Stars, Plants, and The Future
Stars, Plants, and The Future
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Luz
“Mija?” Camila asked, her voice shaky.
“SI!” Luz yelled excitedly, shooting over toward her mom and scooping her off the ground. Camila cried and laughed as they spun in the air before realizing that she was, in fact, in the air.
“S-Luz! Mija, you’re flying?” Camila asked brightness and worry in her voice. Luz could tell she was hopeful.
“Yep!” Luz told her, setting her down but remaining in the air. Camila opened her mouth to say something else, but Eda interrupted,
“Hol up, hol up,” Eda said, waving her hand to get everyone's attention. “Luz? Thats you knocking around in there?”
“Eh, mostly,” Luz said, giving Eda a so-so gesture.
“Luz and Song made some sort of deal, and we got Luz Cancion out of that,” Amity sighed, walking over to stand next to Luz.
“Luz Cancion?” Camila asked, cocking her head to the side.
“That be me,” Luz told her family with a toothy grin.
“How much do you remember?” Camila asked, looking at Luz in the eyes. She was hopeful; Luz could tell.
“Plenty of things, Mami, like how you, without question, took in my friends when they got to the human realm. I remember you telling me you should’ve accepted me for who I was. I remember you covering for me when I wanted to stay in the human realm and how accepting you were of the Isles!” Luz told her mom, snapping her fingers to show visual playbacks of the memories. Mist formed to create a small cloud in which Luz’s memories began to play.
“Kiddo, how ar-” Eda started, but Luz just kept going.
“And Eda! I remember the first day we met, and how you blackmailed me into helping you, and how you taught me magic!” Luz waved her hands to show the memories, not noticing the other's bewilderment. “I remember you trying to give yourself up to protect me and how you took care of me with everything you had, even when you lost your magic. You were like a second mom to me!”
Luz smiled at the memories, glad that she had them. All the joy and love they brought warmed Luz’s hearts as the visual representation began to switch between various random memories.
“Luz!” Amity said, bringing Luz out of her thoughts. “How are you doing that?” She pointed to the visual playback of the memory Luz had conjured.
“Oh, it’s- I’m- I’m doing magic!” Luz exclaimed, reality finally hitting her. She was going magic without her glyphs! But it wasn’t like any magic she’d seen done by witches. Luz snapped her fingers and felt the world at her fingertips. It was all there for her.
“I know what happened,” Luz said, the answer coming to her quite easily. “But I need The Collector to help me explain. They’ll know for sure.”
“Colin’s pretty blasted. He and King have been sleeping since they put you back together,” Eda said, pointing towards a door. Luz nodded and floated over to the door, lightly opening it to see a ball of blankets and stuffies that was King and The Collector. She sat down gently and walked over, placing her claws on King’s shoulder. Her brother opened his eyes and looked up, his eyes widening as he saw Luz.
“Song!! You’re okay!” King cried, launching into Luz’s arms. He immediately gave a frown as he looked Luz up and down, taking in her new appearance.
“You’re not Song,” He said astutely. Luz smiled and gave him a bap on the skull.
“Not exactly hermano,” She told him. “I’m not exactly Luz either. Bit of both, really.”
King nodded and poked the Collector, who began stirring. Their eyes opened and took in the environment before locking onto Luz Cancion.
“Interesting!” He exclaimed, shooting into the air. Luz lifted off the ground herself to match her little sibling, who giggled in excitement.
“Oooooh! I didn’t expect this to happen at all!” The Collector said as they floated around Luz in circles.
“What exactly did happen, Colin?” Eda asked before Luz could say anything. She was looking curiously between Luz and The Collector(Colin), if not slightly relieved.
“Well, it seems that you two became one,” Colin said happily, nodding at Luz. “And it also seems my magic fused with your soul just like King’s papas did.”
“That’s what I thought as well,” Luz told him. She suddenly felt the different parts of her body very acutely. Two hearts, one for titans magic, the other for archivists power. She felt her soul, very human, very alive, bridging the two pieces that shouldn’t go together. Luz closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking around at her friends, her family. They were all talking with each other, discussing and murmuring.
Luz was home.
But there was one thing she wanted to do before she got into the explanations and reunions. One thing she wanted to do before she met her friends for the first time in four years. Luz glanced at Amity and made eye contact with her. Her batata walked over and stood next to her, tilting her head to the side as she looked up at Luz.
“Something wrong S-Luz?” Amity asked, a bit of pep in her voice.
“A little,” Luz laughed as she looked at her family speaking to each other. She looked down at Amity and smiled. “There's something I wanna do before we start it all,” She told her.
“Okay,” Amity agreed, quite simply. Luz wondered why she was just going along with it, but right now, there was something she wanted to do more than wonder. Luz told Amity what she wanted to do, and her morena nodded with a shaky but determined smile.
“Okay, Luz. We can do that, all of us- together.”
