Chapter Text
‘And so set out, did brave Azura, through Whispering Woods, filled with thorny bramblles (Note to self: Mildew, remember to check dictionary for spelling before final publishing) and twisting vines. Yet armed with her trusty staff and a map from her new friend, the Elderwitch, she persevered-’
Luz Noceda giggled as she jumped over a patch of mud on her way through the forest. The fan group where she hung out online had exploded over the editing mistake, with Luz especially giggling how their favorite author could miss both an obvious spelling error and the giant note alongside it, and had started to find it being referenced in the tags of her favorite Azura fics. The girl couldn’t wait to add to it with her own works.
Luz’s engrossment in once again rereading of her favorite novel was halted by walking into a tree branch, with it bopping her on the forehead as she held her face firmly in the book. She yelped, and steadied herself. “I really need to stop doing that”, she muttered as she looked at the trees looming over her.
The vibrant green leaves sheltered her from the midday sun. As she squinted, she could just see the tips turning yellow, the first signs of fall showing.
Luz grinned. In just a couple weeks, the leaves would be fluttering down, and Mom would be paying her a whole twenty dollars to rake them up and out of the backyard. (Luz dreaded her teasing about making it just one of her normal chores now that she was ten and “a big girl”. Luz could never tell if she was joking or not.) It never took Luz more than a day to clean them up, even after cleaning up the mess left after jumping in the piles with Da–
The girl’s smile faded for a moment before reappearing with only a hint of strain.
No, she wasn’t going to let those feelings ruin her exploring and adventuring for the first time in weeks. Since that week.
Luz stared down at her The Good Witch Azura, and took in a deep breath.
Dad gave her the coolest book in the world. She was going to make an adventure out of it, just like Azura.
Luz let out a sigh, and the strain at the corner of her lips faded. She wandered deeper into the woods of Gravesfield, on a grand expedition, searching for adventure and magic. A tale that would span years! (or at least til dinnertime, where Mami expected her butt at the table before the food got there)
Luz knew that wherever her quest took her, she would find something wonderful.
***
Luz wasn't sure what she found counted.
The girl stood at the edge of a large misty pond hidden deep in the woods, the water murky and filled with algae. Luz had to step back so as to not sink into the soft mud.
Normally, Luz would be thrilled to find something like this. A mysterious secret pond? Luz could spend weeks here practicing her sketches, maybe even trying out her new watercolor set she got for her birthday! She could just imagine the sun shining down on the water, turning into a glittering festival of fairies or maybe a hidden hoard of gems for a friendly dragon!
However, the tombstones somewhat ruined the image.
Surrounding the rim of the pond, the trees, and even under the water lay dozens of haphazardly placed graves, cold and gray. None of them held a name, which Luz had first thought to be due to how old and uncared for this place seemed. However, when she looked closer, she realized that the stones were completely blank, no sign of a nameplate or anything ever having been carved there.
Whoever all these people had been, it looked like no one bothered to grant the dead even that simple courtesy, whether out of apathy or malice.
It –for lack of a better way of saying it– was really bumming Luz out.
This is depressing, thought Luz. Why wouldn’t someone take the time to write the names down?
Luz then thought back to her history class’s program on ‘Local History’, where the teacher had gone over the lore of Old Gravesfield, a town swept up in a panic over foul witchcraft a good deal earlier than most colonial towns in the 16th century. He talked about how nearly a hundred were found guilty of “conspiring with the devil”, (which usually meant being a lady who owned a cat, wasn’t married, or failing to pretend that other girls aren’t pretty, which Luz took particular offense, because look at them!) and were locked away. The teacher never went into what happened after being locked up, so an excited Luz had begged her mom to drive her to the Gravesfield Historical Society to learn more.
That little field trip (“a Gravesfield trip?” Luz had asked) ended with the older having regretted not asking what exactly her daughter had wanted to learn there, and the younger having nightmares for the next few days about angry old men in robes, rope and daggers in hand chasing her through the woods.
Luz looked at the mass of headstones lining the area and wondered if this was where the colonials buried those people, without date or title. It dimmed her spirits even more.
This isn’t okay, simmered Luz. This isn’t right.
