Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

luka couffaine.

he’s 15- young enough to stay with his mother, but old enough to start helping his family out with work.

he has five younger siblings: juleka, hanna, theo, ryder and shawn. they usually stay at home, but since juleka is the oldest out of them, she watches them while luka is out and about selling charcoal.

(their father died soon after ryder was born. but it’s okay, because luka was old enough to help by then. sometimes he just wishes that maybe that wasn’t the case.)

they live a normal, peaceful life up on a mountain.

it’s not much but luka is happy. he will always be happy. no matter what.

because he gets to see everyone smile when he gets home from town, he gets to hug his little siblings and say hello to his mom as she cooks them dinner with the resources he buys from town.

one day, it’s darker than usual and the snow pours down from the heavens as if god himself threw it out of a bucket. luka says goodbye to his siblings, juleka smiling shyly as she holds ryder close to her chest. shawn and hanna whine to maman; they want to follow luka down to the town.

“i’ll be back later today,” he assures them, giving hanna a kiss on the forehead and ruffling shawn’s hair. “then we can all have dinner together, and i’ll tell you a bedtime story before you sleep. okay?”

hanna and shawn share a sad look before nodding and smothering luka in another hug.

“when you get back,” a voice behind him says, “can you chop wood with me, luka?”

luka turns to theo, who’s holding an axe hazardously over his shoulder. they’d all given up long ago telling him to be careful with it; it’s rather obvious he won’t hurt himself.

“of course, theo,” luka chuckles, punching his brother lightly in the shoulder. “good-bye, ma, everyone.”

“bye!”

“bye, luka!”

“stay safe!”

he smiles once more to himself before beginning the trek down the mountain into town. he’ll be fine; he’s done this plenty of times.

everyone in town knows luka couffaine.

they all know him for different things, though- some know him for his ability to ‘read’ others with music, with their soul songs (as his siblings have dubbed it). some know him just as the kind boy from up the mountain. others know him as a strange kid.

he doesn’t mind, though. so long as he can continue to make everyone happy in his own way.

luka walks down the streets, selling charcoal so that everyone can have a winters’ night with their bellies full and hearts warm. he sorts out mr ramier and mr raincomprix (they’re always fighting, see) and he helps ms chamack carry her groceries into her house. he laughs as manon, ms chamack’s daughter, tries to help too.

everyone in town knows luka couffaine, as the kind, gentle boy with the many younger siblings. he’s regarded as a hero of their own. who needs a superhero when they can have a generous boy eager to help?

near the end of the day, luka’s basket is empty and his feet are cold. he starts the long trek back up the mountain, eager to see the smiles of his family once more.

the moon rises fast up ahead; the light glinting off his earrings.

it’s getting late, later than safe.

“luka!”

he turns towards the voice, and sees old ms bustier waving from outside her little house.

“are you going back up the mountain now?”

luka nods. “i’ll be fine. i can hear my mother’s melody from down here, i can follow it home.”

ms bustier shakes her head, gesturing for luka to come inside. “no, no. you can stay here for the night. it’s late.”

he contemplates for a moment- on one hand, it is rather late, and though he might not lose his way, he’ll be incredibly tired when he gets back.

on the other hand, there is his family to go home to.

ms bustier makes the decision for him as she firmly (but gently) tugs him inside, where a warm waft of air catches him like a pillow at night. “come, now. before the demons show up.”

demons?

luka takes a grateful sip of the soup ms bustier’s left for him. “thank you for the meal, ms bustier.”

she waves her hand dismissively, her eyes still trained outside the window. then ms bustier blinks, and moves to make a bed for luka.

“if i may…what are the demons like?”

ms bustier doesn’t look up. “man-eating demons, they prowl the nights and hide in day. you shouldn’t be up too late or they’ll get you.”

luka looks down at the ground.

“go to sleep, now, luka,” ms bustier smiles, waving him towards the makeshift bed. “you can leave early, at first light.”

as luka smiles gratefully at her and moves to lie down, he wonders: do demons go inside houses?

ms bustier seems to nearly read his mind. “the demons are able to go into houses. that’s why the demon slayers exist, to slay them before anything else happens.”

it’s like papa used to say, luka thinks to himself, brain surrendering to sleep. he used to tell us demon stories to get us to bed…

morning comes fairly quickly for luka, and he gets ready early, feeling fresh. he’s not a night person much, so the morning welcomes him warmly as he puts on his boots, ready to trek up to his home.

“you be careful,” ms bustier says, waving. 

“of course,” luka says, waving back and walking up.

it’s peaceful, quiet and tranquil for luka up in the snowy mountains. he’s always loved it up there.

his brain is free to be completely devoid of thought, only feeling being the feeling of peace and calm. 

then a foul stench hits his nose, and a heart song echoes in his brain like an alarm on repeat.

it sounds like pain and suffering, and luka drops everything and runs .

the first thing he sees is red.

so, so much red , it fills his vision and it clouds his brain, and all he can see is ryder’s heterochromatic wide-open eyes, one copper and one blue. they’re empty, and they stare at luka in the midst of red.

and luka can’t breathe when his gaze shifts to juleka- oh, juleka- who’s got one arm slung protectively over ryder’s immobile body. her hair covers her face, and her once-purple dress is stained red .

after what seems like an eternity, watching the two unmoving bodies of his siblings, he takes a breath and cries out, running towards them.

there’s nothing he can do there’s nothing nothing NOTHING-

he frantically moves juleka’s hair away from her eyes, which are closed…

ryder has a massive gash in the middle of his stomach, staining everything red, red, RED, RED-

he can’t breathe anymore, when he spots the trail of red leading from their broken bodies into the house .

and he sees more.

the walls are painted with red, if one had just visited now they’d never guess that the walls used to be blue.

luka tries not to wail when he sees his mother, his dear, sweet mother, lying over hanna and shawn. all of their eyes are open and empty. the colour isn’t as vibrant as it used to be, but the red surrounding their bodies stand out.

his breath hitches when he sees theo- all threads of hope draining from his body- because he’s gone, too…his arms are gone, and there is only red now.

he resists the urge to fall on his knees- nothing can help now, nothing, and he was too late- the red has claimed everyone.

luka runs down the hill as fast as possible with juleka balanced haphazardly on his back. she’s the only one still warm, if he’s right, they were all- don’t stop, luka, don’t cry - killed several hours prior to his arrival, which means he has a chance, maybe he still has someone left.

don’t die on me, juleka! luka pleads to the empty air, once peaceful, now pain. don’t leave me alone…luka will do anything for you…please, your big brother will do anything to see you live…

he pants, and cries, and gasps, and ignored the blood seeping through his clothes, god knows how much blood juleka has left, he hopes it’s enough…if luka finds a doctor, someone, anyone!

anyone…

“stay with me, juleka,” he says quietly to the girl on his back. luka’s legs start to wobble, but he can’t stop, he can’t stop, juleka’s depending on him. “stay with me, stay here, big brother luka has you, please juleka…”

he can’t see anything past blurred lines when he slips on the snow and falls backward off the hill he was climbing.

luka feels only numbness, nothing else, and he reaches to wipe away his tears, maybe if he’s quick he can still get her to town quick enough-

then he realises that juleka’s not there.

juleka’s gone .

the words echo in luka’s head- NONONONO, WHERE IS SHE - until he sees a figure standing near to his right.

despite the snow starting to fall, he knows it’s juleka.

