[A/N: 𝐒𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦. 𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐩 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 3 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 3𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐎𝐕, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 2𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐎𝐕, 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞.]
━ ⭒─⭑━
The sky rumbled ominously with blinding lights as rain poured down from the heavens.
In the crevices of an eroded mountain sat a small cabin, sheltered away from the thundering storm.
Inside the cabin sat a middle-aged woman, who sang olden hymns under her breath as she tended to the sick 5-year-old splayed out on the bed.
"My little one," she sighed in sadness, keeping her tears at bay as she watched how her child's chest slowly went up and down in labored breaths.
Just as she reached forward to fluff the pillow, the door to the creaky opened, and in walked a middle-aged man.
The woman looked up, a tired smile growing on her lips. "Miguel, you're home."
The man smiled back at her as he walked over to the bed, setting the bowl of water on the bedside table before bending over to place a kiss on her lips. "How is she, Jovena? Is she alright?"
"I'm afraid not," Jovena told him, reaching over to dip the cloth in the bowl before gently wiping off the sweat littered across the little girl's forehead. "Her fever hasn't broken. I'm afraid it's getting worse."
Kneeling by the bed, Miguel gave a deep sigh as he watched his wife cater to their sick child.
"If her fever hasn't broken by sunrise, we will have no choice but to ask them for help."
Turning towards the door, Miguel shook his head at the sound of his grandmother's voice, "Abuelita, no. I will not risk the life of my child for help that isn't guaranteed."
An older woman with grey hair hobbled into the little room, her body formed into a hunch. "Nonsense, she will receive help. They owe us after all."
Jovena quickly got up and walked over to the elderly before her husband could say anything, "Abuelita, please, take my seat." Taking her gently by the arm, she led the old lady next to the chair.
The second the elderly woman sat down, her eyes were drawn towards the sickly child. "Miguel,"ㅡshe set her cane to the side to wipe the child's foreheadㅡ"as I've stated before, she needs help. Something we can't give her. We need to take her to them."
"Why should we beg for them to help us, abuela!? After all that we've doneㅡsacrificed for them, they turn around and left us at a time when we needed them most! I refuseㅡ"
"No! No more talking! You'll listen to me because I'll only say it once," the old woman cut him off, her eyes narrowing into slits, "Your child is dying. The sickness has grasped her, taking it to the point where we can no longer provide help to make her better! We can do no more! Now is the time to push away your pride and take her to those that can. I will not allow another life to die on my watch."
The room went silent; the only sounds to be heard were the patter of raindrops against the wood shutters and the wheezes of the aforementioned child.
Miguel allowed his head to drop in shame, knowing deep down that the older woman was right, "Abuelitaㅡ"
"No. I don't want to hear any more excuses, Miguel," the old woman sighed, her age showing with the heavy look on her face. "There was nothing I could do for your mother. But her...."ㅡshe looked down at the sleeping childㅡ"I can save. So please, allow them to help her."
As the man stood, watching his grandmother clutch the rag in her hand as she stared down at his daughter, his dying daughter, he knew what he needed to do.
Looking over at his teary-eyed wife, he reached over to tenderly cup her face before facing his grandmother once more. "Okay, Abuelita. I will take her to them."
☆
✩
☆
The journey took three days and four nights of stormy weather before the small family reached their destination.
A flash of lightning illuminated the area, showcasing a giant rock wall.
"Abuelita, it seems that we've hit a dead-end," Miguel called out through the rain, stopping the mule before a small riverbed, "Did we head in the wrong direction?"
The old woman's voice was carried out from the cloth-covered wagon. "No, we are at the right place."
Miguel looked over at his wife in confusion at his grandmother's words. "But there's a wall of rock. If our destination is beyond it, how are we going to get past it?"
"Patience, dear Miguel. Our goal is there. You just have to look closer."
Taking the old woman's advice, Miguel led the donkey over the riverbed, the wagon making splashing sounds as it followed, stopping until they were directly before the wall.
Hopping down, Miguel walked over to Jovena, lifting her off the wagon with ease, before walking towards the back to lift the white cloth that sheltered those from the rain.
The sight Miguel was met with was his daughter swaddled up in blankets as his grandmother fed her herbal water, singing soft words of encouragement.
Stepping aside to allow Jovena to climb inside to try and cool down the feverish child, Miguel grabbed a nearby cloth to drape over his grandmother's frame before helping her down from the carriage.
"So where is the entrance, Abuelita?" Miguel wondered, keeping the old woman from falling over slippery stones as they walked closer to the wall.
"Right there." She pointed over to an uninteresting crevice in the rocks; it looked nearly identical to the hundreds of others that lined the wall.
Miguel looked unsure of where she was pointing; the space looked barely big enough for Jovena to slip through, let alone him. "Are you sure that's the entrance?"
The old woman gave a tired sigh, yanking her arm from Miguel's arm to hobble over the crease, mumbling harshly under her breath, "Idiota, nieto. Nunca presta atención. Todo lo que hace es hablar, hablar, hablar....*"
After a few seconds of touching the inside of the crease, the old woman found a small button-like pebble. "A-ha!" she cried in victory; quickly pressing the pebble, she shuffled back, allowing the crease to creak open in a door-like fashion.
[A/N: Pretend this is a well-kept secret that only a few people are aware of in order to travel and trade with other settlements.]
Miguel could only watch with raised eyebrows as his 87-year-old grandmother moved the wall wide enough for them to go through with ease.
"What a useless grandchild I have. Just watching as his poor Abuela does all the work," the old woman playfully tsked, wobbling back over to her grandson. "No worries, Miggy, you're still abuela's favorite grandson," she cooed, pinching his cheek before going back towards the wagon.
Turning to follow her, Miguel could only shake his head at her words. "But I'm your only grandson."
Making sure everyone was settled in, Miguel led the donkey through the large space, a shocked sound leaving him and Jovena when the rock slowly creaked back into place after their entrance, whilst Abuela behaved normally as if used to such an eccentric thing.
As the group traveled down the path, the weather fluctuated, from sunny at one moment, to rainy the next, even snowing at one point.
Soon, bright lights twinkled in the distance, as well as the sound of music.
The wagon came to a complete stop at the entrance of a town with a large sign that read "Encanto" and was decorated in several different colors of roses.
Looking back into the wagon, Miguel was met with the sight of his wife gently rocking their fussing daughter in her arms, trying to calm her.
He met his grandmother's eyes, who gave him a sharp nod.
Sucking in another breath, Miguel pushed the donkey to trot further into the town.
━•༓☾ ❝ 𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐀/𝐍 ❞ ☽༓•━
Translation: *Idiot, grandson. Never pays attention. All he does is just talk, talk, talk.
***Hello! And welcome to my first chapter of: Tactus Mortis which translates to The Touch of Death in Latin!
At first, I was going to write F/N & M/N for father's name and mother's name, but I didn't like it much, so I looked up the meaning of my own parents' name and found ones that mean the same/are similar in Spanish, so hopefully, none of you don't mind.
Also, I want it to be known that I know zero Spanish unless you count the cuss words and insults my friends teach me, so don't expect a lot, okay?
I'm just tryna do my best in creating a Camilo Madrigal fic I'd like to read because I haven't found one yet and as people say: "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it," so without further ado, here's the book I want to read and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
(tactus mortis)
camilo madrigal x fem!medium!reader
@winxanity_ii
(wattpad)
~
ⓇⒺⓂⒺⓂⒷⒺⓇ:
ᴠᴏᴛᴇ 💛 / ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛ💜 / ѕнᴀʀᴇ 💙
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