Chapter Text
Laughter filled the air as the girl chased after her little sister. Although they were running through the smaller parts of the woods, it felt like a jungle to them due to their size. Finally, Lucia tackled the running girl to the floor. The two rolled across the forest floor until they stopped. The laughter grew increasingly louder as the two laughed at their antics and helped each other up. Luz flinched a bit. Lucia’s reddish hues turned to her sister’s knee and the sight of blood met her eyes.
Guilt filled her but Luz only laughed it off. With no other exchange, the older sister crouched to offer her little sister a piggyback ride to which Luz accepted immediately, a beaming smile on the girl’s face. The two made their way back home while Luz spread her arms out, copying the movements of a plane while Lucia swerved the two back and forth until they arrived home. Despite the scolding, the two couldn’t stop laughing.
The beautiful memory soon enough faded away and was replaced with a dark room. Her room specifically. Lucia was laying in bed, looking up at the window as she tried to ignore the dim yelling coming from her parents’ room. It was times like this that the girl wanted to close her eyes and dream the night away but she never found herself being able to go back to sleep after hearing the loud fighting.
Lucia laid in her bed, adjusted herself to rest on her side and looked dully at her alarm. She could barely make it out in the darkness but it was there, an alarm she had ever since she started school. Squinting her eyes, she could barely make out the digits, one a.m. Burying her face into her pillow, the latina girl waited until the yelling faded away until it was eventually nothing.
Loud footsteps were heard at her door before they faded away as well. Sitting up in her bed, the small girl looked down at the ground as if to gather her thoughts before landing on the cold floor. She flinched, not wearing any shoes before ignoring it and approaching her door. Opening it slowly, she peered around before she heard a loud slam. Lucia couldn’t help but cringe at the loud sound but she didn’t have long to ponder about it as soft crying filled the air soon after.
A frown made its way across her face as she approached it. Peaking through the crack of her parents’ slightly open door, her auburn hues glanced around wildly to look for the cause of the crying until they landed on a figure on the bed. Her mother. Lucia’s eyebrows furrowed as she clenched her jaw, forcing the dampness of her eyes away. She couldn’t help the sniff that escaped her. Rustling broke the silence until suddenly her mother’s croaky voice called out to her.
“Mija?” (endearing term meaning ‘daughter’) Camila asked, voice almost cracking. Lucia gulped though revealed herself, head bowed as she stared at her feet. “Ay, Lucia, perdon..” (‘Oh, Lucia, sorry..’) Her mother whispered at her sadly, sitting up on her bed before beckoning her daughter over. Hesitantly, her mother sat next to her, pulling her knees close to her chest as she stared straight ahead of her, not meeting her mother’s gaze.
Her mother broke the silence, clearing her throat in an attempt to remove the dense knot in her throat. “M-Mija when these things happen..” She began, voice shaky despite her attempt to compose herself. Her hand rested on her daughter’s shoulder which caused Lucia to meet her eyes finally. Camila’s eyes widened as she noticed the unshed tears in her daughter’s hues.
“Y-You have to be strong, Lucia,” Camila mumbled, her other hand wiping her own tears from her face. Lucia copied her notion and also wiped her damp eyes, doing her best to control her unsteady breathing. “For your hermana (‘sister) , para mi también ( ‘for me as well’) . For everyone, Lucia.” Her mother blurted with a shaky sigh before smiling fondly. “You were always such an emotional kid, still are, but life, mija.. I-It’s hard, you’re going to have to pull yourself together and stop being so sentimental one day…” She whispered, tears filling her eyes once more.
That’s when Lucia’s eyes widened in realization. Be strong. She had to be strong for those who couldn’t be. Nodding slowly, she smiled uncertainly at her mother, hoping to provide comfort. Lucia had never been the touchy type, it wasn’t something she was used to anymore. The girl had demanded for no more hugs at a very young age only to seem tough but her parents had taken her seriously and now, she felt awkward at times like these.
“And Lucia?” Camila chimed in once more. Immediately, Lucia’s attention went to her. “Yes, mami?” She asked, voice low and almost slightly rough sounding. Smiling sadly, her mother let out a tired laugh, shaking her head. “Don’t.. Don’t ever fall in love, mija. You’d think that love would be easy but it’s hard.” At this point, it looked like Camila was speaking to herself, looking down at her hands. Either way, the young girl kept listening.