“juleka!” luka yells, moving towards her. “juleka!”

he’s about three feet away from her when he feels her song.

her song, once quiet but cheerful, now a loud banging, echoing in his head…that’s not his sister.

that is not luka’s sister.

then juleka turns- the ends of her hair a dark, vibrant purple…which isn’t right, her hair used to have lavender ends, not this- and there’s something wrong .

this is not his darling sister, not the girl he watched grow up into a gentle and friendly girl, this is a monster.

before luka can sort out his thoughts, juleka lunges towards him with the strength and might of a big cat claiming its prey. 

luka doesn’t have time to scream before she bares her teeth and he brings up a wooden pole to block her attack. 

instead of her hitting the pole and bouncing away, to his horror, she opens her mouth and grabs the pole with her teeth, exposing him to the new horror that is- was- his sister. 

she’s not herself anymore…this is a demon. 

“juleka!” he cries out, trying to push the pole away from him, but she’s too strong. he can hear her growling, the most inhuman thing.

the most inhuman thing, in the form of the most human person he knows.

“juleka! …please,” he’s not sure what he’s trying to do anymore, but luka keeps going anyway. “juleka, please…it’s me…”

it’s like juleka doesn’t hear him; and luka thinks he’s lost and he will be devoured by his sister, no, not his sister, a monster with his sister’s face. 

then something falls on his face- a tear. 

it’s not his. 

he looks up. 

juleka’s still got her newly-sharp teeth around the pole, but her eyes have glazed over, staring into space. there are tears leaking out of them, and with them, comes hope.

hope that luka hasn’t completely lost his baby sister…

then a yell, and luka falls backwards when juleka releases the pole and screams.

the sound fills him with raw anguish and pain…he’s always told her he’d protect her, but what has happened since then?

through the snow, luka catches a glimpse of juleka struggling against a slightly older girl, someone about the same age as luka himself. she’s got juleka in a chokehold, and his heart squeezes with pain when he sees juleka struggling to be released.

“stop!” luka cries, “please, leave her alone…juleka!”

the girl glances over at him before holding up her sword- which is about as long as luka’s arm- and moving it towards juleka’s head.

his sister starts screaming and yelling, louder than before, and every sound she makes is like a punch to luka’s face.

“she’s a man-eating demon,” the girl says indifferently. “i’ll behead her and you’ll be fine.”

“no!” luka struggles to heave himself up. “no, please, she’s my little sister…she hasn’t eaten anyone, she hasn’t hurt anybody…”

there’s blood spilling down one side of juleka’s face. her heart song has changed from the screeching from before, and is now instead much like a loud drum, beating faster and faster and faster.

the glare the girl sends him chills his bones. “no, but she will.”

luka’s desperate now, and he stands up shakily with a hatchet in one hand and a rock in the other.

he throws the rock at her; she easily dodges.

“you’re weak,” she says, adjusting her grip on juleka’s neck. “stupid, weak, impulsive! you’re not fighter material.”

juleka growls at her, reminiscent of a tiger. the girl doesn’t spare her a glance. 

“who…are you anyway?” luka pants, his hands on his knees, sweat beading on his forehead. 

the girl looks at him, almost studying him, and her hazel eyes burn into his skin.

“tsurugi kagami,” she finally answers, devoid of emotion. “demon slayer.”

luka takes a moment to absorb the information, but when he looks up again, juleka finally manages to rip herself out of kagami’s grip, and she runs up to luka. he holds his arms over his face; if he’s about to be killed by his baby sister, he’d rather not see.

to his surprise, he feels no pain. there’s no red covering his view, there’s no emptiness that accompanies death.

hesitantly, luka opens his eyes- and he sees juleka’s back.

she’s facing kagami, almost…almost protectively over him, baring her teeth at the other.

juleka snarls again, but it’s not directed at him.

what a strange pair… kagami thinks to herself, watching the she-demon standing over her brother, over a human .

it’s a very curious thing.

“you’re different,” kagami says, narrowing her eyes at the pair.

the she-demon only growls at her, but the boy tilts his head slightly.

“juleka, it’s okay,” he says to the demon, before turning to kagami. “how?”

kagami puts away her sword. “i’ve never seen…a demon-” she points to the she-demon, juleka “-acting protective towards a boy…”

“she’s my sister,” he says protectively, standing up. 

kagami resists the urge to roll her eyes. “i know that. you’ve only told me a thousand times.”

forgetful. dumb. kind-hearted.

tsurugi kagami has all of his attributes, his whole personality, written in her brain.

the boy frowns. “is there any way to turn a demon back to human?”

hopeful. imaginative. foolish.

“not that i know of,” kagami states. she wavers for a moment- a moment of weakness, an opening for an enemy to dart in and take her life and her family’s honour. she’s glad her opponent is a dumb boy or else she’d be worried. 

(the moment of weakness is gone in a flash, after all.)

she takes out her sword, and quick as a flash, she knocks them both unconscious with the butt of her sword.

luka wakes up to white- a welcoming sight after the amount of red he’s seen over the past couple of hours.

he rubs at his head, which is sore from where kagami whacked him. 

speaking of which…

“you’re awake now?” the blue-haired woman asks, leaning on a tree. “finally.”

luka looks around, looking for juleka, when he senses a song somewhere to his right. 

juleka lies on her back, eyes closed (gently; he knows what death looks like now), with a bamboo muzzle. she’s peaceful. she doesn’t look angry, or as troubled and demon-like as before. 

gently, quietly, he moves over to her, laying his hand on her forehead. 

“go to wang fu’s place,” kagami stands up, moving towards the siblings. “he lives up on the top of the mountain, over there.” she points to a faraway mountain. “he may be able to help you get your sister back to human.”

luka stands silently for a moment, before nodding determinedly. “thank you.”

kagami nods at both of them before turning to leave. “remember these things: do not ever let your sister in the sunlight, it’s one of the few things that can kill demons. and do not let her ever taste human blood.”

“okay.”

she casts them one more look before turning and vanishing without a trace.

“juleka, juleka…you okay?”

luka’s fashioned a little backpack out of an old basket (from a farmer’s place) and a bit of cloth and bamboo. it’s the backpack he holds out to juleka now, who’s hiding in a little cave.

at first, he doesn’t see her at all in the darkness of the cave- it’s a strange thing with juleka, she’s always been beautiful but invisible- but then a pair of copper-red eyes blink open.

“hey, ju,” luka smiles at her, “you think you can fit in here, huh? squeeze in here?”

juleka’s eyes tilt a little bit, before crawling closer.

carefully, gently, she crawls into the basket-backpack, shrinking a little bit (demon powers?) and letting out a little hum.

“okay, that works.” luka says before laying a blanket on top and fastening it. picking up the backpack, he moved towards the mountain.

“we’re off on a new adventure, ju,” he says. “you ready?”

silence for a moment, before a little scratching sound from inside the basket. luka smiles.

after the sun retreats under the horizon, luka lets juleka out of the basket.

she sleeps through the day and awakens during the night, like a…vampire. juleka always loved the stories about blood-sucking fiends in the night. 

she sticks close to his side as they walk through the near silent forest. he notices that her footsteps don’t make any sound.

then, suddenly, luka stops- a song starts to weave its way through his head, gentle melody, before it spikes up into a more erratic rhythm.

“someone’s in trouble,” he breathes, before grabbing juleka’s hand and pulling her towards a light, up ahead.

“it’s a light…which means people!” luka tells juleka, who nods. 

they make their way up the stairs towards the house, when they hear a loud yell- of a girl, maybe luka’s age, maybe a tiny bit younger.

“hey!” he yells to attract her attention. “are you okay??!”

no answer, but a few shouts and a swing of a…sword?

he darts towards the noises and stops in his tracks.

