Lucius (A Different Path)

**Lucius**, formerly a human now transformed into a thunderbird-type Danger Beast named **Gigardos**, was a Knight of Avalonnis and second in command to Noctis of the Human-Danger Beast Coalition during the Great War between Humans and Danger Beasts. Upon her untimely death at the hands of her own former lover, he, alongside Azura, Wintorra, and Kanon would be given the blood of various Danger Beasts, Wintorra excluded, by Taiyang so that they too would become hybrids capable of gaining enormous strength.

Lucius would drink Taiyang's blood and gained the ability to freely create and manipulate lightning, and he would go on to become the leader of their group, the "Four Horsemen". He would develop an intimate relationship with fellow Horseman Azura and have sex with her before leaving Avalonnis, the other two Horsemen finding out later on in their journey to Mephisto's fortress. Upon engaging in a brutal fight against the Danger Beast, Lucius becomes severely injured and incapable of surviving unless he is given medical attention straight away.

Denying Azura's pleas for them to retreat and return to fight another day after he's healed, stating it would already be too late by then, he uses all of the strength he has left to push Mephisto into a corner and leave him open to be fatally attacked by Wintorra, who with her technique manages to further injure Lucius as well and put the final nail in his coffin. However, in a cruel twist of fate, Mephistopheles manages to get to last laugh by having serpents filled with his venom inject it into their bloodstream, a venom that upon their death would turn them into mindless Danger Beasts cursed to roam the earth for eternity.

With much pleading, Lucius manages to have Azura, who is carrying his unborn child, leave with the others so they wouldn't have to watch him transform into the being who, later in life, would become a servant to Mephistopheles as "Gigardos". As Gigardos he would go on to assist Skessa, the transformed Wintorra, in capturing Raphael in order to take him to Mephistopheles so that Garmr could be revived through the man's Teigu. Later on he and the other transformed Horsemen would attack the Kingdom of Straelka and very nearly capture Camilla, Solomon and Morgan before they entomb the capital city in a dome of ice and guard it day and night.

## Appearance

Lucius, while human, was a well-built man just over six feet tall that had black hair and friendly green eyes that could soothe the hearts of any who gazed at him. He was most often seen wearing his standard white armor of the Knights of Avalonnis, which gave him the nickname 'White Knight" by those who knew him, and in combat he wielded a shield and sword colored with the same scheme. After ingesting Taiyang's blood his left eye would gain a red color, slit pupil, and grey scelrae to show his Danger Beast side and would wield a new weapon, a lance sword made of a highly conductive material.

As Gigardos, he was a large thunderbird with orange and red feathers that glowed with electricity every time he flew through the sky.

## Personality

Lucius was well-known in his kingdom as the literal and figurative representation of a "White Knight" for his good deeds and caring personality towards the regular common-folk of the Kingdom, regardless of your social status. As a result of the creed he memorized upon being made a member of the Knights of Avalonnis, he would gladly put himself in front of those he cared about in order to protect them, which was shown in the fight against Mephistopheles where he willingly chose to risk his life and die to bring an end to the awful war plaguing his people.

## Equipment / Skills

Lucius, because of his status as a Knight of Avalonnis, was a highly skilled warrior talented in both offense and defense, wielding a sword and a shield into battle against his enemies. His skillset would only grow when he drank the blood of Taiyang and gained the Danger Beast's affinity for lightning, being able to freely manipulate it as if it were a part of his own body. With this he discarded his old weapon and forged a new one for himself, a lance sword that was made with a highly conductive material so that he could channel his lightning through the blade and drastically increase its sharpness. He was also very skilled at horseback riding.