Okay, so this went from a 'headcanon about a general What Happened with Dio's recovery' to 'I'll just make a whole life timeline of headcanon shit' and then ended up with 1/5th of a NaNoWriMo.

I'm also still waiting for the day we get actual canon on some of this stuff, but it's GONZO so I will not hold my breath.



WHAT IS HEADCANON?
Headcanon is basically information or extra fill-in backstory things you come up with yourself based on what is in the actual canon/what is hinted it or implied in canon.

And going back and looking at ... this all. I figure I'll try to both put things in a GENERAL time-order as WELL as subject categories. So uh. Lol.

What have I done.


UPDATE NOTE: I have not touched this post since the shitty Aerial Log novel came out so the between series things are still there. ONE DAY I WILL GO BACK TO THEM BUT I AM AWARE OF THIS.


- When their parents (info on parentS below) were away, Delphine was in charge of him.

- Prior to her really aiming to control the Guild, and when Dio and her were a couple of years younger (maybe 3/4 for Dio), she practiced her influence on her age-peers as well as Dio, getting them to do things for her, subtly threatening and giving an air of 'you'll listen to me, or else'.

- They weren't really big or bad things, but a test in subtle psychological influence - a first step of sorts to what was to come down the line a few years later.

- But she was still exceedingly harsh to Dio at times, scolding him over petty things that she didn't want him to do. Like ... any little boy thing.

- So even at a young age, if Dio did something that he figured he'd be scolded by her about, he'd sneak, and do it in secret.




- Dio doesn't remember his parents very well. And, obviously, his most prominent memory of them was witnessing them being killed by his sister, since that's basically the root of the blooming fear he developed of her.

- Darius (his father) is described in what little canon sources there are of him as a man of small character and unusual political ambitions. He was interested in history of ancient times and technology, and spent most of life prior to his death making trips to Disith and discovering Exile was real.

- As such, he wasn't around very much in the Guild even before he died, so Dio remembers less of him than anything. He just really remembers him being away on important Eraclea Guild business.

- The Chronicles book is the only place where they refer to Dio and Delphine having 'parents' (plural) which implies there was a mother as well. No canon information exists on this alleged mother aside from that, though.

- Assuming she exists in any form at all, she might have gone with Darius on a lot of his trips, but probably not all of them. To Darius, keeping the Eraclea name prominent in the Guild and keeping their hands on Exile's discovery was important, so she kept herself in the Guild in the meantime to make sure nothing happened that would threaten the Eraclea name. And to help get the gears moving for Darius' eventual aim to become Maestro.

- As to whether or not she was warm or cold as a mother is in the air. Much like Darius, though, she might have been more focused on their goals above anything else.

- Dio was already somewhat spoiled at that young age. And a little clingy especially when their mother was home for a time. He had the impression of the importance of what they were doing from that young age, though he didn't completely understand it and preferred his parents to just stay there with him.

- So even before their deaths, he was probably a pretty lonely kid since they were busy/gone all the time and Delphine was ... Delphine.




- Dio probably saw signs of what would eventually be Delphine's takeover without knowing what they were.

- She would do a lot of talking with other members of the Guild houses, though they bored Dio at that age so he went off to play and do something waiting for her to finish.

- He also saw her talking secretively to many people as she slowly began to seize power of the Guild as a whole (imprisoning Al's grandfather, etc.). And Cicada never left her side.

- He was scared of Cicada's FACE as a child.

- Given that Delphine was more the plotter and puppetmaster rather than the one taking action, it was probably Cicada that did the dirty work for her.




- Meaning that when Darius and their mother had found Exile, returned home and aimed to control the Guild, it was Cicada who probably killed them on Delphine's order.

- Dio was probably going to get them for some childish reason. (like CAN DO THIS/GO THERE? etc.) And stopped short to hide and silently peek at what was going on (because he is a nosy curious little thing, and seeing above headcanon about 'doing things in secret from an young age', he didn't want to get into trouble by bothering them).

- There was nobody around but their parents, Delphine, Cicada and Dio when it happened. It was quick and as unmessy as possible (since Delphine prefers things to be beautiful and clean, even when it comes to death), but not unclear to Dio as to what just happened.

- Fun trauma from that. He froze where he was, scared to move because if she realized he was there she'd kill him, too.

- When she finally spoke again to get their bodies disposed of/away from her, the focus on that was enough for Dio to slip away from the scene.

- Seeing as Delphine still had other houses and people to purge, especially now that the wheels were put into motion, Dio probably didn't "officially hear" that his parents were dead from her directly.

- Which was a good thing, because he would have been terrible at faking things to her face to face, and she would have realized that he knew she did it.

- Whereas in the case of a servant or a handmaid informing him, his obvious shaken state in the chaos erupting from their deaths and Delphine's actions could have been chalked up to "someone else already told him."

- Even as a child, he realized how lucky he was to have not been caught. It was something that never left him, and was another major influence in his rooted fear of her. "She could have killed me/she can kill me so easily."




- Knowing Delphine's power, especially before she possessed such an influence where she had the whole world in her hand, the following months were terrible for Dio.

- Still fearful that he'd somehow be caught knowing what his sister did to their parents, on top of the fact that his parents were deaaaaaad, he basically shrunk away from everything.

- He was meek, flinchy, scared and sad because oh god trapped I'm 5 years old and what is this with nobody to trust (because if he confided in anyone they all answer to Delphine) and his sister controlling him from then on.

- Which basically left him frozen and unable to do anything when she'd try to coo and console him to no avail. (because really when the person you're most scared of is there stroking your head and face going "it's ok my cute little Dio" and you're 5 you're kind of just like "... FUCK" inside)

- Of course the flip side to that was him trying to ... do much of anything under her rule. She realized she liked him being meek and obedient to her than a disorderly little boy. So when Dio actually attempted to BE a disorderly little boy to cheer himself up even a little, he would get scolded and revert back to OH GOD OH GOD.

- See, rose thorn scratch on his face in canon as a form of punishing him when he did something not to Delphine's liking.

- The scratches really did sting, but the reason he would overreact and cry from any form of punishment like that was because he was afraid she would decide to kill him just like their parents. Aka, "oh no, I'm not acting the way she wants me to, and when people don't do what she wants, she gets rid of them. So maybe she's going to get rid of me."




- By the time Dio was 5, he had a pretty extensive knowledge on ... well, some subjects as shown via canon sources! Considering Dio was always considered a prodigy in the Guild, it's not surprising.

