Ancient Chaser had heard the boom, the tell-tale sign from Odalys that he was needed, and rushed back to the house only to remember that she was dead when he saw the strangers from earlier in her house. Ancient Chaser watched from the trees, flipping through different filters to get the best view of the two through the large open window in the living room.
It irritated him and he clicked in annoyance as they made themselves at home in Odalys' house. It was his. He heard the man call the woman Odalys' great-granddaughter, but why were they here and what did they want? Obviously, they knew she was dead, he'd left when the woman ran towards the tree sobbing, the loneliness in his soul aching at the reminder. And it seemed yet again he was reminded with that hollow boom of the loss he took and their presence didn't help. He didn't want new friends. He'd grown used to being alone again and the ache that was settling was causing him more frustration. He needed to get off this dreadful planet. It did no good to dwell on the past, as was part of the Path. He knew that. Still, memories tugged at his soul as the girl's laughter rang out. She sounded a lot like Odalys...
He watched the two eat, gathering a lot of crucial information about them as he did, and then went to his ship, a plan forming in his head. Odalys never got to fight for her honor like she'd wanted to but Luciana was younger, smarter, faster, and stronger. Not only that but watching Luciana eat and tease her partner made him realize that she acted a lot like Odalys which begged the biggest question: Could she fight?
He was going to find out.
Ancient Chaser grew excited as he thought about his next hunt and trilled as he cloaked his ship for the first time a while, not wanting the two to suddenly stumble upon it before their game finished. He knew exactly what he could spend his time next on and that this was going to be fun.
That night Marco and Luciana slept in the master bedroom, Ancient Chaser used this time to lay clues of himself around. They'd already found Odalys' glaive so he figured it would be a fun kind of treasure hunt and the prize was to meet him and fight him. He knew Humans better than he wanted to and so once he'd completed his clues he went back to the ship to wait.
The sun rose and Luciana got up and made some coffee, eating leftover food from last night. She knew better than to expect Marco to get up before noon during the summer and so she got to work trying to find pictures for the proper funeral she was going to hold. Luciana had been to many funerals and so she knew the drill. There was no food in the fridge or pantry except for what they'd brought with them and so she left the remainder for Marco when he got up and went downstairs to the basement where all of the filing cabinets were.
It wasn't hard to find pictures since Odalys kept a very orderly home. It was, however, hard to find pictures of just her. She seemed to be the main photographer and it made Luciana's heart ache. How could she have let her family never take pictures of her? Most pictures were of great grandpa and her grandparents and great uncles. Luciana's head tilted in confusion when she finally saw a picture of Odalys but with a young girl.
Luciana didn't think she'd had a great aunt that she was related to, at least, she'd never heard of one. The girl was pretty, with thick straight hair, thick lips, and a smooth complexion, just like Odalys, though she definitely had great grandpa's hooked nose. She was still cute though. Turning the picture over she saw it was Odalys with a girl named Mariana. Luciana thought about it and then set it aside for the slideshow, Odalys looked happy in the photo and so it would be shown.
The next couple of hours were spent just looking through pictures until a decent stack was made of Odalys, though none of the pictures was of her alone. Finished with the project Luciana stood with the photos and headed back upstairs, hoping that Marco would still be asleep so that she'd get some time to call her dad without him being silly. Marco liked to get handsy when she was on the phone, it was just the possessiveness inside of him, but while she thought it was cute when she was talking to her friends she hated when he did it when she was talking to her parents.
"Hey daddy," Luciana greeted after she made sure Marco was asleep.
"Good morning sweetheart, how's the farm?" Emanuel asked, making Luciana's mouth dry up.
How does she tell him? Luciana paused for a minute, cursing herself for not thinking about how to break this news gently and sighed. "Daddy, when Marco and I got here bisabuela was dead... she's been buried and everything next to bisabuelo."
"Oh?" Emanuel said curiously, humming. "I guess Uncle Mateo must have come by and gave her a quiet burial. Probably guessed no one would want to come to the house anyway since no one visits. You should go see him to make sure, of course."
