Lucius was sick and tired of the amount of Damien in his life, and to think he'd agreed to make room for more of him in Lucia's life.

Unless I can do something about it.

"So?" He crossed his arms as he once again stood before Damien in his office. "What's it about this time? Want me to congratulate you?"

"Wouldn't hurt, would it?" While Damien had a calm air around him, the triumphant smile on his lips was unmistakable. "It's a good thing, after all."

"My cousin being coerced into marrying a heartless angler and forced to keep her private life hidden?" Lucius arched an eyebrow. "I think our ideas of 'good' are very different."

"Clearly," Damien replied with a similarly disapproving look. "But I thought you'd be happy, since Anthony is staying."

Lucius opened his mouth to say something rude again, but halted himself. Why risk upsetting Damien further when he'd actually agreed to leave Anthony alone?"

"... And you have my gratitude for that," he said through gritted teeth. "But I'm still worried about my cousin."

"Unnecessarily so." Damien's eyes were bored, and he opened a drawer in his desk to find a quill and ink. "I've made it no secret that I'm only marrying her to uphold The BBT's position in this town, but I have no intention of harming her, or this town. Everything will be as before."

Lucius doubted it, but only showed it with a brief, disdainful glare.

"Is that all, then? You want me to congratulate you?"

"I wouldn't mind, but no, it's not what I asked you here for."

"More insults then?" Lucius looked around the room. "Or having Mr. Kilgrave kick me to the floor?"

Fortunately, he could see no sign of Derek in the room.

"And here you go yet again with the pleasant ideas," Damien remarked. "But no. In fact, it's your discomfort around Derek that I wanted to talk about."

The contempt in Lucius' eyes spilled over the rest of his face.

"Even with my slightly poor manners aside, you must realise that what happened with the natbakka was unacceptable, and that both you and Mr. Kilgrave will find it hard to regain my trust."

"That's why you're in luck," Damien said, only giving Lucius' expression a tired look back. "Derek has found traces of the garm and its pack and therefore proceeded with the search alone. Which gives you the opportunity to work on another concerning matter of ours, without him."

"Well that's... Good," Lucius admitted, still not quite content with letting go of the garm search, but at least there'd be no Derek. "So what do you want me to do?"

"A few years ago, an old member of The BBT ran off with an invaluable artefact belonging to the organisation. Remarkably skilled at hiding, we haven't been able to locate his whereabouts until now."

"And you want me to go get this artefact?" Lucius guessed, receiving a nod from Damien. "And this man, is he... Dangerous? Immortal?"

"No, very mortal," Damien assured him. "And not too dangerous at all, but you may still find some trouble with getting a hold of the item."

Lucius narrowed his eyes.

"Because?"

"Because I have reason to believe he was buried with it."

"Oh..." Lucius blinked. "Well that explains why he's suddenly so easy to find. So I'll... Just go there when it's time for his unburial, then? Is it soon?"

"Oh, no." Damien laughed softly. "His burial in North Kerilia took place yesterday. That's how we found out where he was."

Lucius laughed in return.

"So you're giving me a task now that I have to wait ten years to complete? I'll have forgotten all about it."

"We're not waiting ten years," Damien clarified, eyebrow raised at Lucius' lack of understanding. "We've been looking for him for a long time, and the sooner we get that artefact back, the better."

"You're not making sense." Lucius shook his head. "No one is unburied prematurely. Ask any priest."

Damien let out a sigh through his nose, and slowed his voice to dumb things down.

"No one is unburied prematurely, officially."

Lucius only stared at him for a while.

"That's suicide." He returned the condescending tone. "Grave robbing is suicide."

"One would consider fighting a garm to be suicide too, yet here you are claiming to have done so with ease."

"A garm, yes," Lucius hissed. "Not a fucking grim!"

"The situations are different, regardless," Damien continued, not the slightest bothered by the idea. "You don't need to fight the grim."

"No one can fight a grim!" Lucius' voice trembled at the thought. "Everyone knows what happens to those who anger it."