- An understanding of a lot of Italian and Latin names (Greek, too), excelling best in Italian (because. Eraclea, Italy, aherp :V Though it's also a thing that the name can stem from Latin/Greek ie "Eracleas"-- THOUGH LOL SINCE I JUST MENTIONED THOSE TWO LANGUAGES TOO \o/?!)

- Probably a good understanding of the language(s)/phrases in them in general.

- He had a curious young stint when he found out what his name meant, and thereafter wanted to find out what everyone else's name in the Guild meant.

- Meaning he learned of the themes many of them (esp the servant class) had (ala insects).

- The Guild Fortress is X-Box huge, so despite the fact that Delphine views insects as inferior and gross and dirty (obviously, given the servant namings) and probably rids of them when they appear, they do in fact show up around the fortress. Ironically, a lot of them probably end up hanging out in the rose garden.





- Though Delphine usually let Dio wander around (until paranoia about rebels started to surface), he would still kind of move around tentatively, almost secretly (because he didn't want to wander somewhere where, to Delphine, he wasn't supposed to go by accident).

- He found insects-- though not necessarily in the rose garden. Due to Delphine's special form of punishment, he didn't really find the roses very nice to be around and they made him uneasy so probably didn't go there much on his own. Given the fortress is the size of a city, there were probably other earthy areas aside from that one garden.

- He didn't see why the insects were so gross and inferior because some of them he found were kind of cute and pretty! And didn't seem dangerous or bad. Just unfortunate that they were born smaller than humans who were able to easily kill them or trap them or whatever if they wanted to. He kind of emphasized with that feeling, even at such a young age. (this is one reason why he decided to wear white servant Guild robes later)

- He liked finding out what each insect did and how it was different from the others. Their habits/abilities/how they did certain things/etc. In that they all had differences just like people did.

- There was a bee that stung him once, but that's ok because bees kind of have snappy personalities. (see: Apis)

- His favorite though ended up being fireflies because of one he saw. Unlike the others, it was able to light up and be seen in the dark, and looked pretty doing so. Learning about the hows and whys made him like them even more.




- Since Dio was crying over just being punished by Delphine again, when he first saw Lucciola when he was presented to him, there was this feeling of something, someone waiting for him just outside of the shitty situation of having been rose'd again.

- Achlys, a name Dio considered for Lucciola, is a type of plant sometimes known as an insect repellent plant - possibly connected to Delphine's other servants naming scheme and his feelings toward her. (Greek mythology's Achlys is a personification of misery and sadness, though it seems less likely this version was intended. Either way both name schemes are depressing)

- Mantis, another name Dio considered for Lucciola, is. Well. Mantis. But their behavior is too predatory, so Dio didn't want name him after something like that.

- In a similar vein to the Achlys plant, which 'differed' from the insects it repelled, fireflies, unlike the rest of the insects, could be seen in the dark. In many ways that made it stand out from the others and the fact that it used things like light to find friends and mates gave this feeling of happiness and warmth to how they lived.

- And again, coming out of another one of Delphine's punishments to him to, Lucciola stood out in that same sort of matter, a point of light in the darkness, so Dio chose the name Lucciola.




- Dio had no idea what to do with Lucciola at first once he was away from Delphine and had him to himself. He probably asked him all sorts of questions and got really sad answers in return. "Where are you from?" "I was born (LOL "BORN") and raised to train for my service here." "What kind of things do you like?" "Recreation of that sort is not a priority of mine." ETCETERA.

- He asked Lucciola to play with him, and probably got a "servants cannot play" response, so probably ended up trying to get him to do it as a kind of not total order but I'm asking yooooooou pleaaaaaaase.

- Games involved for many of young Dio's requests to play were probably things like pretending to be KING and ordering everyone around (which. WELL. To Dio it was pretend but to Lucciola that would have been business as usual), paper starfish battling (Dio got so into it he crumpled his doing a CRASHING DIVE into Lucciola's).

- Simon Says (or the equivalent of) always ended in Dio being Simon because Lucciola couldn't tell him what to do or try to trick him without having DILEMMAS.

- They played hide and seek once, but Dio decided not to do it again after the first time. Because he heard that upon looking for him, Lucciola got scolded for letting him out of his sight for so long and not knowing where he was, and then felt bad about it.

- Equivalent of cops and robbers also ended in lol any time Dio asked Lucciola to be the cop because he would never pretend to try to catch or hurt him. Meanwhile when it was his turn, he jumped all over Lucciola.

- And it was always the most awkward stiff attempt at 'playing' ever because all of Lucciola's actions were probably ... directed by Dio but Dio never realized or saw it as such because he had so much fun since he finally had someone to play WITH.

- When Dio was clearly getting attached to Lucciola and treating him like another kid/a friend, he was scolded about it by his sister, who made it a point to try and make out their class differences as superior/inferior as possible, emphasizing most on the servant class inferiority.

- Dio made sure, after that, to try and play with Lucciola in his room or in places where they wouldn't be seen. Because Lucciola would get scolded for going along with his wants.

- He learned early on to not show so much affection to Lucciola in front of anyone. Which upset him, but that was why he made up for it ten-fold any time he had the chance to.




- And on the subject of secrets, Dio caught on easily enough that Lucciola was being punished by Delphine when she figured he wasn't being up to par to her standards. That's what originally started Dio doing things like sneaking him food under the table.

- Seeing Lucciola start to cry the first time he called him a friend was so strange to Dio. But it also made him happy, because he wanted to know what Lucciola's feelings were, be they happy or sad or EMOTIONALTEARS.

- It wasn't always under the table (because of Delphine's presence), so if he could, Dio would maybe hide something in his robes and once he was away from her back in his room or otherwise out of sight, he would give it to Lucciola.

- Once, when he was feeling particularly brave, stole a bunch of apples when nobody was looking and high-tailed it to his room. When he was alone with Lucciola, they had an APPLE EATING PARTY.

- Poison food testing was a norm especially with Delphine's paranoia after the purges. So Dio hated dining with her because Lucciola and Cicada had to test it for them. And at least on one occasion there was probably an attempt at poison. Dio didn't want Lucciola to do that and get sick and possibly die, but couldn't do anything about it when he was with Delphine.

- Any time he would get the luxury of eating alone, he nope.jpg'd and ate that shit first.




- Sometimes if Dio saw something like a rose-thorn-scratch or another obvious sign that Lucciola got into trouble, he would end up doing something on purpose so he would get punished too.

- There was a little bit of guilt in there, even as a child. Lucciola being scolded for any reason would obviously have to be connected to him, so he'd try to not have Lucciola be the only one getting into trouble.

- Sometimes if he was too upset about that/had a bad dream about anything pertaining to that, he'd ask Lucciola to come into bed with him.

