The return of the bandits (Encanto)

The plan

"Why did we have to come down here again?" Antonio asked as he was rubbing his eyes.

Camilo remained silent. He was supposed to tell Antonio, but he couldn't do it, he didn't want to scare him.

"Do we have to tell him?" Pepa asked her mother.

"Everyone must be prepared," Abuela concluded. "Even Antonio... Mirabel, I think it's best if you tell him."

Mirabel went over to Antonio — who was still rubbing his eyes — to carefully alert him without scaring him too much.

He didn't seem to process much of it as he was still very tired from being woken up in the middle of the night. But he understood the general idea of the story.

Pepa went towards him as well. "Are you okay mi hijo?" She asked him, worried the vision might have frightened him.

Antonio nodded and gave his mother a tired smile.

"You can go to bed soon, amor. Just try to stay awake a little longer." Pepa went back to her seat, but Antonio went to follow her, holding onto her arm.

Pepa smiled, went to sit down, and pulled her son to her lap. Her cloud shrank a little and it was a lot less menacing looking.

"So what do we do now?" Julieta asked.

Alma was silent once more. She didn't have a clue either, but they couldn't just go in unprepared.

"Do we know when they'll come, tío Bruno?" Isabela was still picking daisies out of her hair. They had now formed a little pile on the table.

Bruno shook his head. "My visions don't show the dates of when things will happen." He explained.

"I suppose I can't protect us, can I?" Luisa went to look at her abuela. "They had knives and stuff. I'm not exactly resistant to sharp things."

"I could slow them down with trees and vines," Isabela suggested. "I don't know how long it would hold them, but it's something."

The family continued discussing on how they could fend off the raiders. Everyone came up with their own ideas and they'd mix and match the plans to see if they'd find a way to protect themselves and the townspeople.

"Mamá, I'm tired." Antonio looked at Pepa with his sleepy eyes. "Can I go to bed?"

Pepa looked at the rest of the family, and back at her son. "I'll bring you to bed, mi vida, come on now." She gently picked him up and walked out of the room, leaving the rest of the Madrigals to further discuss the plan.

"Well, we should at least evacuate the town right?" Mirabel suggested. "We can't leave them here all vulnerable."
"But where should they go?" Félix asked.
"Anywhere but here. If they stay here the raiders will surely get to them."

Everyone agreed on that. They just needed to find a place that would be fit for hiding an entire town worth of people.

"But how should we protect our home?" Abuela asked. "We must defend the encanto as well."

Julieta pondered for a moment but got a reasonable idea. "Well, we've all concluded Dolores will alert us the moment those men come into the encanto, but we need a way to drive them out or at the least slow them down," She explained. "We need some kind of alarm that'll alert everyone, so we know when the town must be fully evacuated. Once those raiders make their way to the encanto we'll have to be ready for them. There's not much we can do to hold them back, Bruno's visions are often not alterable, so they will get in."

"I guess most of us will have to rely on our gifts," Camilo said. "Not much else we have."

Just then Pepa came back in and asked her husband what she missed. He gave her a quick summary and she sat back down next to him.

"What if we use the church bells as the alarm?" Luisa proposed. "That should be loud enough for everyone to hear."

"Good idea, then we only need to find a place for everyone to hide and a way to slow those men down."

They went on with discussing the plans for a while until they finally decided on one.

In the morning they would warn the townspeople of the incoming raid so they would have time to gather all their valuables and other important belongings.

That same day the family would look for a hiding space that can temporarily fit everyone in.

Once Dolores hears the bandits arrive she must notify the people at the church immediately so they can sound the bell. The Madrigals will be waiting at the casita to hopefully talk some sense into them, and if that doesn't work they'll have to fight to protect their home.

And when it did come to that situation the first thing to do was to disarm them from their weapons.

"So, do we all agree on the plan?" Abuela asked her family. The Madrigals all gave signs of agreement, and so it was set in stone. No alterations could be made or it would break apart and turn into chaos.

"All this discussing sure is making me tired..." Mirabel muttered. "I'm going to bed. See you guys tomorrow." She got off of her chair and went to walk towards her room.
"Yeah, I'm going too." Camilo jumped up from his seat and quickly went to follow his cousin.

"This is nerve-wracking," He whispered to her. His voice sounded slightly frustrated. "How do we know if we'll win this?"
"We don't," Mirabel looked down. "We just have to keep up our spirits I guess."

"Can't tío Bruno have a vision to see who will win?" Camilo asked. "I'm sure it'll relieve a lot of stress for all of us."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Mirabel responded. "What if the vision shows us losing? We'll have nothing to fight for, and be defeated for sure. I think it's best to leave the vision for what it is."

Camilo went silent and gave her a little 'good point' expression.

"Anyways I'm really going to bed now, buenas noches, Camilo."
"Nighty night, prima."

Mirabel opened her door, walked into her room, and closed it again behind her.

She went to put on her pyjamas and let herself fall onto her bed. It was a very tiring night, and they only had so little time to sleep. Mirabel could barely even fall asleep because she worried so much about what was to come.

But eventually, she managed to close her eyes and rest.

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God, it's hard to come up with a fictional plan- I don't play strategic games or anything so idk how to plan a fight 😭
Anyways I hope that, besides my mediocre attempt at making up a plan, you enjoyed this chapter! It's gonna be a lot more interesting from here!
Remember: tips/corrections are always appreciated!