That night Luciana closed all of the open windows, sick of letting in the summer heat and pushing the air conditioner to work overtime. She didn't know why so many of them were open in the first place but figured that it didn't matter. Her new goal was to use as little electricity as she could the days before the funeral because after she was going to have it be turned off. With the windows closed the air conditioner wouldn't have to work nearly as hard which would hopefully save some pretty pennies.
Finished with her task, she went to cuddle with Marco in the master bedroom. Marco snored softly, already out as Luciana entered the threshold and she smiled gaily at his sleeping form, enamored with him. His thin brown hair fell over his face and his mouth fell open slightly, drool trickling down the corner of his mouth. He looked like a dork and Luciana rolled her eyes but still smiled. Dork or not, he was her dork. Stepping on her pants as she walked to the bed she stopped when her foot landed on something round.
The device!
Luciana cursed herself for having forgotten about it and picked up her pants, fishing out the invisibility device, mesmerized yet again when she accidentally clicked the button. "I'm gonna play with this," Luciana giggled to herself as she dropped her pants and put the device in her shorts. Marco was kind of a square when it came to technology. He liked his iPhone while Luciana preferred her android. She figured he didn't have to know until she'd had her fun because without a doubt when he found this technology he'd call his dad and have him assess the worth of the device and then his father would call him home and this vacation would be over. A device like this would be critical for Weyland Industries but Luciana didn't want to share. Not yet, at least.
Slipping outside into the warm Summer air Luciana stood in the moonlight, soaking it all in. True freedom, that's what this device allowed. She looked for a shadow and found none. There was nothing to give her away. Knowing she was free to do as she pleased without anyone to tell her no she giggled before she ran to the cliff and leapt off it. Luciana had heard the stories from her abuela Alice about how the cliff was high enough to be a thrill and the water at the bottom was deep enough to be safe. Her grandma had jumped off that cliff hundreds of times and Luciana knew that with this device she could finally get away with it without the fear of Marco catching her first.
The fall was extraordinary. Luciana had gone cliff jumping before and knew that the best way to go was to just leap without a second thought. The thrill she got was exhilarating, making her heart pound in her chest as she watched the water rush up to greet her beaming face. Splashing down into the icy water below Luciana yelped in shock. She hadn't expected the water to be so cold and the shock brought her body alive in a new way. Gasping heavily as she breached the surface the device crackled angrily, dropping her camouflage. Realizing she wasn't dead, even if her heart wanted to beat right out of her chest, Luciana threw her head back and laughed and laughed. Her laugh echoed in the night as she swam to the side of the pool, taking the device and clicking it off so the angry hissing would stop.
She walked on the shore and rang out her shirt and hair, still giggling as her body buzzed with life. She could feel her heart and the throbbing of blood rushing throughout her body and it made her feel so good, so alive. She liked being crazy and for the most part Marco was right there beside her, ready to have fun. It was jumping off cliffs, skydiving and pretty much anything he deemed too risky that he avoided and as such Luciana knew she'd never tell him she did this. It would just worry him and he'd find a way to talk her out of doing it again like he somehow always did. He could be very persuasive when he wanted to be and the fact they were even getting married was a prime example; California is full of rich and cute guys, he hadn't got his ring on her finger easily.
Calmed down some Luciana started to wonder how she'd get back up. Abuela seemed to leave that part out of her story and there didn't seem to be a path back up. Luciana smirked at the side of the cliff, flexing her fingers as she sized it up. Well, there was one way. She could feel the ring on her hand and could hear Marco's voice in her head telling her to find a safer way, but ignored it. She'd also leave out this detail, too.
She began to climb the side of the cliff, her eyes adjusted to the darkness well enough to see the rocks in front of her. She'd taken rock climbing lessons all throughout her childhood and up until college. She knew how to climb. She also knew what she was doing was dangerous, not having a safety net and proper gear while also climbing an unfamiliar cliff in the dark. She knew what she was doing was unsafe, but it just made it all the more thrilling. She loved danger and sitting cooped up in Odalys house knowing she'd been alone when she'd died snapped something in Luciana. She didn't want to die in her sleep. If Luciana was going to die one day she'd rather die climbing a cliff than in her sleep, which by the smell of the sheets before they washed them was how Odalys died.
You only live once and Luciana didn't plan to sit on the sidelines. She wanted everything she could get. She wanted to feel the wind in her hair and to get dirty and to be madly in love—she wanted to live.
The thought of dying so easily chilled Luciana and her hand lost grip of rock above her as her focus waned. She quickly snatched a different rock and her focus zeroed back into her task at hand as her body tensed, her body buzzing again with adrenaline. She spared a glance down and blew out a breath. At this height she could have seriously harmed herself if not landed wrong and died.
Ignoring everything else, Luciana quickly scaled the rest of the cliff. Reaching the top she cried, "ugh, thank god!" as she dug her fingers into the grass on top of the cliff to pull herself up. Flopping on her back in exhaustion she tried to catch her breath and shook her head, willing herself to not laugh. She laughed away. It wouldn't have been funny if she'd been hurt—or worse—and Marco would have been the one to find her.