- Going back to the 'wanting to be on the same level as Lucciola' thing, when Dio really realized he could wear whatever he wanted, that's the other part of why he ended up wearing white Guild uniforms. Not only because of the empathy he had toward the 'insects' Delphine saw as inferior, but because he wanted it to be a constant reminder, if not to Lucciola but to himself that he didn't want to act above him.

- He'd also nosy in to try and learn how to do things for himself that Lucciola (and eventually, Apis and Coccinella) was expected to do for him. "how did you prepare my bath how do you stack up all of those plates to take away how did you clean that how did you tie this ribbon in my hair."




- He once told Lucciola that he likes to see him smile, because Cicada's face is scary and he doesn't want Lucciola to have that same emotionless expression that his brother does.

- ... also because above headcanon (though it's kind of implied) about Cicada wielding the blade to Delphine's murder of their parents. Which makes his expression all the more scarier. He never wanted Lucciola to be or look like that ever.

- And just the simple fact that Dio always wanted to know Lucciola's feelings and seeing his expressions/reactions.




- Dio always looked forward to learning how to fly, because gosh, who doesn't want to fly? From the Guild, the sky always looked so enormous. And every once in a while he'd see birds fly by, and wondered what it might be like to grow wings and fly anywhere he wished to. (he probably said that to Lucciola)

- He studied a lot before he first tried it, and soaked up the information for it quickly enough.

- So he ended up being a natural, and the first time he went into the sky was the best feeling ever. He flew alongside Lucciola, and after enough goes at it that ensured they were golden, he began to study air battle tactics.

- He didn't HAVE to learn them, mind, but much like the mindset that was there since childhood and then with the white robes, he wanted to do the things that the servants were required to do and learn for the sake of protecting those whom they served.

- He was required to learn strategy, though, which is why he took an interest in chess on the side. When not studying, he could put his skills to the test with a game.

- He honestly did like the mind-exercising that chess offered and thought it was a fun game! But he also really liked it because it was a way he could "play" with Lucciola and not have to hide it.

- ^ same for flying together.

- AND WITH CHESS, he probably made it clear to Lucciola not to just always let him win as a servant. But because he wants to get better and have a challenge. So even though they are both evenly matched in different ways in terms of how to play, Dio liked it when he lost because he had to try better next time. And when he won, he knew he was getting better, and that would drive Lucciola to do better next time too.

- Mechanics and all that other jazz was also studied and learned and perfected at a young age.

- As he enjoyed flying greatly, his interest in the mechanical area had him study everything. Not only about the flying machines they had in the Guild, but the vanships that people used below. Learning how they worked and what they were made of intrigued him greatly.

- That was the only attention from the Guild that he might have somewhat appreciated, since they considered him a prodigy as a result of his knowledge.




- Dio was never really good with doing anything to his own hair. If left to his own devices he would just let it all down and free. He could put a tie in at most.

- When he decided that he wanted to start braiding his hair, it was usually Lucciola who took care of it for him.

- He learned how to DO IT, but it never came out as neat or professional looking, try as he might. And Delphine preferred him to look nice and neat and presentable, so that was one thing he let Lucciola do for him often.




- Dio would do some troll ass things to get reactions out of Lucciola as part of his "get reactions out of Lucciola" plan. Once on a flight, he pretended to start crashing. He'd jump on the edges of balconies. Pretend to slip in the tub.

- There was a time where he put on his best ANGRYFACE and looked as thought he was going to whoop Lucciola's ass to see if he would try to stop him, but that time the only reaction he got was a "Lord Dio what are you doing."

- There were times where he did something that ended up in him accidentally actually hurting himself a little bit. And it was then when he didn't even actually try where he'd sometimes see the concern and care in Lucciola's eyes, if they were alone. He actually appreciated getting hurt, a little.




- Dio certainly didn't doubt Lucciola's abilities, but that didn't mean the day that Lucciola had to go through his fun crazy 17 year old test thing wasn't scary for him as he waited.

- By that time, knowing of the Guild rituals well enough, Dio already had a strong dislike for them. Not only because he knew where he would be one day, but when he also realized that Lucciola had to go through something for the servant class, too.

- Seeing Lucciola return later with his mark and still as himself gave Dio a tiny little bit of hope that maybe, somehow, when the time came he wouldn't change, either.

- It's not as though Dio didn't constantly do things like throw his arms around Lucciola and stuff like that, but that time when he showed him his happiness for a job well done he lingered for a lot longer than usual, with all of those things on his mind.




- Much like Dio took an interest in the servant class and anything that Delphine didn't like/looked down upon (... though really, now, that's like everything), he also took an interest in the people living on the ground.

- Especially because they built their own wings to fly ala vanships.

- So he would occasionally go down to lurk for a while and see what was up with them, despite Delphine's great dislike of him doing so.

- He did it a lot more often after he turned 16, because he began to become restless knowing he only had one more year left.

- That's also why he came off as very spoiled and arrogant at times (depending on who he was talking to and what about, ie when he told Tatiana to not bother them during the race), because he figured I'll do whatever I want, it won't matter in a year!

- Of course a lot of his more weird, twisted personality was a mix of a lifetime of doing things behind Delphine's back and defying her, and, sadly, because she basically brought him up, small quirks and other things rubbed off on him and he would sometimes find himself mirroring some things she's done.

- Whenever he realized that after he did something, he would feel this gross no bad no terrible self-loathing she's influenced me even though I hate her seklfsgsklj knot in his stomach.

- Another reason why Dio "did what he wanted" was because in reality, he could do no such thing when it came to her. "What I want doesn't matter" he says later when talking to Dagobert. Making himself believe he could do as he wished in the meantime helped cope with that reality.




- He was used to starfish moreso than vanships, but that didn't deter him to dive headfirst into the Horizon Cave race. (aside from, you know, IMMELMANN)

- And going back to the above interest in things like the servants and the people below, the mechanical work of the vanships being so different and untechnological in comparison to the Guild stuff he loved, so he wanted to master how they worked as well.

- That's also why he decided to get a vast knowledge of technological things. (ironic, as the Eraclea family are the reason Prester was getting fucked because of the weather machine lewl, but Delphine didn't tell him shit about that)

- So getting to work with a vanship that required a lot of maintenance was a fun new challenge to him. (even though he had. Mechanics for that but he was paying attention)

- The only real good point to losing the race was that as a result Claus couldn't get back to the Silvana, so Dio had THE PERFECT EXCUSE TO HARASS HIM.




- Being arrested and cuffed on the Silvana felt so much fun because it was like real cops and robbers almost, from when he used to pretend as a kid.