Luciana thought about it and her shoulders relaxed as the anger inside of her suddenly dried up. She chuckled a little, amused by her own foolishness. "That makes sense, you're gonna think I'm crazy, but Marco and I stayed here last night to try and see if people were syphoning resources from her." Luciana let out a louder, richer laugh. "What is wrong with me?"
"Nothing is wrong with you, sweetheart. I have to admit I'm quite shocked as well, so just make sure you talk to him. If the air and stuff are still on he should have turned it off, but then again, your great uncle Mateo is kind of a hard ass and might have not thought about it past getting her buried. Be careful, too, he's a stickler for people coming on his land."
Luciana smiled gratefully at the phone, "I will, thank you, daddy. Also, Marco and I are going to need money for food while we're here." Luciana smiled slyly when she heard her father scoff. "Please?"
"You're running me dry, cupcake, but I can't say no to you as your mother can. Just promise me you'll behave this upcoming Christmas and you can take as much as you need."
Luciana frowned, she hated her mother's family, though. Christmas time was always full of snotty assholes scoffing at her and her siblings for living their life to the fullest. Last Christmas her grandpa had yanked on her blue hair and kicked her in the ass for it, so what else was she to have done other than hit him back? "Father," Luciana said seriously, her tone pleading. "I don't like them. He hit me."
"I know he did and he won't do it again, so you need to move on. Just stay away from him next Christmas, okay?" Emanuel pleaded and Luciana pouted but gave in.
She loved her daddy too much to keep disappointing him and she knew how important this was to him. Emanuel liked everyone happy and taken care of and even if Luciana's grandpa was a monster, her mother adored him and her father adored her mother and wanted to keep her happy. According to Luciana's mother, her grandfather was strict but with a purpose. He hadn't meant to kick Luciana as hard as he did but it was understood that Luciana's response to hit him back was unacceptable and it enraged her. She didn't understand how her loving parents could side with that horrible man, yet Luciana also felt torn because she adored her father.
The entire reason she was even going to college was that her father had begged her to. Luckily for her though, it meant she got to meet her sexy fiancé, but still. If her dad hadn't begged her, Luciana would have wanted to become a Pilates instructor and probably settled down with a boy from her hometown instead of interning at Weyland Industries for her degree where she met Marco. Being engaged to the company's accountant son sure had its perks, too. Like a brand new Jeep from his adoring father who approved of Luciana and liked lengthy vacations during the summer. That's how Marco was even out here with her right now. He had a stable accounting job at Weyland Industries and since his dad is the boss a three-week vacation wasn't hard for him to get and since it was summer break, Luciana had nothing better to do than travel. She was happy she got to spend this time with Marco, too, even if the circumstances weren't what she thought they'd be, she was glad she had his support with her.
As much as Luciana wanted to resent her parents for being on her grandfather's side she couldn't and so while it hurt, Luciana sighed tightly and gave in. "I promise, father," Luciana whispered, her scalp and ass aching in phantom pain as her body recalled the incident. He'd bruised her and ripped out some of her hair but it was over now. She'd move on.
"Thank you, Luciana. Your account is connected with mine, just go on the app and transfer as much as you want. If I don't have funds I get paid every week on Friday, so just wait until then, okay pumpkin?"
Luciana smiled happily at the kindness of her father. "Of course, thank you so much, daddy!"
"You're welcome and remember to be careful when you approach Mateo's house. Also, he doesn't speak a lick of English, so bringing Marco along will be useless, just go alone."
"Okay daddy, I'm going to go now. Mateo lives on the edge of town near the water tower, right?"
"He should, yes. I love you, talk to you later. Bye sweetheart." Emanuel hung up and Luciana wrote a quick note and then got into the jeep and drove off.
Arriving at Mateo's ranch was... startling. Luciana had heard a lot about her great uncle. He was crazy. He was old. He had married his high school sweetheart. But after all of the stories, she felt like they left out the most important one: he was a hoarder.