“Porque, mami?” (‘why, mami?’) Her words were shaky, never had she crossed this type of territory with her mother. It made her tense. “It’s like.. Everything is a dream and then next thing you know, they’re leaving.” She scoffed, turning to the door that her father had just marched out of. Young Lucia furrowed her brow in confusion. She didn’t quite get it. “But I thought love was good? Everyone says it is..? Papi says it is..” Lucia hesitantly offered.
Camila only sneered, shaking her head and letting out a scoff. “Your father is a man who only cares about himself. He only comes to us when he can get something out of it.” She hissed out, crossing her arms above her chest. “B-But that’s not true! Papi was here and.. Y-You were the one who made him leave!” The girl accused, a sudden urge to defend her father came over her. Camila looked down at her daughter before letting out a sad laugh. “He’s corrupted you… Mija, you only see your father as this superhero but if anything, he’s as flawed as the villains you see in your books.” She said with a low growl before softening her voice softly. “You don’t know half the things your father has done and if I’m being honest, I don’t either.” That was the end of that conversation.
Tension filled the room. It was suffocating and Lucia had to pinch herself to ignore it. Her mother didn’t know what she was talking about, her father wasn’t a villain! He always came over whenever he could and he would play with her. Sure, not for very long but he did his best. What if her mother was right though..? Lucia quickly shook the thought from her head before her head quickly flew upwards at the sound of creaking.
Her eyes set on her little sister who had tears in her eyes and was shaking lightly. “Mami!” She exclaimed, running over to the bed and crawling on top of it. “Que paso, mija?” (‘What happened, mija?’) The mother asked her youngest, quickly pulling her in an embrace and rubbing her back. “I had a nightmare!” She sobbed, burying her face in her mother’s neck while her mother only sighed softly and hugged the girl tightly, humming a lullaby to soothe the young girl.
Lucia watched the two’s interaction. A pang of jealousy pierced her insides. It was obvious that her mother and her weren’t the closest. Ever since she could remember, their relationship was strained. Lucia always wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and Camila never liked that. Her father, as her mother would always say, is not a good man and not someone to admire. He wasn’t the perfect hero like Lucia had always thought. Lucia would always ignore her mother however and this only made the two’s interactions tense.
However, Lucia couldn’t contain the small part of her that wished she could get the same maternal attention from her mother that her little sister got. It was completely ridiculous how she could envy simply being held by her. Her mother’s words returned to her head however. No, she had to be strong. Had to be strong for her sister. If that’s what her mother wanted, it’s something she would do. That would be her way of showing affection. Maybe, that’s her mother’s way of showing affection for her as well, by giving her advice?
With that in mind, the stabs of jealousy she felt for her sister faded away until nothing remained for that night. She would be strong if that’s what everyone needed, it couldn’t be that hard anyway, right? Lucia considered herself to be a very strong girl, her father had said it! He had promised her that one day, she’d be as big and strong as himself and no one could ever beat her father in a wrestling match. Lucia would know, she had tried several times.
Luz’s cries came to a stop as she dozed off in her mother’s arms. Usually during nights like these, both Lucia and Luz would sleep in her mother’s bed. In Lucia’s eyes, that was something weak to do. Despite her head protesting, she got up and hopped off her mother’s bed. Waving a goodbye to her mother, she wandered back to her room. That night, she slept in her room alone. There was a feeling of loneliness, sadness but there was also a sense of pride and confidence that fueled her. The memory faded once again.
Lucia woke up with a gasp, taking in her odd surroundings before letting out a hiss of pain at the throbbing in her head. Immediately, she fell back only for her head to hit the hard end of the couch. “FUCK!” She winced, sitting up and quickly placing her hands down on the couch to hopefully control the swirling room. There were strange artifacts all over the room and a massive wanted poster that sent chills down her spine. What was this place?
Footsteps entered the strange room and Lucia jolted up, patting around for her baseball bat. Where was it?! “Honestly, and here I thought I’d be more impressed meeting more of you humans.” A strangely elegant voice said. Her auburn hues immediately darted up to meet a tall woman with dark hair and a pair of heterochromia eyes. One of them was blue while the other was gray.