- Only, again, Lucciola wouldn't actually do anything to him when they played. His "Say, Lucciola" when it gets cut off was going to reference that.

- He'd heard the stories of the Silvana before boarding it, so aside from his main goal of going to harass Claus, he wanted to see this ship that would give his sister trouble for himself.

- And especially meet the captain. Giving Alex the Eraclea Mysterion was not just a token of good intent, but also because with Al on board it was obvious that Alex had bigger plans, and anything to defy his sister was aces. (of course that ended up backfiring later, BUT!)




- Dio was naturally curious about the Silvana's power unit because he had heard about not being Guild-registered. But there was also the fact that he was well aware of Delphine's purges and other remnants of Guild houses scattered around the world, so he wanted to meet those related to the families Delphine fucked over.

- He wanted to change the subject as quickly as possible when Dagobert brought up the weather controller. Dio, who enjoyed showing off how much he knew about things, didn't like the reminder that there were things his sister was doing/hiding so well, even from him, who was so close to the Guild/her actions. That's why he instantly jumped to the chessboard.




- Here is a short and dirty headcanonish collection of Dio lines for the drama. If the actual full script ever comes out anywhere I'll make sweet passionate love to the person who made it so, but since it's unlikely, I'm filling in some blanks:

- "Hey, Lucciola, hit me!" "You can hit me ... or I can hit you!" "I've heard that the captain is friends with the captain of the Urbanus that's after us. So, doesn't that mean that friends can sometimes fight each other?"

- (KIDDIE TIME) "Lucciola means 'firefly'!" "Fireflies can light up in the night, and that's how they communicate with and find other fireflies to be friends with. But they also do that to find ones to fall in love with, too!" "Delphine says that you don't have hearts. But she's wrong. Fireflies can do all of those things just like we can, so that means we're not so different after all. That's why I wanted you to be 'Lucciola'." "So ... I want to know the kind of things that are in your heart, too. Because I know you can 'light up' just like the fireflies can!"




- Though Dio liked being on the Silvana and was getting ... a LITTLE chill with some of the crew, he still had that knack for doing things he would do at home against Delphine; sneaking around. Which was how he ended up with the picture from Alex's quarters.

- He did it when Alex was busy with post-Dragon Fangs stuff and up on the bridge.

- He wasn't lying when he said he just wanted to use the picture as a convo starter with Claus, but the odd relationship between Alex and Claus made him wonder what Claus himself knew about this captain aiming to go against his sister.




- After spending time away from the Guild and his sister and getting to the point where he didn't want to return, he got really hopeful when Anatoray and Disith formed an alliance. Maybe, together, they could actually free themselves (and him) from Delphine.

- When he flew out to aid in the celebration, he imagined flying in a sky that his sister didn't rule - with Lucciola as his second wing, flying alongside him as well as Claus and Tatiana and the rest of the pilots on the Silvana. And it was the best feeling ever.

- And then rose petals. Dio was always aware of how deep his fear of her ran, but even he ended up surprised at his own actions when she showed up. After being away from her for so long, finally experiencing how life felt without her - those feelings and the wish that it could come true were so strong that when she appeared this heart-stopping panic leapt into him.

- He avoided everyone after that until his party. Even Lucciola (to an extent, he would still lurk around closeby). He had at least one freak out when he got back to the Silvana of the oh god can't breathe clutching self why why why it's all over soon variety.

- Down by the engines with Dagobert was a kind of safety zone (or as close to it as it could be) for Dio. Dagobert managed to escape the Guild and stay away from them all that time, so being in that place with someone like that was one of the last hopes he had. Maybe if he stayed there he could escape his fate, too.




- During his party, since Lucciola was holding his gifts for him and had no hands, Dio spoonfed him some of his own cake himself. Gave no fucks.

- He had a sip of the wine the mechanics had out, too, but didn't really like it. TOO BITTER he likes sweet things more.

- He also looked through the titty magazine he got as a gift and showed it to Lucciola and laughed at it a lot.

- The party gave him enough of his spunk back to tide him over until ... later ... He felt like a real official HONEST AND TRUE member of the Silvana, after that, so thought it would be fun to TAKE ORDERS and ACT LIKE A REAL PART OF THE CREW!! He wasn't officially "enlisted" obviously, which was why it was fun to go along with it (a mirror to how he acted about that sort of thing in Fam)


- Going out for the Exile capture mission was empowering. He felt like he was doing something - that HE was doing SOMETHING personally to help stop Delphine's plans. It made him believe that maybe he wasn't as weak and controlled as he always felt. But we know how that ended.




- Dio didn't have much time between being taken from the Silvana and his brainwashing. He did at least speak to Lucciola a little beforehand, as he had to give him the helmet he made for Al.

- He asked him to give it to her for him, before he was called away to accompany Delphine (Delphine always had suspicions in regards to how Lucciola might react to certain things, ie the time she said "Lucciola may try to stop you," so she probably wanted him away from Dio to make sure his mindfuck went smoothly).

- Dio insisted he go and make sure that she didn't do anything to Al or Claus, though he really didn't want him to leave his side at all. What he really wanted was to say "let's get Immelmann and Al and escape," but even he knew how futile a wish like that was.

- The silence he spent by himself between then and when Cicada came to fetch him was the most dreadful, lonely and scary thing he'd ever experienced. The silence was suffocating.




- When Dio woke up in the Mad-Thane residence, he had started to get really off flashes of his memory. Not enough to make sense of it, but enough that he snuck out the window (his brain was still hardwired to 'sneak') and sought out a vanship to 'go after someone'.




- Apis and Coccinella were the ones who recovered him from the Grand Stream.

- Dagobert might have been involved/they might have taken him to him in the meantime (this headcanon is on hold until I finish translating the novels).


- The first 'memory jolt' he had at the end there with the Horizon Cave was more or less the floodgate being opened for his other memories, but they didn't all flood in in one swoop.

- When he woke up after his fall, he was still probably confused as shit and panicking, at least until any memory after the race came back to him when he would realize Lucciola was there with him.

- Which ended up just confusing him more until he recovered the rest of his memories/enough to piece things together.

- Recovery was not fun and painful and mindfuckery for him, especially when he remembered HORRIBLE THINGS like ... pretty much any memory with his sister lol.

- There were probably tears and anger and feelings and break downs and sobs for a lot of this because it was a lot to suddenly LEAP INTO HIS MIND AGAIN OH GOD THIS WAS MY LIFE etc.

- Somewhere in this recovery Claus also got injured trying to help him (CANON). How the fuck did this happen if he was recovered by Apis and Coccinella? We've yet to see.