Luciana grimaced as she knocked on his door, staring in the window at the piles of junk stacked inside. "What do you want?" Came an old, gruff voice when the door opened a crack.
Luciana forced a kind smile and looked at her great uncle. He looked a like a spitting image of her great grandpa and it made her voice catch in her throat. Something about looking at photos this morning and now having to repeat the news that Odalys was dead just upset her again. She could see Mateo simply burying her and going back to his hoard and it was sad that he would be the one to find her. It all made sense. Tears welled in Luciana's eyes. "Hola tío abuelo Mateo. Mi nombre es Luciana, y soy la nieta de Alice. Soy en pueblo visitar Odalys, pero ella es muerto. ¿Se sabe?"
Mateo just stared, though his eyes did soften once he realized she was family. He didn't seem to understand Spanish, though, which Luciana thought was weird. Why would her father be wrong about that?
"Did you know that Odalys was dead?" Luciana asked in English instead when there was a brief pause.
Mateo's eyes widened slightly. "My mother is dead?"
Instantly the blood drained from Luciana's face. "You mean you didn't bury her?" She whispered, eyes widening in fear.
"No! And what the hell is this? My mother is dead and I wasn't invited to the funeral?!" He snapped, enraged. "You think you can just come here and tell me this? Who the hell do you think you are, little girl?" Mateo bellowed, the despair clearly on his face. Luciana didn't take his anger seriously, knowing it was the pain speaking and that he wasn't really mad at her.
"I'm so sorry, I thought with you being in town you'd be the one to bury her. I was just coming to make sure. I'm so sorry. I'm going to hold a real funeral for Odalys and-"
Mateo slammed his door shut and Luciana pulled her head back, shocked. A moment later he opened the door fully with his keys in his hand. "I've got to see this for myself."
"I-okay," Luciana muttered, turning on her heel and going to her car while he went to his. They drove back and it only then dawned on Luciana that she had left Marco sleeping in a house that had obviously been invaded. She felt guilty, but when she saw him on the porch drinking coffee she relaxed. Getting out of the car she ran over and gave Marco a couple of kisses, "Mateo didn't bury bisabuela," she said quickly, the panic in her voice bouncing right off of Marco. It didn't seem like he cared at all.
Marco kissed her and chuckled, infuriating Luciana. "Babe, I've been here and no one has come by. Calm down. I think our biggest concern should be your uncle, he looks devastated."
Luciana looked back at Mateo and nodded, Mateo's warm hand squeezing her's. "You're right," Luciana sighed, walking over to him. "Mateo, are you okay?" Luciana asked gently, rubbing his back as he looked down at the graves.
He sniffed and shook his head. "I can't believe it. I just can't."
Luciana gave him a quick hug and invited him in for tea. At the table Mateo eyed around the house, his voice mystified. "It looks the exact same as when I grew up," he said, then he looked into the kitchen. "Well, there was a complete countertop when I lived here," he deadpanned, making Luciana and Marco chuckle a little.
"So we're going to plan a real funeral. We think bandits came in and have used the space as they've wanted," Marco spoke up. "We haven't seen signs of a struggle and it was dusty, but we don't think they killed her. Just broke off some granite and buried her. We..." Marco glanced at Luciana when he saw her tilt her head.
She didn't say anything but frowned. Marco liked making decisions by himself and then tacking "we" on it as if they'd both talked about the idea even if he was just speaking his opinion. Luciana hated it, but she didn't disagree with anything he'd said so far so she kept quiet, peeved but allowing him to go on.
"We didn't want to dig her up," Marco finished his thought.
Mateo shook his head, "It would make sense. There has been a surge of crime here lately and it's more likely that she died of natural causes, not that we'll ever know." He sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I should have checked on her more."
Luciana's face dropped and she rubbed Mateo's back sympathetically. "It's not your fault. If anything, everyone should have visited more, not just you. Anyway, Marco and I were thinking of crashing here and getting a proper funeral in place. I've already found photos and am happy to start making preparations for the party to be held. Do you recommend any funeral homes or know who her priest was?" Marco already had a notebook and pen, always at the ready when it came to taking notes. It was his speciality.