Chapter Text

“eh…?” an unfamiliar, chilling voice snarls. “another one…? very well…i will kill you and have you all for my dinner…oh, how powerful i will be!”

luka gasps- a demon, one who’s just had a snack, it seems, from the dried blood dripping from his mouth.

there are two girls facing him- one with short, blonde pigtails and one with dark blue, nearly black pigtails. they both have long swords in their hands.

juleka makes a little noise, seeing him, seeing the blood.

i’m…hungry…

juleka blinks a few times, once, twice, three times, but she can’t rip her gaze away from the blood…crimson red, glinting in the moonlight, it looks good…it looks…she’s hungry…

all the voices tune out, and all juleka can hear is the growl of the demon.

is that what she’s doomed to become?…a monster, a near-vampire, but a hundred times more horrifying.

she watches as he flicks his tongue over his mouth…eyes a deep red, darker than blood, slits in the middle like a snake. 

he’s terrifying, but almost…familiar.

the he-demon narrows his eyes at the newcomers. “what’s this, eh…? you are not human…” the demon points at juleka with a long, grey finger. “…what’s a demon doing with a human?”

before luka can respond, the two girls lunge towards the demon, who hisses, and they start to fight- the girls landing small hits against the demon, while he tries to hit him back. as he watches, he notices that all the wounds their swords make in the demon’s skin stop bleeding within an instant, and the skin simply grows back.

then, finally, the demon manages to knock the girls backwards- cutting the blonde in the shoulder, causing her to fall backwards.

i have to do something!

without thinking, luka draws his hatchet- the sharpest thing on him- and throws it towards the demon.

it swings towards him, almost in slow motion, and finally hits the target- cutting the entire demon’s arm off.

“ HSSSSSAAAAHHHH !” the demon hisses. “you’ll pay for that…!”

and luka suddenly can’t breathe, because the demon lunges towards him and has his hand around his neck.

they’re…his nails…they’re so sharp! 

he feels them digging into his skin, oh, surely there’s blood…and then he rasps for air, which the demon isn’t letting him have any of…

suddenly, a gust of air enters his lungs, and luka gasps again. this time, he breathes more freely than before.

then something sticky falls onto his forehead.

it’s blood.

it’s not his blood.

something falls with a hollow thud to his left, and luka looks to his side to see a fucking decapitated head rolling away.

to his horror, it starts to speak. 

“ KSSSSAAAHHHH ,” the demon’s head hisses in annoyance. luka looks up to where the head used to be and sees a bloody stump instead.

juleka stands next to him, eyes still out of focus, but leg extended, as if she’s just kicked a ball.

and she has. but it wasn’t a ball; it was a head.

a demon’s head.

then juleka blinks, and brings her leg back to the ground, tilting her head at the separated body parts of the demon.

“why aren’t you dead yet?” luka asks frantically. “ how aren’t you dead yet?”

blue pigtails from before appears next to him, wiping a drop of red from her cheek with the back of her hand. “there are only two ways a demon can be killed. one, sunlight. two, a nichirin sword.” she holds up her own sword, the blade bright red. not from blood though. 

luka did not know that. it would have been useful to know before he went and swung his hatchet, but oh well.

blue pigtails takes his hatchet from his hand before flinging it at the demon’s head, trapping it on the ground.

luka throws the body far away from the head (so that he doesn’t try to free it) before standing up and panting. “juleka, you okay?”

she hums nonchalantly, like she didn’t just behead a fucking demon with her foot.

then he turns to the pigtail duo. “who are you?”

blue helps blonde up from the ground. “my name is marinette. this is my little sister, rose.”

“oh, okay. i’m luka, this is my sister juleka.” he tilts his head at them. blonde, blue…they don’t exactly look like sisters.

luka doesn’t realise he’s voiced the thought before blonde (rose) laughs. 

“oh! no, we’re not biologically siblings,” she grins with lots of energy. despite the wound in her shoulder staining her dress red.

(luka tries not to wince.)

“we’re adopted,” marinette says simply with a smile. “under master fu. we’re demon slayers.”

oh! maybe they can help juleka, luka thinks to himself, before remembering kagami’s words. “oh, you know master fu? we were sent by tsurugi kagami to find him…”

“you saw kagami??” rose asks with a grin, nudging marinette hard in the ribs.

marinette winces. “o-oh, that’s cool! um…”

“what’s wrong?” luka asks worriedly. “do you not like kagami? is she actually an enemy of yours?”

“no, no, no,” marinette shakes her head frantically. “it’s just, um, she’s my, we’re, uh, heh…”

rose winks. “they’re ‘heh’.”

“ohhhhh,” luka lets his mouth ease into a smile. “gotcha.”

juleka then suddenly sneezes, and everyone turns to where she is, hiding in the basket.

“oh! gosh, i’m so sorry, ju,” luka rushes over to check on her. “are you okay?”

juleka nods before lowering her head so that the basket lid flops over.

where’d the demon go…? luka wonders. the ground where he previously was is empty, save for the sunlight.

“demons burn in the sun,” marinette explains. “lucky your friend in there-” she gestures to the basket “-remembered. otherwise it wouldn’t be too fun for her.”

luka’s eyes widen, and the pigtail duo laugh.

“it’s okay, she seems really smart!” rose exclaims. “and since you’re going to see our father, you should come with us! right mari?”

marinette nods. “mhm. c’mon, this way. not too far now.”

“papa, papa we’re home!” rose chirps, once marinette slides the door open. “we have some friends!”

luka gazes around the interior as he puts the basket down on the ground. it’s very sparsely furnished, pretty much nothing save for a few mats, and a few pictures framed on the walls.

“feel free to make yourselves at home,” marinette says, waving towards the basket. “if she’s tired we can put her in rose’s bed.”

“mhm!” rose nods before scurrying away.

“papa’s probably out back in the garden with his pets,” marinette explains, lighting a few candles in the house. “maybe i can get rose to show you the garden, it really is quite beautiful- rose!”

luka’s slightly aware of juleka crawling out of the basket, humming slightly upon seeing the place. 

rose suddenly appears at the doorway, grinning. “hi! oh, you wanna see the garden!”

then she looks over at juleka. “it’s still bright outside, and there’s this type of tree we grow out back that demons don’t really like, so it’s probably not a good idea for you to come outside…you can have a nap, over there, that’s my bed.”

juleka tilts her head, looks at luka, who nods. 

“sleep, ‘kay, ju,?” he pats her head. juleka makes a little contented noise. “i’ll be back later.”

“okay! here’s the garden,” rose says, sliding open the back doors. “the type of tree i was talking about, the demon-not-like ones, they’re over there,” she points to the distance, where luka can see some purple luminous trees lining the horizon. “i’m told they’re beautiful, but i can’t really tell.”

“oh? why not?” luka asks, curiosity taking over. he back-pedals quickly. “if you don’t mind me asking.”

rose laughs. “half-blind, see?” she points to her eyes. “also, monochromatic color blindness. black and white.”

luka nods. “oh…okay.”

he catches sight of a small old man near a large bush full of pretty blue flowers, with marinette near his side. luka squints slightly and sees she’s got a few little ladybugs flying around her.

“ah! you must be luka, then,” the old man (he assumes master fu) says with a smile. “i’m assuming your sister is inside?”

luka nods. rose beams.

“what colour are they today, papa?” she asks eagerly, looking up at the flowers.

master fu gives a soft smile. “blue…the sky, marinette’s eyes, the ocean on a bright day…”

“ohh, pretty!” rose claps her hands together. “can i take one inside, for juleka?”

luka narrows his eyes in interest, as master fu nods and cuts one of the flowers off.

he hands it to rose- who has a happy smile plastered on her face- who then turns to luka. “she likes flowers, right?”

