Disclaimers: All characters belong to rightful owners.
Story concieved by Lee.


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Lucia groaned, as her eyes fluttered open. All around her was grey... it was concrete. And someone was shaking her gently. Her head was throbbing with pain as she dragged her body up to a seated position. She rubbed her aching forehead, where a sizeable bump was beginning to form. She lifted her eyes up, staring up at the face of a boy that she knew all too well.

::Well, well, well:: she thought. ::This is certainly conveinent.::

"...Sam?"

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"Lucia?" Sam tilted his head at the familiar tones and, finding a faint grin at his lips, he let his hands fall from the girl's shoulders. Sitting back on his heels, he brushed a hand through his hair as he tried to figure out why the girl was on the ground; well, what better way than to ask, really?

Maybe it was another step in the big conspiracy to drive him mad.

"So, Luc, what's a cute girl like you doing lying on the cold hard ground?" He asked smoothly as he reached to brush at the other's short hair. "If I'd known you went down so easily for musicians..."

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"I guess I should really eat breakfast in the mornings..." Lucia giggled, quickly covering up the unusal circumstances of her meeting with Mr. Sidewalk. "I was just talking to Chance here, and then my head started aching, and next thing I know I was on the ground with your handsome face staring down at me!"

Maybe... maybe there was a reason that Sam was here now. Maybe it was time. It couldn't be a coincidence... the blinding pain, her thoughts of Samael, and now this. She got up to her feet, placing a hand on the other's shoulder as an invitation to rise. "Umm, Sam. There's something I need to talk to you about... in private."

She wanted to kick herself. This was terribly bad timing. The last thing she wanted was to lose another potential soul. She turned to Chance, apologetically. "Umm, I'm really sorry about running off like this! But I'd love it if we got together sometime."

She handed the boy a small business card. "That has my cellphone number on it. Call anytime. And if you're ever in that area of the school, please, don't hesitiate to stop by my office in peer counseling. I'm there almost every weekday!"

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"Something you need to discuss with me?" Sam tilted his head and, idly wondering if this'd be as interesting as the past few conversations he'd had, he chuckled quietly to himself. Still, like he was going to say no to the chance to talk with someone like Lucia.

"Hey sure!" He nodded agreeably as he offered the girl a wide grin. "Y'know, if you want to, we can go get something to eat-- just... not at a pizza place okay?"

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Lukas sighed as both Kisoku and Sam ran off in separate directions. What a totally fucked up day this had turned out to be. He should have just saved himself the trouble and hung himself in the stairwell when Maman and Pere were arguing. Heaving another heavy sigh, he sat down wearily on the bench his friends had just vacated and buried his face in his hands. What on earth had possessed him to say that to Kiso? And in front of Sam, no less? Stupid... very very stupid. He'd be lucky if either of his friends ever spoke to him again.

"Fuck it," he said finally, rising suddenly from the bench. "Fuck Kiso, Fuck Sam, Fuck Maman 'n Pere, fuck Christmas, fuck the entire damn world." While sitting on the bench, he'd suddenly realized he was tired. Tired of wanting what he couldn't have, and tired of being carped at for wanting it. Tired of having to walk on eggshells. Tired of being caught in the middle. In short, he was sick and tired of being Lukas Devereau. Jamming his fists into his coat pockets, he stalked off in a direction different from that taken by either of his friends.

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Pizza. Lucia's nose cringed at the thought of the greasy fast food. She couldn't understand how the boy--or anyone for that matter-- could pollute his body with that garbage. "Umm, why don't we just walk?"

She grabbed his hand, tugging him along until they were a good distance away from the throng of people. She turned her head to the boy, speaking in grave, quiet tones. "Sam... did anything weird and unexplanable happen to you today?"

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"A-anything... weird and unexplainable?" Sam repeated this quietly as he hung his head. Well, really, his whole damn day had been weird and unexplainable, but how would Lucia even guess at that? Did he have some sort of mark on him or something? Still, rather quickly, he shook his head in the negative.

"Well, no..." He lied easily as he chewed at his lower lip. "Not really. Just your standard everyday sort of stuff, you know?"

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"Really? So I guess that'd mean no unexplainable fits of anger, bordering on uncontrollable rage?" Lucia raised an eyebrow at Sam. She'd just have to hope that he would take the bait and open up to her. If he closed off now, she might never have another chance at Samael.

