Work Text:
Luz tosses another piece of junk over her shoulder and groans, addressing Eda.
“Do I really have to do this Eda? I swear I’m gonna give myself a disease sifting through all this.”
She’s half joking, but she’s knee deep in what feels like the twentieth dumpster of the day and she still hasn’t found anything worthwhile.
“It’s how I make my money, kid, deal with it or go back to Sector 13 with your mom.”
Luz shakes her head. “You know I can’t put any more burden on her, she’s barely scraping by as it is. I told her I’d support her and I will.”
She turns to look at Eda, who’s managed to salvage what looks like copper wire from the back of a decrepit and broken down surveillance drone. She seriously doesn’t know how Eda’s so good at finding so-called ‘treasure’ in all this junk, but chalks it up to experience. Either that, or Eda’s cybernetic hand is communicating with the scrap metal on a different wavelength and sending the signal back to Eda’s brain. She’s tempted to ask, but knows realistically that the correct answer is the former, no matter how much she wishes the latter were true, because that would be so cool.
Eda lifts up her sack, which is almost completely filled with different components. She meaningfully looks over to Luz’s sad, empty sack and looks back to the young woman.
“Well, quit yapping and keep searching. This shit ain’t gonna find itself.” She shakes her bag for emphasis. “You can take a break as soon as you’ve filled up at least a third of your sack. Maybe you can take a nap so you’re in a less crappy mood. Can’t have you scaring away our potential customers.”
Luz just sighs and digs her hands back into the junk, keeping her eyes peeled for anything glinting in the sunlight.
—
They make it back to their “humble abode” by nightfall, just before the surveillance drones take to the streets. One can only find the “humble abode” in question if they know their way through the alleys of Sector 23. If by chance one does know their way around, they would also have to be able to get past Eda’s reconfigured execution bot, Hooty.
Luz likes Hooty. He used to be a normal execution droid, an almost humanoid robot with arms, legs, and hands that held a giant gatling gun. Eda won’t tell Luz or her friends anything about it, but apparently back in her heyday she was set to be executed by Minister Belos’ personal execution squadron. Somehow she managed to escape, leaving with Hooty and a nasty scar that now runs down her left arm.
Raine says they were there, but by Eda’s wishes, won’t say anything either. Raine, Eda, and Luz live in a decrepit warehouse that Eda says she rents out, even though everyone knows she’s lying. Willow and Gus, Luz’s only friends, come around nearly every day, so much so that they’re basically a part of the family too. Luz has only been living there for a year, but she loves the rest of the house with her whole heart.
She used to live with her mom, Vee, and Hunter, but she knew she was just burdening the rest of them and wanted to venture out, find her purpose in life, and she did. Vee and Hunter got jobs in the workforce as soon as they were out of schooling. Luz had attempted to do the same, but no matter how hard she tried, she whiffed every interview she did. Her mom never stopped supporting her, but Luz knows that her mom was disappointed. She could feel it in her gaze, in her hugs, hidden in her words. She couldn’t take that feeling of disappointment and decided it was better for everyone involved if she went elsewhere.
Luz found Eda not one day after she left, and immediately told her two best friends about the new gig she’d found. Eda had made the work sound glorious. “You can help me search for treasure during the day and sell it at night”. Psh, bullshit.
Now Luz knows that it’s more work than it’s probably worth, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. She and Eda go out during the days, ‘hunting for treasure’, and bring it back so Willow can fix up whatever parts they scrounge into something usable (or at least usable enough to make it to the buyers’ houses before it breaks down, no returns!), and Gus can do bodywork on the bots to make them look pretty. They make a pretty good team, if she says so herself, and she couldn’t have been prouder of them all.
She goes to Willow and Gus to drop off her and Eda’s haul of the day, and Eda goes over to Raine to give them a kiss. Luz sits on the edge of Willow’s workbench and sighs dramatically, leaning back and getting directly in Willow’s way so she can’t do her work.
Willow smirks and ruffles Luz’s hair, taking the bait. “What’s up, Luz?”
Luz sighs loudly again, gesturing to Raine and Eda. “I wish I could be like them. The Soulmate Station is too expensive though. Eda also messed it up for the rest of us when she broke in to find her own soulmate, now the security’s super beefed up. There’s no way I’ll be able to know who I’m meant to be with” She throws her arm over her eyes.
