This goes… ah… somewhere before star vestige, just because I don't feel like putting 'Neo' in front of his sword.

Chapter 1

"GLORY I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!!!"

Haru ducked as Decalogue was hurled at him "Hey! Hey! No lifting heavy objects, remember!?" He cried, throwing up his hands defensively and bolting down the hall or the Raregroove castle. Lucia perused.

Elie sighed, looking up from the board game she'd been attempting to play with Plue "He's at it again"

"Let him blow some steam off" Musica lit a cigarette and leaned back against the wall "I'd be pissed off to if I was in his place. And he'll only be worse if he can't get it all out now." There was a loud crash in the direction Lucia and Haru had disappeared too "Still… while he's still up to it, he should really be trying to murder Alice… if we find him. That old coot's smart to not show his face after what he did"

Alice was very smart not to show his face. After three months of personality clashing, as well as a lot of discomfort for Lucia, everyone was ready to strangle him.

It had started, at least as Alice claimed, with a dream in which King and Gale came to him from the afterlife with a very unusual favor. Realistically, it would have been better to bring Cattleya into the issue if this was true (the main reason that everyone suspected this was just a prank gone way too far, aside from not being able to describe what King looked like). Of course, that probably still would have upset Lucia a good deal, and maybe even given Haru a heart attack.

What Alice claimed the two Gales had come to him for was this. The Raregroove and Glory bloodline were always fighting, so, apparently, the solution they came up with was to mix the two. And Alice had taken it upon himself to make this happen. So, with two bottles of artificial lust and something black and gooey that the gang later found out was capable of defying many laws of nature, he had all but dragged Haru and Co to Lucia's castle. How he'd gotten the goo and lust potion down Lucia's throat was the second biggest mystery of the whole fiasco, but all he had to do to get Haru to drink was tell him the potion would help him become stronger.

Though you'd think that Haru would have known better than to believe him.

While the immediate results, Lucia being too sore to walk and Haru being too embarrassed to speak, had been interesting, things had gotten worse once the purpose of the black goo had been revealed. The reaction to this had been one of denial, then slow and painful acceptance of one very distressing fact: Lucia was pregnant, and Haru was the father.

Lucia, obviously, had denied this fact for a while longer than everyone else. Even after morning sickness had set in he insisted it was some variation of the flu until Megido pointed out he had no temperature.

Megido must have been the only one who understood what was going on since the beginning, since he had chased Alice off and forbidden Haru from leaving (why he'd let Alice enter in the first place was the biggest mystery). After much arguing, the rest of Haru's group was now protected by the same truce that allowed Haru to move around the castle without being harmed.

Of course, this truce existed with Haru and Megido, and Haru's friends and the remaining members of DC who were all afraid to upset the demon. Lucia still had no issue with harming Haru whenever he was in a bad mood.

There was another loud crash and lots of shouting. Finally, Haru came back out with what was likely some of that night's half cooked dinner in his hair looking more than a little hassled. "I don't get why he has to take it out on me"

"Cuzz you knocked him up" Musica said.

"Yeah, but I wasn't… I mean… Alice was…"

"Alice isn't here" Let reminded Haru "You are. And on the totem poll of blame you're the next highest"

Lucia came back. His hair was also coated in the half cook dinner, which, upon closer inspection, was probably lentil soup, rice, and mashed potatoes. Like Haru, he looked incredibly hassled, and also very pissed. He glared at the Rave Master and leaned against the wall.

This was when talking became awkward. For fear of sending the boy into another tantrum the group couldn't talk about anything related to him, but any new conversation they could start up would clearly just be an attempt to cover up that they'd been talking about him.

"So… uh… Musica…" Haru paused "How do you get mashed potatoes out of hair?"

"With water and shampoo, stupid" Musica laughed. Elie laughed too. Let didn't seem to find this as amusing.

"Well… I mean… without showering" Haru said, trying to drag out the conversation.

"Like this" Julia rammed him against the wall almost hard enough to crack it. Some of the soup and potatoes came out and left a mark on the wall, but the rice stayed.

Lucia grinned.

"Julia, that hur-" Haru was rammed again. This time some of the rice came out. Some of the soup dripped out of his hair after being shaken and fell on his face instead.

"AAAAGH!" Haru fell over on the ground and clutched his face, rolling around like a turtle that had been flipped on its shell (RC: turtles are actually really good at flipping themselves back over, but let's pretend they aren't) "There's soup in my eyes!"

Lucia chuckled this time. Seeing Julia act so violently was one of the few things the group had discovered could cheer him up. Unfortunately for Haru, all the other ways were just as painful, if not more.

After a minute of two more of this Lucia was called away by and advisor to work on who knows what. Once he was gone Belnika reached over and fixed Haru's nose.

"I wish he liked something other than seeing me suffer"

"It's natural" said Sieg "When you think about it, every major crisis that you experienced, he went through to a greater degree. He's unable to compare himself to regular people because of what he experienced, but he can come very close with you-another member of royalty who has similar experiences."

"What do you mean?"

"You're mother died at the same time as his-but he had to watch. You were both separated from your father-but while he was imprisoned, you had a sister to lovingly care for you. Your fathers died-but while you got to see your father one last time, his not only left him to rot in prison but also adopted a new son. While you've been surrounded by friends, Lucia has no one to trust, save the Sinclair-which I don't think he finds to be a very good confidential. To him, you are a similar yet much more fortunate person. You may be dirt poor" classic Sieg bluntness "while he lives in a lavish castle, but in his mind you are the one who is truly fortunate. For all his speech about not needing friends or family, I'm sure he's terribly lonely, maybe even the loneliest person in the world. He might even act distant to try to make himself not care" Sieg paused to look up from his book "Of course, that's all speculation based on typical human behavior and psychological affects of various traumas."

"Lucia is… lonely?" The idea had never occurred to Haru

"In theory" Sieg reminded him with the sort of speed that implied he personally doubted this "And regardless of whether he is or isn't, confronting him about it will most certainly result in death. Especially given his current temperament and the fact that under your treaty with Megido you are forbidden from laying a finger on him."

"Ah… but…"

"If Lucia really is suffering, then it's his own fault if he chooses not to seek someone out about it" Sieg said "That may sound harsh, but it's the truth. If he your wanted help that badly, he would have already made peace with you."

"Another theory?" Shuda asked.

"A fact" Sieg answered.

"Why would he go to Haru for help?" Musica asked.

"No one else is dumb enough to forgive a murderer. Look at me. I tried to kill Elie, but Haru hasn't raised the issue in over a year."

"Good point."

"I haven't raised the issue either, and I'm the victim" Elie said "Does that make me dumb"

"No. You're just sweet" Sieg told her gently "Haru's dumb though"

"What is this? Beat on Haru Day?" Haru asked "I already have to let Lucia use me as a punching bag, can't the rest up you ease up a little on me?"

"If you make it harder to make fun of you, we won't" Julia promised.

Haru grunted and picked a bit of rice out of his hair before storming off to his room.

OXXXXXO

Rune Caster: This might be easer not to continue.