Lucas

*This world hurts, and it keeps hurting. And you want to hurt it back. But it's a fight you can't win, Amicia. You are a de Rune.*[src]
Lucas makes Amicia come to her senses

**Lucas** was originally an apprentice to Laurentius, who taught him alchemy and medicine. Lucas eventually becomes a close companion to Amicia and Hugo, as well as an apprentice to Béatrice.

## Biography

### Background and Early Life

Little of Lucas' background is known, but he is likely an orphan or was given up by his parents. Sometime during or prior to 1348, Lucas was taken on as an apprentice by Laurentius, likely due to the alchemist's poor health and desire that his work is continued. He lived on Laurentius' extensive farmstead with his master to best facilitate this.

### The Apprentice

Lucas first appeared when Amicia and Hugo de Rune finally reached the magister's farm, tending to his master who was bedridden with the plague. He warned the children away, but Laurentius bade Lucas help them to find the Château d'Ombrage, a legendary abandoned castle that would offer them safe harbor. Lucas immediately agreed to give his all to help Hugo, and so he took them to the barn near the farmhouse. Entering the small underground laboratory, he taught Amicia how to make Ignifer: a substance used to ignite dying embers into a roaring, bright flame.

As the three made to return to Laurentius, the ground shook as a horde of Rats tunneled into the house. Before Lucas could do anything, the rats had knocked over a distillery containing huge amounts of alcohol onto an open flame, causing a massive explosion that engulfed the house in flames. Lucas, frozen in horror, could only watch as his home was razed, but Amicia broke him out of his momentary stupor and they fled. With nowhere else to go as rats began to pour out of the ground, Lucas guided them to the nearby river where a small boat was moored and they escaped into the night.

### The Ravens' Spoils

Rowing them down the river as Hugo rested, Lucas explained the boy's sickness to Amicia: the Prima Macula, an ancient blood curse tied to catastrophic plagues as far back as 800 years previous. Finding an old Roman aqueduct that would guide them to the castle, the three then arrived at a brutal battlefield carpeted with French and English corpses. Although the de Runes were horrified, the ever-calm Lucas insisted that they had to follow the structure through the field of bodies. Before they could leave the area, Amicia and Hugo are captured by the English Army although Lucas evaded capture.

### Damaged Goods

Powerless to save the de Runes himself, Lucas enlisted the help of local thieves Mélie and Arthur, lying that the de Runes were rich and would reward them. This done, he went ahead alone to wait for his friends.

### The Path Before Us

The now-free de Runes and Melie arrived just in time to save Lucas from being sent to the Bastion by an Inquisition soldier. When they decided to salvage an Alchemist's Cart, he showed them how to make Luminosa: a substance that ignites into a bright, searing fireball when thrown on the ground to eliminate small groups of rats. On the way to the castle, they reached a dead end where even Lucas was unsure how to pass, but Melie's keen senses spotted a hidden door. Crossing an underground ferry, he apologized to the young thief for his deceit, which she accepted so long as she could take what she wanted from the castle. Together they finally reached the château which, up to that point, even Lucas was unsure if it really existed. He remarked on the ancient nature of the pitfall traps, and it dawned on him that the rats were not just a recent phenomenon. Helping to clear out the rats there, Lucas built a roaring fire in the hearth, glad to finally have a chance to rest in the relative safety of their new home.

### Our Home

By the next morning when Amicia had woken up, Lucas, who had been unable to sleep, had set up shop in a basic laboratory on one of the castle's lower levels to try and work on Hugo's cure; however, despite his best efforts, all he got was a puff of green smoke. He confided with Amicia that the Macula in Hugo's blood was now progressing to a potentially deadly stage and recalled that Laurentius's work on a cure for Hugo had been based on the contents of the Sanguinis Itinera, a forbidden book with knowledge about the Prima Macula. It was locked away in the Inquisition-controlled university, he sent Amicia to steal it for him.

### Alive

Standing on watch with Hugo in one of the towers, he immediately spotted Amicia returning with the book and their new ally Rodric, who tossed it to him. Immediately perusing through it, Lucas was awed by its contents. Unfortunately, even with the book now in his hands and weeks to study it, his resources were simply not enough. They needed a cure now, for Hugo was now truly suffering and in great pain. With no other choice, he prepared to head to the ruined de Rune estate with Amicia to hopefully find any research belonging to Béatrice de Rune, the siblings' mother.

