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liltaz-asatreat · 2 years

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oooh working on the moon is fine but the alien jokes are getting old and lucreita :0 ??? thank you!!

...so this got slightly out of hand lol I wanted to do a time lapse of different scenes, and it turned out way way way longer than I thought it would alsdkjfdsglk

This is literally the longest single piece I've ever written, and I really hope you like it :D

Edit: Forgot to put this here, but this prompt came from this prompt list here!

Edit 2: You can also read this on ao3 here -> No Aliens on the Moon

“We could probably find a place hidden somewhere in the Sword Mountains or find a clearing in the forest.”

“There's also the desert if you don't mind the heat. No one goes that far out of Goldcliff for obvious reasons.”

“Hmmm,” Lucretia hums noncommittally. No that wouldn't do, she thinks as she pores over a map of Faerûn with Maureen and Lucas Miller. They're all standing around a table in the Millers' laboratory, looking for possible locations for Lucretia's future headquarters for what will become known as the Bureau of Balance. All the places the Millers have suggested so far could be reasonable, but she's still afraid someone unwanted will stumble upon it. Or, more concerningly, Barry would be able to find it. She needs it to be somewhere that's guaranteed to be unreachable with the exception for the people she wants there. It can't be anywhere on land. The best place and the one she's most comfortable with is up in the sky, but Barry obviously knows the Starblaster, and the ship isn't big enough to house an entire organization.

And the thought of having it be overrun with people who aren't her family makes her sick to her stomach. That's her home. That's her family's home with all of their century's worth of belongings still in it. There's too many memories. It's too sanctified a place that was theirs and theirs alone. The only thing they had left.

Lucretia shakes her head to stop that line of thinking. She needs to focus. Having it up in the sky isn't a bad idea, and the Millers have the technology. She just needs to figure out how to–

“Lucretia? Are you okay?”

Lucretia looks up to see Maureen looking at her with concern. She'd been silent for too long. Too caught up in her thoughts. She tries to give her a small smile as she says, “Yeah, I was just thinking. Could we build it in the sky?”

Maureen and Lucas look at each other. “I suppose we could, yes,” Maureen says. “Why do you want it there?”

“If it's on the ground, even in a remote location, there's still the possibility of someone finding it accidentally. If it's in the sky though, then there's no way for anyone to get there without doing so on purpose.”

“That's true, but aren't people going to recognize that there's a big floating base in the middle of the sky?” Lucas asks.

“We'd need to disguise it as something else.” Maureen walks over to a cabinet and pulls out parchment and a pen. “Something that people wouldn't think twice about it being there.”

“Like a cloud?” Lucas suggests.

“How about a moon?” Lucretia says.

Maureen laughs, and it's full of warmth and life, and it makes Lucretia's heart skip a beat. “You want to live on the moon? Like an alien?”

Lucretia smiles and rolls her eyes. “I already am technically one on this planet, so sure. Why not?”

“Everyone is going to notice if there's an extra moon in the sky,” Lucas points out.

Lucretia thinks for a moment. “Not if I erase that fact with the Voidfish.”

Maureen shakes her head with a smile. “That's true. Be careful how much you erase though. You can't let that kind of power go to your head, or it could do irreparable damage.”

Lucretia's heart plummets again and twinges painfully, but she forces herself to laugh through it anyway. “I won't. I'm only using it as much as I need to to destroy these Relics once and for all.”

“So this is the base. It's almost finished being built; we're just working on a few more dormitories, and, of course, the hangar.” Lucretia nods her head at a passing group of people as she leads her newest recruit, Avi, through the courtyard of the moon base. “I can take you to the hangar, so you can get a look at the cannons. Maureen and Lucas should be there already, and they can give you a tutorial on how it works.”

“Great! I can't wait to take a look at it! I've never been a part of operating such a technological marvel.” Avi says excitedly.

Lucretia smiles. “Do you have any more questions for me about your job duties or about the Bureau?”

Avi furrows an eyebrow. “Yeah, I have a few. If the Relics are as powerful as you say they are, how are you planning on destroying them? Do you have another engineer working on a machine that will be capable of destroying them?”