Willow shakes her head, they’ve gone through this before. “Come on Luz, who knows? Maybe one of us will get lucky and we’ll have a rich soulmate who can afford an appointment and will come find us!” Willow’s being sarcastic of course, but she’s not blind, and she’s seen the way Luz and one of their regular customers interact.
Gus unhelpfully chimes in. “Too bad that will never happen, soulmate stations are way too expensive! We’ve got the Techsquad though, so who needs soulmates.” Yes, Gus calls their little family the “techsquad”. Yes, it’s embarrassing. Yes, everyone in the house allows it because Gus’ enthusiasm is too adorable to deny. Sue them.
Luz groans, flipping over so she’s face-down on the workbench. “Willow, can you rewire my brain to stop wanting a soulmate?”
Willow shoves Luz off the table, snickering. “No, and even if you were a robot, still no. I have standards, and will not be altering my friends’ brains. Now I say this with love, but get your ass up and grab the tent so we can head out and start selling my babies.”
Luz groans again, louder this time, just to annoy Willow. She gets up anyway, collecting the stuff she needs to set up their little stall out in the Night Market. She doesn’t do it because Willow said to, by the way. She does it of her own prerogative. She just won’t admit that it’s because of a certain green-haired patron.
Willow watches Luz start collecting their items with fervor, rolling her eyes when she catches Luz blushing at nothing in particular. When will the girl learn that she’s not subtle?
—
Amity sits dramatically on her windowsill, brooding. She spends a lot of her time in this position. She says it’s because it’s cathartic, but her twin siblings Edric and Emira tease her, saying it’s because she thinks she looks cool and mysterious. Why can’t it be both?
She really does enjoy the view. She looks through the window, watching the outer sectors. It’s past dusk, so there aren’t people milling around, but she can see the blue lights of the surveillance drones passing through the streets.
Contrary to popular belief, Amity has spent her fair share of time in the lower sectors. Her parents don’t know this, of course, but she’s not as much of a mindless drone as they want her to be. She might be a noble, but she has wants. She has needs. And right now, she needs to see her cute stallkeeper.
She pulls out her commlink and shoots off a message to Ed and Em. Within seconds they’re at her door.
“Do you really need to make us help you every time you go out? Your IOUs are really starting to stack up.” Em snarks, but she’s got a twinkle in her eye.
“It’s different this time. Before I go to the Night Market, I want to do something special.” Amity dangles the metaphorical bait in front of the twins’ faces, knowing they’ll bite.
Em just raises an eyebrow, but Ed is enthusiastically lured in. “What is it? Is it something illegal?” He drags the last word out, adding a spooky emphasis to it and wiggling his fingers at Amity.
She waves his fingers away, shaking her head. “No, nothing like that.” She takes a pause before saying her next thought, hoping her siblings don’t make fun of her for it.
“I want to find my soulmate.”
—
Amity wasn’t lying when she said it wasn’t illegal, but in the eyes of the Blight parents, using the Soulmate Station is for “peasantry”. Amity knows that’s not true, her friends have found their soulmates through the Soulmate Station before. Odalia Blight just thinks that she’s above everyone else, even other affluent families in Sector 1, because the Blights are “nobility”.
The twins have a theory that Odalia has a vendetta since she never got to be with her actual soulmate, but they don’t have a suggestion as to who that mysterious person is supposed to be. Amity’s theory is that Odalia wants to be able to marry her kids off to some rich snob instead of risking the chance of their soulmate being anyone of “lesser status”.
Regardless of what Odalia thinks, Amity is going to solidify who her soulmate is, and it’s going to be tonight. She has a rough idea of who it’s going to be, or at least who she wants it to be, and she needs to make sure before she rushes into anything.
Her siblings, who immediately agreed to help after hearing Amity’s request, had asked to come with her to the Station in return for providing her their services. Now, they’re sneaking down the streets of Sector 3, while the twins’ keep an eye on their bedrooms at home through their rigged commlinks.
Amity was confident when she told the twins she wanted to do this, but now she’s starting to gnaw on her lip, furrowing her brows. What if Luz isn’t actually her soulmate? What if it’s some random rich person, and she has to follow the mold her mother set up for her? What if it’s Boscha?!?
Ed and Em make eye contact from their positions on either side of Amity, and wrap their arms around her a second later. “Come on Amity, we all know it’s gonna be Luz. There’s no way you two cuties weren’t meant to be.”