“oh, yes, definitely,” luka beams, remembering the flower patches juleka used to grow in the couffaine’s backyard. they bloomed beautiful, quiet and bold, like juleka herself. “she’ll love it.”

he watches rose scamper away, before turning to master fu.

“my…my family, they were…” luka’s breath hitches in his throat. “…they were murdered by a demon…nobody survived, except my younger sister, juleka.” he gestures to the house. “but she became a demon. one of the demon slayers, tsurugi kagami, she tried to kill her, but i told her not to…”

“and she lead you right to me,” master fu says, reaching down to pet a little red cat near his foot. “good boy, longg…hm. and you want to know how to turn your sister back?”

luka casts a glance back at the house. “y-yes. is there any way to do that?”

“hm…” master fu takes a seat at a bench, patting it for luka to join him. “i believe there is one way, maybe.”

“i’ll do anything,” luka proclaims, puffing out his chest.

“this is dangerous,” master fu warns. “it includes hunting down the very first demon in the world, the oldest demon…hawkmoth.”

hawkmoth?

“who…who is he?”

master fu’s gaze somehow darkens. “he’s a twisted man, he wants to either turn the whole world into demons or eat everyone and become the strongest.”

luka pales. “so…he…he will know?”

“he’s the only demon in the world who knows how to turn someone back,” master fu says helplessly. “i doubt he’ll just tell you, but it’s worth a shot.”

“you’re gonna need a lot of training,” marinette says. she passes him a sword- it’s about as long as his arm, slightly longer. it gleams silver before slowly changing colour…

…to black. 

“that’s interesting…” marinette says, scrunching her eyes at the sword. “generally, according to most demon slayers…black swords indicate a person who won’t do well.”

luka’s heart sinks. he stares at the black blade for a long moment, wondering, wondering if it was actually just foreshadowing his future.

what if he failed, and juleka was doomed to a surely bloody and monstrous end.

what if juleka is the one to end him?

master fu reaches over a places a small hand on luka’s. “this isn’t an omen, luka. you pave your own path. if you keep training, you’ll be fine.”

pave my own path.

he smiles. “okay. what should i do first?”

“ah, marinette and rose can help you with that,” master fu says, standing up. “they’ve been demon slayers for a while. kagami might pop in at one point too.”

marinette looks up to the sky. “i think alix, kim and max might come over soon, papa. they’ve finished their mission.”

“oh, splendid, more friends,” master fu nods. “i’ll go make some beds. you go get rose, and you can start some simple training.”

rose is doing some colouring when marinette and luka go back into the house.

she carefully reads whatever inscription is engraved into the pencil (it takes luka a moment to figure out that they’re the colours of the pencils) before bringing it to the page.

“hey, ro,” marinette kneels in front of the blonde. “master fu’s asking us to train luka. wanna help?”

“ooh, sure!” rose claps her hands together. “will you become a demon slayer like us, luka?”

luka nods. “yes. by the way, where’s juleka?”

rose jerks her head towards one of the doors. “she’s sleepin’. i checked on her earlier.”

“well? let’s get to training,” marinette grins, bumping fists with rose.

dear juleka.

it’s been a year and…3 months since you were last awake. i’ve been training as hard as i can, during that time. my arms ache from all the sword-swinging, my legs ache from the running, my head aches from too much focus.

i wish you were awake to watch. you surely would’ve laughed at my pain.

on your birthday, we all got you presents (for when you wake up). i got you a little notebook. marinette made you a pair of socks; she’s a good fashion designer. rose got a potted plant. she waters it every day.

despite how friendly and gentle the girls look, the way they train is brutal. i’ve had to do miles upon miles of running, hours upon hours of memorising moves. by now, i could probably carry the entire family on my back and still be able to run.

master fu says that i’ll have to wait a while longer before being able to go on any missions, but i can wait. in that time, i’ll wait for you to wake up.

we all miss you. even though the others haven’t even known you that long, they hope you awaken soon too.

i met a few of the other demon slayers. they’re much more powerful than me- nearly as powerful as rose and marinette. i’m not as strong as them; they’ve been helping me though.

but i promise, by the time you wake up, i’ll be strong enough to fight demons. i’ll be strong enough to fight them like a demon slayer.

i’ll be a demon slayer.

get your rest, okay? love you.

your big brother, luka

Chapter Text

dark. it’s very dark, juleka thinks. 

well. she doesn’t think. she is. it is. very dark. 

there is nothing there, she can’t move- it’s empty.

then there’s this feeling, it goes through her entire body, coursing through like the blood in her veins are zooming along. there’s a certain power it gives her, energy filling her up, making her feel like the tallest in the room.

maybe she is, now.

the power flows up to her head, and suddenly her vision is filled with colour, with flowers, with growling demons and red dripping faster and faster off their mouths, their eyes blaze with a fire. but juleka smiles- she can feel her head, she can feel her toes- she feels the power moving to her fingers.

she holds her hands up, and the demons all die .

it only takes a split second before juleka is alone again, and the only thing around her is a bright light, which makes the blood shine. 

she doesn’t care. she’s not hungry anymore. 

it’s time to wake up. 

“you’ve trained with the toughest of the tough for two years,” master fu says, his back towards luka. 

he stands tall, sword at his side. rose and marinette stand to one side.

“so i thought it would be time.” master fu turns to him, offering him a small bracelet.

it’s cyan-green, with a little snake engraved into it. luka accepts it and slips it on his right wrist.

“it’s called a miraculous,” marinette explains to him, moving closer. “there are many miraculouses, all with different powers to help you specifically in battles against demons.” she moves some of her hair, revealing a pair of black-spotted red earrings. “mine is the ladybug. they provide me with extra confidence and luck, however i am never aware when i receive it.”

rose rolls up one of her pants sleeves, where a small pink anklet hangs on her leg. “mine is the pig! it gives me extra positivity and confidence, for myself and for others.”

marinette gestures to the piece of jewelry on luka’s wrist. “yours is the snake. once during battle, you are able to turn back time, a maximum of ten minutes. we call it second chance .”

he looks down at the little snake. its fangs are bared, assumedly to strike at some unknown enemy.

this power is his now.

“each miraculous has a corresponding cat,” rose says, her voice slightly distant. she comes back with a cyan cat in her arms. “this is sass. he’s your kwami- cat.”

sass leaps off of rose into luka’s arm; and he starts purring loudly. almost a buzz. 

rose grins. “he likes you. kwamis will appear whenever you need them. they’re messengers.”

“every demon slayer has one of these,” master fu sweeps his hand over the box the miraculous was retrieved from. “although most don’t even need one during battle. usually, they’re last resorts, against those with blood demon art.”

blood demon art… luka thinks, retrieving the information from his brain. powers demons get from eating people…more humans, stronger power.

he casts a look back to the house, to the room he knows his sister still lies, asleep- unsure if she’ll ever awaken.

rose catches him watching and smiles sadly. “i’ll stay back here with her.” luka nods in thanks.

sass hisses quietly, dropping out of luka’s grasp, before stalking away into the shadows.

