[A/N: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐂 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 "𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨" 𝐈 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦~]
━ ⭒─⭑━
"ㅡI knew you were waiting for my demise to get with that Maria woman, you low-down, good for nothing bastard! The fact that you moved on before my body had even settled into the ground tells me everything I need to know! Every day you spend time going to that harlot's house instead of being at home grieving for me! I pray to my ancestors above that you fall victim to El Boraro and he rips your cojones from yourㅡ"
"And that will be all. Thank you very much, Señora Luciana. I will be sure to let Señor Mateo know of your grievances," you told the spirit before sending her away.
As soon as she was dispersed back to the other side, your body gave a tired sigh, your ears still ringing at the ungodly screeches left by the vengeful spirit. You should have known better than to accept Mateo's request; Luciana was a loud woman while living, and death surely didn't put a dent in her voice.
"So what did Luciana say? Did she say anything about me?" Mateo asked, hands holding on to the picture of his recently deceased wife with bright eyes.
You winced at his hopefully face, "Um, yes. She's happy that you aren't too distraught from her passing and wanted you to know that she loves you," you told him, lying through your teeth with a forced smile.
Mateo's shoulders sagged in both sadness and relief. "That's good. Since her death, I've been receiving crocheting lessons from Maria to pass the time," he told you with a sheepish smile, "Luciana always begged me to learn with her, and every time I told her no. Hopefully, the lessons will pay off and she will like the blanket I made for her headstone."
You felt your heart internally crack as Mateo stared down at the picture with sad eyes, gently caressing the frame; oblivious to his dead wife's sadistic wishes for his suffering.
Poor man, even beyond the grave, his wife somehow jumps to conclusions, you thought with a shake of your head. May he never die, or he'll be stuck with her shouts for an eternity, literally.
"Anyways, thank you for your help, Y/N. I will be sure to return for my next appointment," he told you as you held the door open for him.
Shutting the door, you slid down to the ground with a big huff.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a bad medium you are, Y/N. Lying to your customers," a voice taunted in your ear, causing you to groan in annoyance.
"Please shut up, Sidero. I'm not in the mood," you said, looking over to the smiling spirit.
Sidero was the first spirit you met when your gift manifested at 5-years-old. After nearly falling victim to pneumonia, you were fortunately healed by Julieta's gift, but due to your near-death experience, it seemed to awaken your gift: the gift to communicate with those beyond the living.
At first, when you told others about the people you would see walking around town, they assumed you meant the townsmen until you began describing them, saying the names of those dead, and even speaking of things that happened before your time.
The town was in shock: a child that wasn't a Madrigal had received a gift?
Many, as well as the adults of Casa Madrigal, were stumped, wondering how you had such a gift when there wasn't a single door within Casita that had your name plastered across its surface.
It was then, with a heavy heart, that your mother admitted her lineage.
Apparently, long ago, the women of the Muertez line were blessed by the Goddess of Death, Santa Muerte, and given an array of abilities that were related to death.
Your mother talked of the tales of your ancestors, women who were priestesses to the deity. They used their abilities to dispel myths about death, teaching people that it wasn't the end of life, but rather a part of it.
She admitted that she didn't think you would get a gift, seeing that the lineage wasn't blessed with one in nearly six generations, the last being your great-great-great-great grandmother, Adriana Muertez, who could temporarily bring life into corpses or inanimate objects using the heart of an animal.
She also confessed to keeping it from your father because of what happened to her family. Because of the nature of the Muertezs' gifts, they were known far and wide, but then, after hundreds of years of peace, they were turned on by those they helped.
Though she didn't experience it, her mother did. She explained how her mother, your maternal grandmother, told her how she watched many of her family members get burned at the stake for witchcraft. To save her, your grandparents took your mother and ran, leaving the name Muertez behind to cover their tracks.
Eventually, everyone seemed to accept it, which greatly surprised your mother, who thought they would harm you. Alma even promised to always ensure harm would never come to you because a gift is a gift, no matter its nature, and that no child should be harmed because of it.
And soon, seeing spirits hanging around became the norm, especially for the noiret-haired teen named Sidero Patricio.
