Cassini's Division I

Luce lay stock still in their bed, looking up at their hand, which had that black mark lined across the top of their nail, running halfway down. Luce blinked, hand limply falling to their side, a faint sigh escaping their lips.

A large rhinoceros beetle shambled over to Luce, climbing onto the bed, almost stumbling as it pulled the sheets back from the weight of its own body. Luce's face lit up, turning his body to give room for the bug. "Hi, Pierre, did ya wanna see me?"

Pierre, the rhinoceros beetle, appeared to hold curiosity in its movements, clambering over to the previously concerned Luce.

"Hey lil' bud, how are ya?" Luce held a finger out for Pierre to cling to.

Pierre used its front legs to wrap itself around Luce's finger before heaving itself over Luce's hand, sort of just lying atop it silently.

"What do I do? At this rate, the family will fall apart... We'll all hurt each other..." Luce paused. "Maybe I should've spoken up."

Pierre used its front legs to clean off its head.

"If only I were a kid again. Had that old confidence that I used to have... I was so energetic back then."

A beat.

"Maybe I'll go back to normal one day. Put this sickness behind me." Luce narrowed his gaze, "For now... I'll sleep. It's all I'm good for at this rate anyhow."

First thing in the morning, a scream could be heard in the Servant's Quarters. A significant chunk of the family gathered to see for themselves what had occurred only to find the corpse of the maid who participated in the ritual yesterday, body locked in horror and pain, the black mark on their nail seemingly spreading like some sort of infection or disease to the heart, killing the woman. It looked to be a painful death as they seemed cognisant and aware as they were losing their life to whatever affliction had overcome them.

Antonio quickly sprang into action, looking for a pulse, performing CPR, and the like, commanding the others to call the ambulance for the poor woman in a desperate attempt to save their life, but it was too late. It was 8:30 in the morning, whilst her official time of death was 5:40 in the morning, which was multiple hours-- something like that, so much time having passed after the time of death, well... it's impossible to revive someone at that rate.

Now, the main concern amongst the family was who was next. If any of the rest of them had the potential to die such a painful death.

Luce had to hear it from a third party, that being Aran Driskoll herself.

"T-That's horrible... did... and it was from the mark?"

"Yeah, let's remain cautious for now, okay?"

"B-But, is it some sort of poison? Am I gonna die?" Luce blinked, seemingly coming to terms with what he believed to be his definite demise, "I... I see."

Aran lowered herself. "You ain't gonna die, Luce, okay? Not if I can help it."

"Maybe I should go to the hospital?"

Nero and Nello stop by Luce's door, "Antonio's confronting Raphael!"

The family had gathered, watching as Antonio held Raphael by the collar, "What the hell was with the artifact!? Are we going to die!? Did you poison us!?"

A pause, Raphael carefully scanning his surroundings before cocking a brow, looking back to Antonio, "If you'd politely let me be free, I'll explain everything to you. Since you're all awake-- which makes things easier-- we'll move on to the next steps."

"Next steps?"

"The rules of the competition, and the reason for the secrecy surrounding that artifact, so... if you'd politely release me," He motioned to his collar.

"You haven't given me a reason to."

"It is simple, she was not chosen. She did not have the willpower to survive the process. Luckily, certain families have the natural will to go through such a process and survive, so you should be fine. I would like to warn you all now, though, your Guards might not be. I'd suggest checking in on them."

Antonio let go of Raphael's collar, sprinting off to check up on his men.

Two of Eulalia's guards were found dead in their rooms, only one surviving the ritual. Rosina's guards survived the ritual, but have visible lacerations from a seizure of some kind.

Antonio, only having two guards, now had only one of them who survived the ritual. Nevio's guards survived, with no visible lacerations on most of them except for one.

Guido had no guards to begin with. Bruno, having five guards, easily the most out of the rest of the family, was down to only two guards.

Aran Driskoll, Luce's aide and personal guard, had survived. Nero and Nello's guards had met an unfortunate end, leaving them by their lonesome, at the very least having each other. All of Mateo's guards had survived. Those excluded from the initial ritual have all of their guards at their disposal.