“you’ll be coming with me,” marinette informs him. she picks up her sword and slips it inside its scabbard. “there’s a demon terrorizing a town a little ways from here. we’ll make it within two or three days, if we leave as soon as possible.”

a light pink cat sits on rose’s shoulder, as she talks. “i hope we’ve trained you enough, luka. good luck!”

master fu waves at them solemnly. “me and rose shall watch over juleka. good luck.”

luka smiles at her. “thanks, rose. thank you, master fu.”

he leaves with one last look back- and a silent prayer.

wake up, juleka.

luka has no problem keeping up with marinette as she walks briskly before him, however he does find himself admiring the surroundings so much he forgets where he’s going.

the path they follow is narrow and long; little shrubs and pretty flowers grow along the sides. they bloom along the lonely path. 

“do you know exactly what demon we’re up against?” luka asks, power walking for a moment so he walks beside marinette.

marinette hums. “i’d assume they’re one of the akumas.” off luka’s confused look, she adds, “the akumas are some of hawkmoth’s little minions. they all have powerful, unique blood demon art.”

“so…more powerful than usual demons?” 

she nods vacantly. “more or less. me and rose have had to deal with a few, they’re a tough bunch unless you find out their weakness.”

over the two years, the pigtail duo have sent luka on trips to rid small demons, young demons, those who haven’t managed to feed on many yet. they were rather difficult- one nearly decapitated him, luckily the snake miraculous had come in handy- so he’s not sure how he’ll deal with one of the akumas .

“this one,” marinette continues, “has been messing up the weather.” she points to the horizon, where luka can make out a few burnt trees. “they seem to specialise in weather. must be the demon blood art.”

suddenly, they’re interrupted when a flash erupts in front of them, leaving a scorch mark on the path.

GO AWAY

“they seem friendly, too,” marinette remarks with a dry voice.

soon enough, they come to a small house. there’s a man inside, and he’s crying.

“hello, sir,” luka says respectfully. “could you tell us what’s wrong?”

“t-the weather, b-been killin’ all my crops n’ livestock,” he gestures to the side of the house. there are a few scattered animal remains, as well as a bunch of what used to be crops.

“have you seen the source of the weather?” marinette asks abruptly, staring out to the distance.

the man shakes his head. “no, but i heard las’ night- one of the other farmers, further along the path, been snatched. i heard the screamin’. he never came back.”

“ fuck ,” marinette curses under her breath. “they’ve eaten lately. not good news for us.” she turns to the farmer, bowing slightly. “stay safe, sir. stay inside, if you can- out of the weather.”

the farmer gives a shaky nod before disappearing into his house.

“this’ll be fun,” marinette says.

(luka’s not quite so sure.)

rose lavillant is not an idiot.

there are things people have called her- weird, strange, curious - and she doesn’t mind those. she’s a bit odd, that’s okay. it’s always ok to be a little weird.

but there are other people, who say she’s too kind or over-positive and hey! she can accept that, but it still stings, y’know? she’s not a dumb blonde or whatever they say in those movies. 

(master fu doesn’t let them watch those just for that reason.)

sure, rose is a bit sensitive sometimes, very happy, always looking on the bright side- but is there anything wrong with that? no. 

and there’s, you know, reasons people are how they are.

happiness doesn’t come naturally for rose, contrary to popular belief. it’s a constant struggle, keep that smile on your face, don’t forget to walk with a skip in your step.

but she manages. because after you survive all the shit rose lavillant has been through, you get used to it.

rose is not dumb, she’s not stupid, she’s not an idiot- she’s just a peppy girl with high hopes and a lot of loneliness.

she’s glad she met marinette when she did- they were both rather young, rose had just managed to escape when she ran into a travelling girl with blue pigtails.

she offered to let rose go with her, and she agreed.

and that changed rose’s life.

she decided, from then on- she would never let other people be alone again. because being alone hurts more than finding your parents the way rose did, being alone hurts more than not being able to see out of one eye, not being able to see colour. being alone hurts more than everything rose has been through.

but being with marinette, being with master fu has made her happier than she ever thought.

and when luka showed up, with juleka, who- by the way- was absolutely gorgeous for a demon, she felt the need to take care of them, too. because rose lavillant failed once at taking care of others; she’s not going to slip again.

when luka left, with marinette, for his first official mission, luka whispered something.

not out loud, no. he whispered it in his mind.

but that’s the thing! rose is different- everyone is different, and so is she. she can hear him. she hears him. wake up, juleka.

it’s luka’s biggest wish, and rose hears it.

and she will make sure it comes true. hopefully, maybe, possibly. yes.

the first thing she does, after promising luka “ i’ll stay back here with her ”, is picking up her little sketchbook, her tin of colouring pencils, and sitting next to juleka’s sleeping body.

rose casts a look at the raven-haired girl, eyes closed peacefully- but rose can sense her life force, she knows she’s still alive and she will keep it that way - before looking down at her pencils and sifting through them.

she finds the one with the word purple engraved on it, and she runs a finger across it.

she starts to draw.

and she stays there, drawing, her purple pencil flying across the page. she draws until there’s no space left. she draws until her hands hurt and when she’s done, she takes another sheet of paper and keeps drawing. she switches colour once the purple pencil has run out. she stays by juleka’s side.

because rose lavillant is not dumb, or stupid , or over-positive .

she just cares .

luka feels a tremor in the ground a split second before both he and marinette are knocked to the ground.

he feels a sharp pain across his waist, and peers down to see a long, red line. 

“fuck,” marinette whispers. “closer than we thought. hide!”

he ducks behind a rock and peeks above, to try and see if he can spot the demon.

and he can.

she’s tall and lean, with long, dirty blonde pigtails. the demon has a parasol in one hand, and a..oh god…is that a human head?

marinette gasps sharply. “no…oh…”

“do you know him?” luka asks worriedly, watching as the demon cackles and stalks to the side.

his companion lets out a shaky breath and nods. “t-that…that was jean duparc…” she gulps. “he was one of the newest recruits…i don’t know why he went after an akuma …”

luka sees marinette close her eyes and mutter a silent prayer. rest in peace. 

he does the same. 

“see, there?” marinette points to the akuma, all signs of sadness vanishing. luka squints and catches glimpse of a mark, on the demon’s face.

“it’s a butterfly,” she explains, letting her hand fall. “the symbol of hawkmoth.”

he studies the demon’s movements for a while- it’s mostly pacing, back and forth, muttering a string of words under her breath.

“what do we do?” luka asks, unsheathing his sword. it catches the light of the moon; emitting a sort of glow.

marinette takes her own sword, which glows red in the moonlight. “we take her down. this is our chance.”

luka watches as she closes her eyes and takes a breath, before here eyes seem to flash red and black, before she grins and stands up.

luka scrambles to stand next to her- marinette seems to ooze confidence, making her seem taller than before- wasn’t luka taller than her before this? now they stand at the same height.

the akuma senses them instantly; luka sees her sniff at the air before turning slowly to look at them.

he resists the urge to gasp.

the akuma’s red mouth spreads in a wide grin, but it doesn’t radiate the positivity and cheerfulness he knows, it radiates malice and hostility and intimidation. he feels the song strengthen, at a crescendo, it fills his eardrums, it fills his head, it’s overpowering.

he takes a deep, slow breath- a technique master fu taught him, it clears his head, and weakens his ability to pick up on songs, so he gets a moment of peace.

“well…hello…” the demon says, creeping closer and closer, so that she can see them clearer. “…more of those demon slayers…very well then, i can rid you two as well!” she lets out a husky chuckle, but it doesn’t have any humour. if anything, it sends a chill down luka’s spine. 

marinette stands her ground, and inching slightly closer, luka can feel her confidence radiating off of her.

that’s it…! luka remembers suddenly. her power…

LUCKY CHARM! the power to give confidence and luck to those who bear the ladybug miraculous , and allies surrounding.

