Unto Dust, Chapter 1
Lucy Ann was nothing if not a survivor. After weeks of being on the run from the Angel, she was looking forward to getting back to her life of wandering the world, and relaxing in the sun.
But this time, it may not be so easy for things to go back to normal.
See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.
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Lucy Ann didn’t have a ‘home’ necessarily. She’d had houses, sure - especially after the Transcendence when she stopped having to come up with an excuse about why she looked like an eternal six year old - but houses weren’t always where she felt the most comfortable. She liked being out on the road, bouncing from village to village, never staying long enough to draw an unwanted eye.
Sometimes though, staying in a nice, air conditioned house was all she wanted in life. Lucy Ann woke up in a nice bed, wandered over to a fridge with an ice maker, and put a couple cubes in her blood before wandering out to the balcony.
Thank god for the Dinner Crew. She didn’t even know the people running it this century, but all she had to do was show up at Portland and suddenly a friendly fairy was letting her crash at their condo for a few weeks. How great was that?
She stared down, down at the blue, blue pool in the middle of the complex.
It really was great, she thought. These past few months, she’d kind of… forgotten how it felt, to relax. She’d been running from that angel for so long, it felt good to slow down for a while.
To breathe.
To enjoy, this.
Lucy Ann smiled, swirled the blood around her glass, and then drank it all. She rinsed out the cup, put it in the dishwasher, and stood there for a second, thinking.
It was a nice day outside. Maybe she’d go sit by the pool for a little.
After raiding the towel closet, Lucy Ann made her way to the door and unlocked the latch. Sunlight hit her as she opened the door - a funny feeling, sunlight. It hadn’t hurt her for eons, but there was still a subtle tingling across her skin, a thrill to it that she kind of liked. It was like humans eating spicy food, she’d say; it was fun to feel just a little bit in danger.
She closed the door, locked it behind her, and started down the steps, scratching her right wrist. The pool gate required yet another key, but she didn’t bother; with a lazy jump she grabbed the top of the fence and swung herself over.
“No humans,” Lucy Ann murmured as she looked around. “Sweet.” She tossed her towel onto the nearest recliner, and gave a long stretch. A yawn rose out of her; she opened her mouth wide, her fangs catching the light for a second before she covered them with her hand.
Her hand, it itched a bit. It felt like the heat of the sun was pooling onto that one spot just over her wrist, and somewhere in the back of her mind it did seem strange… but she was settling down into her recliner, shifting around to get comfortable. She crossed her other hand over it as she closed her eyes - but almost immediately she was itching at it again.
Under her eyelids, she frowned a bit. This felt like the rash she got from eating garlic; there hadn’t been any leftovers in the fridge, right? She tried to ignore it, tried to stop scratching and just relax, but it didn’t stop itching. In fact, it seemed to get worse; the itch built and built, and the funny tingling started to feel like little needles jabbing themselves into her wrist, and the heat slowly rose like the sun was warming it, the sun was heating it, the sun was-
Lucy Ann’s eyes shot open, and she looked down in horror to see the skin of her wrist curling up into ashen flecks like parchment on a bonfire. She was burning - oh, shit , she was burning!
With a strangled yelp she grabbed for her towel - it was under her, and she toppled out of the recliner in the rush to cover herself in it. There, huddled on the tile with the sun’s light still glowing through her thin towel, Lucy Ann tried to get ahold of herself.
Okay… shit, okay. She was fine, she wasn’t burning - her one foot sticking out of the towel didn’t hurt at all. But her wrist… Lucy Ann bit down a curse as she tried to move it. It felt like white hot metal had been rammed right through it, and with every second that passed the pain only seemed to intensify; what the hell was wrong with it?
“Gotta get inside,” Lucy Ann muttered. She slipped the towel off her head, and started to wrap it around her wrist. “Agh, I gotta get out of here!”
She tied the towel tight around her arm, and made for the gate. Still locked; she jumped up, caught the top with one hand, and rattled the whole fence as she struggled over. Landing with a stumble, she started up the steps back to the apartment, keeping a tight grip on the towel - it was already coming loose. She got to the door and dug around in her pockets for the key; come on, come on, she just had it a second ago… there!
A twist and she was through; Lucy Ann slammed the door behind her and sank against the frame. She was breathing hard - the fear really hit her now, and it only intensified when she caught the pungent, acrid stench of burnt flesh - it was coming from under the towel, and…
And god, Lucy Ann didn’t want to look. She froze just before she took it off, and glanced around the room; the big glass windows that made the place feel so bright and open, they felt like threats now. She quickly drew the blinds, and in the darkness she sat on the couch, unraveled the towel, and forced herself to look.
