When Luz finally broke away from Bump (even though the circus owner, deep down, wouldn't have disliked that hug continuing), he tried (in vain) to regain his stern air, but despite this he didn't refrain from complimenting her: "You must be proud of yourself: not everyone can sacrifice themselves voluntarily for others"

"Yes, I admit you surprised me this time" Willow said. She couldn't help but feel proud for Luz, who had made a truly courageous gesture that wasn't typical of everyone; but nevertheless she sternly tapped a paw on her cheek and said to her: "But in any case you behaved like a complete irresponsible person! Next time, think before you act!"

"Come on, Willow, can't you cut her some slack?" Gus told her climbing onto Luz's shoulder. "Im the end she showed herself to be very courageous and judicious"

"Are you serious!? 'Judicious' my ass! I remind you that she got into this trouble because she disobeyed Camila and skipped school!" Willow protested, not without reason.

"Oh, come on! Everything worked out for the best in the end..." Luz tried to justify herself. "And then in life you have to take some risks, right?"

"Not when you put yourself or others in danger! I almost got crushed because of you!" Willow exclaimed.

"You're right, and I'm sorry about that... but you were extraordinary!" Luz said admiringly. "I mean, why were you so scared to leave the house? You punched that masked guy right in the eyes! You were a force of nature! I've never seen anything more incredible!"

"Seriously? You are a puppet that talk and walk like a real person and you claim that seeing a cricket beating a man is an incredible thing?" Willow grumbled, but she had to admit that Luz wasn't entirely wrong. She didn't know what had happened to her a few minutes ago; she had acted instinctively to protect her friends, but she hadn't expected to have so much strength. Maybe all the time she had spent taking care of the plant where she lived, pulling weeds from the ground and cutting and moving twigs, had made her stronger than she thought. However, she didn't have any dreams of glory and remained with her feet on the ground: "And by the way, I'm pretty sure you also saw the part where they were about to kill me and Gus! Does that seem incredible to you too?"

Bump burst out laughing, interrupting their little argument. Luz thought the man's laugh was rather sweet, a far cry from his intimidating appearance. "Sorry" Bump said when he stopped laughing. "But looking at you brings back certain memories. You're just like that young orange-haired fairy who almost got me fired and like her red-haired sister who scolded her for twenty minutes after that event"

"An orange-haired fairy?" Luz repeated confused.

"Oh, yes, it was many years ago, when this circus still belonged to the old owner, Mr. Faust. I was employed by him and had to take care of security... but that young fairy came here one day and made a real mess. Obviously she didn't do anything wrong, it was just harmless pranks; you know, fairies have always a good personality, it's their nature. But the old Faust didn't like even the simplest prank" Bump explained. "I had to negotiate a lot with him that day to prevent him from skinning that poor girl alive... fortunately after a long series of vicissitudes, which also included my imminent dismissal strictly without severance pay, that fairy demonstrated that in reality her pranks and tricks had attracted more clients and made many customers happy, and so Faust agreed to let her go and let me keep my job. When that fairy's older sister came to get her and found out what had happened she scolded her in the same way with which that cricket is now dealing with you". The devil-like creature jumped onto his shoulder. "That fairy came years later to give me this as a thank you. It is a Palisman, or, in common parlance, a magic wand. With it I was able to perform many magic shows before I became too old to move my arms quickly to do spells and therefore I was forced to retire"

Under Luz's amazed gaze, the little devil twisted and shrank and its tail turned into a stick, until it resembled a classic magic wand in every way. "Wow... that's really nice!" she exclaimed with shining eyes, taking the wand in her hand and admiring it. "That fairy must have been truly extraordinary..."

"Oh, believe me she was. She was unorthodox perhaps, but very good and kind and she always helped others... in her own way. In a way she made me rediscover how good my job was... after she went away from here" Bump chuckled. "Although somewhere I should still have the list of all the pranks she pulled when she came here, which I have treasured and... uh? What is it, little one?"

The wand had turned into a little devil in Luz's hands and had jumped onto Bump's shoulder again, and it was now making strange sounds. "Uh. That's interesting" the man said. "He says you're made of the same wood as him"

Luz's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? So I'm made of... magic wood?"

"It's called Palistrom wood. And yes, apparently you're made of that" Bump answered, and the little devil said something else in his ear. "But he also says that you are strange. You have the magic of Palistrom wood inside you, but it is not what animates you. He says that he can clearly feel the magic of a fairy inside you"

Luz was taken aback by that revelation. She looked at her hands in amazement. "So... I have the magic of a fairy inside me? But... what does that mean...?"

"Um… about that... we have the answer" Gus said, raising a paw and looking at Willow, who nodded slightly. "Sorry, Luz, we wanted to tell you about it when the time was right but... given the situation, we might as well tell you now"

"Tell me what?" Luz asked more and more confused.