“oh…” the demon advances closer, from here he can smell the foul stench of death and blood, and it stings his eyes. “i haven’t had such a meal in ages! …you two will certainly give me the power i need to ascend the ranks…”

then the akuma turns away. “oh, they won’t be saying i’m the weakest akuma anymore…i’ll be a someone.”

luka readies his sword, as marinette does beside him. 

the akuma turns towards them with a large grin, her parasol raised in one hand. “have fun with this! thunderstorm! ”

luka looks up for a split second, and he sees clouds everywhere. they blanket the sky; blocking all of the light.

then, through the clouds- a sliver of light. a second later, a thundering boom that nearly bursts his eardrums.

then, the akuma grins. “ i won’t be the weak one anymore…” and she points to parasol straight at marinette, before uttering, “shoot.”

and then luka sees darkness.

he opens his eyes a moment later, slowly, one blink, two, then three.

the amount of pain he’d felt before closing his eyes was completely gone now, simply an echo. a memory. a piece of the past.

(not the far past, but it felt like years.)

luka reaches up to rub at his eyes, then realises- his sword isn’t there. neither is its scabbard.

it takes him another moment to realise that he has different clothes on.

it’s…pyjamas?

his pyjamas?

he blinks once more, and suddenly the room he was in changes, into a more…familiar environment.

then he hears a voice.

“luka.”

it’s enough to make him want to cry; he turns, slowly and hesitantly, like the face belonging to the voice is one he doesn’t want to see.

it’s his mother.

anarka couffaine smiles at him, before moving forwards- her usual song isn’t playing, he knows it isn’t real, but her voice and her face and her smile look so real…

she reaches out to touch his face, and luka inhales sharply.

“you got some guts, showing up here so quickly,” anarka says in her gruff but gentle voice. “we thought you woulda stayed down there for a bit longer.”

we?

he blinks again, and anarka is gone.

instead, there are four silhouettes- all smaller than him, but he can’t hear their songs.

then the light flickers and luka can see that it’s them .

“hey, luka,” theo gives him a little smile. theo, who always did dangerous things but never got hurt. 

then he feels someone tug on his sleeve. “lu!”

hanna. the only other sister apart from juleka. little bright eyes and bright nature.

“luka…!” another voice says from behind him, and luka turns, and sees shawn. shawn who always wore a scarf, it didn’t matter what weather. it made him feel safe.

it didn’t keep him safe, though. 

which meant…

“l-l…lu..” ryder struggles to stutter out. luka looks down and sees him trying to steady himself, holding onto luka’s leg.

his heart breaks; how old were they all when they were killed?

theo was older than the others, but he was still too young to go out by himself. shawn was old enough to cook dinner but he still wasn’t allowed to help with chopping wood like luka and theo did, hanna was barely old enough to help ma and juleka take care of ryder, who’s only a baby…barely old enough to walk, to talk…

so many lives wasted.

then the warmth leaves his hands, as ryder stumbles over to theo, who catches him and carries him with a grin.

“we’ll see you on the flip side, luka.”

“say hi to ju for us!”

“take care of yourselves!”

and they walk backwards towards the light. luka resists the urge to reach out, and grab them again, and keep them close and warm so that nothing bad would ever ever happen to them again, he wouldn’t let it, but instead he brings his hand up to wipe his eyes and hangs them by his sides.

and he wills himself to wake up .

luka opens his eyes, and instead of the normal tranquil blue, there is fire.

he sees the akuma gasp and turn to him with a malicious look on her face, before raising her parasol.

but before she can say anything, luka raises his sword.

“water breathing, first form: surface slash!”

and he runs up to the akuma, as fast as he can, before letting the flow of the water guide his sword, slicing perfectly into the demon’s neck.

he lands with grace, almost silently, and takes a breath before standing up and sheathing his sword.

the akuma sputters. “k- i- h-how are you alive…boy…?”

he turns to face the demon, who’s slowly withering away. but her violet eyes stay on him even as her mouth fades.

she disappears before she gets an answer.

rose hears the rustle before she sees the movement.

then, out of the corner of her eye, she sees the blanket shift- ever so slightly, but it’s there.

she lays down her pencil and crawls over to where juleka’s been sleeping peacefully, watching…just to see if, maybe, after all this time, her waiting has not been for nothing.

she feels juleka’s life force- she always has been able to, but now it feels almost stronger, more… awake.

two eyes blink open slowly.

they’re light red, with orange sclera.

rose has decided that they’re the most beautiful eyes she’s ever seen.

“luka!” marinette rushes over to him. “luka, that was- it was- woah…”

luka pants slightly. “w-what happened? i’m kinda blurry at the start…”

“you jumped in front of me when she threw a lightning bolt,” marinette explains. “and you blacked out for a moment, so i battled her, and then WHAM! you ran and used water breathing…” she peers over at where the body used to be, but there are only streaks of red now. “that was so cool…”

“do you know which akuma she was?” luka asks.

“stormy weather, i believe was her name,” she answers, moving towards the building the demon was standing in front of. “the akuma of the weather. she’s the weakest of them all.”

WEAKEST?????

luka desperately wanted to jump in bed and stay there for the rest of the year…

then a jingling bell interrupts his sweet thoughts of warm covers, and a soft thing bumps into his leg.

“oh! it’s sass,” marinette says, bending down to pat the turquoise cat. “he has a message for you.”

luka bends down to take the message from a little backpack kinda thing from sass’ back.

dear luka,

a bit has happened since you two left! most importantly, a certain somebody’s finally awake!

we’re waiting for you, back at home. hope you get rid of that akuma! you’re surely strong enough to!

stay safe, luka, mari!

— rose & juleka

the only thought that crosses luka’s mind is she’s awake .

a grin spreads across his face as he passes the note over to marinette, whose expression soon shifts to match his.

“well, whaddya say?” marinette nudges his side. “ready to get back?”

Chapter Text

the walk back felt like an eternity, with luka nearly dragging all his limbs towards master fu’s place.

“how you holding up?” marinette slows down a bit to match steps with him. “i mean, you got struck by lightning.”

“y’know, adrenaline rush, then a massive amount of pain afterwards…” he grimaces. “but i’m stronger now. i’m okay.”

marinette nods, and they fall silent, until she gasps. “luka, look- it’s the house!”

he looks up, and lo and behold, in the moonlight he sees rose gleefully tug another person behind her, who instantly starts running as soon as she spots luka. 

long, skinny arms wrap around his middle as juleka embraces him, and luka hugs her tightly back. 

“juleka, you- you’re awake!” he exclaims when he finally pulls away. “you…”

juleka nods and hums.

behind rose, another blonde hides. luka can’t see them very well.

rose notices him looking and tugs on the taller boy’s sleeve. “adrien, it’s okay. luka, this is adrien! he’s another one of the demon slayers. adrien, that’s luka. he’s a demon slayer too now.”

adrien nervously gulps before flicking his eyes towards luka and hesitantly giving him a wave. 

luka smiles and waves back. “it’s great to meet you, adrien.”

“t-thank you,” adrien replies quietly with a shy smile. 

he’s kind of cute . 

juleka sees him watching and snorts. he resists the urge to whack her. 

“didcha defeat ‘em?” rose asks, leading them towards the house. 

marinette nods. “yup! well, it was mostly luka- you should’ve seen, he got struck by lightning and fell asleep for a while and-”

“wait, you got struck by lightning ??” adrien asks in equal parts awe and worry. juleka frowns questioningly. 