Luz turned around, ready to leave this place and call her adventure a bust, when she spotted bunches of tiny round flowers growing around a nearby tree. The small bulbs were white with what looked like little yellow crowns around the top. Luz walked over and kneeled down next to them.
For a moment Luz sat there, staring blankly ahead until her face scrunched up with all the determination a ten-year-old could muster.
If no one is gonna give these people some kindness, then I will.
***
Luz spent hours combing the woods for flowers, prowling around every stump, and stuffing every blossom into the flap of her hoodie. She then washed and plucked every stem so it looked pristine before laying one on each grave, using small stones from the pond to protect them from a stray breeze. Starting from the edge of the woods, and spiraling in, the number of old stones without a flower fell, until Luz found herself back at the pond, scrubbing the dirt out of her fingernails, winching as the scrapes from digging with her bare hands twinged in the water.
“But it was worth it,” said Luz, heart feeling light and warm. She had been able to give this place a little light. Her Mami would be proud of that.
Luz sat up from the edge of the pond, ready to head home, when she thought she could see the shape of something through the mist on the pond. She squinted, hoping to make out what it was.
Before her, in the center of the pond was a small island with more graves, though she thought she could see some writing on those tablets. In the center was a large stone mausoleum, where a single grave stood covered by a tall archway.
Luz couldn’t believe the mist could have hidden such a thing. She had been there for hours, and hadn’t seen a glimpse of it. Her mind raced to her stories of secret glades and waterfalls hiding magical trinkets.
Luz looked for a way over to the island that wouldn’t end in a talking to about ruining her clothes. However, finding none, the girl simply accepted that this minor punishment would be worth it for the greater good.
And by greater good, she meant her curiosity being sated.
Luz jumped into the surprisingly deep water, swam over, and climbed up onto the small island.
Looking at the graves, there were indeed carvings on these tombstones, though none of the names stood out to Luz. A few had other things written on theirs, like God-Fearing Man or Warrior Against Evil.
Luz shuddered. She had a guess as to why these ones got names and a place in this place while the others didn’t.
Luz stepped up to the archway, and peered at the center grave.
~~~
Caleb Witterbane Phillip Witterbane
Lost to the darkness, but never forgotten.
~~~
Luz recognized those names from the statue near the center of town. Why would they have a statue, yet their grave be so… untended? And there was a sizable gash on the top corner. It didn’t look like debris was anywhere to be found, and Luz didn’t see anything that could have fallen on it.
Luz stepped back to see if any part of the archway looked like it was missing something that could have fallen, and was unprepared when something solid underneath her foot rolled, causing her to lose her balance and dunk her head into the pond.
Luz launched back up, sputtering. “Ack, cough water up my nose! cough”
Luz’s eyes darted around, searching for whatever had caused her to stumble, eventually catching a glint of light in the dirt. It looked like glass.
Luz crawled over and brushed aside the debris, to find a small glass vial. It was stoppered by a wooden plug whittled to look like an owl head. Inside was some liquid, as blue as midnight, with lighter shaded bubbles floating with it. Luz could feel warmth radiating from the bottle, even though she felt the wet grass and dirt were chilly from the mist.
“What are you, little guy? You look like you’ve been here a long time from all the scratches.”
Luz looked to her book, still sitting on a rock away from the water so as not to risk it getting soaked. A thought flashed across her mind. She looked closer at the vial and saw a dim blue light shining from the contents inside.
“Is this..?”
Magic.
Luz immediately stood up and squeed.
“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I actually found something! Oh I have to run tests on it at home! I have to find out what it does!”
Quick as can be, Luz dove into the water and swam back over to the forest side, and grabbed her book, ready to run back home as fast as she could.
“Maybe it's a magic potion that lets you make snowballs out of thin air! Or see into the future! Or turn you into a fluffy little owl baby!”
Before Luz fully dashed off babbling to herself about owls and magic, she remembered where she was, and turned back to the burial grounds, composing herself.
“Um, is it okay if I take this? I promise I’ll be good with it. I just wanna find out what it does.”
Luz waited a moment, and certain that no vengeful ghosts were going to come after her for stealing their treasure, dashed off back home, where she would study this new item.
And eat dinner. That too.