“Yes, it's actually almost finished,” Lucretia says smoothly. “It took a bit to figure out the logistics of how such a thing would work, but we've figured out the arcane technology needed to at least destroy other powerful magic items, so it should work on the Relics. I can give you a demonstration of how it works later with something not so important.”

“That would be great!” Avi says brightly. “My next question is, how did you come up with the idea to use cannons to get people off the base?”

“Well, we needed to have some way of getting people planet side,” Lucretia says with a chuckle.

Avi laughs. “Yeah, but why not use hovercrafts or something? If you have the technology to make the base float, then flying vehicles can't be too much of a leap to make.”

“Cannonballs are a much faster and more efficient way to travel. People won't get stuck going through a forest for days on end or something if we can just send them directly to their destination. Also, they're less noticeable and harder to track than traveling in a vehicle on the ground.” Lucretia explains.

They make it to the entrance of the hangar, and they stop to watch the process of people working on building the cannonballs and the cannon itself. Lucretia spots Lucas working under the table with the controls for the cannon and Maureen standing nearby, looking at a piece of parchment in her hands. She has her hair tied up in a messy bun, and she's somewhat covered in grease. She looks up at her for a second and smiles, and fuck she looks so beautiful. Lucretia's in too deep. Maureen waves at her, and Lucretia feels her cheeks heat up as she smiles and waves back.

“Director, did you hear me?”

Lucretia tears her eyes away from her and looks back at Avi who has an amused smile on his face. Her cheeks are burning even more now, and there's no way she can pretend that she heard what he said. “Um, sorry, no. What– What did you say?”

Avi laughs and shakes his head. “I asked why you decided to disguise this place as a moon. It could have been anything, and you chose to make the world forget it only had one moon? Do you just really like having an alien aesthetic or something?”

Lucretia sighs. “Really funny, but no, it has nothing to do with an alien aesthetic. It would have been really weird if it was a clear day and there was only one cloud in the sky or if it was grey and there's a singular white puffy cloud standing out against the dark ones.”

Avi laughs again. “But a second moon is less weird?” He asks incredulously.

Lucretia rolls her eyes with a small smile. “It's easier to make people think there are two moons than come up with a bunch of reasons why there's an unchanging white cloud no matter the weather.”

“I suppose you're right,” Avi concedes.

Lucretia nods. “Anyway, Maureen and Lucas are over there if you want to help them and learn more about the cannon,” she says, pointing them out to him.

“Alright. I'll see you around, Director,” Avi says with a smile, and he waves at her as he walks to join the Millers by the cannon's control table.

Lucretia watches as Johann looks up at Fisher in wonder. He seems entranced with the Voidfish already which is good. If Lucretia can't keep up with feeding it and spending time with it while running the organization at the same time, it at least deserves to have the company of the best bard in Faerûn. She hopes Johann will agree to watch over it, and she hopes Fisher will enjoy his company too.

Johann puts his hand up on the glass, but Fisher doesn't put up a tentacle to match. It hasn't done that with anyone since Magnus...

Lucretia sighs and shakes her head to rid of herself of that line of thinking. Fisher does, at least, hum a little at him, and Johann's face lights up.

“It's beautiful.” Johann lets his hand fall as he stares at it for a second longer before turning to look at her. “And it's incredible. Is it really responsible for stopping the war and making everyone forget?”

Lucretia nods. “Unfortunately, I can't spend enough time with it and feeding it now with everything I have to do, so I'm really hoping you're onboard with helping me in that regard.”

Johann's face falls again. “But if I feed it my compositions, no one else is going to hear them. I'll... No one's going to know who I am.”

Lucretia's heart breaks a little at how small his voice gets at the end of that sentence. “It's your decision. I won't make you do anything you don't want to do, but if you do want to help save this world, the job is yours. And I'll be sure to pay you very handsomely for your contribution. And this will only be until we destroy all of the Relics. Once they're all gone, you will be relieved from duty, and you can share the rest of your music with the world.”

Johann looks back up at Fisher for a long time. Fisher hums a little tune at him, and only Lucretia knows that it's not as energetic as it could be. Johann smiles a little again and takes a deep breath. “There's only seven, right? It shouldn't take that long, so I think I can hang around until they're gone from this world.”