"You're never in the mood to deal with me," he whined, allowing himself to float upside down while staring you in the face with a pout.
Sidero was handsome, but not in the conventional sense. He had an appearance that would have made him stand out in the crowd if he were alive. Standing at around 5'11, Sidero was tan with two unfathomable dark-colored eyes paired with inky black hair.
Waving him off, you pushed yourself up from the floor, dusting your clothes. "Because you're always yapping away in my ear," you told him, walking around to light cleansing incense.
"Only because I care about you," the spirit argued, following close behind you much like a puppy would. "If I didn't, I would have dispersed to the other side, leaving you without me, your only friend."
An incredulous squawk escaped your body, "WhatᅳI have friends!"
"I'm sure you do, chiquita."
You couldn't help but bristle at the nickname before turning to Sidero with a raised brow, "Stop with the chiquita, okay? I'm not little anymore. Plus, if we're going to get literal, it should be the other way around with me calling you chiquito since I'm almost two years older than you."
"Y/N, Y/N, Y/N..." Sidero sighed, setting himself on the ground. "You may be older than me physically, but I've got decades on you, chiquita," he teased, smiling over at you.
Knowing that he got you there, you waved him off once more, "Still, I don't know where you got that I don't have friends. I'll have you know, I have many friends."
"The dead don't count, and since I'm a part of that demographic... you see where I'm going with this."
You knew he was only trying to rile you up, but you couldn't help the annoyance bubbling in your chest. "Sidero Nacio Patricio, I am this close"ᅳyou held your pointer and thumb an inch apartᅳ"to banishing you to the land of the dead and not allowing you back until next week."
Instead of him apologizing like you assumed he would, Sidero just laughed as he walked over to you. "Oh~ I can't believe you went and used my full name on me, Y/N," he stood in front of you, gently pinching your face, "Am I in trouble?"
When his hands came into contact with your face, you couldn't help the rack of chills flowing through your body, feeling as if you were drenched in a bucket of ice water.
Stepping away from his touch, you walked away to grab your cloak. "Pah! It's impossible to threaten you when you never take me seriously."
"Of course, I don't. This is the fifth time this week you've told me that, yet when you do it, you end up summoning me back not a day later. And if I didn't know any better, that makes you seem a bit friendless~" he sang, leaning back to float on the surface of a chair, giving the illusion that he was sitting down, with a wide grin.
"Why youᅳ" Your insult was cut off by the sound of knocks at your door.
"Y/N, it's me, Mirabel. Are you ready?"
"Yeah, I'll be out in a bit," you shouted back before turning to the Sidero. "Well, since I spend so much time with the dead, I guess I'll send you home so I can be with the living," you drawled, sending the noiret a fake-sharp glare. "See you tomorrow, Sidero."
Playfully rolling his eyes, the spirit sent you a wave. "See you next time I'm summoned, chiquita." And with that, the spirit was gone.
When you opened the door, you were met with Mirabel looking over your shoulder with a puzzled expression, trying to see who you were talking to, only to find an empty space. A look of understanding came over the teen's face. If she didn't know what your gift was, she'd have thought you were insane for talking to the air.
"Let me guess, Sidero?"
"As always," you told her, walking out of the shop, shutting the door before beginning your trek towards Casa Madrigal for dinner.
Instead of walking straight through town, the two of you took the shortcut so your conversation wouldn't be interrupted.
"I didn't see you at lunch today. What was so important that you couldn't come?"
"Ah, you know, existing."
"That bad, huh?"
"Yeah," you sighed, shoulders slumping in both regret and guilt as you recalled the shrieking voice of your last client. "It's been a hectic day today."
"It couldn't have been worse than usual," the noirette stressed, not understanding why you were more worn out than usual.
"Believe me, Mira, it was one of the worst days I've ever had."
"Try me."
"I had the Castillo's as a client today."
A wince came across Mirabel's face at the name, immediately understanding who you were talking about, "Geez, I'm so sorry. You're right. You had a pretty sucky day," she said, giving you a pity pat on your shoulder.