Raphael clapped to catch the attention of the family after they had regathered in the main hall. "I will now begin going into detail about what had happened, and what will happen. Are you all ready?"

Giusto smirked, "Please, regale them. They won't believe it, though."

"Even if they don't, it is good to still keep in mind for their survival."

"Send me a letter to the location, I'm heading out first."

Giusto began to leave, and Raphael spoke up, "No, you must wait for this to be fair competition."

"Look... I don't give a damn about the inheritance. I just want to find a good place to hole up and ready myself for a fight. I want to really butt heads, y'know!? So tell me the location, I'll act as a wall, spice things up~!"

"I cannot allow that, so I suggest that you wait, Giusto."

Giusto scoffed, "Fine, I'll play your game. Maybe it'd be more fun."

Raphael let a sigh of relief escape his lips before raising his voice so the rest of the family could hear, "Those who had survived the ritual, which, luckily, appears to be the entire family... all of you should've gained Boons from this. These are blessings provided by your subconscious, forming your will into either a physical form or a superhuman enhancement to the body. It can manifest in a variety of ways, but how your Boon had, or will manifest for you, is all up to your discretion. I do have a Boon of my own... I will not be revealing it as it would expose me to you all... You are all a threat to me at the current moment."

Antonio shared a sceptical glance with the family, "Boon?"

"Yes, a Boon. Now that those of you who hadn't participated in the ritual previously, or have not experienced the Supernatural beforehand, now have a proper means to defend yourselves through your Boons... I will describe the next steps for the competition. The consequences for not participating in the competition or losing said competition are immediate disownment from the family. Those of you who wish not to participate can choose to do so now, but you will be completely expelled from the family, and your wealth attained from the family's good graces will be confiscated post-haste."

Guido chuckled, "Pretty fair, where's the inheritance?"

"Whoever can gather the inheritance first and can bring it back, which is both a case of money holding 300 million dollars in cash as well as the estate's deed-- if these two things are brought back to the estate in an undisclosed amount of time, preferrably a month, they will become the new Family Head. Members of the family are allowed to interfere with other members of the family to inhibit their progress, but if any evidence of misconduct in regards to the death of another family member occurs, then they will be immediately expelled from the family. I will clarify, though, this only applies if it can be directly tied to the family member in question who had caused the death to begin with. I'm saying that you can kill each other as long as you didn't cause it with your own hands to do so."

Raphael's voice was icy cold, a dark look in his eyes as he stared down the family, reciting the rules of engagement for this event.

"Those who prefer as little competition as possible, take my words as you will. But only one will come back with the money and deed. You will not be expelled if you do not succeed in this task; you just have to put in the effort. Not a fake effort, actual, real effort in becoming the next head of the family. Trust me, I'll know if you're half-assing it."

A beat.

"When one returns with the inheritance and the deed to the land, there will be a one-hour time limit until the inheritance can be stolen from under their noses, in which, I will say, during this one hour, all previous rules of engagement are null. Other related families to the Caccias and Associated organizations will be notified of the competition. Choose your allies wisely." Raphael bowed to the group.

Mateo's mother raised her hand, "I would rather drop out of the competition than be a part of this family any longer. We have our own resources, we can survive without the Caccia's support." Mateo's face shared a look of concern.

"And then there were 15." Raphael paused, "This competition will take you from here, Sicily, to Spain, then Portugal, to then take a flight from there to Brazil, where you will retrieve the money from the designated location that I will send you all personally through a letter. Then, for the deed, you will go from Brazil, taking a straight path into Mexico City. I will only send the address of the Deed after the Inheritance money has been found."

The room fell into silence. Mateo's mother, along with her son and two of her guards, left the premises of the Caccia household. The remaining Guard raised their hand, "I would like to be hired by one of the members of the family."

Guido spoke up, "Sell yourself."

"I've served 13 years in the military as a Special Forces agent. I'm adept at CQC and specialize in spotting and disabling traps."

Luce's hands shook, Pierre clinging to his shoulder, one could almost see a look of worry within its beady eyes as it stuck close to Luce's neck. Aran ushered Luce away from the rest of the family, sitting down on one of the window sills to meet him at eye level. "Hey, you okay?"