"So just be quick about it. Grims are not inherently aggressive, so retrieve the item without attracting its attention, and—"

"Yeah see, I think a guardian of the dead is gonna be pretty upset pretty quickly when someone starts shovelling fresh grave dirt on the holy grounds it was fucking buried alive to protect." Lucius had to laugh through his horror again, but Damien remained calm, only leaning back in his chair again with a troubled look.

"So you won't work with Derek, and you won't do things on your own. Do you even want to work for me?"

"Well if I wasn't questioning it before, I sure am now." Lucius shook his head, forcing slow breaths to calm his heart. "Are you really so far removed from mortality that you don't realise what you're asking?"

"You're the one who's been bragging about how competent you are in the field," Damien pointed out. "And the natbakka incident was hardly convincing, so I'm giving you a second chance to prove me wrong. You should be grateful."

Lucius clenched his fists, but managed to keep his voice steady.

"No. That's not it. I know you don't think I could handle something like this on my own."

"Perhaps not, but then, what use do I have of you?" Damien gestured to him. "All you've done so far is distract Anthony from his work, and now that he's staying I want to make sure you have some purpose beyond that.

"And how would I serve a purpose if I'm dead?" Lucius scoffed. "Just involve me in your shady trade instead. I know my way around it."

It was not optimal. With Anthony staying, Lucius' main reason for continuing his work at The BBT was the supernatural part, but if he had to choose between a grim or a casual, merchant job, he really didn't have much of a choice to make.

Damien however, was more set on the less favourable choice.

"As much as it pains me, your knowledge about the supernatural is rare, so if you really want to work with this organisation, I'd rather see you—"

"Die?" Lucius raised an eyebrow. "You'd rather see me die than just keep my head down and work for your not so legal business instead?"

"I'd rather see my valuable item retrieved than lowering the standards of our organisation's trade to mediocrity." Damien's voice grew irate. "Mr. Cromwell, I think you're more than aware that I don't value your life highly enough not to risk it when it comes to things I find important."

Despite indeed being aware of this, Lucius still frowned.

"What about Anthony, then? You may not be fond of the idea, but I dare say he values me more than whatever shiny little object we're talking about."

"You barely know each other," Damien said, his cold, bitter voice making its return. "He may show affection but at the end of the day, your presence in his life is too small right now. Your death would hardly make a difference in a year or so."

"Even if that's true, why can't I aim for my presence to be bigger?" Lucius held out his hands. "After everything he's been through, wouldn't it be nice if someone he likes doesn't just up and disappear?"

Damien's eyes narrowed with a grave look.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been around for this long, so you should know." Lucius rolled his eyes at the scowl. "Ethan told me about it. About how everyone Anthony likes seems to disappear one way or another."

As expected, Damien's glare grew colder.

"Personally, I wouldn't pay much attention to what a corpse has to say."

"But he's not wrong, is he?" Lucius inquired. "You must have thought about it too, since you've always been around."

Damien turned his eyes away.

"I believe what the creature is experiencing as people 'disappearing' is that its concept of time is skewed by centuries of inhumanity, and Anthony's lovers have met their ends in ways mortals normally do."

Lucius let a moment pass, trying to figure out Damien's expression.

"Anthony didn't deny it either," he said. "When I told him I wouldn't disappear like the others."

"Those are some confident words for a mortal to say." Damien glanced up again to lock eyes with Lucius. "Considering you can't even rob a grave without meeting a terrible end."

"I wouldn't be in a ridiculous situation like that if you weren't trying to force me." The frustration was becoming too much for Lucius. "What the Waste is it with you and wanting me dead, anyway? What did I ever do to you? It's like you're planning my demise whenever we're in the same room and it's been like that ever since we first met. No wonder Anthony's lovers keep disappearing if this is what happens whenever he finds someone he li—"

Lucius choked, face paling as all air drained from the room.

"No," he managed to whisper, recalling what Derek had said about him screwing up when admitting his romantic feelings towards Anthony in front of Damien. "No, that's— That's not... It, is it? You didn't..."