Stars, Plants, and The Future
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Luz
They all walked to the grave together. Luz led at the front with Amity and Camila. Stringbean was wrapped around Luz’s shoulder. Her little palisman had been hurt when Luz was put back together. Cracks ran down Bean's body and glowed faintly with purplish-blue magic.
Luz just listened to each of her friends as they walked. They had insisted on making sure she was fine and healthy, which Luz was. She was great, but she wanted to hear about them. She had missed so much, so she listened.
Hunter was a palisman carver which fit him so well. He had mellowed out immensely since Luz last saw him. He was also the one that told her that Bean would be fine. It would just take a little time for her to adjust to the magic Luz was doing now.
Gus was going to be a teacher! Oh, it was gonna be so cool. If Eda accepted Luz into her school for wild magic, then she would be learning from Gus, which was gonna be funny. Speaking of Eda, her second mom was the principal of this new school for wild magic. Luz had asked if she could apply, which Eda said, of course, she could.
Luz smiled. She wouldn’t miss out on it for the world.
Willow was going to be a flyer derby player. She had been practicing her flying and had become so much more confident with herself. She told Luz that they would figure out how to fly together, considering Luz could do that now.
Luz talked to her mami, who was just glad that she had back to her.
“Mija, we will figure everything out together. Everything is going to be fine- more than fine,” Camila said to Luz with fierce determination. “Let's right now, let's enjoy this moment. Enjoy the company de la familia.”
“Yes, Mami, of course.”
Luz spoke with King, who had gotten so much taller since she last saw him. He was excited to show her the new glyphs he’d made. His very own glyphs! Luz was beyond ecstatic when he told her that.
“Luz! We can figure out your glyph language as well! It’s gonna be so interesting. A mix between titan, archivist, and human languages as well!!” King said happily.
“And we’ll do it together, hermano,” Luz said with a grin to King’s delight.
Last but not least, Luz spoke with Amity. Her morena had bags under her eyes and wore a shirt the same colors as Luz’s cat hoodie. Amity looked tired and happy and sad all at once when Luz walked up to her.
“You okay?” Luz asked.
“Hah, that's a bit of a loaded question, isn’t it?” Amity asked. Luz shrugged apologetically, and Amity giggled a little bit.
Short answer, no. Long answer…” Amity looked at the sky and twinkling stars. “I think I will be.”
“I’m glad,” Luz mustered, giving Amity a smile.
“You’re glad? You still have a way with words Noceda,” Amity chuckled. Luz winced at her comment, an action that Ames didn’t miss.
“I’m sorry, it’s just gonna be time until I’m used to it,” She said solemnly.
“Used to me?”
“Yep. I got pretty used to not having any version of you around, but now you’re here? It’s gonna take time,” She sighed, looking around at the plants.
“I hope we can be friends at least,” Luz whispered. Amity smiled back and slipped her hand into Luz’s claw.
“We’ll take it slow, Luz Cancion. Slow and steady,” She said, giving Luz’s claw a squeeze. They had arrived at the grave.
The purple marble headstone glittered in the moonlight as the wind ruffled Luz’s hair gently. She stepped forwards and ran a claw over the gravestone that said her name.
“So, uh, hi! I’m Luz Cancion Noceda!” Luz said, turning around to her family. They all gave her a smile and waved. She didn't even know why she’d introduced herself again. She just spent time talking with them.
“What did you wanna do here, Luz?” Amity asked. Luz smiled.
“I wanted to say thank you!” Luz said to all of them. “Thank you for everything! For loving me, for accepting me, for believing in me, and all those little other things that make the world bright and beautiful! Thank you for being here for me most of all.”
“Of course, Luz,” Mom smiled.
“Yeah, you’re not gonna lose us that easy, kid,” Eda chuckled. Luz beamed at them and then at Amity. She turned around and looked down at the headstone.
“What are you gonna do with it?” Amity asked.
“Gonna change it,” Luz said, waving her hand over the stone. Her name vanished, and replacing where the words-
The Past.
Let it lay where it belongs.
Let us never forget it.
“Bit grim?” Amity asked uncertainly. Luz shrugged and stood up, turning back to look at her friends.
“It’s been time, and I’m so excited to meet you all again. To live, to love, to be free, and to move forwards,” She said to them.
“We are, too,” Hunter said happily.
“More than anything,” Willow agreed, Gus nodding furiously next to her.
“To learn to love, huh?” Amity asked, leaning on Luz's shoulder. Luz seized for a second before regaining her composure.
“To learn to love,” she responded.
She looked at the stars gleaming in the night sky. Her archivist's heart longed to know them to understand them, and take care of them. She looked at the plants waving in the wind. Beautiful and serene. Her titan's heart was ready to relax and enjoy them and spend time with her family.
Luz smiled, bringing her family in for a big hug as the night grew bright.
“I’m ready, everyone,” She told them.
“Ready for what?” They all asked in unison.
Luz took a deep breath and looked out over the grom tree, the night sky, and the twinkling stars. She looked back at her family and her friends, and with a big smile, she told them what she was ready for.
“The Future,” Luz said.
“With you all at my side, I'm ready for The Future.”