### All That Remains

Arriving at the estate, Lucas noticed that Amicia, understandably, was emotionally distressed by the memories of her loss, and did his best to help her push on. Seeing the centuries-old stone bridge leading into the property having collapsed, Lucas remarked it as a sign of the end of the old ways. As they proceeded, they noticed a rat swarm acting strangely: instead of wandering they were running in perfect circles as a group. Reaching the domain, they find several wounded Inquisition guards, and if Amicia decides to kill them he expresses disapproval of Amicia doing so. Out front of the main house, he spots the corpse of Amicia's father Robert de Rune and offers to find them another path to save her the trauma.

Entering the house and finding Hugo's room, Lucas did not find any medicine and reasoned that Béatrice must have had a hidden lab, which Amicia realized was under the garden in an underground Roman bathhouse; however, this was also the most heavily infested area. The diminutive boy managed to push a heavy cart with a brazier the entire way while Amicia defended the front of the cart from rat swarms. In the bathhouse, he makes sense of a number of frescoes, sculptures, and symbols related to alchemy and finally uncovers the Lady de Rune's laboratory. Once in the lab, Lucas marveled at Béatrice's progress despite not having the book. While under constant attack from the ever-frenzied rat hordes, he finally completed the elixir using the Sanguinis Itinera, calming the rats. As they returned to the castle, he realized that the rats were somehow linked to the carrier of the Macula. Arriving at the hideout, Hugo was able to finally get the elixir which alleviated his symptoms.

### Penance

Lucas, no longer having to work on the cure and exhausted from his mission decided to sleep in, but was awoken by the twins and Rodric's arguing over the results of a sling competition. When Hugo was discovered to be missing, he and the others fanned out to find the boy, but he did not realize that Amicia had gone off on her own until it was too late.

### Remembrance

Having found an unconscious Amicia in the forest with the others, he took care of her for the three days it took for her to wake up. In the month of Hugo's absence, he did his best to comfort her, offering her sleep aid mixtures to cope with her nightmares. When Nicholas and Hugo attacked the hideout, overwhelming the defenses with ease, he could not understand how a castle built to withstand such attacks was falling so easily. He took cover with the others deeper in the castle and fled down a damaged pathway. By the time he made his way back to the courtyard with Rodric and Melie, Nicholas had been defeated but Arthur had been killed as well. Together with his friends, Lucas decided it was time to end the Inquisition once and for all.

### Coronation

Arriving at the town walls, Lucas led the charge along with the furious Melie and they made their way deeper into the town. He became separated from the de Runes and Rodric along with Melie when the two were chased by armored guards, and by the time they were able to regroup Rodric had been killed by enemy archers. Even the cool and calm Lucas was distressed by the loss of their strong and valiant friend but quickly regained his composure to accomplish their goal as they finally reached the town cathedral: the final stronghold of the Inquisition.

After the de Runes had dealt with the guards, Lucas helped barricade the cathedral so no one else could come in. He was horrified at the spectacle within the sanctum: Vitalis Bénévent had sacrificed the entire congregation to feed his own rat horde: the Angels. As the enemy swarm bore down on them, Lucas was surprised: these pale rats were not affected by light at all and almost overtook the group. Unable to help, Lucas and Melie hung back while the de Runes battled the mad Inquisitor, freeing Béatrice by knocking some guards of the upper floor and lowering her cage. As Amicia dealt the killing blow with her sling, Lucas and the others silently looked on as the menace that was Grand Inquisitor Vitalis Bénévent died away.

### For Each Other

With Béatrice alive but battered from what the Inquisition torturers had put her through, Lucas stayed with the de Runes to care for her. He sent Amicia and Hugo into the village to get medicinal supplies such as hawthorn and Saint John's Wort. Meeting up with Lucas back at the cart, he began to drive them away as the group intended to leave Aquitaine for good, as "important people" were still looking for Hugo. As the siblings played in the back of the cart, he laughed along with them, looking forward to a peaceful life after all they had been through.

### Under a New Sun

Six months after the Inquisition is defeated, Lucas, Amicia, Hugo, and their mother Béatrice, are summoned to Provence by the Order, an organization of alchemists whose local representative Vaudin may be able to shed light on how to further remedy Hugo's condition. Along the way, they are caught in false allegations of robbery, which triggers the dormancy of Hugo's Macula.

### Newcomers

The group enjoys the market after finding refuge in the new town. After they reach their new house, Hugo suffers a nightmare as the Macula's hold on him advances, and Béatrice asks Lucas and Amicia to go find the magister. Along the way, they discover that the rats and plague have spread to the region.

### A Burden of Blood

Lucas and Amicia are sent off by Béatrice to bring back nightshade to aid in the treatment of Hugo's seizures.