Lucretia smiles a little. Gods she hopes it won't take that long. It's already taken way longer than it should. “I'm glad to have you onboard with this organization. Your job duties will just include taking care of the Voidfish, and I'll pay you 500 gold pieces a month. Do you have any questions for me about this job or this organization?”

Johann stares at her blankly and in disbelief for a few seconds as he mouths the words 500 gold pieces a month? Then he seems to register that she asked him a question, and he shakes his head a little. “Y-yeah, just one.” He scrunches his face up for a second and cocks his head to the side. “Why the moon? Do you like being considered an alien or something?”

Every fucking time. Lucretia sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. “No, it's just a great way to make sure no one stumbles upon the base on accident or for the Red Robes, if they're still out there somewhere, to track us down.”

Johann smirks a little. “So it has nothing to do with the fact you have a possibly alien jellyfish that you have to keep secret?”

Okay, that's kind of funny. Lucretia shakes her head. “That's just a coincidence,” she deadpans, and Johann laughs.

“Thank you again for helping Killian and Boyland take care of Sally Oswald. That was very kind of you.”

“Pssh, yeah, it was no problem. I'm not one to stand around when people need help, and it looked like they could use it.” Carey Fangbattle twirls one of her daggers effortlessly between her fingers for a few seconds before catching it and using it to clean under her claws.

Lucretia's grip on her staff tightens slightly as she forces a smile on her face. “Well, now that you know what we're doing here, we would be happy to have you on board as a Regulator. I've been looking for someone to fill in as a third for Killian and Boyland's team for a little while now, and you've proven to be able to work well with them.”

“Hell yeah! That would be great!” Carey says emphatically. “I love what you're doing here, and– Well, wait. I should ask first, is this a paid thing?”

Lucretia chuckles a little. “Yes, you will be paid handsomely every time you come back from a mission. In fact, I can give you your payment for this mission right now.” She claps her hands and calls out, “Davenport!”

Davenport comes walking out of her office, holding a tray with a small bag of gold pieces and a token for the Fantasy Gashapon, and he walks over to Carey before handing it out to her. “Davenport!”

“Sweet, thanks!” Davenport nods as Carey takes the bag and token, and she looks the token over carefully as Davenport walks back into Lucretia's office. No doubt to get Carey's bracer ready.

“There's 600 gold pieces in there, and that's a token to the Fantasy Gashapon in our artificer's office. See, Bureau members aren't allowed to give each other magic items, but we know having some items is necessary for us to do our jobs, so the Gashapon is a clever work around for that. Leon will explain it more when you go see him. You can also spend your money at the independent retailer we have up here on the moon called Fantasy Costco. It should be easy to find because it's the only building here that isn't a dome.” Lucretia grimaces slightly as Carey laughs.

“Couldn't convince the store manager to conform to the aesthetic here, huh?”

“No, we couldn't,” Lucretia says bemusedly. “Garfield is... very persuasive and very stubborn on some things. Anyway, like I said before, we're happy to have you on as a Regulator. Your job duties will include checking up on Bureau members planet side that haven't checked in with us in a while to make sure they haven't gone AWOL, tracking down Bureau members who have gone AWOL and are going after the Relics for their own personal gain, and stopping them from collecting and using a Grand Relic by any means necessary. I'm not going to lie, this is a really hard job to handle because you may end up going after people you know and have befriended in your time here.”

Carey looks up at her with a little concern. “Oh yeah. I guess I didn't consider the fact that Sally worked for you too, huh.”

Lucretia gives her a tight smile. “She did. She was one of our Seekers. Usually a really good one too, but she must have gotten some inaccurate information about the whereabouts of a Relic called the Oculus, and she went after it in the hopes of collecting it herself. At least, that's what she told Killian and Boyland when they first confronted her before you turned up.”

“I'm... I'm sorry for your loss.”

An uncomfortable silence stretches between the two of the for a few moments before Lucretia shakes her head. “What had to be done was done, and we're lucky she was found before she could find it and use it. It would have ended very badly for her and a lot of other people if we hadn't caught her in time. Now, from Killian and Boyland's reports of your performance and the fact that Sally is now gone, I think we can skip the formalities of the Trial of Initiation before you get your bracer.” She claps her hands again and calls out, “Davenport!”