- There was a point somewhere in that whole process reached where he recalled their last scene all together in Castling Lucciola, and what Lucciola said to them last before going (since he remembered things after his brainwashing according to 15.5). As well as what happened when Claus was trying to help him.

- HE PROBABLY TALKED A BIT ABOUT THAT WHOLE LUCCIOLA THING WITH APIS AND COCCINELLA (maybe Dagobert) TOO. Especially since he had to learn that Delphine is gone, too, oh and Exile went to our home planet and all this shit happened after you escaped the Guild/fell in the Grand Stream, on top of the SOUL PUNCHING HEART CRUSHING REALIZATION THAT LUCCIOLA DIED FOR HIM AND IS GONE FOREVER. As well as that WHOOPS CLAUS CAN'T WALK/FLY ANYMORE BECAUSE OF TRYING TO HELP YOU.

- No seriously when he truly realized that Lucciola was really gone it was probably a sad and terrible moment and maybe that is why we don't get canon for it because it is even too much for the writers to elaborate on since they'd also break down into disgusting sobs.




- Once he was recovered properly he probably got approached in a "so what do we do now?" manner, considering the potential reconstruction or dismantling of the Guild was his call as he was officially the Maestro with Delphine gone, and regardless of the state of things, what remained of the Guild still followed the Maestro.

- Obviously from 15.5's "we swore to make a world without Anatoray Disith or the Guild" as well as Dio's position and general lack of it that ended in dismantling.

- Of course "dismantling" is also a sort of "merging" as those who actually remained of the Guild weren't all wiped out. We don't see much of Anatoray in the sequel but those who had no problem with it probably just stayed with them. Like I bet Apis and Coccinella are there somewhere chilling and working with whoever and hang out with Dio when he's not off on adventures.

- Not sure what this means with the tech since we don't see many signs of Guild tech remaining, HOWEVER AGAIN since we don't see much of Anatoray, we don't know for sure.

- There was at least a little action on Dio's part, mainly with ... contacting everyone, ie Sophia and the Disith representatives to establish the state of the remaining Guild and what Dio was planning to do from there on out.




- Dio felt pretty lost in the aftermath of everything, after going through and losing so much, so had some down time where he didn't know what to do. It was Alvis, Lavie and Claus who helped him the most. Their kindness to him meant everything considering Claus was now unable to fly anymore because of him.

- At one point, Lavie smacked him on the back and ordered him to help her make sandwiches for everyone. Alvis made him help her feed Sleepy-head.

- Flying again was the hardest thing to do because he only had one wing, as well as guilt anytime Claus was ANYWHERE NEAR HIM. The mechanics did things like HEY YOU come help us out with this you know your tech shit. Dagobert would also get him to play chess with him.

- Eventually because of those little things, he gradually adjusted to that new life. It was the life he had realized he wanted, after all. Even if it was always going to miss its most important element. But he was free, and the skies were his even though he couldn't share them with Lucciola, so in some ways it was okay.

- Since Dio always felt a sense of safety down with Dagobert in the Silvana's engine room, he went to him a lot to play chess as he adjusted to things. Al would sometimes go with him, and eventually the two of them broke off to sometimes play between each other as Dio taught her his chess ways.




- Even in her own, roundabout way, Tatiana would approach him about something every now and then to get him active/more like himself again. She was already getting pretty busy after getting her new position and her stint with the Earth Guild. She'd be around with some sort of specs or information about something and Dio would nosy in to it to see what it was.

- His input and OPINIONS on a lot of things were some of what eventually led him to joining the Silvius officially, when its construction was finished.

- It was also in part because Dio wanted to go out and see this new world they all fought so hard to come home to.




- He has a PLACE in Anatoray. Not sure if, eventually, the LE1 cast spread out into their own small residences or decided to stay living together in one house. REGARDLESS, they're all still close enough to each other where they probably just derp around in each other's places.

- Dio's room isn't anything too fancy, as he didn't have many personal important trinkets from home. He kept his birthday presents from his first 'real' birthday, so they're in there. A chess set that he sometimes plays with Al or Dagobert with (or Apis or Coccinella).

- He has a huge window so he can always see the skies and has a nice view of the wheat fields. Sometimes at dusk he can see fireflies hanging out in them and around their other gardens.

- He took a liking to taking pictures soon after his return to Earth and the others. So there are the beginnings of a collection stored in his room.

- This is in part because while memories are special on their own, pictures are always nice, too. But he never had any pictures with Lucciola because of their positions in the Guild, so there's something that always bothers him that he can't look at something like a photo. It's like Rose from Titanic: "I don't even have a picture of him. He exists now only in my memory."




- At some point there was a meeting between Sophia and Lucius. Since Dio references them, they probably had a nice long talk about their origins and coming back to Earth stories. Lucius had their own Guild story (passed down) to tell, so at some point Dio went along to meet him, even though he wasn't doing it on ~official Guild business~ as he had more or less said fuck that.

- It was more a curiosity to see what Guilds on other Presters were like. So he also learned then about the Exiles in orbit as well as the keys (and how the key is passed down, as he explains to Millia) and other INFORMATION TYPE THINGS because seriously Dio in Fam knows his shit.

- Also bonus points for some of the old Ades origins since they were Guild-related. Dio knew that Luscinia was one of Farahnaz's guards, and had a 'twin' who still served him.




- Eventually, Dio's hair started to grow/grow out a bit. He keeps his hair simple and undone, because he never did quite master the braid and DOING STUFF technique on himself. He did always like the way it felt when Lucciola would tie it up or fasten it, so he at least keeps the tie that he has.

- Lavie trimmed his hair for him every once in a while otherwise. When he joined the Sky Pirates later, it was Giselle.




- Dio got along easier with Alister as opposed to Tatiana (like said, those two got along in their own special way though. "special"). He didn't really hang around her too much when he was on the Silvana, but her personality off of the battlefield was one that clicked with Dio. (TROLLFRIENDS)

- Still, it was Tatiana who asked Dio personally to join her on the Silvius when it was completed.

- Dio was kind of CONFUSED by the request because wat? But after the importance of his skills and knowledge and piloting hax were brought up, he decided to join them. He figured that they might not need to end up fighting, even despite the information they were gathering about the world they returned to.

- Their first few reconnaissance missions around the Grand Lake went well enough. There were times they needed to use VANSHIP TEAM TACTICS to make sure the Silvius kept up its reputation.

- Dio does have a second vanship on board the Silvius. Much like the one he built, it's specialized for solo-flight.




