Chapter Text
In a way, it ended the way Lopera expected.
She clutched her toucan tighter, afraid she would also disappear from her grasp. Her tears kept streaming down her face, flowing to the ground endlessly like the rain that was hammering down on her body, hammering on her heart.
Lopera’s first betrayal was her father, he sold out his fellow men and their family had to go on the run. After that sin, he even killed her friend. Her second betrayal was Igor, her second father, he raised her to be a loyal soldier then he went on to betray his own army and her.
In her heart, Lopera knew the outcome already once she saw Igor. She watched from a distance as his eagle, once one of her favorite udimo beside her own toucan, started picking on the smaller udimos one by one, killing them and she watched as soldiers after soldiers collapsed once their links to their udimo got severed.
She saw what happened to the Manus soldiers before, how they completely lost their mind when their udimos were killed as Zeno soldiers tried to torture them to get information out of them.
Lopera still had hope in her heart, she pulled her toucan, Toco, down from the sky and immediately ran the opposite of where her father was, to where Moldir was last known.
Lopera’s last betrayal was her own sister, the one she held dearest to her heart. Moldir did not take her toucan, she didn’t even beat Lopera senseless, but watching Moldir walk away from her. Lopera wondered if this was what losing Toco was like, how her heart seemed to shatter into pieces that she didn’t even know how to pick it all up.
-x-
Lopera saw the pitying stares from the Foundation staff, the way everyone seemed to be on edge around her. In the following week, Toco was her only companion.
She watched as Vertin softened her voice when delivering the news regarding Igor and Moldir. She saw it when Sonetto held Vertin’s hand for reassurance when talking to her.
They walked on eggshell around her, the only witnesses to her breakdown in that downpour. Sontra hid behind Sonetto when Lopera went from sobbing to screaming, her voice breaking as she pounded relentlessly on the muddy earth. Herth was trying to stop Toco from getting close, his tiny body used as a roadblock so Toco couldn’t get close and potentially get hurt.
“Lopera, you can’t hole up here forever.” Toco’s soft voice rang through her head. She had been laying in bed for the better half of the day now, just drifting in and out of sleep.
Her body felt like lead, exhaustion creeped through every corner of her bones even as she slept days after days. Sometimes she asked herself, “what did I do wrong?” and Toco would always respond with “you did nothing wrong.”
It would never be silent that answer her, not with Toco. From the first time Toco appeared by her bedside when she was a child, the toucan was a talker from the get go. Her mother used to say Toco was like a second Lopera, running around the house and always causing mischief.
It was hard to believe in Toco’s words, even if she knew that her udimo would never lie, she had always been honest. If she didn’t do anything wrong then why did her family abandon her?
Toco was always running around, could never be still, but in times like these, where Lopera could not bring herself to even get up from bed, Toco would stay by her side, unmoving half of the time so she would be next to Lopera.
“What can I even do now, Toco?” Lopera sobbed out, her voice cracking from the hours of stillness.
“I don’t know, but I need to stretch my wings so…” Toco trailed off, clearly implying for Lopera to get out. It even hopped on Lopera’s chest and walked dejectedly back and forth while shaking its head, the motion clearly learned from Lopera.
Lopera let out a small smile at Toco’s attempt to get her out, she didn’t want to, but Toco here was trying her best, she didn’t want to let her one and only companion down as well so she nodded her head slowly. Toco was overjoyed and started flying around the room, her wings knocking into the wall sometimes but she didn’t care.
Lopera laughed and got up from her bed, washing her face and changing out of her pajama. Toco landed securely on her shoulder as Lopera finally walked out of the room in days.
She didn’t know where to go, her mind wandering aimlessly as her feet continued walking without any sense of direction. Toco was more than happy that Lopera was finally out of the room, she started talking endlessly in Lopera’s ears about everything that they were seeing like it was the first time they had ever gone out of the house as a kid.
“We should go to the yard, a buddy told me that we can eat for free from the tree. oh and by we, I mean me.” Lopera let out a sigh but it was a lighthearted one.
Udimos were always viewed as an extension of a person, an animal companion linked to a person through life and death, shared joy and sorrow. It was no wonder that udimos usually have the same personality as their human companion.
Toco was always a chatty fellow, joking with Lopera, and helping Lopera prank people. Their mischief was a known thing in Zeno. The fact that they usually get reprimanded by Molly was a known thing too.
Lopera’s steps slowed as the thought of her sister appeared in her mind. She could still feel the betrayal deep in her heart and she was mourning it the entire time, but now that she was out and walking around, her head finally cleared a bit.