It takes a couple of seconds, but Davenport eventually walks back out into the room carrying another tray with a silver bracer on it. He offers it to Carey, and she takes it. “You should put it on your non-dominant arm, but really, it's up to you. It's just easier, people find, to put it on their non-dominant arm, but whichever you choose, your decision must be final because the bracer never comes off.” Lucretia says.

Carey looks at it for a moment longer before she puts it on her left arm. It closes around her arm, and the seam vanishes. “What's the point of having it not be able to come off again?”

“It's to help track Bureau members in case they get into trouble and need help or in case they go missing and need to be Regulated. It also serves as a way to identify each other out in the field, summon the transport when you're planet side, and opens some of the doors up here moon side that lead to more restricted areas.” Lucretia explains. “Do you have anymore questions for me about your job or the organization?”

Carey nods. “Yeah, actually. Am I going to still be able to keep in contact with my family? I have a brother I'm pretty close to, and I don't want to suddenly go missing on him.”

Lucretia smiles softly. “Of course, you're still going to be able to see your brother. The only time you won't be able to keep in contact with your family and friends outside of the Bureau would be if you die on the job. Not just because you would be dead, but in order to keep people from asking awkward questions about the whereabouts of dead Bureau members, we erase knowledge of their existence with the Voidfish.” Carey looks up at her in shock, and she quickly adds, “But that's only if you die on the job. If you die under other circumstances that can be explained, we won't erase you, and of course, for as long as you're alive, the people you know and love will be able to still know you and keep in contact with you. But, while it's an ugly part of the job, it's necessary to erase all evidence of the fact that we exist from the world, which includes death by what would be mysterious circumstances from an outsider's perspective.”

Carey slowly closes her mouth as she nods a little. “I– That makes sense, I guess. Is... is there any way to give that information back to them after the Relics are found?”

Lucretia's heart twists tight. Fisher hasn't broadcasted anything in decades, and even if it wanted to, would it be a good idea for the world to know about the Relics again even after they're all destroyed?

Lucretia shakes her head and sighs. “I'm afraid not. Once you're gone... there's no coming back from that except for people who have drank the Voidfish's ichor. Do you have any other questions for me?”

Carey is silent for a moment. “Yeah, I do have one other question. Why the moon? Is it so that the Bureau can have a mascot like in school? Are we known as the Aliens to everyone who's drank from the Voidfish?”

Carey laughs a little at that as Lucretia groans. “No, we're not called the Aliens. It was just a convenient way to make sure no one found us on accident.”

“Ah, but that's something an alien would say!” She cackles some more as Lucretia puts her face in her hand. Not one person is going to let the moon thing slide are they? Not one single person.

“That was a great training session, boys. Well done.” Lucretia says as Magnus, Merle, and Taako walk out of the arena portion of the Icosagon. They've only been here for two weeks, but she still has to fight off tears of happiness every time she sees them. It's been so long. And they're here now. They still don't remember her, but they're here, and she didn't realize how hard of a time she was going to have at containing her pure joy around them when she first sought them out.

“Thanks, Director,” Magnus says as he picks up a towel he left on the bench and wipes some sweat off of his face and neck.

“Yeah, it was great. I especially liked the part when Merle was standing still right next to the stationary dummy, and he still missed with his warhammer.” Taako snipes with an amused glare at the aforementioned dwarf.

Merle glares up at him and crosses his arms. “It's been a while since I've pulled out ol' Smoosher, okay? And that's better than having to rely on a spell that automatically hits no matter how you cast it, Pointy Hat.”

“Yeah, but I'm like, good at it. And I'm good at other spells too.”

“Well, that's what training is for, getting better at the things you are or are not already good at, and I think you have all improved a lot this session,” Lucretia quickly cuts in before it devolves into a full fledged argument. “I did want to ask you boys a question before you leave though.”

Magnus picks up his water bottle and bag as he turns to face her. “What's up?”

“How have you boys been adjusting to living up here? I know I put a lot on you all when I first hired you, and I just wanted to check in and see how things are going.” Lucretia says.