- Much like how he helped them with the Exile capture mission, Dio really did enjoy helping the friends who became like his family in those ways. But being officially enlisted quickly started to make him feel suffocated. It was in part because Dio just really liked doing as he pleased, but also because it reminded him in a strange way of his old life. He didn't feel 'free'.

- This, on top of Claus obtaining his injury was what jolted him to head off on his own. Not only did he feel stifled, but yet another person that he cared a lot about was now unable to fly. He was grateful that Claus was still THERE and ALIVE, but the the skies around Dio didn't seem too hot after that.

- So using a reconnaissance excuse (though he really did end up doing well for Anatoray in the end with the Sky Pirates) Dio left the Silvius on his own. This was the best way for him to both keep helping his friends, satiating his own curiosity and doing something where he felt less uncomfortable (and guilty) to be in the sky.





- Before he left, he spoke to Claus. After the Earth Guild incident on top of the buzz of Ades and Exiles and all that fun stuff, Al's safety was important to them all. He asked Dio, that if things started getting ugly, and if there was any chance that Al might be in danger, to please protect her in his place. Of course, Dio promised him that he would WITH A SMILE. But when he left he was wrestling with FEELINGS AND TEARS that Claus had to ask him that at all.

- He was also worried about the responsibility for a while, having been the one who was always protected. But with his skills (and still remembering Agon), Dio decided to, on the side as he VENTURED THE WORLD, perfect himself to fight with his sword as well. He had already done a little of this and a little of that after he had joined the Silvius, just in case.

- The last thing he told Al before he saw her again later was to do her best back home with everyone, and to take care of Immelmann.

- He of course assured everyone that HE'D BE BACK SO BEST KEEP YOUR BODIES READY.

- Dagobert made him play half of a chess game before he left, and they agreed to finish it when he returned.




- He had obviously heard of the Sky Pirates before he went to lodge with them, due to their notoriety. Because they weren't a specific nation but rather a mix of many different people, he figured he could learn a lot more things about their world from them.

- He waited until they went off on a mission and just kind of. Followed them back to Kartoffel when they were finished.

- He initially wormed his way into their good side by praising their tactics and being like "WOW YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING, DID YOU SEE THAT ONE GUY'S SPLIT-S" and then just kind of went "anyway I've been looking for you Sky Pirates, can I stay here for a while?"

- Atamora was one of the first people he met and spoke to when he arrived. As such, he met his daughter Giselle right after, as well as Fam.

- Fam gave him the third degree when they found out he was NEW GUY. And got mad when he danced around a lot of questions and responded with quips back to her about her nosiness. Obviously that is how Dio forges many friendships, so he kept bothering her after that because getting a rise out of people is fun.

- But after learning more about them and who they were, why they were there, what their beliefs were, he was happy he came to them and decided to stay for a while.




- Vespas were curious little things to Dio, so he obviously had to check them out. In many ways they were so similar to the tech he was used to, and in many ways not.

- When he decided to build his own vanship out of junk parts they had in Kartoffel, he scrapped the vanship he took with him (he took a general/mass produced one when he left the Silvius) and used its engine as part of its build.

- The new tech interested him too, which is why he went with a mix of technology to really make a vanship BETTER THAN ANY OTHER!!

- Also, with customizing it to his own preferences, he was able to keep a seat for Lucciola intact while working under the frame to ensure that the vanship could be piloted just fine solo.




- Fam he was interested in, and Giselle's genius when it came to the Ades ships. In that way he could learn more about those battleships, though he really was impressed with Giselle's talent. As a result he ended up hoboing it up at Giselle's family's house often. The two of them stood out to Dio.

- He hit it off great with Giselle's siblings (SEE THIS ESSAY ALL ABOUT DIO AND CHILDREN FOR DETAILS), as well as the other children in Kartoffel that they were friends with.

- At some point not too long after he got in good with them, one of their birthdays came up. In preparation (which Dio totally helped with), he taught them all the song he knew from his own birthday, and even enlightened them a little bit with the story of how the song is awesome because it was a gift for him for his first real birthday.

- Sometimes Dio would slack off on a mission much to Fam's dismay. If he ended up staying behind, Tereza would make him do SOMETHING to pull his weight and make him help her watch the kiddies and prepare food for the returnees and stuff like that.

- Tereza reminded him in many ways of Lavie if Lavie ever had children.

- Though Dio was chill with the PLAYING WITH THE CHILDRENS part, he was less so about the idea of helping with the food. He opted to do the easier things for her though like sandwich making (since Lavie and Al taught him how to do that well).




- To make up for when he slacked off, he made double sure to show off to everyone when he did go out with them.

- This also always ended up making Fam mad though which amused him to no end - SLACK OFF, FAM MAD. DON'T SLACK OFF AND ONE-UP EVERYONE, FAM STILL MAD. Trollface forever.

- But just as Dio ended up winning the hearts of the Sky Pirates, they had done the same to him.

- And he liked Kartoffel, because being up so high in the mountains made him feel like he was in the skies even when he wasn't flying.




- Dio could easily tell that the Turan-Ades peace talks were going to go to shit, despite everyone else being hopeful about it. I mean, Ades' track record, yo. He was hanging around that day because he knew they'd be called out.

- And he knew the Sky Pirates would end up aiding Turan, which was why he went along with everything so smoothly. He had liked meeting Lucius and visiting Turan earlier with Sophia, so didn't want to see them completely crushed by Ades.

- With Giselle's advice about the structure and layout of the ships in their world, Dio was excited to put that knowledge to use when he scuttled the Lasas. It was his first time at the helm of a ship like that, and knowing what he did, he just decided to have a little fun with it and act like he was flying a really big vanship.

- He also instantly liked Millia because ... well, yes. Anybody who's reaction is to yell at him amuses the hell out of him. But likewise he also appreciated Liliana's easygoingness with their plan and to just let them do their thing.




- After smoothing out their plan of attack against Luscinia, Dio swung back to hang out with Atamora on their ship when the fighting started. He didn't stay long, because the Lasas' head-on attack didn't go as it should have, and he went off on his own to see what had happened.

- That was the first time he saw Alauda, and knew right away who he was. The show of speed and strength as well as the tech of the machine he got away in was enough for him to know that he was Luscinia's bitch/the other guardian of the old Augusta. With Liliana in Luscinia's hands, he left her to Fam, Giselle and Millia as he waited.

- When he realized the Exile was beginning to come down toward the planet, he knew its target was going to be Iglasia, and rushed to warn them not to attack it, though he was too late. Obviously, he was aware enough of Exile defense systems, so knew how things were going to end if they attacked it first.

