Not The Only Ones

Chapter 6 - Marry a Madrigal!

"We have to hide the body." Benny said sternly. Manny was on the brink of passing out. Emmy nodded silently.

"Stop that!" Camilo said as he picked up Luz's limp body. They had fainted. Luisa and Mirabel were panicking in the other room. Luisa so shocked her gift temporarily stopped working, leaving Camilo to lift Luz. "Why did your mind immediately go to hiding the body Benny? YOURE FIVE."

" In Gran-Tio Bruno's rat novelas they ALWAYS hide the body." He replied matter of factly. It was true. No body no crime after all. "Still no, and Luz isn't dead. They just fainted." Emmy grabbed one of their limp arms and let it fall heavily. "Looks dead to me, Tio. It's okay, we have a hole in the backyard already dug up." Camilo laid Luz down on a couch and immediately sped walked to Manny quickly placing his hands on his shoulders. "Manny, my sweet sweet arepa baby. I worry for your safety around your siblings every day."  Manny placed a small hand on his arm and looked him square in the eyes "Its okay Tio..Feral or not, family's family."

Mirabel stood in the door way, concerned by the whole situation. Why are the kids still up? But more importantly the hole these literal children had dug in the backyard apparently? Thats another story. Back to Luz.

A few moments ago....

"Abuela we're homeeee! We have company too!"
Mirabel yelled walking into casita. She waved at the clinking shingles. "Hola Casita."

The family came barreling out of the common area. "Where are they?! Is it true they're made out of the gift's power?! What do they look like?! Are they hungry? What do they eat?!" The questions came quickly from the mass of people.

Confused and immediately defensive, Luisa pulled Luz close and turned her torso around trying to hide as much of their body with hers as possible. Camilo, Mirabel, and Bruno stood between them and the rest of the family as well. "Woah woah. Back up! Give them some space!" Camilo snapped. Mirabel rested a hand on his shoulder to calm him and took charge. She immediately knew why this was happening.

"DOLORES!! YOU COULD'VE WAITED!" She screeched upstairs. She was hiding behind a banister. "Eep!"

Abuela, guided by Augustin came to the front of the group. The family split to let her pass. Bruno stepped infront of his group. "Uh Hi Mom..we-uh, we found something. W-well!" He paused to look back at Luz who was very much sunken into Luisa's arms. "Well someone."  He looked nervously back at his family. He understood their excitement and questions but didn't know how they'd react once they calmed down and the excitement died down. Before he could drag himself down deeper a warm tired hand rested on his shoulder. It was Abuela. "Thank you mijo. You did good. Raise your head. You're always bringing clarity to this family one way or another arent you, Bruno?" He chuckles shyly. Relieved. Luz poked out from Luisa's shield of a body and smiled.

After a meal, organized chaos of questions, and most importantly the flashback rewind for the older family members that stayed behind, everybody was finally on the same page.

"My mother will stop by to visit eventually!" Luz said with a smile. "Its been a very long time since she's last taken form and she's older now as well so it'll take a moment. She can't wait to meet you all though!" they said excitedly looking around at everyone.

For Luz's people, the aging process isn't really a process at all. It's a literal choice. They don't die per say but they can become unconscious indefinitely or release their power back to the forest which would make them disappear entirely. Whenever members of the family found their spouse it was tradition to offer them a little bit of magic, enough to extend their prime years by a couple decades. It was like being in your 20's-30's for an additional 20 years. This way they can spend more time together and in turn have more children. But it wasn't immorality. They will eventually continue aging and die. Some members of the family would allow themselves to age with their partners and when they died..they'd either release themselves to the forest, or lay in a casket and go into a dormant state, never to wake up again. The reason for choosing the latter was usually for those who wanted to have a more "realistic" death than turning into light and dissolving into the sky and greenery. Of course there were family members who refused to die, and would simply remarry over and over as the generations went on.