“It's mostly been boring,” Taako says as he puts Lup's– his umbrastaff in his bag. “You really don't have a lot going on up here do you?”

Lucretia grimaces. “No, not really if you're talking in terms of places to go. I have been working on planning a corporate retreat some time in the next few months, so there's that to look forward to.”

Taako rolls his eyes. “Is it mandatory?”

Lucretia stifles a laugh. “Yes, I'm afraid it is.”

“I have a question,” Merle cuts in. “Is there any possible way for us to move dorms or something? Like, you've gotta have some other living spaces available, right?”

Yes, but she can't show favoritism, and there's no reason she can make up currently as to why she'd give them the apartment below the base. She sighs internally and says, “Unfortunately, no. Is there something wrong with the dormitory you have now?”

“No, everything's fine,” Magnus says as he tries to subtly kick Merle who glares up at him in response. “You don't need to worry about it.”

Lucretia narrows her eyes slightly. “Well, that's a little suspi–”

“It's Robbie,” Taako says, rolling his eyes again. “He's creepy and annoying and–”

“And he steals all of my Kenny Chesney CDs and leaves empty Pringles containers all over the floor–” Merle jumps in.

“Guys, come on!” Magnus interrupts. “That all may be true, but you gotta agree he makes some really good potions, and I don't want to lose out on getting free potions.”

“He does make really good potions,” Merle grumbles in agreement.

“You could live without getting free potions,” Taako says stubbornly. “I can't live with the stench of him mixing them up at all hours of the day and night.”

Lucretia sighs. “This sounds like something you're going to have to work out with him because unfortunately, I can't move you boys to a different dormitory.”

“That's fine, I do have something else I wanted to ask you,” Magnus says, bouncing up and down a little on the balls of his feet in excitement.

“Is it about getting a dog?” Lucretia deadpans.

Magnus stops bouncing. “Yeah.”

Lucretia fights off a sad smile as she remembers every time he and Davenport had had this exact argument about bringing a dog up on the Starblaster. “I'm sorry, Magnus, but there are no dogs allowed on the moon. Can't stress that enough.”

Magnus tries to give her puppy dog eyes. “But I want one so bad! I'd make sure he doesn't run off the side of the moon, I promise!”

Lucretia takes a deep breath to respond, but Merle cuts her off. “Speaking of the moon, why did you make the base a moon?”

“Because she's an alien, obviously,” Taako laughs, and Lucretia goes rigid. There's no way he'd know that still.

“Oh, I thought it was because the Voidfish is an alien and would obviously belong on the moon,” Magnus says.

“Why not both!” Taako exclaims.

“Oh, does that make us aliens?” Merle asks enthusiastically.

“Yeah, does it, Director?” Magnus asks.

They don't actually remember. They can't have remembered. They're just goofing around. Lucretia forces a small smile and says, “No, I'm afraid not. No one up here is an alien. Disguising the base as a moon was just a simple way of having an excuse of having something up in the sky.”

“But that would probably make us aliens, wouldn't you say?” Magnus asks.

“Hello, people of Abeir-Toril! We come in peace!” Taako says in a dramatic voice.

“Take us to your leader!” Merle adds dramatically.

Lucretia puts her face in her hands as they laugh and high five each other. She doesn't know whether she wants to laugh or cry. The fucking irony. She should've preemptively banned alien jokes because this is getting ridiculous. Then again, banning something is only going to encourage them, specifically, even more.

“Oh! Madam Director? When the Reclaimers come back, can I watch you destroy the Gaia Sash?” Angus McDonald asks as he looks over her bookshelf in her office. “I really want to see how the Relic Disposal Chamber works.”

Lucretia sighs. She's only known the ten-year-old for less than thirty minutes, and in that time he has not stopped asking questions. That's a good thing, honestly. It makes him a good detective and will serve him well as one of her Seekers, but some of the questions he's asked has gotten a little too close to her past and her personal life for comfort. This, at least, is a benign question, but she didn't realize how careful she's going to have to be about what she says around him and what he observes when she first thought about hiring him.

“Of course you can, Angus. It's going to be quite spectacular to witness, I assure you. They should be getting back soon, actually, and I need to go prepare for that. Do you have any other questions for me that I can answer?”