“Shit,” Lucy Ann spoke in an undertone. “Shit.”
It was unmistakable: her wrist had burned in the sun as easily as a newborn vampire. It was a bad burn as well, a deep, angry divot carved out of her wrist, and four shallower points climbing up the back of her hand. And before her eyes it was still crumbling, still coming off in grey flecks that hung in the air, slowly disintegrating into a single, defined shape that took her breath away.
The shape of a hand.
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“Come on…”
Night was falling outside, but the curtains were still drawn. Lucy Ann huddled against the island counter, wincing as she leaned over a chalk circle to light the candles. Her burned hand was wrapped in beach towels, and though she tried to keep it still it screamed with the slightest movement. Worse still, though, was the infernal itching that had flared up around the edges - oh, it felt like it was still on fire! Once the candles were lit, Lucy Ann hugged her other arm around her chest just to stop herself from scratching.
“Fucking hell…” She muttered, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. “Fucking angel. Fucking Noie… I’m gonna fucking kill her, fuck! Come on, Alcor, why can’t you just fucking pick up for once in your stupid little…”
She trailed off into a stream of muttered curses, rocking a little as the itching somehow intensified. She didn’t even know half of what she was saying; all she knew was this was the second time she’d drawn this goddamn circle, the second time she’d lit his fucking candles, and if he didn’t pick up right now she was actually going to kill him.
“Te invoco…” She started, hissing through gritted teeth. “ Ut, ut facias voluntatem meam… Dico, nomen tuum: Alcor. Come on!”
Just like earlier, the circle began to glow, and Lucy Ann braced herself for another answering machine. She watched as a blob of inky darkness gathered in the center, growing larger, but not yet taking any form. For one terrible moment it just lingered there… but then, finally, she could feel the change in the air as he seemed to take notice of her. All the theatrics dropped; the glow of the circle cut out, and Alcor popped into existence as a little kid with wide golden eyes.
“Lucy Ann?” He looked her up and down, and blinked. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“Glad you finally noticed!” Lucy Ann snapped back. “You know, I thought you’d actually start picking up my calls again after that angel nearly got me! What the hell, man!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He put his hands up. “I heard you, I-I meant to come, but, Noie, she-”
“Oh, fuck Noie, I don’t want to hear about her! You need to fix this, okay!”
She stabbed a finger at her arm, and Alcor nodded quickly, kneeling down. “Okay, okay, uh, what happened?”
“My hand burned in the sun - the angel did something to me!” She winced as he unwrapped it. “Agh, careful! Still hurts like hell.”
“Burned in the sun?” He lifted off the last layer, and sucked in a breath at the shape of a hand. “Oh. That’s… I thought I healed that.”
“Yeah, me too, asshole! Can you do it right this time?”
“No, I mean-” Alcor started, but he took one look at Lucy Ann and shut his mouth. “Sorry. I’ll fix it up now, hang on.”
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and laid a hand on top of the burn. For a split second it hurt worse than ever, and Lucy Ann took in a sharp breath… and then let it out in a sigh of sheer relief as the agony drained away.
“Oh…” She slumped forwards a little as he removed his hand, all the tension in her shoulders dropping at once. “Oh, that feels so much better. Oh, wow. Thanks, Alcor.”
Alcor gave a guilty grin. “I’m sorry I took so long. That looked awful.”
“ Stars, you have no idea.” She ran her fingers over the healed skin, her own smile shrinking a little. “I don’t get how he did that. I saw you heal it, and it was fine until I went in the sun, and then… eesh.”
“Yeah.” Alcor shuddered. “He didn’t just burn you, he marked you in some way. I didn’t see it the first time I healed you, but I think I got it now.”
Lucy Ann paused. She looked up at him. “What do you mean, you think?”
“Uh…”
“You fixed it, right?” She watched his smile twist in on itself. “Alcor, you fixed it, right? Because I don’t ever want this to happen again.”
“I… I’m pretty sure I did-”
“Alcor, I swear-”
“Look, angel magic, it’s weird, okay!” His wings fluttered nervously as he tried to find the words. “It’s like, sort of demon proof? I’d need a serious deal to get rid of it entirely, so I just kind of… covered it up? Like, uh, magic sunscreen!”
He tried for a smile at that, but Lucy Ann wasn’t laughing. “So, what? Am I gonna burn in the sun or not?”
“I don’t think so?” He looked towards the blinds. “But maybe we should test it out first.”
Lucy Ann followed his gaze, and found herself backing away. “Are you kidding me? I’m not gonna play guinea pig here - that fucking hurt! You seriously can’t just get rid of it?” She watched as his shoulders came up, as his eyes suddenly struggled to meet her own. “What kind of deal would it take?”