"I... did..." Luce swallowed hard, "I... I'm going... but..." For a moment, he was silent, just before tears began trailing down his face, which contorted from a profound sadness suddenly overtaking him, "I-I'm sorry, I..."

Aran sighed, "Yo, Luce... look at me." Through bleary eyes, Luce looked into Aran's, "Hey, it's alright, I'm here for you. I survived, you'll survive, okay? We could just drop out."

"I don't want to..." Aran blinked in surprise, "I don't want to leave them... I don't want to... I don't want to not be who I am... I'm proud to be a Caccia... I don't want to lose my family..."

Nero and Nello raised their hands and spoke simultaneously, "We'll take you." Pointing their comment to the now-unemployed guard amongst their midst. The guard nodded in affirmation in response, crossing over to them with a stern look about them, placing their arms behind their back, standing right behind them with a look of newfound determination in their eyes.

Aran calmly wiped Luce's eyes with her sleeve, "If you don't want to leave... You don't have to."

"B-But... l-look at me."

"I know... and I know I'm just one person, but... Luce, you're... to me... Sure, it was devastating watching your health decline, but as kids, you were my light, okay? You inspired me as a kid, and I know people's perceptions changed as you grew sicker, but mine never did... I know you can survive at the very least. If we can't leave, then all we can do is take the reward for ourselves, right?"

"I can't even fight, and I can't just leave you on your own!"

"If Raphael's words are to be believed... You do... You have a way to fight, a way to help me. If what he says is true, that means we have much more of a chance than you believe. What do you want to do, Luce?"

"W-What do you mean?"

"What do you want for this family? I need your directive, sir."

"I...I..."

Aran waited patiently for a response, a stern expression on her face, biting her lower lip in anxiety.

"I want... I just want us to be happy. I want us to be a happy family... I want us to be like kids again."

"Then... we'll do it. And if we die, we die trying. At the very least, we have to try!"

Luce, tears still in his eyes, tries wiping them off his face, nodding along with Aran's words, "O-Okay..." Voice cracking, taking a deep breath to quell his anxiety, "Okay... I'll... let's do it."

Nero and Nello, along with their newly attained guard, approached the two, "Luce, do you want to ally?"

Luce looked up to the two, "W-What?"

"We want... an alliance. We're on our own out here, so we might as well group up, yeah?" Nero smiled.

Nello, "There's more to this shit then a simple competition. No rules say that we can't team up, so fuck it, y'know?"

Luce nodded, "Okay... let's do that." Luce paused, "Thank you."

Guido looked over with a quizzical glare. "You're siding with the cancer patient?"

Aran rolled her eyes, "It ain't cancer, Guido."

"Still... siding with such a weakling? I know I didn't speak up earlier, but..." He looked to the Guard at the twins' side. "Would you mind changing your mind and coming to my side?"

A moment passed, Nero staring down Guido with his brother at his side until the Guard responded. "No, I think I'll stay."

Guido snickered, "Up to you. Your loss."

Soon, the Servants under Raphael begin handing out letters individually to each member of the family that remained, telling them the exact location of the Inheritance Money. With a scleech and a rip, the letters were opened in unison. The first location was at the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Brazil.

Just before everyone set off, Guido raised their hand, speaking up once again, "Hey, do we have time to at least prepare for the competition? At least a day?"

"No, but you have 4 hours before the competition officially begins."

Guido smirked. "4 is plenty."

After that, the family scattered all across the estate.

What would be the plan from here for Luce and his group? Nero and Nello's guard, Cameron Ignacio Garra, a middle-aged, darker-skinned man with tied-back jet-black hair and even blacker eyes, similar to a pool under the moon, sharing its shine. His clothes were a gray tracksuit with black slacks and dress shoes-- this man had an idea, it was simple, but it was the best they could do.

"I'd imagine that the others will make a beeline for their cars. We should instead go from the back to make our way to the nearest airport."

"Try not to catch anyone's attention? I don't dislike the idea." Aran commented.

"When it comes to planes, what do you all typically get on when you're traveling from place to place?"

Aran cocked a brow, "What are you getting at?"

"Do you take the average Passenger Plane, or do you take Private Jets?"