“Yeah!” He picks up a book and rifles through some of the pages curiously. “Where did you find the Voidfish? There's nothing like it in the world as far as anyone knows, so I'm curious as to how you came across it.”

Damn it. “I didn't so much find it as the Voidfish found me,” Lucretia says carefully. “I was walking through a mountain one day, and I saw it floating around in a cave.”

Angus looks up at her at that. “The Voidfish can float?”

Lucretia smiles and nods. “Yes, it can fly around in the air and swim in the water, but it seems to like the water the best.”

“How did you find out that the Voidfish can erase memories and that you can get around that by drinking its water?”

“Well, when I first came to see it, it was scared of me at first, and it splashed me as I entered the cave. Some of the water got into my mouth, and I remembered some songs and stories that I heard once a long time ago that it must have gotten a hold of and erased. That was really surprising, and it gave me the idea that if the information of the Relics could be erased, then it would be easier to try to collect them and destroy them while preventing the world from killing itself in the mean time. I was able to gain its trust with showing it some of my own writing and artwork, and, well, you know the rest of the story.” Most of that is technically true. Please let him buy the story.

Angus scrutinizes her for a few seconds, and she tries really hard to not hold her breath. Then he nods and turns to put the book back on her shelf. “It's really lucky that you found it when you did and no one else found it first.”

Lucretia sighs a little in relief and smiles. “Yes, I suppose it is.” She stands up and rounds her desk to get to the door. “Is there anything else you want to know, Angus?”

She sees him smirk a little as he picks up another book and starts looking through it nonchalantly. “Yes, ma'am, there's one last thing I'd like to know. How did you find yourself identifying as an alien? I can only assume that you like the idea of being one with the base being disguised as the moon and all.”

Lucretia wants nothing more than to leave her office and slam the door shut behind her dramatically, and she is being so brave about it. She resists the urge, however, and she says in as even a voice as possible, “Angus, I promise you, the moon was just the easiest facade to have explained away for why there is another object in the sky. I am not, and have never identified as, an alien.”

Angus rolls his eyes playfully as he puts the book back on the shelf. “Of course, ma'am. And I'm not the world's greatest detective.”

Lucretia groans and really does leave her office this time, though she leaves the door open for Angus as he laughs behind her.

It's really late at night as Lucretia walks across the quad, alone. It had been a long day. Hell, it's been a long three days since she and everyone defeated the Hunger. Everyone was celebrating both planet side and on the moon, and everyone wanted her and her fa– the people she traveled with for a hundred years, at all of their parties. They had all turned down most of the invitations that first day, but they couldn't keep saying no. So the past two days Lucretia spent jumping from party to party and trying to do everything in her power to avoid the other crew members, particularly Taako. There's only so much of his silent thousand yard stare being directed at her that she could take.

Today had been the first day she was able to start helping the rebuilding effort and relocating people whose homes were destroyed by the Hunger. She spent all day organizing and reassigning roles for her remaining Bureau members who volunteered to stay and help, and she has a long day of meetings with Lord Artemis Sterling and other leaders of various cities and towns to look forward to tomorrow. She should really be asleep. She has to wake up really early tomorrow, after all.

Lucretia stops walking and closes her eyes, taking in the sweet smell of grass and summer air. Grass and summer air that wouldn't exist if they had ran away from the Hunger again or if they had lost.

Was it worth losing them?

“Hey–”

Lucretia scrunches her face up in anger as she spits out, “For gods' sake yes, I am an alien, yes I decided to make my home base on the moon–” She turns around and opens her eyes as she continues with “–no, the joke is not fun...n...y.”

Her last word dies on her tongue as she watches the light in Lup's spectral hood flicker a bit in a slightly amused way. She suddenly feels very bad that she snapped, especially at her, and she looks down at the ground and whispers, “Hey, Lup.”

“Yikes, Creesh, I knew you weren't doing well, but where did that come from? That seems oddly specific.” Lup says.

Lucretia slowly looks up at her and wrings her hands together. “I–“ She sighs. “It's a long story. Just a joke that people have been making for years now that got a resurgence from everyone in the last few days now that... you know...”