That pulls a small smile out of Amity, she really wants them to be right. She never actually told them about Luz, but they followed her to the Market one night and they haven’t shut up about their “favorite ship” since then.
The Soulmate Station comes into view after a few more blocks and one more close miss with a security drone. Amity’s siblings smile and shove her inside, not wanting to risk her getting cold feet. She rolls her eyes but smiles, ready to find out who she’s meant to be with.
She walks out of the Soulmate Station a scant five minutes later, with a smile on her face. She knew it. Her smile doesn’t last long, however, as she bumps directly into a woman, who grabs onto her arm tightly, definitely leaving marks.
“Ow, who do you think- Mother?!”
“That’s right, Mittens,” Odalia snarls out the nickname like it’s dirt on her tongue. “I came to talk to you about a potential suitor, and imagine my surprise when your eyes turned black mid-conversation and you stopped responding.”
Amity vaguely registers hearing one of the twins mutter an expletive, but she’s too focused on her mother. She wants to marry Amity off? She’s not even 18, she doesn’t want to be shipped off to some random rich guy.
“But Edric and Emira didn’t have to get married off, why do I?” Amity knows she shouldn’t be questioning her mother, but she can’t help it.
“Because I said so, and that’s the end of it. Not to mention that you’re acting out. Sneaking out, Amity? I expect that of your siblings, but you too?”
Amity bristles. “This isn’t fair, Mother! I know my soulmate now-”
That was the wrong thing to bring up as Amity is strongly shown when the grip on her bicep disappears, replaced with a harsh stinging sensation across her left cheek and her head flinging to the side.
“Alright dear, that’s quite enough.” Alador, who had remained silent throughout this altercation, hidden behind his wife, finally made his voice known. “Amity, we expect a ten-page apology letter to be written as soon as you get back from our meeting with the potential suitor. And do not bring up your ‘soulmate’ ever again, we don’t know how the general public might react.”
Amity knows how the public would react. It’s a general rule of thumb not to interfere with soulmates. The one and only issue that having and knowing her soulmate would cause is just obstructing her mother from forcing her into some loveless marriage. And Amity suppose that’s something her mother would not allow.
So, she runs.
—
Amity makes it to Eda’s booth in record time. Eda opens her mouth to make a joke, but stops once she takes a good look at Amity’s red and tearstained face, then beckons her towards the door of their tent with her prosthetic hand.
Eda calls for Luz, who exits the tent with a wary look on her face.
“Holy shit, Amity!” Luz runs immediately to Amity’s side, tentatively reaching out her arms as if to hold her. She hesitates, and ultimately decides to simply stand in front of Amity, furrowing her brows and looking at the other girl’s face.
“What happened to you?” Luz’s eyes brim with tears, she’s always been too empathetic, but seeing her friends in pain always hit her the hardest.
As soon as the words leave Luz’s mouth, the tears restart their journey down Amity’s cheeks. “I just- My mom- She-“ Amity chokes on a sob and wraps her arms around Luz.
Luz slowly brings her hands up to embrace Amity in return, but as soon as they reach prime hugging position, klaxons blare throughout the city.
A robotic voice drones out around the city, loud enough to be heard even from the far outcrops of Sector 24.
“Citizens, be on alert. The daughter of House Blight, Amity Blight, has been kidnapped. Guards are on alert, and will be apprehending this kidnapper as soon as possible. If any citizens have any tips, send word to your nearest sentinel. You will be compensated for your help.”
This voice drones on, repeating itself for anyone who may not have heard it the first or second time. Amity’s sobs hitch to a stop, and she whips her head up to meet Luz’s eyes.
“Shit, Luz. This has to be some sort of extra punishment, I’m so sorry, I’ll turn myself in.”
Luz widens her eyes and just shakes her head. “Absolutely not, look at yourself! You’re staying here, away from them, please.”
Eda cuts in. “Alright girls, this is cute and all, but I’m pretty sure I just saw Tibbles scamper around the corner, most likely trying to get his grubby mitts on that compensation money. You guys go back in the tent, and when the guards come, I’ll give myself up. I’ve made it out of this kinda thing before.”
Luz balks and separates herself from Amity, waving her arms around like that will change Eda’s mind. “No! No, Eda, Amity’s my friend and I’m not going to put you in danger! I’m not gonna put any of you in danger, I’ll go instead.”