Willow sighed. How were they supposed to explain it to her now? In the end she simply chose to be direct. "The night after Camila built you... a fairy entered your mother's house. From what we understand she was looking for the Palistrom wood that Camila had used to create you, but when she saw that she had used it to build a puppet, and after sensing how alone your mother felt, she decided to give her a gift and touched you with her magic wand. From that moment you... started breathing"

Luz remained silent for a few moments, and from her look it was clear that she was having a lot of difficulty digesting that revelation. "So… I was brought to life by a fairy?"

"Technically the fairy said you were already alive because you were made of Palistrom wood. You just needed a nudge or something" Gus said. "I don't know, she wasn't exactly clear"

Those words confused Luz even more. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"We didn't even know how to introduce the topic" Willow answered with a bit of embarrassment. She felt guilty for keeping that information a secret from Luz, even if only for a couple of days, but in her defense she hadn't done it out of malice.

"Yeah, how were we supposed to tell you? 'Hey, Luz, we have some news: you were created by Camila with a magical wood that then a fairy who didn't seem very trustworthy brought to life!'. We weren't sure how you would react" Gus said. He felt a little guilty too.

Luz was silent for a few more moments, then she said: "So... do I have powers?"

Both Willow and Gus rolled their eyes. "What?"

"I was made from magical wood and brought to life by a fairy! Does this mean I have powers?" Luz started to say in an increasingly faster and more excited voice. "Can I fly? Do magic? Maybe summon extraordinary creatures and...?"

"Seriously!? We just told you the secret of your birth, and the only thing you care about is whether you have supernatural abilities!?" Willow exclaimed in exasperation. It was good that Luz took the news well... but come on, there was a limit to how much a person could have their head in the clouds! "And we don't know anyway, the fairy didn't say anything about it"

"Really?" Luz asked with a bit of disappointment. "I can't even generate a little flame from my fingers?"

"You're made of wood! Why would you want to generate a flame from your fingers!?" Willow screamed. "And besides, I don't think a career as an arsonist is well accepted by society! You are really a bad girl!"

Bump smiled when he saw that scene. Yes, it was exactly just like many years ago: Luz was very different in appearance from that fairy with the orange hair, but in terms of character they were not so different, even if she also showed sweeter and more altruistic traits. He wouldn't have been surprised at all if that one was the fairy who brought her to life. What was her name by the way? Edalyn Clawthorne, and her red-haired sister was Lilith, if he remembered correctly. Ah, he was getting lost in memories again... he was really getting old.

Just then one of his employees came over and whispered something in his ear, and he frowned. He coughed to bring his attention back to himself. "Um... Luz, I had Adeghast's quarters inspected, and in fact it seems that he used to take advantage of his shifts at the ticket office to deceive customers and steal objects from them. Unfortunately, however, your spelling book doesn't seem to be there... probably he has already resold it"

Luz's heart sank. "What!? But... but it was my spelling book! My mother sold her jacket to buy it for me!" she exclaimed on the verge of tears.

"Yes, I thought so. That's why I'm giving you these" Bump said, reaching into his pocket and taking out a pouch, from which he released five gold coins.

Luz was amazed and took them as if they were chicks. "But... but it's too much!" she said; she didn't know the value of money very well, but she was able to understand that if something was made of gold it must be very precious.

"It's just a small portion of my daily earnings. Consider it a gift from me" Bump replied. "Use them to buy your mother's jacket back and, above all, to buy yourself a new spelling book and any other books you need for school. I am a person who believes deeply in education, so it is not at all a displeasure for me to provide for yours"

Luz clutched the coins tightly as if she were afraid they would slip out of her hands, and then she hugged Bump again and almost kissed his robe. "Thank you, sir! You are truly a good person!"

"Yes, yes, of course. Just don't tell anyone" the circus owner; after all, he wanted to maintain his reputation as an authoritarian and insensitive asshole. "Now hurry; you still have an hour before it gets completely dark, so hurry back home"

"I will. Thanks so much again!" Luz replied, then she ran away from the tent and the circus towards her house.

Bump smiled again seeing her so happy. "I'd forgotten how nice it was to interact with kids, even the naughty ones. Maybe, now that Adeghast is no longer trustworthy, I could take his place as puppeteer. What do you say?" he asked turning to his little Palisman, who rubbed himself lovingly on his shoulder. "Yeah... I'm too old to do magic shows now, but you don't need agile movements to keep up with a puppet theater, right? Yes, I really think I'll do that. I've been away from those beautiful smiles for too long..."


In the original book Mangiafuoco gives five gold coins to Pinocchio after a whole night of celebrations because he is moved by the fact that Geppetto is poor. In this AU Bump, who plays the role of Mangiafuoco, does not wait a whole night but gives them to him immediately and not only out of moral scruple but also as compensation given that even if indirectly he is responsible for Adeghast's actions (being his boss), and also because he believes in education (obvious reference to the canon Bump)