“Everyone knows you're an alien?” Lup asks, amused.

“Yeah,” Lucretia sighs. They're silent for a moment before Lucretia says, “Lup, I'm so sor–”

Lup puts up a skeletal hand to stop her. “Lucretia, I didn't come find you because I wanted to hear you apologize again.” She floats down to the ground and pats the spot in the grass next to her. “Will you sit with me?”

Lucretia swallows thickly and nods, carefully lowering herself to the ground. Now that she doesn't have a staff to support her weight, sitting down is much more difficult. She's going to have to ask Magnus–

She can't ask Magnus for anything. She knows he'd do it, but she has no right.

Lup tilts her hood up to look at the stars, and Lucretia does too. There's so many of them, and they're all so beautiful. They look so close and warm, in direct contrast with the cold distance of the few stars that existed in the Judges' World though she doesn't know why that particular memory decided to pop into her head. Maybe it's because she feels similarly to how she felt the morning after that cycle ended. When she had everyone back after her hard and lonely year, and she still felt like it was unreal. Or when she was sitting with the goddess, Itia, in her temple back in that world, staring up at those stars through the windows and telling her her whole life's story. She closes her eyes for a few seconds to let a few silent tears roll down her cheeks before she opens them again to continue looking at the stars. She mentally traces out the constellations she's learned about that this world has as she waits with bated breath for whatever Lup has to say to her. But she says nothing. Instead, she leans her hood against Lucretia's shoulder, and Lucretia can feel her magic energy, buzzing and warm to the touch. And that's enough to fully break her.

Lucretia puts her head down in her hands and starts sobbing, and she can feel Lup try to wrap her arms around her the best that she can. “It's alright, Lucy. I'm here now, and no matter how much you try to avoid me, I'm not going anywhere ever again.”

“I erased you, and then I couldn't find you, and– and– and–”

“Lucretia, we all agree erasing me was a dick move, okay? But you can't get rid of me that easily.” Lup chuckles a little at her own joke, but Lucretia doesn't find it very funny. “There was a break down in communication from all of us, and I can't blame you for doing what you did when I, myself, left without a word to anyone and got my ass trapped in an umbrella.”

“That's different though,” Lucretia chokes out, and Lup pulls away a little to try and look at her better.

“Is it really though?” She asks quietly. “We both left to try and fix our mistake on our own, and we both ended up hurting our family and ourselves, and we both ended up alone. And... Lucy, we promised after the Judges' Cycle that we wouldn't end up alone. Never again. And I know we both broke that promise, but that doesn't mean we can't do better this time.” Lucretia cries harder, and Lup leans in again to rest her hood on her shoulder. “No matter what you did, I still consider you family, Lucy. And I know the others do too whether they want to admit it or not. We're all angry, I'm not going to deny that, but we also miss you, and I'm not going to let you cut yourself off from us as a way of punishing yourself.”

“I just don't– don't want to upset you all ev-even more by hanging a-around,” Lucretia gets out.

Lup hesitates for a moment before she says, “I can't speak for the others, but you're not going to upset me by hanging out with me. I'm fairly certain right now Magnus and Merle feel similarly. It's going to take Taako, Barry, and Davenport some time, but I know they're going to want to be around you too eventually.”

Lucretia nods and leans her head as much against Lup's hood as she can without phasing through, and they hug for a long time as Lucretia's tears subside. When she's left sniffling, she sits upright again and wipes her eyes. “I missed you so much, Lup. And I love you so much.”

Lup floats over so she's right in front of her, and she looks up to see the light in her hood flicker warmly. “I missed you too, Lucy. And I will never stop loving you.”

They embrace again as much as they can, and when they move away, Lucretia says, “Will you stay with me and watch the stars a little longer?”

“Of course.”

Lup floats back to be next to her, and she places her hand over Lucretia's. They're silent for a while as they watch the stars burn bright in the sky. Then Lup bumps her spectral shoulder into Lucretia's shoulder, and she says, “You know, Lucy. You really could have picked for the base to look like anything.”

Lucretia laughs, long and hard, and it feels so good to be able to laugh with her again. “Yeah, I could have.”

I really could have.

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