"I wonder what we're gonna find." Mirabel says as you both walk home from the donkeys' patio, hand in hand.
"I wonder if we'll find anything at all." You sigh, dragging your feet. "Have you ever been inside Bruno's tower?"
She looks at you, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "No, wh-"
"(Y/n)!" A voice cuts you off, and you turn to see Leta running up to you with a grin. "Hi, what's up? How did it go with your grandmother?"
"Hola." Mirabel perks up over your shoulder to make herself acknowledged. Leta freezes for a second, wondering whether she just had let too many words slip out. She smiles nervously.
"Oh, hi! H-how are you doing, Mirabel?"
You laugh at her distressed expression. "It's okay, Leta. Mirabel can know about Abuela." You turn to your sister. "Yesterday, Abuela asked me to-"
"Oh, I know." Mirabel states bluntly.
You keep your mouth open, first in indignation of getting interrupted, then in confusion. You exchange a surprised look with Leta. "What?"
Your sister shrugs, as if that was no big deal. "I heard you by the window. I was on the roof, bec-"
"You were on the roof?!" You exclaim, both puzzled and angry at her for being so careless.
"Hey, it's fine! Casita wouldn't let anything happen to me. Helped me climb u-"
"The same Casita that you saw covered in cracks, that is only alive because of the magic that you think is dying at this very moment?"
She pauses, considering your point. "...Yes. Well, maybe I shouldn't have then. Sorry?"
"Just don't do it again." You rub your face tiredly, wondering how you were supposed to go through the day.
"Promise! Now we should go save the magic, let's goooo!" She drags her word, and you, towards your poor house, and you motion Leta to follow behind.
"It went alright with Abuela. She apologized, and, well, asked me a favor, and I said no- anyway, we're investigating to discover what's wrong about the magic."
"Alright." Leta shrugs. "Where are we going?"
"To Bruno's tower, we think he- you good?"
Her face had suddenly turned extremely pale, and she had slowed down hesitantly. Her eyes roamed around the street uneasily, and you had to snap your finger in her face to get her back to reality.
"Leta?"
She flinches, letting out a small exclamation. "Sorry. I- you know, it's always weird for me to think your uncle wasn't some kind of terrifying, lanky wizard as my aunt describes him. I've been raised with her obsession for that dead fish and your uncle's supposed involvement in that story. I know it's not true, of cours-"
"Okay, got it. No worries. You still want to come along? Entering his tower's forbidden but at least he won't be here to scare you." You wave your arms around vaguely to imitate some kind of lurking creature. "He's long gone now."
"But there might be a few spiders." Mirabel teasingly crawls her hand up Leta's shoulder, making her shudder.
"I can deal with spiders." She smiles, and grabs your arm while Mirabel intertwines hers with the other. The three of you resume confidently walking towards Casita.
"Where's Luca anyway?" You suddenly remember the existence of your other friend, who seemed to be very eager to help you save the magic before you disappeared last night.
"Probably still sleeping. He passed his curfew last night and had to climb back up his window not to get caught, but he hit his head on the edge when he tried to get in."
"Ouch."
"Yeah, he was pretty wobbly after that, and I think he might have passed out."
"Oh. Shouldn't we go check on him then?"
"..."
"..."
"Anyway, do we have an idea of what we must find in that tower?"
"A vision." Mirabel says, nodding trustfully.
"And what does a vision look like?"
You and Mirabel look at each other. Truth was, you had no idea.
"It looks like..." Your sister starts.
"A vision." You shrug.
Leta sighs.
___
You didn't plan on getting caught as soon as you stepped foot into your house, but you did. Abuela was behind the door, talking with Isabela, when you forcefully opened the door against Casita, who seemed reluctant about you going in. Now you know why.
"AAAaaabuelaaa!" Your shout dies down when the shock fades away and you're sure Mirabel and Leta got the message. They quickly hide behind the door that wasn't open, and you scoff exaggeratedly to cover the sound of their shuffling. "Hola."
Both Isabela and your grandmother give you a questioning gaze. You just lean on the door, discreetly looking to the side to see your sister and Leta sneaking away, probably towards the patio, from which they could enter the kitchen. Hopefully, Julieta wasn't in there.
"(Y/n)?" Abuela frowns, confused. "Weren't you supposed to help Luisa?"
Isabela crosses her arms, raising an eyebrow. You gulp down your saliva under her inquisitive eyes.
"Uhm, yeees, but I realized I wasn't of much help. So, I figured I'd come back to see what I could so instead, is all."
"Oh." Abuela appears to find it logical and nods. "Well, then, I think-"
You lose track of her words when a movement behind their backs diverts your attention. It was Mirabel's head peeking out from the kitchen and looking straight at you. You tilt your head slightly to let her know to try and climb up the stairs silently.
"Sorry, you were saying?" You cut Abuela and tense up when she scowls disapprovingly. Meanwhile, Mirabel and Leta exit the kitchen and silently make their way upstairs.
"I was saying," your grandmother continues in a sharp tone. "That maybe you would enjoy helping Félix out at the Vegas' farm. They have some crates to move, and Luisa's too busy to do it, so your uncle proposed to do it, disregarding his recent back problems -Pepa did tell him not to-"
"Aye! What do I hear?" A cheerful voice sounds from the living room, announcing Félix's arrival. You suck in a breath, eyes shoting towards Mirabel and Leta, who were currently on the first floor balcony, just in front of the doorframe your uncle was about to pass. Surely he would see them if they didn't hide immediately, but the problem was that there was nothing near the two girls that they could use to shelter themselves behind.
