So in that AU that you made of Lucius living through making a deal with Golbez- how would that go? Is he helping the cions? Does he have to face the dad in ShB too?? Consider me intrigued
Ooooo It's been a while since I've put a bit of thought into the AU but this question has the cogs turning again lmao. A lot of this is pushed by the thought that the ascians basically take the timeline (figuratively lmao) by force to try and push their plans forward. So while I personally believe that there would be a big narrative shift for Lucius' survival... the shadow coworkers get to ruin everything anyways v-v The Deal - So, this entire AU hinges off of the young twenty-something prince having to resort to desperately calling across the rift for anything to stave off the affliction that is deteriorating him. Not for his own sake, but for the sake of his people and the people of the star knowing full well how well his family would take his death instead. Golbez, having no need to deal in aether, instead forges a pact based on an unending quest for for the salvation of his world no matter what. And though it leaves Lucius pretty weak initially, he is able to recover thanks to golbez's intervention. It does however (even if IC he's only be a little giddy about that cause he's a galvus and still a bit strange) leave him as a reaper on paper, the magic and ability Golbez allows him to wield is something he has to try really really hard to keep under wraps for the time he was still in Garlemald. However, out of both respect of saving his life and just learning over time about the 13th Lucius avoids over usage of their pact, and it's more often Golbez intervening and taking control of his body than it is... Lucius... charging full tilt in void armor or throwing void rocks at people lol. The Consequence and the Ascians - Aka, the context as to why he eventually joins the scions. Lucius, no thanks to Golbez eventually getting the information of HOW the 13th got into the state it was pried out of him, has encounters with Elidibus that lead to both his defection from the empire and Lucius' drive to find, intercept and destroy the ascians. Because while Elidibus does not kill him, or hurt his family directly, or even twist Emet's arm into going through with the destruction while Lucius still lived instead of later "like planned". He does capture and clone him. And replaces him, and things start to go so terribly wrong from there that when Lucius attempts to fight him to stop him he only narrowly survives because Golbez both got his ass out of there by possession and saved him from nearly dying... again. And even though he is not one of hydaelyn's, nor does he have the echo, him being emet's progeny lights such a vindictive fire in him that he becomes one of the most consistent problems for the ascians.
The Scions and "Voidhunter" - Voidhunter, in essence, was Louisoix's guard dog and Matoya's collaborator in New Sharlayan against the rising threat of the Garlean Empire and the darkness that lingered below it. Lucius basically stands in as a pre-era WoL for the circle of knowing before the rise of the scions, and is very protective of the youth that joins both rising factions eventually because he deeply misses his family. Woefully unable to be in two places at once, he's often vigilantly guarding his charges or is off on errands for them (again, much like WoL, and he curses any reference of 'if only there were more of him' with more anger than he is able to usually explain.) Lucius by this point is mellowed, occasionally angry at the star with it channeled against an enemy that he so rarely is able to indulge the knowledge to people of, but is basically this weird mix of both a DRK/DRG thanks to Golbez's willingness to arm him. He keeps his third eye hidden, often masking himself, and few outside of the circle/the scions know of who he really is until Elidibus is dealt with. Despite it all he's still a bit of the 'puppy' he's often drawn to be, just with silent determination that is honestly more terrifying than if this 8 fulm tall giant was just outwardly happy about things. He adores the WoL when he eventually meets Meteor, and tries to be the best mentor he can be, even if his urianger-esk looming wigs out everyone he does it to.
SHB T-T - If I am to write him into being with the scions then yes he likely would've been dragged to the first (and yay maybe goofy ass thing I can write of light reaper vs void reaper). But this will probably have to be it's own post on it's own. Lucius having to fight his own father and deal with the heart break knowing he was one of the beings he was after is something I want to leave here and eventually explore in more depth. Because perhaps it is a bit controversial of a thought in regards to Emet's character, but I genuinely believe he would not have set Garlemald on complete conquest had Lucius not died, and that the cataclysm would have been after his generation BECAUSE the way he spoke about Lucius, the detached, defeated, broken attitude, is so reminiscent to how he speaks and thinks about hyth and azem that I do not think he would do so in a way that would have effected him, and that Lucius' death was what doomed garlemald in full from the context we've been given in canon and my own interpretations of Emet's hypocrisy and mindset. In this AU, it is Lucius' mission to preserve the star no matter what, to not allow what happened to the 13th to happen elsewhere if he can do something about it. And writing Elidibus' intervention always poses the question to me if there were circumstances that the convocation had to accelerate or intervene with things because of Emet's countless attempts to make judgements on the star (sorry, im just a sucker for workplace sabotage is a setting like this, there is nothing but salt between the large majority of the convocation and it would not surprise me.)