As much as Luz wants to come up with a better plan, they hear the heavy boots of the sentinels approaching.
A group of heavily armored sentinels round the corner, fanning out, creating an imposing image for Luz and her family. The guards were holding large guns, and a few were holding wicked-looking swords. Luz has had a few run-ins with them before, but she’s never seen those swords before. Their blades were made of metal and they looked sharp enough to cut a fly in half, while also being big enough to chop down a tree. The sight of them sends shivers up Luz’s spine, and she’s sure the others feel the same.
One sentinel steps forward, his helmet a lighter shade of grey than the others. “Stand down, kidnapper. Hand over Amity Blight now, and your sentence may be reduced from 100 years in the prisons to 98 years.”
Luz rolls her eyes at that. “Come on, you gotta make a better deal than that if you really want me to cooperate.”
“Fine. If you don’t cause any ruckus, we’ll do 95 years instead.”
Luz hums and pretends to think about that, “Hmm… no.”
The head sentinel raises his gun. “How about I just shoot you and then you don’t have to deal with any time in prison?”
Luz doesn’t have time to come up with a witty retort before Eda tries to jump into action. The guard swivels his gun to aim at Eda instead so Luz springs forward and shoves the rifle just as it goes off.
Instead of hitting Eda, the bullets hit another member of the guards, causing him to go down in a spray of blood.
Oh god. She’s gotten in several fights and definitely caused her fair share of wounds, but she’s never actually killed anyone. Bile claws it’s way up her throat and she has to hold herself back from retching on the guard in front of her.
The guard looks between her and the fallen soldier, and apparently decides that enough is enough, slamming the butt of his rifle into Luz’s temple and sending her into the realm of unconsciousness.
—
Luz is led up onto a stage-like platform for the public to see. She’s got chains connecting her wrists and her ankles, dragging along behind her as she walks. Every time she slows down, the guard behind her stabs the end of his gun into the small of her back. The platform is big, and she’s hurt and out-of-sorts, so she gets that reminder more than a few times. She can hear the murmurs of the citizens surrounding the platform, but she can’t make out any words. She doesn’t feel good, and she knows she looks just as bad as she feels.
She gets to the center of the platform and faces what she assumes to be the execution squadron, her head too clouded to trigger any fight or flight response.
Minister Belos himself is standing somewhat behind the squadron, watching on with a stoic look upon his wrinkled and scarred face. Odalia Blight is standing to the right of him, holding Amity with a tight grip on her shoulder.
Amity. Luz’s brain clears for a second when she catches sight of the other girl. Amity looks so afraid, her golden eyes filled to the brim with worry and tears.
Luz’s eyes sweep to the audience and she swears she can see her family amongst the crowd. Not just her mom and siblings, but her found family as well. Eda in particular stands out in the crowd, her mane of hair basically a beacon for Luz’s eyes to follow.
The Minister starts addressing the crowd, but Luz just groans and hangs her head. It hurts so much. Her whole body hurts. She just wants to get this over with, there’s nothing more she can do.
“… And for her crime of murdering an innocent sentinel, Luz Noceda shall be put to death.” Luz’s vision starts to blur.
“No!” Luz lifts her head to see Amity struggling out of her mother’s grip. “No, you can’t kill her, she’s my soulmate!”
Luz’s jaw drops, as well as everyone watching. As her brain tries to filter what just happened, a thought flits through. This audience is getting one hell of a show.
The Minister and Amity’s mother seem to be the only unaffected watchers, making Luz clumsily think that they already knew somehow.
“Then as her soulmate, and apparent accessory to this murder, feel free to join Ms. Luz Noceda on the platform.”
Amity looks surprised, her eyes widening for a second before they harden with determination, and she squares her shoulders before walking promptly to join Luz in front of the squadron and the crowd.
“If this is how it must go, then at least I’ll be with her until the end.”
Luz makes eye contact with Amity and musters up a smile for her. Amity smiles back, seemingly relieved about finally letting Luz know their shared truth.
Minister Belos starts the countdown for the execution squad to fire.
Luz doesn’t pay the Minister any mind at this point, wholly paying attention to Amity and only Amity. Something catches her eye as Belos reaches the end of the countdown. Amity’s golden eyes, green hair, and, for some reason, Eda’s mane of grey hair breaking onto the stage are the last things Luz sees before she hears gunshots and it all goes black.