Chapter Text
Lucia woke up early to the sound of her mother crying in bed next to her. Another nightmare, she thought. In Lucia’s opinion, Camila had been through far more than any one person should have to, much less one as good as her. She lost her husband nearly 20 years ago, and her other daughter had been missing for seven. Lucia turned around and wrapped her arms around her mother, who returned the gesture. “ Ella volverá pronto, mamá, ” Lucia whispered softly. “If there’s one thing I know about Luz, it’s that she’d never quit on us.” Camila held her daughter tight, as if she would lose her last family member if she let go. “It’s been seven years, mija, ” she replied, her voice wavering. “It hurts my heart every time I answer the door, hoping, praying, that this time I’ll open it and see the daughter I lost. I think... I think Luz would want us to just accept it. Want us to know she’s happy with papi now.”
“You’re giving up? Just like that?” Lucia was shocked, almost offended.
“Seven years, Lucia, that’s half the time we had with her. These days, it hurts me more to believe she’s alive.” Camila sobbed, her grip loosening.
“I— I need to take a walk. I’ll be back by 8.” Lucia broke out of her mom’s arms as she sat up and left the bed.
“Just… be careful, mija. Te quiero. ”
“ Te quiero, mamá. ”
Lucia took her coat from the hanger near the door, and her bat in the corner next to it. The sun was beginning to rise, but it was still dark in the forest she walked into. She stopped at a small clearing, which contained a pile of rotted wood that probably used to be an old house. The earthquake must’ve done it in, she thought, before continuing her walk. Exactly a year to the day Luz left for that summer camp, the one she never actually made it to, there was an earthquake that could be felt across the entire town. It wasn’t like such an event was unheard of in the area, but it was rare enough that people still brought it up over six years later. Always thinking about the past, she mused, just like us. She finally made it to her destination, a massive boulder nearly twice her size. She grabbed her bat in both hands, and swung at the rock.
Clang.
“‘ You lack ambition, Lucia ,’” she said aloud, mocking teachers that couldn’t hear her.
Clang.
“You think calling every department in the state ‘lacks ambition’?” She replied.
Clang.
“You think searching every town that stupid bus passed through ‘lacks ambition’?”
Clang.
“You think trying to call her EVERY NIGHT, FOR SEVEN YEARS, ‘LACKS AMBITION’?!”
Clang.
“‘ You need to find a more constructive output for your emotions, Lucia .’”
Clang.
“WHAT I ‘NEED’ IS MY SISTER BACK!”
Clang.
“I WON’T ‘ACCEPT’ THAT SHE’S GONE BECAUSE I KNOW SHE ISN’T!”
Clang.
“SHE’S!”
Clang.
“NOT!”
Clang.
“GONE!”
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
Lucia kept swinging wildly and carelessly at the rock. She didn’t care about the distant bark of a dog that must’ve heard her, didn’t care about the soreness in her arms that jolted every time she struck the boulder, didn’t even care about the flash of light that seemed to engulf her, she just shut her tear-filled eyes and swung until her body wouldn’t let her. She finally collapsed into a heap, laying on the ground and taking deep, shaky breaths.
“If you wanted that rock gone, you could’ve just asked me,” an unfamiliar voice said. Lucia jumped up and turned to face the stranger, bat in hand. “Or is this one of those teen hormone…” the stranger had continued to talk, but trailed off as she saw Lucia’s face. The woman looked “new in town,” as Lucia would often put it. She had the palest skin she had ever seen (which said a lot considering some of the people she went to college with), a tattered red dress, and… were her ears pointed?
“Who are you?” Lucia asked.
“I’m Eda the Owl Lady,” she replied, “And I could ask you the same thing.”
“I’m Lucia, Lucia Noceda.”
Eda froze, looking like she saw a ghost. She slowly reached out and took Lucia’s beanie off, Lucia being too confused to stop her. Eda stared at her, and Lucia looked back in confusion.
“You’re human,” Eda finally said, in total disbelief.
“And you aren’t?” Lucia replied, taking her beanie from Eda and putting it back on.