Luciana, Marco, and Mateo spent the rest of the day coming up with plans for the funeral, Mateo saying he'd call everyone and ask about a lawyer for the will. Marco offered to go into town and get the priest and so that was his duty. Luciana was tasked with meeting with the funeral directors to get flowers and a closed casket ceremony. And so, with the sun fading and plans made, Luciana walked Mateo out to his car. They gave each other a quick hug then Luciana watched him drive away.
Luciana turned to go back into the house when something shiny caught her eyes in the grass near the house. Curious, she walked over to the side of the house and bent down to examine a ball of some sort. Probably as big as the golden snitch from Harry Potter but without the wings, it really didn't look like anything special. "Huh, is this some sort of dryer ball?" Luciana wondered out loud, picking it up. It was metal and next to the clothesline, so it would make sense, but it was heavy. Too heavy to make a good dryer ball.
She gasped when the device made a small beep and she turned invisible. Stunned, she dropped the ball and became visible again. She paused a moment, looking around and at her hands before picking it back up again. She didn't turn invisible and so she felt around it until that beep happened again and she was gone. Was this really happening? Was she crazy? She hit the button she'd found and returned visible again. Luciana laughed blithely, eyes sparkling with bewilderment.
"Amazing..." Luciana said to herself. She knew her father and grandparents were super into technological science - had great grandma Odalys been just as into that? Had she figured out how to make invisibility an option and never told anyone because she didn't think anyone would hear her out or because she was happy knowing she knew it? If people would have visited more would she have told them? "Thank you, Odalys. I'm not sure what these gifts mean, but I know they're from you and they're amazing. Thank you," Luciana spoke softly, looking up at the starry sky with searching eyes, willing her bisabuela to hear her.
A renewed sense of invigoration overtaking her, Luciana pocketed the device and skipped inside, kissing Marco passionately. "Well hello there," he chuckled, "is this because I behaved?" Marco asked, his hands gripping Luciana's ass tightly as they swayed in the kitchen.
Luciana moaned happily and smothered him with more kisses. "Partly," Luciana drew as she pulled back, her teeth pulling on his lower lip. His eyes were lustful and so Luciana toned it down, wanting to actually talk. "Though if I'm being honest, it's mostly because you've been so sweet to me. This has been hard and you're putting up with my crazy mood swings really well." She gave him a small peck on his lips, tears forming in her eyes. "It's nice to know you're sticking through thick and thin."
Marco's eyes softened and his hands went up and down her back as he started to rub the stress from them. Luciana hugged him close and moaned softly into his chest, adoring him more. "I'm happy to be here with you. I know this isn't the vacation we planned, but I'm happy to be here to support you. I love you, Luciana." He kissed the top of her head and moved his hands to cup her face, a wicked smirk on his lips. "Even when you've got smeared eyeliner all over your cheeks, I still want to kiss them," he teased, leaning down and giving her a flurry of kisses.
Luciana giggled happily and pawed at his chest bashfully, "Stop it, I'll go clean up." They kissed again before Luciana went to the bathroom and Marco followed her, both getting ready for bed.
Outside, Ancient Chaser watched them through the window. So far the girl had found one of the pieces he'd left around to clue them to him, but she'd thought the glaive and cloaking device were Odalys' and while he knew she'd find out they weren't her's, it still bothered him. The girl seemed content to stay in the house and plan, the two of them with their visitor hadn't even stepped outside most of the day which presented a problem for him. He wanted to fight, especially if there was going to be a party. His cover would be blown and there'd be nothing he could do about it.
Ancient Chaser went back to his ship, contemplating whether or not he'd need to be more hands-on, but figured he'd give them another day before he intervened. They'd been making funeral preparations and he'd heard they were going to be having the reception outside, so he knew they'd eventually find the rest of the clues, but until then, he'd have to be patient.