Squinting her eyes, Lucia shook her head slowly. “How the hell am I still not sober?” She grumbled to herself, rubbing her eyes dramatically. The woman raised an eyebrow before scoffing. “Of course the second human I ever meet is completely stoned or drunk out of their mind. Why am I not surprised?” She sneered before making her way to the kitchen, pulling out a pink apron and pulling out a cauldron. Wait, a what?
Lucia squinted her eyes suspiciously, keeping her eyes on the woman at all times. “...” She remained completely silent before widening her hues and immediately rushing to her feet. “B-Brujeria!” (‘Witchery’) She yelled, quickly rushing to the door and opening it. There, she was met with a bird tube of sorts. “Hello, human girl!” It chirped which only caused Lucia to punch it straight in the face. It groaned in pain and collapsed onto the ground.
“I-I gotta get out of here- Oomf !” The girl let out a groan of pain as well as she tripped over the rest of the bird tube’s body. “D-Dammit..” She spat, not being able to even get up at this point. Her headache was killing her at this point. The forest continued to wobble around until the human girl all of a sudden found herself levitating. Lucia let out a growl, thrashing all she could before being set roughly on the couch once more. For good measure, the woman summoned ropes which tightly kept her from moving.
The girl was growling intensely, lunging around before finally giving up, meeting the woman’s eyes and panting heavily. “What do you want?!” Lucia demanded, shooting her a death glare which the woman only scoffed at. She took a better look at the tied girl and shook her head. “I seriously expected more diversity from you humans. All of you look exactly alike. Then again, I’ve only met two.” Mysteriously, the woman shrugged while Lucia only chuckled tiredly. “I’m sure the other human you met was nothing like me!” She snapped fearlessly while the woman only snorted. “Definitely not.” The woman taunted back.
A string of curses escaped the girl once the woman left. She began patting around her pockets to the best of her ability and finally found what she had been looking for. Lucia’s eyes traced back to the woman who was mixing up something in the cauldron. “Definitely not.” Lucia echoed, mocking the woman before sticking her tongue out in concentration. It was right there, all she had to do was..
“Yes!” She whisper-yelled, finally grabbing a hold of her pocket knife. Lucia smirked triumphantly. “Pfft, and here Luz was saying that no one needs a pocket knife. What a sore loser.” She chuckled, puffing out her chest only to wince as the ropes got tighter. “O-Okay..” The girl winced before starting to cut the ropes, eyes still set on the woman who began to approach her with a strange bottle of a greenish liquid.
Just on time, the ropes collapsed and the girl quickly scrambled to her feet. Glancing around, she spotted her red baseball bat and quickly made a grab for it. POinting the baseball bat at the woman, Lucia scowled, voice lowering significantly. “I won’t hesitate to beat the absolute shit out of you-” Suddenly, the bat was flung away and out of the house’s window. Lucia’s eyes comedically widened and her jaw dropped before looking back at the woman.
Quickly, she clenched her hands into fists. The girl cocked her head back confidently, sneering at the approaching woman. “Haven’t gotten into a fist fight in a while but I’m pretty confident in-” Lucia let out a hiss as her hands were suddenly forced to her side. “How are you doing that?!” She growled, scowling at the approaching woman who only shook her head. “Magic, child. Now drink up. The aftertaste is pretty disgusting so I got you some water.” The woman said, finally letting the girl’s arms free.
A sigh of relief escaped her. The woman wasn’t acting hostile. Suspiciously, she glanced down at the green elixir which had a forming bubble in it. Lucia’s nose scrunched up and she turned to the water. All of a sudden, the girl realized how thirsty she actually was. Had she eaten sand before all of this?!
Grabbing the glass of water, the girl tossed her head back as she swallowed all of the cold liquid. A satisfied sigh escaped her before glancing down at the green elixir. She turned to the woman and shook her head. “I’m not.. I’m not drinking that. It could be poison for all I know.” Lucia grumbled, crossing her arms above her chest. The woman let out a loud groan, clenching her teeth together.
“You are just like Edalyn. Even more like her than that human protégé she has with her.” The woman clearly looked angered and irritated. “Listen, just drink the elixir. If I poisoned you, I wouldn’t hear the end of it from Luz..” She grumbled and Lucia’s eyes widened. “Luz? You have Luz? Where is she?!” The human demanded with a low growl, immediately lunging to the woman who only sighed heavily and froze the girl once more. “If you drink the elixir, we can go see her right now.”