Molly’s betrayal hurt, but she neglected to think about her friend right on her shoulder. Toco and Pierru were inseparable since they first met. Toco was very fond of Molly too. In her hurt, Lopera didn’t think of her companion at all.
She put her hand up and Toco jumped on it without any question as she stared at her, trying to gauge her intention. Lopera softly used her other hand to scratch Toco’s on the head, Toco’s favorite way to be pet by her. She was immensely grateful that Toco was still here with her.
“Sorry, Toco.”
Toco didn’t say anything, she understood her companion very well. They walked in silence as they made their way to the yard. The place was empty, few people were free at this critical moment of time where Manus was making their move. Toco straightened up and started flapping its wings, flying around the yard in the open sky.
Lopera really didn’t know what to do here, she started walking aimlessly until she heard the sound of singing. Curious, she started making her way to the source of the sound.
A small pond appeared not long after as the birds chirped in harmony with the tune. Lopera started humming slowly under her breath as Toco flew down and landed on Lopera’s shoulder, clearly jamming to the tune as well.
Lopera spotted a head of blonde hair singing at the pond’s surface, face serene and posture relaxed. Lopera walked closer, noticing the translucent pony sitting by her feet. Udimo rarely manifested as a larger animal, this was a rare sight already.
Lopera walked to the other girl, her footsteps soft, not wanting to interrupt the girl. Her udimo noticed anyway, but it only looked at her for a second before laying back down to rest again. The girl continued singing even if Lopera was sure she noticed her presence already.
She sat down next to the girl and listened to her singing without a word, even the chatterbox that is Toco didn’t say anything. Lopera was feeling peaceful for the first time in weeks, her heart flowed to the rhythm of her tune, she almost fell asleep.
Once the girl finished, she hummed underneath her tone for a bit before opening her eyes and looking at Lopera. Her eyes were a shade of bright blue, the color of the ocean on a sunny day, Lopera could get lost in them. Toco hopped down Lopera’s shoulder and started jumping around the pony.
“Hello,” Her voice was soft, really soft and wispy, like something unreal. The edge of her eyes crinkled as she smiled at Lopera and oh god, she looked like a fairy. She could say she was one and Lopera would believe it without any hesitation.
“Hi…” Lopera’s mind was racing for words to say. She instinctively turned to look at her companion, only to see it trying to stifle its laughter behind its wing. “Um, nice singing– yeah. I really like your voice.” Maybe being a social recluse for a week or two really made her unable to talk to pretty girls properly (Toco would disagree and say she was always a little dumb for pretty girls, but Lopera happily shut its beaks whenever it said that.)
“Thank you, little flame.” Now this was a new one for Lopera, a nickname already?! She wasn’t complaining though.
“I’m Lopera and that is Toco. if you don’t mind, you are…?”
“Lorelei,” She said and patted her pony on the head, ruffling its hair. Loperai had never seen such a unique udimo before. Most were small normal animals, rarely was one manifested as a big animal, and this one was clearly one that is from a folklore or a myth, “And this is Kelp.” The pony neighed in acknowledgement once before nuzzling back into its companion’s touch.
“Lorelei, that’s a very nice name. Nice to meet you and Kelp too.” Lopera held out her hand, waiting and expecting a handshake. Unexpectedly, Lorelei took her hand and held it up to her face, pressing her cheek against it.
“Little flame is very warm, just like your name.” Lorelei nuzzled into the hand and Lopera could not do anything beside being completely baffled and maybe a little flustered. She didn’t take her hand away, Lorelei’s cheek was soft and cold, but it was a nice feeling compared to Lopera’s constant warm body. Lopera liked the feeling.
“Kelp is a Kelpie, she says she likes you and I like you too.”
Lopera’s brain was starting to overheat from too much thinking, this was too much for her brain especially after literally weeks of nothing, but grief weighing her down. “Lopera, stop being an idiot and say something.” Toco screamed in her hand and Lopera finally managed to stammer out something eligible.
“T-Thanks, I like you too and Kelp, she is, um, very nice.” She was thankful no one is seeing her right now beside Toco and the two newcomers who were making her act like this. Lorelei finally let go and turned around to walk away, Kelp following behind her after giving a bow to Lopera.
Lopera was too starstruck to really do anything about that so she could only watch the two walk away. Once they were out of her sight, Lopera let out a muted scream as Toco flew around her head, an act she loved to do to imitate the stupid cartoon whenever Lopera did something Toco thought was dumb.
After a bit, she landed on her shoulder again and snickered at her companion who was holding onto her hand, still thinking about the softness.
“Your sister was right that you really just keep going for weird girls.”
Toco flew home with her beak tied shut by Lopera’s hair tie.