### Protector's Duty

Hugo's condition hasn't improved for days despite being under the care of Magister Vaudin. Lucas hears out Amicia as shares her growing frustrations about Vaudin and the Order's ways, beginning to try and think of another solution to Hugo's problems. Soon after, the rats devour the city, forcing the group to flee by boat.

### In Our Wake

A band of mercenaries led by "The Wall" ambushes them as they ride down a boat. The siblings confront their aggressors, but decide not to join Lucas and Béatrice in the boat as it sails away.

### The Life We Deserve

Following the trail of destruction left behind by Amicia and Hugo, Lucas and Beatrice managed to find their way to La Cuna, the island now infested with rats. After taking shelter in the Countess' palace and having an emotional family reunion with the siblings, they are secretly taken prisoner while Amicia is called away for a private meeting with the Count. When Amicia escapes the trap and finds them, Lucas screams desperately for her to run away with Hugo, but being beaten by a guard, the boy can do nothing but watch the brutal duel between the girl and the Count and then Beatrice being killed by the Countess. Once Hugo figures out what is going on and unleashes the rats on the enemies, Lucas manages to escape in the commotion, grab Amicia's crossbow, and join her in the center of the courtyard for cover. At the end of the fight the ground collapses beneath them and they end up underground, where Lucas consoles Amicia as she cries in grief.

### Nothing Left

With Beatrice dead and Hugo in a catatonic state, Amicia loses her will to keep going and it is up to Lucas to get her fighting spirit up again, saying he is going to be guiding the siblings the path ahead until they are safe. He fixes Amicia's dislocated shoulder and tries to bring Hugo back from his emotionless state. When Macula speaks through Hugo about the plans of killing the sun and Amicia loses herself in a moment of rage against the Count, Lucas manages to bring her back to her senses by saying that her brother needs her and the important thing is to get him out of the island. In the battle to free Arnaud, Lucas realizes that Amicia is close to another anxiety attack and decides to help her in the fight, using alchemy to stun enemies and leave them vulnerable to Amicia's attacks.

### Healing Our Wounds

After escaping from La Cuna, Amicia goes to talk to everyone on the boat. In the conversation with Lucas, she talks about their new home in the mountains and asks if the boy wants to live with her and Hugo there, to which Lucas responds that the siblings are his home.

### Dying Sun

When Hugo gives himself to The Macula, Lucas explains that the Nebula will allow the rats to spread across the world to destroy everything and they don't have much time to find him and stop what is coming.

### King Hugo

They arrive in Marseille to find Hugo and when the girl, weak from her wounds, falls, Lucas takes her hand to help her up and Amicia decides to tell him how much she appreciates everything he has done for her since they met. Sophia interrupts the conversation realizing that Amicia was actually saying goodbye, thinking that she is going to die in the mission. Later, Amicia tries to convince the others that she has to take care of Hugo alone, but Lucas ends the argument by saying that she needs all the help she can get and he is connected to them too. When the rats attack, only Lucas and Amicia are able to continue and they have to survive by running through waves of rats to reach the epicenter. Lucas briefly explains to Amicia about the Nebula's effects and the two dive into the unknown together. Amidst a hallucination where Amicia finally understands Hugo's fate and what needed to be done, she falls to her knees in despair, thinking about how lonely her future will be. Lucas appears at that exact moment and his warm hug is what brings her back to reality. He walks with her to where Hugo is imprisoned and stays by her side to support her in what needs to be done. If Amicia is unable to do it, Lucas will shoulder the burden for her and use the crossbow to deliver the final shot.

### Legacy of the de Rune Family

The dialogue between Sophia and Amicia in the epilogue changes if Lucas fires at Hugo. If Amicia manages to kill Hugo, Amicia will tell Sophia that Lucas went on to study on his own. On the other hand, if Lucas kills Hugo, Amicia will express hatred and recall how Lucas delivered the killing blow. Both endings end with Lucas studying on his own.

## Physical Appearance

Lucas is a young boy much older than Hugo, but slightly younger than Amicia, standing between them in height. Compared to all the other young characters, he is the second smallest. His hair is of medium length, brown, and he has large ears.

He wears a padded green shirt with a leather shawl covering his shoulders woven with red cord. The leather belt around his waist is wrapped around the buckle several times, as his slim waist seems to leave lots of slack, with a pouch on the back-left side to carry alchemy materials.

