Chapter Text
Luci is a witch.
Luci is actually a very, very good witch.
A few months ago, she found a big yellow binder tucked away in storage. On it was scribbled, in writing, 'Property of M. Schmidt.' Luci looked through it, then wrote 'Property of Luci' on it underneath.
Inside it was laminated papers - and on the papers were spells. Spells and potions.
Healing potions, protective runes, ghost summons, lightning and fire spells. Weird drawings of animatronics.
Some of them weren't written like that, but Luci could understand magic when she found it.
Potassium chlorate and sugar, as it turns out, make very pretty purple flames.
One ingredient that she couldn't understand just by looking it up was remnant.
Luci thinks that it must be whatever M. Schmidt called his magic - because whenever that part came up in a spell, Luci has always just used her own energy to make it happen.
That's how she got the fire to start, when it turned out there was nothing she could find in her house to make sulfuric acid. And charging up the static in her hands to real lightning had been a bigger test.
The healing potion was harder to channel that energy into, since it seemed like their main ingredient was the stuff. But, still, Luci learned how!
Luci decided not to ask her parents about the binder. They don't like it when she looks in the attic. They don't like a lot of things about her, honestly.
She cries when it's too loud, and when her parents get too close, and when she has to wear sneakers. They tell her that little boys aren't supposed to cry, and Luci screams louder.
Even if she was a boy like they think, she knows boys are allowed to cry just as much as girls. But Luci still knows she’s different, in the same way Matilda Wormwood from Matilda is different. Not like the rest of her family. Lonely.
Luci used to wish she had friends like the ones Matilda finds in the story,
Once Lila came along, it seemed like she did! Lila is the best friend Luci could ever ask for - caring, smart, strong, and brave. Sure, she’s a little weird - but she’s weird in the same way Luci is.
Luci wishes now that she had someone like Ms. Honey - a kind, sweet grown up who actually loves Matilda.
Luci wonders if there are any adults like that. She offers Lila a cookie.
-o-
Lila is a lot of things.
First and foremost, it was a ghost. Once. It knows it died angry. Everything else before that - Lila can’t remember any of it anymore. It’s all vague feelings.
Lila was pulled away from wherever she died. Or, more accurately, Lila was summoned.
It was summoned to a house.
The house had a girl inside. That's Luci.
Lila started haunting the place. At first, she tried to play pranks on Luci - she was the one who summoned Lila, after all. But.. Luci started crying the first time Lila tried doing that, and suddenly, Lila felt really bad about the whole thing.
Luci is pretty and warm and wonderful, like the sun. Lila can remember liking the sun.
That home, so far away in the woods.. it was choking the light out of her.
Or, more accurately, the grown-ups inside were.
Lila saw how they treated Luci. It wanted to hurt them, badly, but Luci would have cried if it did that.
And Lila's not a ghost anymore. Or... is she? Listen, Lila doesn't really care about whether she's a ghost or not. She has more important things to think about! Like the cookies Luci and Lila are sharing right now!
But Lila is a shadow, now. It doesn't even have a mouth. Still, Lila eats, because the sugar tastes good anyways.
-o-
Being a witch comes with a lot of perks.
For example: Ghost summonings.
Let your remnant reach out to others, the binder had said. Focus it out and into the world. Over time, I've learned to target people - for that, you'd want to focus on that person. The better you know them, the easier it'd be to find them.
..god, who am I writing for anyways? Everyone else with remnant is crazy by now, except Charlie, and she can do this kind of shit without me.
That sort of thing comes up a lot in the pages. Luci worries she might go crazy, too.
But she had to try it.
Luci had sat with her eyes closed for hours.
Sometimes, Luci thought she felt something. But every time, any feeling faded away.
Then, something reached close, and the two forces grabbed on and pulled each other close. It felt like what Luci imagines tug of war might be like - but more desperate, more urgent.
Luci still couldn't help but scream the first time she saw Lila.
It feels silly, looking back. Why would she ever be scared of Lila?
Luci offers to split another cookie.
-o-
Lila is strong, and fast, and reliable.
Luci is smart, and kind, and clever.
They work well together to get enough to eat, and safe places to sleep.
So they're up on a concrete rooftop at dusk, eating cookies and milk for dinner. So what? Lila is proud of climbing Luci and itself all the way up here.
Luci was the one who swiped these cookies though, from a gas station, with the milk and water and a newspaper. Lila hopes Luci was proud of that. Lila is proud of her.
And the view up here of the sunset is brilliant. The sunset makes everything pretty with an orange-tinged light. Even if Lila has to prop up an umbrella to make sure the light doesn't burn her.
They're in Hurricane, right now. This place feels familiar to Lila - so they're sticking around for a little while.
Luci is reading the newspaper. Lila leans in to look, too. Luci is much faster at reading than it is, but she'll slow down if Lila asks.
Lila reads the big headline.
DISAPPEARANCES CONTINUE
Underneath are pictures. Pictures and descriptions. Nine of them.
