Pathways

Lucio x Reader

//no real spoilers. We been knew.
//The reader is gender neutral for fluidity sake. The Count's ghost takes his true shape. No goats be lurkin 'neath these letters.
(Listening to 'Silence' by Beethoven while reading is recommended for full chill factor.)
//Beware all ye who enter: Angst Ahoy!!!

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The hallway was dark, the smell of ash permeating the air. Their footsteps echoed down the hall, the only sound filling the dismal atmosphere. They felt like their heart was going to beat right out of their chest.
As they pushed open the door to the abandoned bedroom, it let out a soft creak. The atmosphere in the room was suffocating, ash clinging to the walls and ceiling and darkening the room impossibly further. There was a groan, as if the structure were settling; it wasn't. The sound was enough to curdle the blood in their veins, and had they not been tasked with coming here by the Countess herself they would have fled.
The sound of claws peeling at the ashen wallpaper sent a shiver down their spine, and in an effort to chase the feeling away they summoned a ball of light. It's rays were pathetic, and the shadows in the room seemed to coalesce around it, making it seem impossibly smaller.
"I can tell that you're here." They said. The tremor in their voice was thinly veiled behind a false bravado, and the chuckle that followed behind caused them to swallow thickly.
The voice that responded seemed to echo all around, deafening and barely a whisper all at once. The sound was soft, as fine as the soot that coated the room around them. "I just knew you wouldn't be able to resist me."
There was a smugness in that voice; a sense that this person was used to getting what he wanted. The translucent form that now stood before them smirked down at them, a silver gaze ringed with scarlet and a barely there chuckle. The Count had surely been a breathtaking man in life, and in death he was breathtaking in an utterly different way.
"Speechless before me?" He asked, syrupy and self assured. He reached out to place a finger beneath their chin, probably meaning to tilt their head up a bit. He looked almost frustrated at the ease with which his finger passed through them, and the impossibly hot air around them thickened.
"I... I came here under the Countess' orders. I'm here to get answers." They said. It had been incredibly easy to draw the late Count Lucio out, and they wondered if that had anything to do with how incredibly lonely death must be.
"Answers?" He asked, distracted from his own annoyance at the prospect of entertainment. "Ah, I know! Surely you want to know more about an incredible man such as myself. Go ahead, then. Ask away!"
"Actually," They cleared their throat, their fists clenching in slight apprehension. "I was hoping to get some answers regarding the murder..."
"Oh." He paled further at the mention of his death, the shadows in the room seeming poised to swallow him up. He let out a weak chuckle, his eyes sliding to the bed where he'd been confined in the months leading up to the last big event in his life. "That."
The room was silent for a moment, neither speaking. What fragile coexistence that the two maintained had frayed at the mention of such a grim topic, and they were afraid that should they speak of it again that the delicate balance between them may shatter altogether. When Lucio finally spoke up, his voice was more somber; resigned.
"It was an accident, I swear. I didn't mean for it to happen." He bit his lip, an unnervingly human expression for someone who was dead. "I didn't know..."
"Didn't know what?" They asked softly, trying to coax the truth out in as gentle a way as possible. Lucio's form flickered, as if he were the light of a candle and a window had been left ajar.
"I wasn't murdered. It's... complicated." He said, then turned away. The vague outline of his hand came up to grip his hair, the other arm useless and incomplete at his side. "I have to go. I can't... I can't talk about this right now."
"Wait, what do you mean? If you weren't murdered, then how-?!" They began, and Lucio turned to glance back at them. The look in his eyes chilled the blood in their veins, and yet seemed to burn into them simultaneously.
"If you really want answers, I guess you'll just have to come back another time." He said, the faint smile at his lips contradicting the well of sorrow in his eyes. He faded, his presence disappearing and leaving them alone once more.
They let out a breath, the warmth of it fogging up in front of their face. The once heated air had turned as cold as the grave.
'Fitting that I should think such a thing.' They thought, quickly turning to leave. The image of the Count still burned across the back of their eyes each time they closed them, and his soft chuckle still rang in their ears. The stairs seemed like an oasis as they approached, and yet, they seemed so far away. Each step they took towards it caused their heart to sink further.

They were leaving him behind. For now, the light at the bottom of the stairs beckoned.

//861 words.
//thanks Fruit_Bowl_ for the request! Hope you liked this lil slice of Depresso Pie. It came off as a bit more mysterious than I thought it would.