When Mirabel freezes, and grabs Leta's hand to indicate her to do the same, you understand what she wants you to do. It takes you lots of effort to make someone other than yourself invisible, strangely, and so it is easier if they stay very still. By the time Félix steps out in the courtyard, arms open and smile wide, Leta and Mirabel are invisible to everyone but you. You wait for your uncle to reach your little group to dissolve the illusion, and your sister gives you a thumbs up, to which you answer with a slight nod that also meant: 'hurry the fuck up'. From the corner of your eye, you see them rush towards Bruno's door, finally.
"My niece is coming along to help me out? Ah, delightful!" Félix beams, ruffling your hair as you give him a tight smile. You kind of wanted to go to Bruno's tower with the others. "Maybe we can gossip about everyone on our way there."
Alright, a gossip session with Félix? That was a hundred times better than to save the magic. You nod aggressively.
"I hope you don't talk about us!" Abuela jokes with a slight smile, and you and your uncle exchange a guilty gaze.
"Nooooo..." Félix says innocently, grabbing your shoulders and slowly pulling you backwards towards the door. "Well, look at the time! We should leave now. Vamos, (Y/n), Vamos!"
You steal one last glance towards Bruno's door, behind which you hoped Mirabel and Leta had successfully disappeared. You couldn't help them anymore now.
___
"No way!" You exclaim when Félix sheepishly tells you about the last news on M. Diaz's relationship. Dolores loved to eavesdrop on them, she said it was her daily dose of drama. She also loved to tell her father everything about it. And said father loved to get your opinion on the subject. "I can't believe he would say that!"
"Eheh, but he did. Romantic, isn't it?"
"Disgustingly cheesy, you mean! I can't imagine being in that poor woman's place, I would have laughed in his face!"
"Ah, yes, yes." Félix nods, making a mental note not to use M. Diaz's words on Pepa like he had planned to. "Cheesy, that's what I meant. Well well well, looks like we're here!"
And indeed, you had reached the Vegas' farm, and you could see three people already charging some crates on carts that were probably meant to make round trips from here to the destination of the marchandise.
A villager heads towards you -well, your uncle- and shows you what you're supposed to do, which isn't too hard: simply carry the crates from one point to another. This, you could do. It was a bit heavy for you, to be honest, but you were doing a fine job, staying at a reasonable distance from the others not to see their scared or hateful expressions despite Félix awkwardly trying to act as if everything was normal.
You were enjoying yourself nevertheless. The weather wasn't too hot, and a light breeze provided you with freshness from time to time. Also, what you were doing didn't require too much thinking, which was great, except for the fact your mind kept going back to Mirabel and Leta, who were probably living their best lives saving the Encanto.
Little did you know, they were actually struggling to get to the top of the tower, courtesy of the numerous stairs they needed to climb.
"Yeah, go on and save the world while I do the dirty farm work. I'm very happy about it." You spitefully mumble to yourself after you accidentally drop a box on your foot and once the pain slowly fades. "Wait, I'm actually happy to do that. Maybe I should just drop school and start a farming career."
"What are you on about again?"
You yelp in surprise and drop your crate on a foot again. Only this time, it wasn't yours.
"FUCK!" Luca hops away on one foot, holding the other -hurt- one in pain.
"Oh, Luca." You state. "Didn't see you there."
"I sure hope so!" He groans as he sets his foot back on the floor. "Or that would mean you did this purposefully."
You look away mysteriously to remind him it might have been a possibility.
"Whatcha doin' here anyway? Oh, hey, you've got a little something here..." You point to your forehead. On Luca's gloriously stuck out a magnificent bump, probably from last night when he bumped his head into the wall.
He grunts and applies his cold palm against the wound. "Yeah, I noticed... Funny story, actually-"
"Leta told me. Slept well?" You pick your box back up and resume walking towards the carts. Luca tags along.
"Oh, I was so knocked out by this. I fell right on my bed and closed my eyes, then bam! Woke up, like, an hour ago."
You giggle while he helps you lift your cargo to place it on top of the other crates on the cart.
"Anyway, my mom sent me to help out here since I slept through a good part of the morning. I think she totally knows I came home after my curfew yesterday."
"Why do you even have a curfew in the first place?"
"To keep a healthy sleep schedule, duh." He shakes his head disapprovingly. "You wouldn't know, and it shows."
"Ooooh." You place your hands over your heart. "The dark circles under my eyes are family heritage."
"Really? Nobody has them."
You had made your way back to the warehouse where the crates were stored, and you handed one to Luca before taking one for yourself. Maybe doing this with someone was even better, after all.
"My Tío did. But then again, I guess it's true. Both our sleep schedules weren't the best."
"Seems like the habit of sleeping late is the problem. Your genes have nothing to do with that."
"You love being right, don't you?" You hit his side with your shoulder playfully, making him stumble a bit because of the weight of his box.
He regains his balance easily and throws you a warning glare, before answering your rhetorical question.
"Yes."
You both continue working and joking around for a little while, unaware of Félix's very obvious smiles. During this short interlude of peace, you forget all about the magic being in danger and just have fun, until Luca asks about your discussion with Abuela last night. You explain how it went, and then wonder how to tactfully tell him you had sent your sister and your friend into a forbidden place to gather information on those cracks.
"... Also, Leta and Mirabel are in Bruno's tower right now, but you can't tell anyone because we're not allowed to step foot in there. Alright?"
Pretty tactful indeed. Luca first tilts his head, confused, then sucks in a pretty puzzled breath, and finally expresses his disarray with words.
"Sorry, what?"
___
words: 2229
note: SORRY Y'ALL FOR THE LATE UPDATE BUT UNI'S TAKING UP ALL MY TIME RN. so much homework!!
I just need to establish a healthy schedule and it'll get better.
I posted a small flashback before this chapter to make up for it, hope you enjoyed!
see ya!