“N-not exactly. Come with me and I’ll explain.”
“Explain what?”
“Well, where you are, for one thing.”
Lucia looked around, and suddenly noticed the blood-red foliage around her that looked nothing like the forest she walked into. “Ok,” she finally said, “I’ll bite. Where are we? Is this some weird magic train where I have to deal with my emotional issues so I can go home?”
“What?”
“Nothing, start explaining.”
“This,” Eda started, walking back the way she came, “is the Boiling Isles. Every myth you humans have is caused by a little of our world leaking into yours. Griffins, vampires, giraffes, all the weirdness comes from here.”
“What do you mean by ‘you’ humans?” Lucia asked, following behind her.
“There’s only… there aren’t any humans in the Boiling Isles. The only folks you’ll see around here are witches, such as yours truly, and demons.”
“Ok. So I hit myself in the head with my bat and I’m having some messed-up fever dream. Got it.”
“Last I checked, I existed long before I saw you pass out in front of that rock. By the way, what was that about?”
“It’s… personal.”
Eda nodded sagely. “I get it. I’ve had grudges with my fair share of rocks over the ages, but I usually just blow ‘em up.”
“That’s not what I— never mind. What are you doing out here?”
“Just going on a stroll, looking for potion ingredients and stuff.”
“Potions?”
“Didn’t you hear my whole spiel? This is a magic world. Griffins, witches, the whole shebang.”
“ Luz would love this, ” Lucia muttered.
“Wh-what was that?” Eda asked, looking a little shaken.
“Nothing.”
“Anyway, welcome to Bonesborough!” Eda stepped to the side, letting Lucia take in the sights of the city. The streets were filled with all kinds of witches and demons, many running their own stands for things such as “Aberrant Meat” or “Bad Fortunes.”
“Could your fever dream come up with this?” the witch asked, taking Lucia through the city.
“Depends on how much—” she stopped. “I’m not going to finish that sentence.”
They kept walking until they made it to the center of the city, where a massive statue stood in the middle of a small park. It looks just like her , Lucia thought, tears welling up again as she approached the plaque. A pit began to grow in her stomach as she read words she hoped never to see.
Luz Noceda
2005-2025
The Human who brought Light to our world.
Her life inspired the children of the Isles, and her sacrifice freed them.
May she rest eternally in the embrace of the Titan.
“No…” Lucia whimpered, falling to her knees. “No, no, no no no. This is some messed-up grief dream.”
“You knew her?”
“Know her? She’s my little sister. She’s supposed to become a famous writer and— and buy me a nice house with all her book money. She’s supposed to make me a snake-themed cane when I get all old like Grammy! She’s supposed to be with me!”
“I miss her too, Lucia,” Eda said, laying a hand on the human’s back.
“Owl Lady, wake me up,” she sobbed. Eda couldn’t do that, but she wrapped Lucia in a hug like the ones the witch had been missing for so long.
“I wish I could,” she sighed, feeling tears of her own form. “I wish I could wake up and think this was all some cruel dream. But, as dumb as it may sound to someone who just woke up in a fantasy world, this is real life. Luz may not be with us, but she was a hero. Not some cheap ‘chosen one’ hero either. She chose herself. She chose to train to become stronger than any witch, even when she couldn’t do magic of her own. She chose to stand up to a tyrant who trampled anyone who rose against him. And she chose,” Eda’s voice cracked. “She chose to sacrifice herself to save the Isles. Probably saved the human realm too, in a way. Who knows what Emperor Belos would’ve done.”
The two kneeled there for a while, remembering the girl who brought so much joy to both of their lives.
“I’ve got some stuff at my place,” Eda finally said. “A box she put together for her family before that last mission. ‘I doubt I’ll need it,’ she told me, ‘But just in case you find a portal someday and can’t get me to it.’ Want me to show you?”
Lucia nodded, and let Eda lead the way again. Before they turned the corner, Lucia stole one last glance at the statue of her sister, wearing a cape and holding what looked like a fan of cards. The heroic look suits her .