“nothing much,” luka says dismissively, almost…wanting to impress adrien? what a strange feeling. then he shakes his head. “i mean, i’m a bit sore but it’s not too bad.”

“thank goodness,” rose sighs, “otherwise i’d probably have to use that new antidote miss mylène sent us. she doesn’t know if it works though. she said she tested it on ivan and it nearly blew him up.”

luka blinks a few times. perhaps he is glad.

the sky is a dark-blue, streaked with purples and oranges and indigoes and colours adrien doesn’t have the name for yet. 

it’s beautiful, though, which is half the reason he gets up from bed and makes his way to the fu’s massive backyard.

the lights emitted from the trees in the horizon make the whole garden glow, and it gives adrien an otherworldly feeling.

he sits, for a moment, watching the lights, when something moves to his left and he resists the urge to cover his head.

“oh, hey,” a low voice says. “sorry. did i scare you?”

adrien looks up at the boy from earlier- luka- with a soft smile. “ah, no. just…a bit jumpy.”

luka nods before moving to sit beside him. “it’s pretty, right? every night after training, i’d sit here.”

adrien doesn’t reply, but it seems like he doesn’t even need to. 

luka seems to sense that adrien just wants him to keep talking, so he does. “i wish juleka could come and see it, but- you know- the whole ‘wisteria being poisonous for demons’ thing.”

adrien lets out a small chuckle at that. 

“so, uh…” luka scratches the back of his neck, before shooting adrien a smile that nearly makes him blush uncontrollably. “you’re a demon slayer? for how long?”

and then they start talking. and unlike with all the other demon slayers, adrien finds luka easy to talk to. he listens, and listens, and it’s nice for a change. it’s not adrien listening this time, he gets to talk.

he finally starts to not think of his father.

“you guys will need to find mylène and ivan,” marinette says, delicately placing a finger at a point on a map. “they live at the demon slayer corps headquarters. they’ll be able to help out with your quest.”

“mylène and ivan are demons too,” rose says, carrying her kwami (daizzi, if luka remembered correctly). “mylène is a really awesome healer, it’s her blood demon art. ivan is a big guy who’s dedicated himself to being her bodyguard.”

marinette whispers something inaudible to both him and juleka, but luka can hear rose’s song going higher and higher, something he learnt indicated distress and anxiety. juleka tilts her head in slight worry. 

“me and rose won’t be able to come with you,” marinette informs them, rolling up the map and handing it to luka without meeting his eyes. “you’ll have to do this alone.”

adrien, for the first time in the conversation, speaks up. “you’re probably going to meet the rest of the pillars when you get there. they’re a cool bunch but can be…” he cringes slightly. “ difficult . at times.”

the pillars?

“who’re they?” luka asks. 

“the pillars are the highest ranked demon slayers,” rose says, all her previous nervousness gone. “me and mari and adrien are pillars. only pillars get miraculouses, because they need to fight hard battles.” she cracks a small smile. “you’re an exception.”

juleka pokes adrien gently in the arm, in question. adrien frowns in confusion. 

“she’s asking if you’re coming with us,” luka tells him with a soft smile. “you can if you want.”

adrien gasps- softly, but luka hears it. then he looks to the pigtail duo, then to master fu, all of whom nod. 

“i…i’d like that,” adrien says hesitantly, brushing a lock of his golden blonde hair away from his eyes. “if you don’t mind, o-of course.”

silence, for a moment, then luka’s face breaks out into a huge grin. juleka shakes her fists in celebration. 

“‘course we’d love to have you along,” luka punches adrien in the side (VERY LIGHTLY). adrien smiles. 

“it’s not too long of a journey,” luka assures juleka as she mopes. “and, added bonus- master fu and the girls helped build a box! for you! can you fit?”

she mournfully studies the hard, wooden box in front of her with a sour expression.

“it’s got blankets,” luka tries.

juleka rolls her eyes and shrinks slightly (luka still hasn’t gotten used to it; demon magic apparently) before crawling inside the box. it’s too dark inside for luka to see anything until she opens her eyes. two glowing orbs.

“see? all good, right?”

juleka makes a noise akin to an annoyed puppy before crawling back out again.

“what’s making you so grumpy??” luka sighs in exasperation. “i swear, if i have to drag around a grumpy demon i’m dumping your ass in the river.”

juleka frowns before crossing her arms and abruptly sitting on the ground.

luka sighs one last time (for good measure) before leaving the room.

marinette and adrien are idly chatting in the tea room, and they both look up when he busts the door open.

“oh, hey, luka,” adrien says, while marinette manages a “hi”.

the blonde boy seems to sense luka’s annoyance because he regards the older boy with a confused glance. “what’s wrong?”

“it’s juleka,” he explains, falling to the floor with a thud. “she’s being mopey.” luka makes a face to clarify, making the two others laugh.

“oh? why?” adrien asks over his giggle fits.

“i dunno; i’ve been trying to figure it out all morning!” luka cries, flinging his arms out before letting them fall to his sides. “i literally cannot for the life of me figure out what she wants! is she jumpy? nervous?” he massages his temples. “maybe she doesn’t like the anxiety pills i got from town…doesn’t help that i can’t read her song anymore.”

adrien shakes his head. “i’m sure the pills are helping her, luka. there’s probably some other reason.”

luka turns to marinette, who hasn’t said anything. “what do you think, mari?”

“i might know,” marinette says, her once gentle and calm song flowing into a mischievous sounding melody. “rose! rose, where are you?”

adrien scrunches up his face in confusion. “you think rose might know?”

“no,” marinette says, without continuing.

soon they hear the sounds of small footsteps that sound almost like little toys bouncing along the floor, and a tiny… piglet scampers into the room.

marinette is almost amused. “hello, rose.”

the piglet sneezes once, and a cloud of pink dust flows up, and where the pig once was now sat a dazed-looking rose.

“hai!” she chirps, blinking a few times. “what’s up?”

luka stares at her. “you- were just- you were-”

“pig? yea,” rose shakes some of the remaining glitter off her skirt. “it’s a thing. when you’ve used a miraculous for long enough, you can temporarily become the animal.”

luka gapes. “that’s so cool!”

“anyway,” marinette says, turning to her. “rose, how was juleka when you last saw her?”

rose frowns. “she was perfectly happy. why? is she okay?”

“yeah, she’s fine,” luka says, “but she was being all grumpy earlier, right after you two told us that you couldn’t- oh.”

marinette’s grinning now. “oh?”

“ oh .” luka feels a grin growing on his own face. “aww, that’s kind of cute though.”

rose tilts her head. “if she’s being grumpy, i can go and sit with her.”

“you go do that, ro,” marinette coughs into her fist, before patting her surrogate sister on the head. 

rose scrunches up her nose before jumping to her feet and skipping away.

luka slaps his forehead. “no wonder ! i can’t believe i didn’t see it before…poor girl doesn’t want to leave, huh?”

marinette starts to laugh. “nope!”

“i don’t get it,” adrien says.

wooden box: check.

little sister in wooden box: he knocks on the wood and hears a growl. check.

said goodbye to everyone: for like, ten minutes. so yes, check.

sword: check.

adrien: che- wait, where’s adrien?

luka looks around, trying to find the blonde boy. his spinning around surely made juleka mad, because his back started to ache with how much she was kicking it through the box. 

“i’m here! here, here, sorry!” adrien exclaims, as he trips his way down the stairs. he flashes luka an odd grin. “i, er…forgot some things.”

marinette rolls her eyes good-naturedly. “you forgot to wake up.”

“i forgot to wake up.”

luka chuckles a little bit at that, and he hears juleka snort. 