He didn’t answer at first; the question hung heavy in the air between them… then he gave a helpless shrug. It was all the answer she needed.
“A soul,” she breathed, and covered her hand. “You… really need that just for this?”
“He wanted to punish you, Lucy Ann,” Alcor spoke quietly, his eyes fixed to the floor. “He wanted to make you fear the light again. I can feel it in his magic, I can feel how much he hated you.” Alcor shook his head, and let out a sigh. “This is all my fault. I should’ve, I should’ve been there. I’m sorry, Lucy Ann - I-I really am. I really messed up.”
Lucy Ann made a face. “It’s fine, Alcor-“
“No, I-I…” His voice was shaky now; golden tears were suddenly springing from his eyes. “I messed th-this all up, I-I’ve been a t-terrible friend, a terrible brother, I-I’ve been a m-monster!”
“Whoa!” Lucy Ann recoiled a bit as he started sobbing into his hands; after a moment she sighed, and patted his shoulder. “Hey, calm down, okay? What happened?”
He just shook his head; after a moment he threw his arms around her and cried into her shoulder. She tensed up, but let him have it.
“Oh-kay,” she said. “It’s, uh, it’s gonna be alright.”
“She’s g-g-on-na ha-te m-me…”
“She’s not gonna hate you.” Lucy Ann tried not to roll her eyes. “Noie, uh, really cares about you… has a funny way of showing it, but she does.”
“But I r-uined h-her li-ife, sh-she doesn’t even want to h-hear it! I-I can’t stand it, sh-she wants me to just keep going like e-everything’s normal, like I didn’t kill her dad!”
Lucy Ann sucked in a breath. “Oof. That’s, uh… that’s complicated.” She gave him a light hug, then firmly pushed him back onto his feet. “But hey, it’s gonna be okay, dude. We’ve all killed someone we didn’t mean to before, alright? You’re gonna get past this.”
Alcor sniffed. “Really?”
“Yeah. Come on, big guy, chin up.”
He nodded to himself, and took a deep, shuddering breath. “Okay… o-okay, I’m okay. I’m okay.” A hard swallow, and then a smile. “Sorry, I… you summoned me for help, and here I am dumping all this on you, hah!”
Lucy Ann just shrugged obliquely, but he didn’t seem to notice; he blinked, and glanced back towards the circle.
“Oh,” he said, quietly. “She’s, uh, calling me again.”
“Noie?” Lucy Ann watched him look back at her, a question forming on his lips, and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure, go.”
“Are you sure? I didn’t mean to ignore you, Lucy Ann, if you need me to stay-”
“Need you to stay?” She snorted. “I’m not a preschooler, Al.”
“But-”
“Look, you fixed it, it’s fine.” She waved him off. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
“But-”
“I’ll see you later.” She stared him down until he backed away. “Okay?”
He cringed. “Okay… but if you need anything, just call me, okay? I promise I’ll be better about answering-”
“Yeah, yeah, sure, sounds good…” She crossed her arms as he turned back towards the circle. “Bye, Alcor. And, ah, tell Noie hi from me, will you?”
“Okay, okay… wait, really?”
Lucy Ann gave a toothy grin. “No, obviously. I was just messing with you.”
Alcor gave an uncomfortable laugh at that, and then with a final wave he vanished from the room. The candles all went out with him, and in the darkness, six wisps of smoke steadily rose from the wicks.
In the darkness, Lucy Ann’s grin faded from her face, and she took a deep breath. Her hand - she brought it up to her eyes, traced along the healed skin once more with her fingers.
Did it feel any different? If she thought about it, it almost felt like there was a tingling there, just the slightest sensation that sent a shiver through her whole body. Maybe she was just imagining it; maybe she was just remembering the pain, the burning, twisting agony that reached all the way up her shoulder like a hand wrapped around and wrenching on her raw nerves, like a hand, like a hand…
Lucy Ann took a sharp breath in, and shook her head. She was just freaking herself out - it was fine, she didn’t feel anything. It was fine.
She glared at the light switch across the room; after a moment she stalked over, turned it on, and squinted as the lights came on. She hated the way she suddenly felt so exposed, how she wanted to cover over her hand as the darkness fell away… but see? It was fine! She wasn’t burning - she was fine! She could go back to doing whatever she wanted!
A deep breath, in, and out. Lucy Ann glanced towards the drawn blinds, and the darkness beyond them. After a moment, she wandered over, pulled the corner back, and stared down at the pool, at the one crooked recliner at the edge of the water.
She was fine… but she didn’t go outside. After a moment, she drew the blinds again, sighed, and went to fix herself a drink.