Lucia only laughed out loudly, eyes hardening. “Why should I believe anything you say-” The dark haired woman let out a groan of agitation and forced the elixir down the girl’s throat. Lucia immediately started coughing, gagging at the aftertaste. Goosebumps lingered on her skin while the woman only shrugged calmly. “I told you.” She simply said before raising an eyebrow at the girl. “I’ll let you go only if you promise to get yourself together.” The woman offered, tilting her head. All Lucia did was nod.
After she was released from the strange spell, the girl charged forwards, reeling her fist back. The woman facepalmed before casting the levitation spell on the girl. She was launched up once more. “Tell me where she is!” Lucia demanded with a scowl while the ravenette only frowned, opening the door and shutting it as they walked through. She let the girl go and watched as she landed on her bottom with a hiss.
The woman cleared her throat. “Your head doesn’t hurt anymore, correct?” She asked the girl who was still on the floor. Lucia furrowed her brow. “No.. It doesn't anymore. What does that matter though?” The girl huffed, crossing her arms above her chest. The woman was clearly losing her patience. “I gave you a sobering potion!” She growled through her teeth. The girl only stared at her blankly. “.. Oh!” She exclaimed, getting back up on her feet while wiping the dust off her shirt. “Still, where’s Luz?” Lucia asked, walking over to her bat and picking it up.
Huffing, the woman shrugged simply. “Her and my sister, Edalyn, and a few of your sister’s friends went on a trip. Something about a business trip or whatever. Obviously, I have better things to do so I stayed. You’re lucky I found you still intact, the night creatures are merciless, especially in the woods.” She grunted, nodding over to the trees. Lucia turned her attention to the forest and winced, rubbing the back of her neck.
Lucia’s eyes widened at her comment. “Luz.. Has friends?” It was a surprise but definitely not unpleasant to hear. She grinned sheepishly, the idea brightening her day. “Well.. Thank you for not just leaving me I guess.” The girl murmured awkwardly before tilting her head. “I don’t know your name, what is it?” Lucia asked, swinging her bat around with a hand. Furrowing her brow, she looked down at her hands only to find out they were both healed, no sign that she had punched that window in her childhood home earlier. It was.. Freaky.
Clearing her throat, the woman introduced herself. “I’m Lilith. It’s a pleasure to meet you, human.” Lilith said, offering her to the other girl who took it confidently. She nodded to the dark haired woman. “Name’s Lucia and Luz is my sister. She’s been missing for about a year and if we’re talking about the same person, then I’ll be able to take her back home.” The human girl said calmly while Lilith only tilted her head to the side. “Take her home..?” She echoed, clearly puzzled while all Lucia did was nod.
A sigh escaped Lilith and she began to walk off, Lucia right on her tail. “Pfft, good luck with that, child. No one has been able to get rid of Luz since she’s arrived.” Lilith grumbled, heading towards the market. Lucia shrugged before puffing out her chest with a smug smile. “Oh please, I am her sister, she loves me! She’ll come back home in no time.” The human chuckled in a confident manner while all the dark haired woman did was roll her eyes. It wasn’t her business anyways.
It didn’t take long for the two to arrive at the market. Lucia’s jaw dropped and she squinted her eyes suspiciously, holding her bat close as she scanned all the strange creatures. Lilith couldn’t help but snort in amusement before heading to the potion stand. “What are we doing here?” Lucia asked, voice low as she tightened her grip on her baseball bat. Lilith scoffed softly, shaking her head. “Since you wasted all my ingredients to get you sober,” The woman began, smacking the back of Lucia’s head.
“Ouch!” The girl hissed, watching as her beanie fell to the ground. Ducking, she picked up her beanie while patting the dust away. “I’ll be needing more ingredients.” Lilith finished before turning her full attention onto the seller, mumbling something about a centipede’s nose and a butterfly’s tongue. Disgust filled the girl’s stomach. “Was that what I ate?” Lucia gulped, looking up at Lilith who only smirked. “You ate more things but yes, those two ingredients were present in the potion.” She remarked before grabbing a bag of the two ingredients that the seller had given her.