"I'm not sure what you're trying to say." Damien's face didn't move a muscle. "You can't keep cutting your sentences off and expecting to be coherent."

"Was it you?" Cold sweat prickled Lucius' skin as terror crept up on him. "Did you do that? Did— Did you... Get rid of them?"

"It sounds like that lifelike has gotten into your head," Damien dismissed him. "But the truth is that even though it has been around for about as long as we have, it rarely interacts with mortal humans for an extensive time, given its nature."

"Yes or no, Damien," Lucius said, voice slower as his fear was swallowed by wrath. "Have you actively been destroying Anthony's relationships?"

"Cromwe—"

"Yes or no!" Lucius clenched his fists. "Have you?"

Damien's gaze wandered down to his hands with a pained look Lucius had no sympathy for.

"Even if that would be the case, you can't understand—"

"How could you do that!?" Lucius flared up. "You're his father. One of the worst, Scourgefucking, heartless, fathers I've ever encountered, but still his father! And you've been sabotaging his happiness? Fuck's sake, I still think my father deserved to die for what he did, but even he wouldn't have done something like this!"

"I don't have to explain myself to you," Damien said, eyes as cold as ever. "But I assure you I'm not trying to destroy his happiness. It's just what's best for him."

"Killing the people he loves?" Lucius shook his head, only noticing then that his whole body was trembling and he still couldn't breathe properly. "That's what's 'good' for him?"

"I don't just go around and killing people without reason—"

"Except that's exactly what you're doing, if I'm not sorely mistaken about the whole BBT thing?" Lucius had to laugh again, not the slightest amused. "And your obvious, pathetic attempt at threatening me by -fortunately failing- to execute that poor girl? Thinking about it, how am I even surprised you'd do something like this?"

"That girl is guilty, just like you." A scowl of annoyance finally showed on Damien's face. "Yes, I chose to single her execution out as an example, but in the end, her fate would have been the same regardless."

"You're so fucking sick," Lucius hissed, and to his dismay tears were burning his eyes. It had always been him. Anthony had ended up miserable from his ruined relationships and it had always been Damien's fault. "You keep preaching about how you'll get rid of monsters and unhallowed beings yet you're the one whose inhumanity seems to know no limits."

"Watch it," Damien began, but Lucius cut him off with a loud 'ha'.

"Or what? What are you gonna do? Try to kill me? Because last time I checked you were already doing that."

Damien's withering gaze softened slightly, but not in a way Lucius liked.

"Do you think death is the worst possible outcome for you?"

"I imagine it's up there," Lucius spat, painfully aware that his death in particular would come with undesirable contents. "But by all means, continue with your wretched threats. Knock yourself out!"

"It's amusing how you would be the one to call something wretched." Damien raised an eyebrow. "Seeing how you're one of the most miserable creations I've ever laid eyes on."

Lucius' mind went numb as he stood there, the somewhat familiar, searing sensation crawling under his skin from chest to stomach, and he drew a breath of exasperation.

"You know what?" he then said, face blank as he reached for his knife. "I kind of want to stab you now."

Then he jumped over the desk, tackling an unexpecting Damien to the floor and aiming his knife right at his throat. It failed to reach its target however, as Damien had been quick enough to grab Lucius' wrist and stilled both their hands in the air.

"Hauke!" he yelled before Lucius swiftly headbutted his nose and made a second attempt at driving his knife closer to its prey.

"Why so concerned?" Lucius asked, breath heavy and formerly blank eyes wide in fury. "You can't die, so this should be more than justified. After what you've put me through— After what you've put him through! Isn't a little mangling more than fair!?"

Damien didn't reply, but Lucius ended up narrowly avoiding a kick towards his stomach. The movement caused him to drop his focus for an instant, giving Damien the opportunity to slap the knife out of his hand.

Lucius spared it a frustrated glance as it slid over the floor, but he couldn't turn his attention away again. He forced Damien's hands down and readied another headbutt just as the latter shot his knee up to kick him between his legs.