- The aftermath of that whole ordeal was pretty somber, so he stayed away from the girls (mainly because they were dealing with the things themselves and Millia was probably too occupied with them on top of her own feelings).

- He thought about a few things that day, before they all gathered for the okuribi. Coincidentally, one of those thoughts were "I wonder if that means the battle is going to come to Anatoray, soon" and considered maybe going back to join the Silvius.





- Dio knew how occasionally difficult it was to deal with things like death, especially from a child's perception, which was why he opted to go hang out with them during the okuribi. Especially if any of them got upset, so he could do or say something BIG BROTHERLY to help them feel a little better. "They're still in the sky, where we all love to be. But the sky they're in now is a little out of our reach, for now."

- Things fell together perfectly after that. Judging by the Sky Pirate's reaction to Turan made it clear that if it came down to it, they would aid Anatoray similarly. But with Millia now lost and Fam determined to start capturing ships for her, when Dio heard the Silvius was in the area it was basically a moment of "PERFECT, YESSSS." So all he had to do was tip Fam off and sit back and relax, because he'd be going 'home' soon and getting the connection between the Sky Pirates and Anatoray that he was hoping for.




- Watching the girls try to figure out the layout of the Silvius was the FUNNEST THING EVER for Dio. Like if Dio had an inner mind theater at that scene it would be the funniest thing in the world. "haha THEY'RE SO CLOSE oh nope nope wrong about that haha they have no idea I can draw everything out for them and tell them everything BUT I'M NOT 8D"

- Wanting to really test Giselle's intellect and how well she caught onto things, he dropped his own small clues in his own way. Dio has a soft spot for her because she's like the best navi ever and in many ways reminded him of how Lucciola would just go along with whatever he wanted to do.





- Fam and Tatiana both being so different but so hot-blooded when it came to things was why he had so much fun watching them dogfight. Because as someone who gets the same way, it was amusing to watch two people who enjoy a real challenge and get hella-serious about it go at it with each other.

- He cut them off in the same way Tatiana had cut him off in his first ever dogfight with Claus. And yes he did that on purpose in the same way just for Tatiana.

- Returning to the Silvius felt like being home again, even though in some ways Dio was sad to return. Because it meant things were going to start getting serious soon. He kept telling himself that it would be okay, though. Because hopefully this would be the last thing to come to pass, and from there they could really REALLY be able to live together in peace having fun all day every day, just like what he always wanted.

- Dio ran into Millia when she was all maid-outfitted up and more or less just bursted out laughing, going "HAHA NICE DRESS MILLIA." She stomped off to the echo of his lols.

- Afterward, he went down to visit Dagobert and pick up that half-finished chess game again.




- When Dio took the ships Fam had captured thus far back to Anatoray, there were shenanigans. Dio and a few others would head out ahead of and around the ships as they moved, making sure nothing was coming at them. With Dio, of course, these scout missions were full of IMMELMANN TURNS and SCISSORS and got many a "Dio jeeze be serious!" But Dio was in charge so he could do what he wanted!

- Al had already gone with Vincent to Glacies by the time Dio was in Anatoray again. He didn't stay for long, but he did drop by and visit Claus and Lavie and everyone who was there at the time. Before Claus even said anything to him, he assured him that he was still going to keep his promise to him. That Al had gone off with Vincent worried Claus, if anything were to go wrong with his negotiations.

- On his way back to the Silvius, Dio stopped by other Sky Pirate bases to refuel and pit-stop. He had caught a glimpse of a calendar when he was nearly there, and realized Fam's birthday was coming up. So before he returned back proper, he stopped by a shop to get her flowers.




- He wasn't thrilled to come back and find out that something was going on between Fam and Giselle. Though he didn't know exactly what happened, he had spoken to Alister about their new 'friends' and talked about how Giselle was kind of like how she used to be, so he had a gut feeling he knew what was going on.

- To Dio, there is no worse feeling than the feeling he gets when he thinks too hard about whether or not Lucciola felt the same way he did - whether or not he was just being blind to something. So hearing Fam's voice so sad, he wanted more than anything to not have her end up feeling the same terrible guilt he did.

- So he told her about what happened to him, which is something he didn't really do in detail until then. So it was a surreal feeling - his throat was tight his voice was soft and sad and he got hit with this wave of nostalgic sadness and loneliness.

- While they all planned Fam's surprise party, they sent her upstairs to work (Dio offered to help set up for the party because lol fuck cleaning work). They set it up fast enough, though, and by the time they were done, everyone was going above deck to watch them all play hockey.

- Dio didn't join in, though he wanted to. He knew he would dominate everyone.

- Seeing Giselle come back and her and Fam playing together again and making up warmed his heart. He was so happy to see the two of them together again and able to let their feelings be known to each other. It made him feel a little sad, but more than anything he was truly happy for them.

- He was seriously kind of buttmad at Vincent crashing Fam's birthday party. SERIOUSLY DUDE WE WERE HAVING A PARTY HERE.




- He felt more at ease during the start of the Turan/Anatoray peace talks since they had all gathered together and he was close to Al again. Not that he thought something would go wrong, knowing Millia and the Sky Pirates well enough by then.

- He understood Millia's plight as well as he understands Al's. And though he knows that the two of them have people they've come to love and can rely on, something as complicated as being an Exile key/one who can inherit the power was something nobody but them could really understand. So as soon as the opportunity presented itself, he introduced the two of them.

- He was also glad to let Millia know that her sister was still alive. Though he wondered how it felt to ... know that your sister is alive and be happy about it.




- When Ades arrived and attacked, though Dio wanted to go along with Vincent and Al, he knew it was a better plan of action to have just Vincent go on ahead while he stayed behind not only to protect Millia and the Silvius' crew, but to hold off the intruders long enough for the Urbanus and Al to get as far away as they could.

- Seeing Alauda again, and fighting him was proof enough that they had gone with the right plan. Though not too long after he clashed swords with him did Alauda get a transmission saying that Alvis wasn't on board the Silvius. He made a quick retreat from Dio all of a sudden, and Dio wasted no time to beat them to the Urbanus and Anatoray - thankful that at least they retreated so the Silvius crew could take care of themselves from there. He believed in their ability to stay in hiding until they were able to repair properly.





- He made it to Anatoray just as the assassin squadron did, and there was a moment where he felt his stomach drop, because he thought he might have been too late when he found that Al had taken off running from the Urbanus. But his eyes were quicker than the assassins in that moment, who were still assuming she might have been on board the Urbanus, so he was the first to get to her.

