Abre Los Ojos || Camilo Madrigal

Eternal Damnation

Sofía woke at dawn. The battle had been going on all night and there seemed to be barely any progress since then. Everyone was exhausted at that point, Sofía herself with all her dreams and falling unconscious.

She left Julieta’s room without a problem, as the woman was back outside taking care of the wounded on the battlefield, and ran back out into the war.

There weren’t as many invaders there as there were before, but there were still tons of them. She unsheathed her sword and started to make her way toward her arch-nemesis.

Camilo was continuing to throw breath mints, saying dumb phrases like, “CHOKE ON THIS!” or “DIE! FRESH BREATH IS BETTER!”

Leo, with his three-pound hammer, was hitting some invader that was already down. “Hey!” he called over to Camilo. “This guy’s breath reeks! He needs a breath mint!”

“Yeah! Don’t you want people to actually show up to your funeral? I mean, I wouldn’t if you don’t fix your breath soon,”

Isabela and Mirabel were working together on their strategy tactics, attacking the weakest among the bunch alone or the strongest together.

Dolores, however, was helping Julieta with tending to the wounded, as people got injured faster than they could be healed. Plus, fighting was hard for her ears to handle.

Pepa was out of control, conjuring up a hurricane. For once, Félix didn’t try to calm his wife down. The weather was just what they needed to get on even ground during the battle. Invaders were flying in the air, something that would’ve been a funny sight to see if it weren’t for the circumstances.

Esmeray spotted Sofía, the two heading towards each other as if they were in slow-motion. A hard glare was planted on her face, Esmeray having a wicked grin plastered to her own.

“Ready to go down, daughter of the forge?” she said as soon as she reach Sofía, unsheathing her own sword.

“I’d ask you the same, daughter of death,” Sofía spoke with confidence, something of which she did not have.

“Confidence,” Esmeray cackled. “Not for long, mi esclava. Not for long,”

Sofía charged at her and swung her sword recklessly. Esmeray blocked each blow easily. “Is this all you got?”

“No, I’m just warming up!” she cried, slashing her sword harder and quicker, using the skills she had picked up in training. Usually, these moves would’ve disarmed a normal demigod. With her luck, Esmeray was a very skilled swordsman.

They started moving backward as their celestial bronze swords clashed against each other, neither of them recognizing the scenery. Sofía hadn’t been to many places during her stay in Encanto, but she had absolutely no idea where she was anymore, but this didn’t concern her. All she cared about was defeating Esmeray in their dual.

“I love it when my prey puts up a fight!” Esmeray said with a wide grin, but Sofía could tell she was worn out, as her blows were weakening.

And it dawned upon her. Esmeray was not backing down, not dying, because she had an Achilles heel. The whole revenge on the Madrigals made no sense to her. Pedro hadn’t met anyone before Alma, there was no record of it. And she realized Esmeray had nothing to do with the Madrigal family. She had been sent to Encanto to destroy them by none other than Mother Earth herself.

Mother Earth was weakened and put back to sleep by Piper, Jason, and Leo, but what if it wasn’t powerful enough? What if she had lost her great power over the entire earth but still remained conscious? It made sense to her. Who else would’ve set them up like this?

She pointed her sword at Esmeray’s throat. “I win,” she whispered. “Take one more step, and you’ll fall into the chasm below,” she warned, speaking louder than before.

“Oh, but you forgot something,” Esmeray said with a wicked grin. “I am a daughter of Pluto,”

Esmeray pointed her sword at the ground. The ground beneath her feet started to rumble. Sofía gasped and fell back, trying to prevent herself from falling off the cliff herself.

“I win,” Esmeray hissed, her voice quiet but cold and menacing.

“Try again!” Sofía cried. She ran up to Esmeray and pushed her over the edge of the cliff. However, the villainess grabbed onto the ledge and tried to pull herself up. “I hope you enjoy eternal damnation,” she whispered, but her words echoed in Esmeray’s brain.

Sofía kicked Esmeray’s hands and watched the look of confidence and pride flicker to fear and hopelessness as the woman fell hundreds of feet to her death.

“I am the unstoppable one here,” And the war was over. The enemy was defeated.