It was almost laughable. Conscious as he was of his predicament, Lucius couldn't help but smile. It hurt of course, but probably not as much as Damien had expected from the impact.

"Cowardly move," he whispered, stretching his leg back to aim it. "But if that's how you like it..."

Then the door flung open, and Lucius reluctantly turned his head to see Hauke striding towards them. He knew he'd have no chance in a battle of strength anymore, so he threw himself to the side to grab his knife.

"Get rid of him, will you?" Damien said as Hauke quickly seized Lucius' armed hand and squeezed it hard.

"No, you're not getting rid of me, no matter how you try!" Lucius spat, yanking his arm to be free from his captor, though not surprised to fail. "He's going to know about it now! If you try anything, he'll know! This nightmarish murder spree of yours is over, and you'll be lucky if he doesn't tear you limb from limb!"

To his and everyone else's surprise, he proved harder than should be possible to remove from the room. He fought back Hauke with all his might and tried to reach Damien again, knife furiously slashing in the air.

"What's going on?" Anthony's voice suddenly appeared in the doorway and Lucius turned around to look at him. It hurt even more. Looking at Anthony with the new knowledge of those cursed pieces of his past. "Lucius, what are you—"

"Tell him!" Lucius didn't reply to Anthony, instead fixing his murderous gaze on Damien again. "Tell him what you did! Look him in the eyes and tell him what you did to them! What you've forced him to live through, and everything you've tried doing to me!"

"Hauke," Damien said, not even bothering with looking at Lucius. "I meant now."

So Hauke lifted Lucius from the floor, the latter tugging and flailing his arms around to free himself.

"If you won't tell him, I will!" He slid out of Hauke's grip with one arm and used it to grab the doorway. "You're not getting away with it again! Never!"

He couldn't hold on for long, and as soon as he'd been pulled out of the room entirely, Hauke shut the door and began carrying him away.

"Hauke, let him go," Anthony said, but the butler didn't acknowledge it.

"How can you work for him?" Lucius hissed at him. "Just blindly doing what he says without even considering why you're doing it? Why he's throwing me out?"

Hauke frowned, and actually opened his mouth.

"You tried to kill him."

"He can't die!" Lucius still struggled, but his energy was waning. "You know that, don't you? You couldn't possibly work as his butler without knowing!"

"Hauke, listen to me," Anthony tried, doing his best to keep up with Hauke. "I'll— I'll talk to him, so you don't need to..."

He trailed off, and even Lucius paused his struggling as well as they both noticed Hauke hadn't turned to go down the stairs.

"Where...?" Anthony said, but didn't continue his sentence, only following Hauke as he headed down the other corridor.

"I will say nothing," Hauke said as they stopped in front of Anthony's office. "But you keep him out of trouble."

Anthony let out a breath of relief.

"Thank you, Hauke."

Lucius was not so grateful.

"No!" He stopped the door with his foot before Hauke could close it. "He's gonna pay! I'm not gonna hide like some coward, I'm gonna make him suffer more than The Waste could ever!"

"Lucius, stop it!" Anthony pulled him away from the door, and Hauke proceeded to close it behind him. "Stop yelling and tell me what happened instead."

"It was him!" Lucius' voice cracked, and tears gathered in his eyes again. "He killed them! He— He made everyone... Everyone you've loved, he— He got rid of them!"

Anthony opened his mouth, only to close it again as he struggled for words.

"Lucius—"

"I figured it out and he didn't deny it. He's been doing it all along." Lucius sank to the floor, the thought of it all and the terror of him having been targeted to follow the same fate finally breaking him. "Every time you've fallen for someone, he's just... Just made them go away, one way or another."

"Please, calm down—"

"How could I?" Lucius shook his head, giving Anthony a bewildered stare before squeezing his eyes together. "Anthony, you have to believe me. He's fucked up everything for you. He's been ruining your life all these years, and—"

"I know."

Lucius stared, trying to process the few words he'd just heard.

"You... Know?"

Anthony nodded, kneeling down to join Lucius on the floor.