"Well... not to sound more privileged than we already were," Nero spoke up. "Private Jets, no?"

Nello chimed in, "What about you, Luce? You took the jet, right?"

Luce nodded, "I do. It's difficult for me to travel on passenger planes. Plus, it's hard to sneak Pierre onto a Plane proper." He pointed to his beetle.

"Well, unfortunately, it's a better option for us to take a Passenger Plane to Spain."

Aran almost spoke up but held her tongue, Nello taking the fall for asking why soon after.

"We're less likely to get attacked in a Passenger Plane. The only rule of the competition is that family members cannot directly kill another family member. There wasn't any other limitation regarding violence against one another. Someone like Guido, nothing is stopping him from contacting an agency connected with the family, clearly notified by Raphael himself, and hiring them to deal with most of his family from there. It brings the likelihood that we'll be attacked by randoms down significantly, but it also brings down the likelihood that we'd be attacked by other siblings Guards as well, since most of them probably wouldn't think to go on a Passenger Plane to get heat off their backs. We have to take into consideration that we're the most vulnerable here, we'll be clear targets for the higher echelon of the family."

Aran sighed, "With all due respect, I don't think any of their," Motioned to the three of the Caccia lineage in the room, "Siblings will go to outright attack them. If anything, most would avoid conflict, no?"

"Guido won't, though. That man is conniving, he's probably out there spotting connections at this very moment. Cornelio is a dangerous factor. Sure, they might not go out to hunt, but if we encounter Cornelio, it's on sight."

Aran nodded, "Honestly... if we do get into a confrontation with the others in the family, though, I'd prefer it if we went against something Guido threw against us rather than any of the others."

Nello cocked their head to the side, curiously looking to Aran. "Why? Guido is known to be hella ruthless, so why are we not as concerned about him of all people?"

"Giusto would just ignore us, and the Guards on the other teams are almost Zealotrous in their beliefs toward each of the existing family members. Even if the leader, let's say, Eulalia hadn't willed it, the Guards could very well go astray to assist in Eulalia's pursuit of becoming the Matriarch."

Luce looked deep in thought, holding his rhinoceros beetle between his hands, "I... I think that the most likely person to drop out of the race currently is Eulalia..."

Cameron rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I don't know, I haven't looked into this family for long."

Nero nodded, "If... if she isn't wearing some sort of mask... if what we've seen of her is the truth, then I believe that's a reasonable assumption."

"Alright... so we have those options. Will we stick with my idea, or do you guys have a better one?"

Luce shook his head. "No... let's do it."

"Even the passenger plane?" Aran asked out of concern.

Luce sighed, "I... I don't have much of a choice. I think Cameron is right, no matter how much I dislike the thought that any of my siblings would wish harm upon me. I think it's true that we're less likely to be attacked on a passenger plane, and if we do... well, it won't be easy for them with so many people around."

Everyone else seemed to agree, Aran finding solace in Luce taking the lead like he used to, even if it was just for a moment. Cameron nodded, "Then... we'll head out the back right when the fourth hour strikes. I'll get the car ready."

Cameron stormed out of the room, leaving Aran and the siblings be.

Eventually, Luce needed to use the restroom. Aran set off to escort Luce out of concern that the conflict could start at any moment, especially due to how easy it would be to take out Luce without any Guards around due to his weak disposition. Due to this, Aran kept Luce close, who waddled behind her with his cane, with Pierre latched onto his shoulder.

As they walked, Luce turned to look down another hall as they passed, finding a Guard approaching from a distance.

"Make sure to keep c-" Aran cut herself off. "I can help support you, it'd be much easier for me to..." She looked behind her to see that Luce was missing, panic immediately setting in.

In the next moment, Luce found himself continuing to stare at the Guard for a few more moments before looking back to what was in front of him, finding that Aran had gone missing, leaving him by himself.

"I didn't think these Boons would be so useful..." A young man, with blond hair slicked back, wearing a stylized dress-suit that had the collar popped open, their plum-colored suit making a distinct silhouette in the hallway. They looked won to their watch, "Guess it's just you and me. Never said we couldn't start early, y'know?"