“well…we’ll be off now,” he smiles at the pigtail duo and master fu, before bowing. “thank you for teaching me.”

marinette looks like she’s about to cry. rose’s one non-cloudy eye is sparkling, and luka blinks in surprise when she flings her arms around him and gives him a hug.

“we’ll see you,” marinette struggles to say, gently pulling rose from luka. she’s sniffling, and pulls free of mari’s grip for long enough to softly knock on the box- three times, quickly.

“bye-bye,” rose whispers, before getting up and waving at the two of them. 

luka can’t help but feel sad himself as he turns and walks away, willing himself not to look back. he feels rather than hears juleka knock on the box, three times- before falling silent.

it’s late afternoon, and adrien trots beside luka on the countryside. the sun is very slowly sinking below the horizon, but it keeps shining warmly down on them.

“have you ever met mylène and ivan?” luka asks, his voice a smooth, low sound. it’s comforting.

adrien nods vacantly. “yeah, several times. mylène’s real nice- i think she had a kid, when she was human? ivan’s been with her forever.” he smiles. “they’re really nice, though. i’m not sure why rose always refuses to see them.” 

“hm…” luka hums. “what about the other pillars?”

“nervous?” adrien grins, nudging the other boy. “they’re a good bunch. you’ve met kagami, obviously. she’s a bit of an ice queen, but nice and all. she’s the pillar of the dragon.”

“she was cool,” luka says, “apart from the part where she nearly killed my sister.”

juleka growls from inside the box, and they all laugh.

a flicker in the trees.

a shadow within shadows.

that is what he is. and he smiles his little smile when he spots a small group of children, maybe his age when he was turned.

they’re playing happily, without a care in the world- laughing and smiling and being happy. it’s disgusting.

he hates it so, so much. it’s not right. they aren’t allowed to be happy.

do they think he was happy? when one day, he went to sleep and woke up and his parents were dead and their bodies lay quiet and tranquil on his bedroom floor?

he doesn’t remember much else but that. 

he only remembers that the bedroom floor used to be blue, but he doesn’t remember if the red spots were there before. but it doesn’t matter anymore, does it? he has power and a new family, a family not so…delicious.

his father’s flesh was under his fingernails. his mother’s blood running down his mouth.

he does not regret killing them, he doesn’t, he won’t.

he will not.

he jumps down, quiet as a mouse, and starts to sing to the children.

“ the sandboy just checked in, now nightmares can be-gin… ”

luka closes the box and straps it on his back once juleka’s hopped out, growing back to her original size. she blinks a few times before stretching her fingers out and waving at adrien.

“hi, juleka,” adrien grins back from his perch on a moonlight-illuminated rock. “good sleep?”

a nod.

“okay, juleka- you’re not tired, no?” luka asks, and juleka scrunches up her face and shakes her head, like a young toddler.

he laughs. “okay. you ready to go, adrien?”

“yeap.”

they continue their journey, quietly, when juleka starts to tug on luka’s arm.

“juleka, what’s wrong?” he asks worriedly. maybe she’s tired?

juleka shakes her head, her eyes frantic. she makes a series of motions with her hands- not sign language, he’d learnt it for her ages ago- but it was fast, too fast for luka to make out.

“juleka, juleka- calm down- i don’t understand,” luka says helplessly, reaching out to try and calm her. “juleka please-”

juleka seems to not hear his pleas, because she shakes her head again before bolting down the path.

luka tries to run and catch up to her, pulling adrien with him. “JULEKA! COME BACK PLEASE- IT’S DANGEROUS!”

she’s too fast and doesn’t hear him, and soon it’s silent.

no, no please, juleka…

“juleka!” he cries. “juleka, where are you??”

adrien searches around for her too, worried but much better at hiding it than luka is. “juleka! juleka!”

they hear a scream in the bushes in front, and luka’s head snaps towards it, before grabbing adrien’s hand and bolting .

protect humans. humans are family.

those words, they were the words that juleka started to hear as they were walking. those words did not belong to her, though, no. they belonged to someone else, but along the way she started believing it too.

she crashes over a bunch of shrubs, where she’s met with the sight of two little kids- a boy and a girl, the oldest barely eight, the youngest maybe half that age- huddled over a body.

she crept closer to them, where she saw that the body was a human male, much older than the two kids. 

he must be their father…

father. juleka squints at the man’s bloodied body- a father. she had a father. the father was gone. her father.

shaking her head, juleka makes a small chirping noise so she doesn’t frighten the children too much. they both jolt; she sees that the older boy has a few tears streaking down his face. his little sister is full-on wailing, but has managed to keep it quiet.

she walks a little bit closer, holding out her hand as a sign of peace. the little girl huddles closer to her brother.

“p-please, don’t hurt us,” the girl sobs.

juleka sniffs a little bit, to make sure none of the blood drenching the fronts of their shirts belong to them, and she’s right. it all belongs to the silent corpse sinking into the ground.

juleka mentally curses herself. she doesn’t have a way to communicate with them, since she can’t talk, goddamn fucking muzzle-

oh! right! demon powers!

she blinks a few times, meeting the eyes of the oldest- she gives him a message.

it’s okay. i am friend.

he stares at her for a little while, before walking closer- his sister remains behind him, still holding his hand tightly and not meeting juleka’s eyes.

juleka holds out her hand, which makes the boy flinch slightly, before he calms down a little bit. and he lets her pat his head.

she blinks once and suddenly, it’s her patting theo’s head, after he’d won against her in a game. she blinks again and it’s gone.

protect humans. humans are family.

it has a different meaning now, the words that are hers but not. 

she smiles at them (with her eyes- mama always told her they were special), before asking the boy a silent question. who are you? what happened?

the boy casts a look back at his father’s body- before looking back at juleka.

“i…i’m august,” the boy- august- tells her. he motions to the little girl who’s finally looking up at juleka. “this is my sister, manon.”

“we’re, we’re lost, miss,” manon says quietly. “papa was playing with us, then he disappeared, and now he- he’s-” the girl collapses into sobs, letting go of her brother to grab onto juleka and bury her face in the older girl’s shoulder. “he’s gone…”

juleka blinks and suddenly she is hanna, when she’d tripped over and landed face-first in the snow. another blink and it’s manon again.

she shakes her head to rid herself of the visions, but the words that do but do not belong to her repeat like a mantra.

protect humans.

humans are family.

“please…” august crouches down on the ground, manon moving over to sit with him. “help us…”

juleka has been told, by a person who is not herself- humans are family. she will protect them. and she will.

a voice, a new voice that’s loud and not in her head, giggles from the trees. “ the sandboy just checked in, now nightmares can be-gin… ”

“juleka!” luka calls, his voice hoarse. they’ve been wandering the way that juleka ran off for what seems like forever now, though it might just be luka being the Big Brother he was.

adrien, bless his kind heart, was looking nearly as vigorously as luka himself, just as worried. “juleka! where are you?”

“i hope she’s okay…” luka frets, fiddling with his thumbs. “i promised to take care of her…”

“hey,” adrien says, making his way towards luka. he places a hand on luka’s arm. “she’s older than you think, luka. juleka’s capable of taking care of herself.” he gives the older boy a grin. “also, she’s terrifying sometimes. i bet she’ll be able to fend for herself.”

luka pauses. “yeah…yeah, you’re probably right.” he shrugs. “big brother things, i guess…”

then adrien’s head whips up. “wait, did you hear that?”

luka frowns. “…no? hear what?”

then a song floats on the wind, towards the boys.

“ the sandboy just checked in, now nightmares can be-gin… ”

FUCK.