## Personality

Lucas is a very polite, intelligent, and analytical young man, endlessly fascinated by alchemy, science, and studying books. He is capable of coming up with solutions to problems on the fly and is not afraid to experiment with resources to create new chemical tools like Ignifer and Luminosa. He remains calm under stress, able to craft very complicated elixirs while being surrounded by ravenous hordes of rats and has little reaction to witnessing the thousands of slain soldiers. Above all, he wants to help others, agreeing to aid the de Runes without question.

Lucas has little interest in violence, accepting it needing to be done when necessary, but he expresses concern when Amicia ruthlessly kills wounded Inquisition soldiers at the de Rune estate; however, he displays a sort of bravery when he decides to go to the de Rune estate with Amicia, understanding what has to be done and throwing his all into it.

He strives to impress those around him, bragging to Mélie about having pushed a massive cart on his own during the return to the de Rune estate.

He is also showed as very patient, humouring Hugo even when he and Amicia disturb his work.

## Abilities and Skills

Lucas, being a small boy with no appetite for violence, cannot engage in combat at all; however, he can give very valuable support, as his physical inabilities are far outshined by his mental capacity.

* **Alchemical Scholar**: Lucas is a prodigy of alchemy, able to craft new substances with ease and efficiency. It is this skill that allows him to finally finish an elixir years in the making to treat Hugo's condition. This gives him the ability to help Amicia during tasks such as throwing Ignifer to light embers so Amicia does not have to use her own. He is by far the most educated of all the younger characters, making him a reliable go-to person for all things alchemical and other subjects such as history.

* **Physician**: Lucas, thanks to his knowledge of alchemy, knows how to treat ailments and alleviate suffering any way he can. This becomes his main purpose when he meets Hugo, and later he stays with the de Rune siblings so he can nurse their mother back to health.

* **Cool Head**: Lucas is rarely scared or flustered; even under strenuous conditions he can maintain his focus. Surrounded by attacking hordes of rats and juggling ingredients to make his most complex alchemical substance to that date, he was able to do so without panicking. In spite of all he went through, losing his home and his master, he never lets his loss affect his ability to do what needs to be done.

## Relationships

### Laurentius

As an apprentice, Lucas studied and practiced under the magister and became devoted to him. As Laurentius' health declined, he did his best to care for the old man, and his accidental death shook Lucas to the core. However, it was the magister's teachings that would allow Lucas to accomplish great feats in alchemy, completing the elixir for Hugo that both Laurentius and Béatrice spent years on but were unable to complete.

### Amicia de Rune

*Lucas, I must say, It's an honor to have you by my side. You're the most reliable... steady... nice thing in the world.*[src]
Amicia

Lucas quickly came to respect Amicia and gave her any tool he could to help her accomplish her goal by creating projectiles for her and sharing knowledge on the Prima Macula. He also worried about her personal health; when she developed insomnia worrying about her missing brother, he offered her a sleeping potion to help her rest.

### Hugo de Rune

*Well done, Lucas, you're a sorcerer!*[src]
Hugo commends Lucas

The helpful young man that he is, Lucas immediately agrees to help the de Runes as per the orders of his master. Following the latter's death, he dived into his role as Hugo's physician and did everything he could to ease Hugo's suffering in the meantime.

### Mélie

Lucas at first only dealt with the young thief in hopes of getting the de Runes to safety, lying to her that the bereft children were actually rich and would reward her and her brother. As they spent more time together, he seemed to build an admiration for her, seeking opportunities to get her alone and try to impress her with his accomplishments.

### Rodric

Lucas showed respect for the bigger boy's sheer strength, but also annoyance at his tendency to argue with Arthur. He seems to find Rodric's jolly nature and habit of clapping on the back to be overwhelming. Nevertheless, in spite of their differences, he was devastated by Rodric's self-sacrifice to help him and the others reach their destination.

## Trivia

* The name **Lucas** comes from the Latin name **Lucius**, which means "the bright one". Calling someone bright is a reference to their intelligence, which is Lucas' main character trait.
	+ Lucas is also the Latin form of **Luke**. A physician named Luke the Evangelist was a disciple of Jesus who is credited with writing the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts in the Bible's New Testament.
		- Lucas being a trainee physician and scholar, this could also be a reference.
* In "The Way of Roses", Amicia de Rune mentions that Lucas sometimes has trouble seeing with his eyes.
* According to composer Olivier Derivière's youtube video, Lucas is in love with Amicia.

## References

1. ↑ *"Lucas is 13 years old at the beginning of Requiem (confirmed by the book A Plague Tale: Tenebris) and in the last chapter of the game there is a time jump of 1 year.*.