"He never said it outright, and always made sure that it couldn't be traced to him, but it wasn't hard to figure out."

His emotions were difficult to read, but they were understandably not very cheerful. There was sorrow, frustration, and what Lucius guessed could be remorse.

As a very angry person however, Lucius was shocked to find very little trace of it in Anthony's face, or body language.

"But— But what..." He just couldn't wrap his head around it. Dealing with the whole revelation earlier had been bad enough. "... Why are you still here? Why haven't you run away from him?"

Anthony pressed his lips together, taking an excruciating moment to decide what to say.

"He... Needs me here."

"How does that matter?" Lucius tilted his head backwards. "How can he be worth it after all this? How— How can you sacrifice your happiness for someone like him?"

"He's my father." Anthony tried to shrug it off. "It's not that simple."

"Not this again." Lucius pressed his hands around his head. "Why are everyone so obsessed with treasuring families that are actively destroying them? Families that don't give a shit about them."

"He cares," Anthony said, voice lower now. "He loves his family more than anything. He wants what's best for us."

"And that includes setting your love life on fire? How the Waste does he even begin to try justifying that?"

"Well, he... Wants me to focus on the business." Anthony averted his gaze accordingly as Lucius' face scrunched up in anger. "Our lifespans make things difficult when comparing ourselves to those with limited time, and he thinks it's better to focus on a bigger perspective rather than... Things that come and go."

Lucius drew a deep breath, knowing full well he'd lose it if he didn't.

"See, mortal as I may be, I know a thing or two about parents who sacrifice their childrens' happiness to further their own gain, and my conclusion... As a mortal, of course, since that's such an important detail for you all... Is that fuck them. Fuck their miserable existence and let them rot in The Waste for eternity, which I apparently can't fathom the meaning of, but I'm willing to say it anyway."

Anthony's wrinkled brow furrowed deeper.

"I... I know. I just— I can't." His breath trembled. "I can't leave."

"He even gave you the option." Lucius shook his head. "I mean— Of course I want you here more than anything, but if he gave you the chance, why didn't you take it?"

"He'd have others watching me instead." Anthony let out a low, empty laugh. "He would make sure I'd be kept busy. He always does."

The corner of his mouth twitched, and he lowered his voice.

"Also... I don't really want to leave, even if it would mean escaping him."

"Why not?" Lucius' voice lowered as well.

"Well, my life is here." Anthony shrugged again. "I wasn't just town chief because Damien wanted me to. I care about this town, and I have my friends here."

He managed a bittersweet smile as he looked back at Lucius.

"And I have you."

Warm as his body felt by the words, Lucius couldn't lean into the romantic mood. He was too upset.

"Why—" He hesitated. "Why didn't you just tell me then? Give me a warning, and a chance to prepare?"

The sudden dread in Anthony's eyes proved more gut wrenching than Lucius would have expected, and he swallowed while anticipating the reply.

"I..." Anthony closed his eyes with a resigned sigh. "... Because I'm selfish."

Lucius frowned at the words.

"You're selfish?"

"I'd already figured it out, after all," Anthony said, unable to look Lucius in the eyes. "And I knew Damien would keep interfering, so I tried to stay away. Tried to do what I was told and not— Not love someone like that again."

His eyes narrowed.

"But I couldn't. I kept falling for people, and they all went away. They left, or ended up hurt, or worse, and it was because of me. Because I was selfish enough to want their love more than their safety."

"You could have had both, at least with me," Lucius argued, more frustrated than shocked. "If you'd just told me from the beginning, I would have known to watch out. I'd have known why you've been so reluctant all this time, and I would have helped you keep it secret."

Anthony laughed softly.

"How many do you think have stayed with me after finding out? It doesn't take a lot of effort from Damien to scare them off." He gave Lucius a remorseful look. "To be honest though, with you I was more concerned about the other reaction some have had."

"Getting angry and suggesting we kill the toesucker?"

"Exactly." Anthony couldn't help but smile, but it died out as quickly as it had appeared. "But... That's the worst one."