"Yeah."
"But hey," she spoke, a bright smile growing on her lips. "If it makes you feel any better, I asked mamá to save you a few buñuelos once I realized you weren't coming for lunch."
You swiveled around to face her, gripping her by the shoulders with sparkling eyes. "Mira, I will literally kill for you."
"No need for that, Y/N," she giggled as the two of you walked up towards the large mansion.
Before either of you could even think of opening the door, Casita was, as always, a step ahead.
"Thank you, Casita," you both replied to the happy house, laughing as the tiles beneath your feet created eccentric shapes and colors.
As you and Mirabel were about to turn the corner towards the dining room, Julieta came out of the kitchen with a tray of tamales in her hand.
"Mamá, let me help you with that."
"Thank you, Cosa linda," the noirette smiled as Mirabel took the tray from her.
As Mirabel was off taking the food to the dining room, Julieta turned to face you and said, "Can you help me with the remaining dishes?"
"Of course, Señora Julieta." With that, you followed the graying-noirette into the kitchen.
The fragrance of delicious food was the first thing that hit your nose when you walked in behind the healer.
Immediately, your eyes zoned onto tonight's dessert: a tray of Merengón de Fresas.
Your mouth practically watered at how delicious it looked, how juicy and sweet the strawberries, peaches, and mora looked sitting on top of the bed of fluffy whipped cream.
Seeing your distracted gaze, Julieta shook her head with a smile as she handed you a pot of arroz atollado. "So did you enjoy the buñuelos? I decided to try something new and added a pinch of cacao powder. I hope they turned out well enough."
It took a moment before you were able to register what was said to you, "Eh? I didn't get any buñuelos. Mirabel said that you saved me some because I missed lunch," you told her as you both walked out of the kitchen towards the dining room.
A puzzled expression quickly filled out on Julieta's face at your words. "I did. That's why when I saw you walking down the hall earlier, I asked if you'd want them now and you took them."
"Señora Julieta, you must be mistaken. I haven't been here since this morning. Plus, I couldn't have done that. I just came in with Mirabel."
The two of you were left in silence before looking at one another, understanding immediately filling your minds. "Camilo," you both sighed in unison.
That trickster should have been the first thing to come to mind when Julieta asked if you enjoyed the buñuelos, yet he wasn't because of your distracted nature.
You couldn't believe he'd do that to you!
Well, actually, you could, but still, he committed identity fraud to hurt you in the worst way possible: to steal your buñuelos!
Oh, the horror!
You haven't had them in weeks due to both your absence as well as Julieta's rule to make a dessert once a week, and that devil went and stole it from you.
Seeing the waves of sadness flowing off your form as you pouted over the loss of your desert, Julieta gave you a gentle nudge with her hip, "Don't be too upset, linda. If it makes you feel any better, I'll whip you up a few buñuelos and personally deliver them to you tomorrow, alright?"
Feeling a smidge better, you gave the older woman a small smile as well as a "Thank you," before walking into the dining room.
Everyone wasn't present at the moment, the only ones there helping set up being Mirabel, Agustín, Julieta, Dolores, and yourself.
Agustín was the first to notice your arrival, getting up to grab the pot out of your hands, allowing you to go over and set plates on the table with Mirabel.
After getting everything together, the others began trickling in, the only ones absent being Camilo and Alma.
"Mira, I never knew I could kill a man until Camilo came into my life," the words left your lips, eyes narrowing at the empty seat before you as you sat next to your best friend.
"Huh? What did he do?" The girl wondered, turning towards you with a puzzled face.
At her question, you couldn't help the scowl that grew on your lips. "That tramposo pretended to be me and ate the buñuelos Señora Julieta saved for me."
"Wow, really?"
"Yeah. I swear, he has it out for me. Out of everything he could have done, he had to do that."
Mirabel hummed, "I suppose, but you can't blame him. It was you who missed lunch, after all. You'd think that since you love mamá's buñuelos so much, you wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Yeah—wait, what?" You were taken back by her words; she was siding with Camilo!?
When had she ever, in your twelve years of friendship, sided with that trickster!?
