it for long, or it'll burn him."

"Poor Ethan." Lucius nodded slowly, truly feeling sorry for the vampire, who'd seemingly had no choice in the matter concerning his unholiness."

"Anyway, I was thinking you could borrow it," Anthony then said, and Lucius blinked.

"Pardon?"

"Just as a precaution." Anthony placed it down on Lucius' nightstand. "What with everything going on."

"It's... I mean, it's your mother's bones though." Lucius chuckled nervously. "Not so sure her soul's interested in protecting me."

Anthony looked down at the harmonia, bittersweet expression returning.

"I think she'd protect you," he said in a whisper, tracing the pattern of the necklace. "For me."

Lucius swallowed as he tried not to blush, but his heart still pounded faster and words refused to come out of his mouth.

"You don't have to worry about Lucia's absence by the way," Anthony then said, and Lucius' eyes widened at the reminder.

"Shit, how long have I been out?"

"Around three days, but—"

"Three days!?" Lucius looked aghast, suddenly realising he was starving. "What the fuck have I been doing!?"

"Well... Recovering." Anthony raised his eyebrows. "From almost dying. Tom tried to keep you hydrated, but I'm not sure how well he did—"

"Everyone's gonna ask for me." Lucius' mind reeled. "They must be furious not knowing where I am. Bahman can't cover for me forever, and Bezek is gonna be on my case relentlessly, and what— What about Damien?"

"I told you, I covered for you," Anthony tried to calm him down. "I convinced Damien I would take over while Lucia was in mourning."

Lucius paused his panic to look at him, blinking as a wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows.

"... Mourning?"

Anthony nodded.

"It actually came as no surprise to anyone that Lady Cromwell took what happened very hard."

"The— What, the events in the sanctuary?"

"Of course." Anthony grimaced. "I mean, the remains of all the priests would have been enough, but a building representing the holy Unity collapsing into nothing? The bad omen, not to mention tragedy, has sent her into an appropriate state of terror and grief."

Lucius stared at him, the imagery of walls and ceiling cracking at a frightening speed flashing before his eyes.

"It... Crumbled to the ground? Completely?"

"Nothing left." Anthony shook his head. "Not a single wall."

The pounding of Lucius' heart drowned out his thoughts, but it wasn't because he was flustered anymore. What had he done? He'd made a sanctuary fall apart. As if the priests' deaths hadn't caused sufficient harm to the sacred grounds already.

Still, the ever so present question appeared before him again.

"How did I survive that?" he whispered, looking down at his trembling hands. "There's no way we could have gotten out of there in time."

Anthony shook his head again.

"No, we didn't."

"So how?"

"It was... Quite the obstacle." Anthony made a weak attempt at laughing. "The bridges had already fallen when I began carrying you, so I had to sort of... Hoist you up on debris before jumping over myself. It took some time, and I had to shield you from falling pieces of ceiling a number of times which slowed us down significantly. My back and neck broke continuously and I had to recover each time before I could move again."

Lucius' eyes were wide as he looked at the man in front of him, breath almost leaving him.

"You... Died over and over to get me out of there?"

"I had to, or you would have been crushed." Anthony shrugged, a worried frown appearing on his face. "It hurt of course, but rather that than dealing with you being gone."

Lucius' mouth trembled as heat rose in his cheeks. In his entire face, actually. He barely registered Anthony's explanation after that. Something about how he'd managed to get him out of there when he'd been considered dead and before he could be identified, but it mattered little to him at that point.

"You... Did that for me."

"Well, I may just be a fucking numbskull," Anthony said with a grin and patted Lucius' shoulder. "Doesn't mean I don't care about you."

And once again, Lucius was swayed. Not by a Scourge this time, but by a man he hadn't quite understood his feelings for before, making him feel like quite the numbskull himself for not realising it sooner.

Then he placed a hand against Anthony's neck and kissed him.