- They spent their time running in many different places. Some nights when they really had no place like an abandoned Sky Pirate base to rest, they would just land hidden away somewhere and sleep in Dio's vanship. Dio's reflexes were always sharp, so he'd wake up and perk up instantly if he heard anybody coming. One time they bunched up a few things in the vanship itself and slept hidden nearby, so if anyone came they would assume the two of them were in the vanship and Dio would get the drop on them.

- The entire ordeal was exhausing, even for Dio. The assassins didn't stop coming and though they did find moments to rest and relax a bit, he was always on edge, keeping his ears sharp, keeping an eye out for any movement. He didn't sleep so much as a result, but what kept him going was that so long as he gave it his all, once they reached Boreas he could rest.

- Their last encounter before Boreas was a close call. It was more or less an ambush and though they were close enough to the vanship to escape, the assassins were prepared for that. Dio took a couple of cuts shielding Al in a moment where he absolutely wouldn't have been able to stop it if he did anything else, but it was sheer adrenaline and the promise to Claus booming in his mind as well as the thought of how Lucciola saved him so he couldn't just die there that pushed him to immediately counter quickly enough to kill them/knock them out and get away.




- Dio really was hungry when he went wandering off on his own in Boreas. But on his way to go looking for food he decided to take a closer look around the base to get a good idea of its layout - poking into random rooms, and he was actually hoping to maybe run into Sara. So when he did, he felt good man.

- He told Sara that he was looking for something to eat, and when she noticed that he was hurt she was like OH NO YOU'RE HURT here I'll help you with your food. On their walk back to Dio's room, he insisted that she didn't have to help, but she explained that she was the Augusta. If peace was a thing that was going to happen, didn't they all have to help each other? No matter who they were. As Augusta, she wanted to help everyone. It reminded Dio a lot of how he acted as a child toward Lucciola, who he was expected to treat as less than him because of his position. Brownie points and kids love in Dio's book when she said that.

- "Millia is having a hard time because people are calling her the witch's sister." Dio never hated Liliana, though he was as thrown for a loop as everyone else when she appeared again by Luscinia's side, he really felt for Millia when he heard that. Being the younger sibling of someone that everyone hates is hard, man.

- More Sara feels are IN THIS ESSAY HERE.




- Worst party since his own birthday party that Dio ever went to was the one following the "peace" made between everyone under Sara. It was the most forced, stifled fake atmosphere ever, though he stood around just in case something happened.

- Liliana's assassination wasn't too much of a shock to him. In many ways, he felt bad that he didn't get to speak to her again since before she was kidnapped, because he would have liked to hear things from her personally. But more than anything he felt bad for Millia, because she had tried so hard to make peace so she could be with her sister again. Even though things were rough along the way, he could tell that the two of them truly did love each other as siblings, and wished it could have ended differently, so they could have been happy together.

- After that, he waited with bated breath as he stared out the window, wondering how Luscinia would react. He had a good hunch about that, though, so took Al back to the Silvius, preemptively.

- The moment he saw that flash of shock on Alister's face when she got contacted from outside, he knew what was happening, so made a beeline for Al and the hangar to get the hell out of there.

- Dio believes in luck, and considers himself a pretty lucky guy. But when Al said she didn't do anything to help him when Alauda attacked, he stared at the side of his vanship, wondering. As he so desperately wanted to keep Lucciola's spirit alive and close to him, that was why he built his 'best' vanship as he did, so there would always be a spot for him. He wondered if likewise, Lucciola kept him close from the other side, and that wondering about how he truly felt in the past, some of that guilt suddenly seemed a little lighter.




- The only thing Dio was really iffy about in regards to his injuries from his battle with Alauda was Al. He was cool with helping Millia out, he found it cute and amusing that Tatiana and Alister were heading out themselves much like he would have preferred to do. But being out of commission and letting someone else take care of Al didn't sit well with him. At some point, Millia noticed his expression and assured him that Dyan was the best person for the job with him out of the running. He still worried, but as Dio does, he believed in the words of his friend, and that Dyan, much like he'd been doing, would keep her word.

- The Grand Exile was such a 'holy shit' thing and both a depressing thing to see. It was huge and dangerous with the way Luscinia was using it, but it's massive size was also sad in that that was probably how big the dreams of those who created it were. And those dreams, must like the Grand Exile itself, never took to the skies.




- Dio did a lot between the ending and epilogue. One thing he did at the very end of the battle was thank Dyan for protecting Al for him. Dyan understood him because she learned what that phrase meant from Fam. Dio thought her language was awesome even though he couldn't understand it.

- He let Tatiana, Sophia and Vincent handle their business while he escorted Fam and the Sky Pirates back to Kartoffel. All of the childrens got hugs from Dio for welcoming him home the same way they did for Fam and Giselle. Though he joked to them, saying "why do I look so scared in this drawing, though?" "Because you're losing to Fam and Giselle in a race!" he laughed and told them that maybe, they'd get to watch that happen for real in the Grand Race soon, because everything was okay again. "Only I won't lose, like in your picture!" Kartoffel was still in ruins, so he'd rerturn there over the next few weeks/months to help them with some things.

- He went back to Anatoray to help out as well. Also spent a little bit of downtime with Al, Claus, Lavie and the gang. They had a big party to celebrate.

- He offered to take over any talks or negotiations for Sophia if she couldn't make any - with those in Ades and Glacies and everywhere else as they figured out where to go from there. Occasionally he did - or at least went along with somebody who did.

- Dio still goes every once in a while to visit Sara (be it on official Anatoray business as mentioned above or just to tag along with someone to say hi), since the two of them hit it off rather well. As Sara loved Luscinia and Luscinia served her mother, she asked Dio a few things about the sort of place Luscinia came from.




- When the Grand Race was finally held, Al went ahead with Dio, Vincent and Sophia to prepare in advance. Before they met up with Claus and Lavie, Al asked him if he was going to race. he basically said "I am, and I'll be flying for all of us."

- And he did. Though more than anything, he thought of Lucciola again - because sharing a free sky with him was always Dio's truest wish. So he flew for the both of them, and hoped that, if in fact Lucciola was just out of reach on the other side watching out for him (see: Alauda battle), he could feel a gentle breeze from the winds in and air and the race.

- He was okay with the yellow card after the fact. Because he was proud of himself for making such a beast of a vanship TOO COOL FOR YOUR RACE. And if anyone was worthy to take the cup if he couldn't, it was Tatiana.

- He "adopted" the cup after the race though. He was like I get to be the uncle or something since it was mine for a hot minute. After they went home, sometimes as a joke to get a rise out of Tatiana, he would swipe it.