I really wish in Lucio’s route there’d been this huge confrontation. Between the cast and Lucio with MC.
Asking MC how they could see any good in Lucio, how they could go with the man who’d caused so much pain. Asra with tears in his eyes, Muriel holding him, glaring daggers. Nadia, ready to draw her sword, demanding to know how MC could betray them all in this way. And Julian, Julian who is so very flamboyant, and never shown to be angry. Screaming, so angry a vein is popping out on his forehead, screaming at MC that they had just hurt them all so badly. Screaming that he couldn’t believe they’d not even consider what kind of man Lucio is.
And MC says they know, they know he’s horrible and they don’t expect forgiveness for themself or for Lucio. But they believe he can change, they believe that he can be better. And everyone is now finally looking at Lucio. “Don’t say it was just an ‘oopsie’ you knew what you were doing” telling him that there is no excuse. He only cared about the plague when he was sick. And it doesn’t quite sink in for him yet. It doesn’t sink in until he and MC learn that MC was one of the people who died. They are angry with him, when they learn that he really didn’t care about trying to cure the plague until he was sick. They’re angry that because of him, they don’t remember anything.
And it come crashing down on Lucio, everything he’s done and the gravity of it all. Because now he finally cares about someone and that someone is seeing how awful he was and he can’t deny it or excuse it anymore. It comes crashing down on him and he sobs, and he begs for forgiveness. And MC says they aren’t the only one he needs to make amends with. He isn’t as warm to MC, he just can’t bring himself to be. But he can’t bring himself to leave them entirely either.
Muriel and Julian would never forgive him, Asra would simply tolerate him more and try to be less cold. But he can’t forgive Lucio for taking his parents and hurting his best friend. But he still loves MC, so he’s trying for them. And so that they won’t be alone if Lucio hurts them, too. Nadia tries, she really does. Lucio is just too loud for her. But this time, he actually is doing something. He’s taking up being count again. He doesn’t want to, but he knows he let Vesuvia fall into the state it’s in. So he’s trying to fix it, to make up for what he’s done in any way he can.
Of course he’s still loud, and sometimes selfish or only seeing what he wants. But now he’s trying, because he finally saw that there was so much more than himself. And after defeating the Devil, Lucio finds and frees Asra’s parents of his own accord. He apologizes to Nadia and he listens to her when she gives advice and actually values her input. And the city finally starts to get back to what it should be instead of what it’s become.
Lucio apologizes to Muriel…well he tries to. Muriel doesn’t want to see him, but Lucio makes a magical deal with Muriel, that he won’t hurt anyone else. And that Muriel will never be made to hurt anyone else. He knows he can’t make it up to Muriel, but he still wants to do something. So he finds the Kokhuri and he just tells Muriel where they are. So he can choose to see them himself, and learn about himself and his tribe.
And as for Julian…Julian is harder for Lucio to apologize to. Instinctively he wants to excuse what he did on his mental state and on being afraid to die. What he finally does is just admit that he was cruel. That he shouldn’t have forced the threat on dying from the plague onto Julian. He doesn’t even know where to start to try and make up for what he did. All he can think to do is say he’s sorry and then leave Julian alone.
Portia well…he didn’t actually do anything to her. But he has to sit and listen while she scolds him as if he were a child. And he acknowledges that he deserves much worse, but Portia wouldn’t do anything worse and he’s grateful for that
That’s the Lucio route I thought we’d get, one where he works hard to be better. And one where he stays to fix Vesuvia before leaving Nadia to be the countess
stormborns
dailybridgerton
izzy806
areudirty
janainaart
theartofmadeline