"Do you recognize any of these..?" Luci asks. Lila squints at the pictures, but nothing seems like her to it. The names don't cause any recognition either.
It shakes its head at her.
"Well, that's okay, Lila. So, um... for tonight, we're gonna sleep at the Mega Pizzaplex, and then tomorrow we can look around ... get some food, and maybe play games, too. We just gotta sneak in, right?"
Lila nods. The Pizzaplex they'd passed this afternoon felt familiar to her, too - and, as a bonus, it looked really fun. Lila thinks that she and Luci deserve some fun. It'll be warm, too, and there's obviously food inside if it’s called the pizza plex. Now all they have to do is worry about getting in, and finding a safe spot to spend the night.
This is gonna be great!
-o-
Luci walks in trailing a larger family, who look similar enough for Luci to get in without anyone asking questions.
Lila is pretending to be a normal shadow, but...
Luci notices its enthusiasm dying the moment they actually get inside the Mega Pizzaplex. It's in the subtle hunch of the shoulders, the slight shortening of her shadow.
Normally, Luci would just call off the whole thing.
But... they have no other plans for where to stay tonight - and unlike in the woods, Lila can't just murder anything remotely mean and sharp that tries to get close while Luci sleeps.
So, Luci keeps going in, even if she wants to stop. She grabs a complimentary entry pass - which is apparently not enough to get anywhere actually fun.
They both look around the lobby.
Luci notices a vent cover in a corner, behind a plant, tucked out of eyesight from cameras and people.
"Lila," she whispers. "Can you take the screws off?"
Lila reaches out and pulls each little metal piece off - and when the grate is free, Luci grabs on to it and carefully tucks it behind the plant.
She climbs in.
There's really no going back now, is there?
The vents are dark. Near pitch black. The metal underneath Luci's hands is rough, and sharp where it joins together, but Luci is trying so hard to get out of sight quickly that she has no time to go carefully. Luci can feel bleeding scratches on her legs by the time she thinks she's safely out of view.
Luci's rubber crocs were making thud noises in the metal - so she puts them in her backpack, opting for simple socks instead. Can't be too loud.
HURT. Lila points out.
"I know.. once we find some light, we can put on bandaids."
OK
And that's how it is. The vents sharply incline, leading up and up, until there's light.
Luci peers out.
Looks like a plain supply closet - it's oddly clean for one, though, with blue and white paint on the walls and a sun-shaped rug on the floor. Luci can hear kids outside playing. There's another voice, too, that she guesses is probably an animatronic. It sounds close to a human's, but not quite.
Lila takes this vent cover off the same way she did the first one - setting it down on top of one of the big metal shelves this time. She crawls out onto the shelf, then hops down to the floor.
Luci trusts Lila to catch her. She crawls out the same way, and jumps into a hug. Lila's hugs are the best.. safe, warm, and just the right amount of pressure. Lila feels just like felt, all fuzzy - but still firm. She's solid and strong and just nice.
...Luci looks down and realizes she's bleeding on the carpet. Uh oh. Lila seems to notice the same thing, because it plops her down on the floor and grabs no less than three different boxes of bandaids.
"You need um, an-ti-sep-tic wipes too. It's spelled 'anti,' and then 's-e-p-t-i-c.'" Luci had sounded out the syllables because she needed to, but she knows that Lila can't read or spell nearly as well as she can. Lila just needs a little help, the same way Luci needs help getting down from tall places.
Lila brings her a pack. Luci starts cleaning her scratches, wiping off the blood. She's done this sort of thing a million times. Lila, meanwhile, tests the door. It has no handle, strangely, and refuses to budge.
Lila deems it SAFE , and starts rummaging through the bandaid boxes.
"I want.. a Chica one, one of those sun themed ones, and the rest should probably be those plain tan ones." Luci tells her. Lila nods, and sticks them on.
As they work, Luci speaks up.
"Hey, um.. Lila. Are you.. okay? I mean, you seemed kinda upset once we got inside."
Lila stills, then turns to face Luci with a full stare.
NOT SURE
FAMILIAR, BAD
"We can leave in the morning if you really don't like it. Promise. I'll sleep, and we'll get some food, and then we'll walk right out."
OK she says. It's a simple statement, but Lila visibly relaxes.
When they finish with the bandaids, Luci and Lila clean up the blood with some carpet cleaner from one of the shelves.
Luci smears toothpaste on her teeth with a travel toothbrush. It's better than nothing - they can find a bathroom in the morning. That's another thing Luci wants to do - wash her hair in a sink and wipe herself down with the washcloth in her bag.
The carpet is soft enough to sleep on, combined with a big towel from yet another shelf for a blanket.
Lila sits down and lets Luci lay on her lap.
Luci thinks Lila might be tired, too, but it never seems to truly sleep.
It must be worried, still, though. Lila usually prefers to lay next to Luci when she feels like it's safe, but right now she stays sitting up.
Lila fidgets with Luci's hair, combing through it with her hands. Luci curls her arms around Lila's waist. Everything feels warm and drowsy.
The lights might be on, but Luci is too comfortable here to stay awake.