Lucia’s stomach began rumbling. Not in a good way however. A shiver went down her spine. Lilith grabbed her by her hood, pulling her with her. “Don’t get lost, human. And don’t even think about emptying your stomach.” She hissed, pulling her roughly. “Now hurry up, Edalyn should be back soon anyways.” Lilith reasoned while all Lucia did was nod, too scared to speak in case she began throwing up.
As the two headed back, the house that Lucia had woken up in was a lot louder than it was than when the two had left it. Lilith sighed heavily, shaking her head. “They’re here..” She grumbled, approaching the door and opening it, sending a slap to the bird tube that was heading over. “Ouch!” The tube hissed, returning back to its original position. Lucia immediately scowled at the sight of it, oh how she detested it.
The two entered the house and suddenly everything went quiet. Tension returned to Lucia’s shoulders though she visibly relaxed at the sight of her younger sister. Her eyes widened and she squinted a bit. Could that actually be her? Luz only looked back at her, clear confusion in her eyes. Glancing down at herself, Lucia raised her brow. She supposed her style had changed over the years, alongside her appearance.
Glancing back up at the other human, she felt troubled. Was this really her sister? The girl in front of her looked nothing like how she had last seen Luz. Although they had similarities like the brown eyes, tan skin, and dark hair, there were still some drastic differences. Luz had been on the smaller side when she had last seen her but the girl in front of her was significantly taller. While Luz had a homemade pixie cut, this girl had a curly mullet that reached her neck. Overall, there was a change in the girl’s aura that she hadn’t seen on Luz anyway. Still, it was familiar in some way. The girl in front of her screamed confidence but she still had the same air of love and happiness that Luz once had as well.
A shaky sigh escaped Lucia. “Is that you, ‘manita?” (slang for sister, short for hermanita) Lucia said uneasily, biting her tongue once the words had left her mouth. Suddenly, the girl’s eyes widened as she looked at the older human in front of her. “.. Lucia?” She mumbled unsurely, glancing over at the girl next to her with dyed green hair before turning back to the taller human. The shorter girl with green hair looked worried and confused about the whole situation.
Lucia nodded rapidly, spreading her arms out. Luz immediately laughed out, rushing over and wrapping her sister in a hug. “It’s you, Lucia! I can’t believe it’s actually you!” The younger girl squealed out. Lucia couldn’t help but pick up the girl and swing her around like they had when they were younger. Through the corner of her eye, she could see everyone else in the room glancing over at each other and whispering in confusion and realization.
After a few seconds of twirling the girl around, she put her sister down and Luz pulled away. Lucia’s hands were still on her little sister’s shoulders. “I almost didn’t recognize you, ‘manita! I gotta say, I love that mullet of yours!” She chuckled out loud, flicking a strand of hair that had fallen on the girl’s ear. “Although you may need a slight trim.” Lucia commented, raising an eyebrow. That only made Luz laugh out a little louder.
“I’m still the same, Luz! You’re the one who looks like a whole different person!” Luz corrected before stars grew in her eyes as she looked up at the beanie. “Whaaaaat??? A beanie?!” Luz laughed out while Lucia rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. “I thought you said that beanies were only for bald men!” Luz remembered, fixing up her messy mullet a bit before turning back to her older sister, trying to grab the beanie set on her head. Lucia let out a low chuckle. “Well I changed my mind-” Lucia froze as her beanie fell.
Out came a pack of cigarettes. Silence filled the room as the two looked at each other. Quickly, Lucia grabbed her bat that she had set on the floor and threw it on the pack of cigarettes in hopes of covering it up. It did no such and in fact only made things worse as it opened it up, crushing the cigarettes while a few slipped out from the impact. Clearing her throat, Lucia took off her green jacket and tossed it on the floor, finally covering up the mess.
Luz’s eyes slowly turned to Lucia and she furrowed her brow. Lucia only let out an unsure chuckle. “Um.. I’m twenty-one?” The taller human girl squeaked out while Luz only groaned, shaking her head.
At the very back of the two, two other sisters were interacting. They both had green hair with their brown roots peaking through. The tallest of the two and, seemingly the eldest one, let out a snort and raised her arms above her chest, a scowl returning to her face.
“Great, there’s another one.”