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"Well, I wouldn't call it unexplainable..." Sam replied smoothly as he ran a hand through his hair. "The little bug was asking for it; you wouldn't believe what he had the guts to say to me, let alone the fact that he actually thought to attack me, bite me like some sort of rabid animal..."

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"Yes well..." Lucia grinned, noting that this hadn't been a complete rejection. "They little bug had it coming regardless. I mean, what's so good about people anyway, right?"

She turned her head to him, a pleasant grin on her face and in her words. "Your thoughts?"

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"My thoughts?" Sam quirked an eyebrow as he turned his head to the girl. Pulling a bit of candy from his pocket, he popped this same into his mouth and, after a moment's consideration, he offered Lucia a piece. "On what? The little bug at the pizza parlor who has resolved to hunting us or just about people in general?"

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"On humans in general..." Lucia smiled, offering the other quiet thanks, before taking the lollipop, pausing a moment to glide her fingers across the other's hand.

"I'm _incredibly_ interested in hearing what you think..."

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"_Incredibly_ interested?" Sam chuckled as both eyebrows raised straight up. Well, it wasn't really like he wasn't used to flirting with Lucia--they'd been doing that nearly since they first met--but, considering what'd just happened on the bench, he shoved the flirty thoughts down hard.

"Still, about humans in general..." He tipped his head as he rather pensively sucked at the lolly in his mouth. Well, what could be said for humans in general? Of course he liked them--he was one, after all- -but, well, sometimes they could be so base, so frustrating, even the people he loved deeply like sempai and Lukie...

"I guess the easist thing to say about them would be that they're a simply complex race." He shrugged after a moment, then even he looked a little suprised at the next bit. "Still, for that, not much better than your standard useless and disgusting bug."

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Lucia had to supress a squeal of unparalleled glee. Yes, it had been the perfect time to talk to Sam. He obviously had something on his mind... something that was driving him in the perfect direction.

"I whole-heartedly agree!" She grinned, linking arms with the older boy. She pressed her body as close to the other's as their position allowed, tugging the boy to a halt.

"Sam... if I tell you a secret, do you promise not to freak out? I think it might clear up some of your confusion about everything that has been going on today..."

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"Hmm? A secret?" Sam laughed faintly as he let himself be tugged to a half and, wrapping an arm around Lucia's waist, he dipped so that she could more easily whisper said secret to his ear. Grinning just a bit humorlessly, he tipped his head. "If you're about to tell me that this is all just been a really, really, incredibly bad dream and that it's time to wake up, then I'll love you forever."

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"Far from it... sorry." Lucia smiled, raised her pink lips to the other's ear. It was the moment of truth. Now or never. She took in a deep breath, readied herself, and spilled out her biggest secret.

"...I'm Lucifer."

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"Lucifer, huh?" Sam replied in a remarkably steady and even tone as he tipped his head on side. "So, that's what Lucia is short for, then? You must've had an odd set of parents to name you something like that. Satanists, were they?"

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"Look, Sam. I'm not kidding. I'm Lucifer incarnate. I know it sounds crazy, but I'll bet you've been going through your own share of crazy things. Violent thoughts... maybe even some bad dreams?"

"Those are residual memories from your past life..." Lucia frowned. She didn't know if the boy was ready for this, but she was too far into this to stop now. "After all, you were once Samael, the angel of death."

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"So let me...... get this straight." Sam murmured quietly as he shook his head. "You're Lucifer incarnate and I'm a reincarnation of the angel of death?"

Snorting softly, he shook his head. Okay, even if she had a point about the violent thoughts and bad dreams, it just simply couldn't be true. Stuff like that did. Not. Happen outside of badly written stories or comic books. So, the only answer was that this was another bad dream--a _really_ bad one, though definitely not the worst--or Willy had finally decided to get revenge and slipped something into his pizza or soft drink.

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Lucia sighed, this was not going to be easy. He was a skeptic--well, skeptics weren't too hard to convince. All you needed was solid evidence...

She pulled away from him, and, focusing her powers, lifted him an inch or two off of the ground. "Okay, buddy. Stop fooling around and listen to me! I am telling you the truth. And I can clue you in on all the problems you've been having if you just trust me!"

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