Lucius tilted his head with a raised eyebrow, allowing Anthony to continue.

"The ones who were scared off were able to leave it at that. It was an awful thing, but they had the chance to move on with their lives. Those who tried to fight back though..."

Lucius could guess.

"... Are the ones who ended up dead?"

"Or injured beyond repair," Anthony added, to no one's comfort, and his face scrunched up in a grimace. "And I don't know what we'll do. I've tried to find solutions, or— Or a way we could stay together, but... He already knows now. Even if we act as though nothing's going on between us he won't be fooled."

"I... Guess I could disappear?" Lucius suggested, though far from thrilled. "Pretend I got scared and ran off but will just be Lucia most of the time."

Anthony still looked uncomfortable.

"Well there's also that. You'd be even closer to him if that whole... Marriage thing really happens."

"I'm not even sure how I will pull that off to begin with." Lucius rubbed his cheek, thoughts and concerns now spinning in his head. "I'll probably suffer in that area as well if I want to be myself. I can't keep changing between identities that quickly."

"Then what can we do?" Anthony's shoulders slumped. "It's bad enough that Damien doesn't like us being together but you'll be in danger as Lucia too."

Lucius pursed his lips. He had his ideas of course, but doubted Anthony wanted to hear them.

"Maybe..." Anthony looked away. "... Maybe it really is best if you get away. Just— Just escape him somehow."

"No," Lucius said before Anthony finished his sentence. "I haven't gone through all this, and won people's trust and— And everything I had to do up until now just to reach my position, just to run off when a possessive ice sculpture of pure bitterness decides he doesn't like me."

"Lucius, you... Can't win against him," Anthony said, voice a mere whisper. "No one has before."

"Well they weren't me," Lucius said dryly. "And as limited as my lifespan may be, I know a thing or two about survival, and Damien isn't the only one who knows how to take care of problems."

"No, Lucius, please—" Anthony began but Lucius was not in an obliging mood.

"I've had it with him looking down on me, and trying to ruin not just my life but Lucia's as well. I'm going to put an end to this, and if you won't help me, I'll find others who will."

He made an attempt to stand up but Anthony grabbed his arm to pull him back.

"Don't do this," he pleaded. "He'll kill you. I know you've survived many horrors before but this is different. I— I don't want to lose you like this. You can still get awa—"

"But I won't run away!" Lucius yanked his arm loose, and his dark veins burned inside his shirt. "I'm not giving up! I'm not giving anything up! I'll burn the town to the ground before I see him running it!"

Anthony was at a loss of words, eyes filled with what looked like desperation and a glimpse of fear, but he didn't protest anymore as Lucius stood up.

"Is there no way for me to stop you?" he mumbled with a dejected look at the floor.

Lucius considered it for just a heartbeat.

"No."

"Then can I at least ask you one thing?" Anthony raised his head to look Lucius in the eyes, and the latter wrinkled his nose with scepticism.

"What?"

"Don't tell Ethan."

Lucius studied Anthony's agonised stare.

"Tell him what?"

"About Damien." Anthony drew a trembling breath. "Don't tell him what he's been doing."

Lucius scoffed.

"Why the Waste not? Why shouldn't he kno—"

"Because he still thinks there's some good left in him." Anthony's voice broke at the end. "It's— It's what gives him hope. He's refused to accept that Damien doesn't want him around because the old Damien would never turn his son away, and... I don't want to take that away from him."

"It's just going to hurt him more the longer it goes on," Lucius protested, but didn't continue as he noticed Anthony's trembling hands.

He sighed instead.

"I'm..." He hesitated, anxiety building inside him as he watched the man he loved in so much pain. "... I'll take some time to think, alright? Maybe I need to calm down."

Anthony did not look convinced, but nodded, and Lucius smiled weakly before turning away. He knew Anthony didn't believe him, and he had every right not to.

Because Lucius was lying.

He had no intention to calm down, or to think things over. Damien had to disappear. Lucius didn't know how, or if he could succeed on his own, but he'd use any means necessary to make it happen.

So he went to look for Ethan.