But you weren't hurt.
Luciana scoffed at herself and then she laughed again. The burning in her arms made her pride swell along with her amusement and she flexed, enjoying the accomplishment that came with the ache. One day she'd get herself killed being so reckless, but today was not that day.
It had been a couple of years since she had to decide to either keep on with rock climbing or dance. Due to her ideal of going out with her friends on the weekends and working during the week, Luciana had only the time for one extracurricular in college. In the end, she'd chosen dance. It was nice to know she still had good upper body strength though, she'd have to thank her instructor for that one.
Luciana looked up at the sky, dangling her legs over the cliff as she caught her breath. She had lived in the city for most of her life so Luciana still wasn't used to the beauties of the countryside. "So many stars," Luciana said out loud, her breath caught in a different way.
Thrills were a rush that Luciana couldn't get enough of but the beauty of nature was another thing she appreciated deeply. A shooting star flew across the sky and Luciana smiled softly, wishing her bisabuela happiness in the afterlife. Luciana didn't believe in God, but she was never going to be rude to people who did. She understood some people wouldn't be able to find solace in the world without being able to have a scapegoat for everything and she couldn't fault them for it. It's always easier to point fingers than accept responsibility.
Odalys had been Catholic and so a Catholic priest was going to be here in a few days, Luciana lectured herself to be kind. While she didn't mind religion, she didn't like Catholics. They seemed to be cut of the same bigoted, ugly cloth and always seemed to rub her the wrong way. She thought all religions were ridiculous, yes, but Catholics always seemed to have something to say when others didn't. Still, being respectful was key to a good funeral and so Luciana stared at the sky, mentally preparing herself for the religious parade she'd face in a few days. She could do it as long as she prepared for it and she wanted Odalys to be honored.
Sighing as her breathing returned to normal and the adrenaline faded, Luciana stood from her spot and stretched, ready to head inside for the night. Turning towards the house she stopped dead when she saw a hulking mass near the window. She gasped and clicked the little ball, becoming invisible. Feeling safe with this on she crept closer, feeling like her heartbeat was going to give her away.
She kept her distance and instead crept in front of the house, wanting to sneak in to grab the weapon. It looked like the beast was trying to claw the window open and was working to do so quietly. With gentle steps, Luciana was glad for the first time that the porch was concrete so no wood creaked as she stepped up to the door. She hadn't closed the door to the house but had let the storm door remain closed to keep bugs and heat out.
She could see the glaive still resting against the wall and so she crept in, the sound of the storm door creaking open suddenly the loudest sound in the universe. The clawing stopped and she rolled over to the glaive, looking at the window to find the beast gone. Just to be sure, Luciana grabbed the glaive and then headed to the window, peaking out. The moonlight cast silver tones over everything but she didn't see the beast.
Perplexed and unable to go to sleep now she'd seen it, Luciana set the glaive back down against the wall and closed the door, locking it. Was she crazy? Luciana's nerves kept her alert and she walked around the house to look out every window to make sure they were locked. It took an hour for her to calm down and since she hadn't seen the beast again she wondered if she'd hallucinated it.
Luciana chuckled to herself and pinched her wet clothes, finally clicking the device off. "I'm going to bed," she muttered, taking off her wet clothes and tossing them in the dirty laundry. She brushed her hair and put on a fresh pair of pajamas before joining Marco on the bed. Marco's snoring paused when her arms wrapped around him and he woke up a little to turn and spoon her before falling right back asleep and it warmed Luciana. He didn't snore too loudly to where it was a problem and especially on a night like this Luciana appreciated the honking reminder that he was next to her.
Ancient Chaser frowned as he watched the house. She'd closed all the windows so he couldn't see in and he didn't like being blind. What were they doing? He wanted to know. Badly.
He'd tried opening it but a noise outside had drawn him away from the side window and to the front door. He changed filters but didn't see anything. Still, he dropped it for tonight. He didn't want the first time they meet to be without her having all the pieces of armor he'd left around. She'd need them if they were going to fight.
He couldn't help his smile at the idea of a fight. It had been a while since he'd been excited to hunt and the blood rush he got from just the thought of it felt good. He felt alive. This was his purpose, his Path. The hunt was life and it had been so long since he'd felt the thrill. If anything, he could thank Odalys for giving him this.
He wasn't sure how she'd react to him hunting her great-granddaughter but figured she'd find it amusing. He wasn't out to kill her, he could never bring himself to kill a descendant of Odalys, just test her skills and if she agreed he'd train her to be a Yautja like he wished he could have done with his friend. It was exciting and in a way, this reflected back on Odalys so for her sake he hoped her descendant could live up to his expectations.
If not, though, he'd be disappointed, but that would be it and he'd just keep to the shadows. If anything he'd just put his time into finding materials to fix his ship. A chance at honor was fair and he was a fair Yautja, so it was the least he could do for Odalys.