Besides, she was the one who told Julieta to save you a few pastries!
"Mira, whatㅡ?" Before you could finish your question, Alma and Mirabel walked into the room.
It was at the moment that you saw her enter with the matriarch that you knew you'd been duped for the second time today.
Releasing a sigh, you turned to face 'Mirabel' only to find Camilo already staring at you with a wicked grin. "Hello, Y/N. I heard you had some interesting things to say about me. Care to reveal them? I'm all ears."
You wanted to scream right then and there. Why, on Santa Muerte, couldn't you realize that it was Camilo? And how come the rest of them didn't tell you it was him? They obviously knew, seeing as they showed no reaction when the real Mirabel walked in with Alma. You couldn't help but feel that they wanted you to fail and continue to be deceived by him.
"Camilo," you started with a false smile, "If you don't move, I will ask Antonio to put his animals on you again."
You both knew that it wasn't an empty threat; a couple of weeks ago, you got Antonio to put a few of his pets on Camilo due to him aggravating you, and you were pleasantly surprised to find that they knew where Camilo was no matter how he looked because his scent always stayed the same.
Camilo must have realized that you were serious because he stood up, allowing Mirabel to sit in her seat, but not without leaving with a cheeky last word. "If it makes you feel any better, they were delicious. Tía Julieta really outdone herself with that batch."
You just stayed silent, allowing your eye to twitch out your frustration as he happily whistled as he sat before you, winking before beginning to dive into the food.
"Don't let him get to you, Y/N. He just enjoys getting a rise out of you," Mirabel said, handing you the salad bowl.
"Yeah, yeah. I know," you muttered, fixing your plate and eating like everyone else.
Besides the usual trickery from Camilo, dinner was exquisite; you couldn't believe you willingly missed two weeks of Julieta's delicious food just because of work; never again.
As everyone was finishing up, Alma stood up to give the evening family meeting.
"As we all know, Día de Muertos will be arriving in less than a few weeks, so we have much to prepare." Her voice was soft yet strict, easily capturing the attention of everyone at the table. "And since the celebration allows our deceased loved ones to come back to visit us, I believe it would be best if you, Y/N, took control and plan the ceremony this year."
Your eyes bulged out of your skull, choking on your water in surprise at her words. "W-What? Me?"
"Yes, cariño, you."
"B-But shouldn't it be planned by you, Doña Alma? You've done it for so long."
Don't get it wrong, you were honored to be chosen to be in charge of something that suited your gift, but she wanted the entire ceremony to be planned by you!?
"Yes, but seeing as what your gift entails, I, as well as many others, agree that you are perfect for the task. Unless, of course, you feel that you aren't ready?"
She was right; it's only natural that someone of your lineage is in charge of an event related to spirits crossing over to the living and visiting loved ones.
Hosting such a big event like this reminds you of the stories your mother would tell you; stories depicting the ceremonies the women of your family bestowed on the people around them, allowing them the opportunity to showcase their gifts from your goddess.
"No...I would like to do it," you said, looking up to make eye contact with the matriarch.
A grandmotherly smile filled out Alma's face. "Well, in that case, it is settled. Y/N will be in charge of planning the upcoming celebration. Let's make it everyone's priority to assist her with whatever she needs. La Familia Madrigal!"
"La Familia Madrigal!" And with that, dinner was dismissed.
━•༓☾ ❝ 𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐀/𝐍 ❞ ☽༓•━
***I didn't necessarily know where to end the chapter, so please forgive the need for dragging it on. I hope you enjoyed the extra info I dumped on you all regarding Y/Ma's family history, as well as my OC!
I've also been getting messages about when I'll update, and I'm sorry to say that I'm unsure. I try writing whenever I can but it isn't always guaranteed every three days due to school and tons of work. So I'll try to update often, but I can't be too sure; hope you all understand.
Anyways, see you next update.
(tactus mortis)
camilo madrigal x fem!medium!reader
@winxanity_ii
(wattpad)
~
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ᴠᴏᴛᴇ 💛 / ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛ💜 / ѕнᴀʀᴇ 💙
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