"Aye, mija..." Julieta strokes your face with a scowl. "You really made her angry this time."
You both steal a glance at Abuela, who was not too happy about your little show introducing your family's troubles just now. She sighs disappointedly, before following the Guzmans out. Mariano's grandmother was furious.
"Wait- the magic is strong! Everything is fine! We are the Madrigals!"
You hear the door slam and look back at your mother. You both chuckle, and she pulls you behind her as she walks to the kitchen. You sit on the counter as she searches for some leftovers, the dinner she had put so much effort into for tonight being ruined by Pepa's cloud. Finally, she finds an arepa -there was always an arepa around- and shoves it in your mouth.
"Here. That should heal your back- you scared me when you fell back like that! How many times do I have to tell you not to rock your chair?"
You huff out a fakely offended breath, munching on your arepa. "You don't have to tell me no more, mother. I know the risks."
You grimace as you strengthen your bruised back, then freeze. It was still hurting, even though the pain was more sour than before. You hurriedly finish your arepa, and note that your bruises were not fully healed.
Your mother's gift was fading.
"Something wrong?" Julieta asks when she notices your frown. You jump, surprised by her question, and give her a wide smile.
"Nope. Everything's alright." You pat her shoulder reassuringly, confusing her even more, but a thunderbolt sounds, sparing you from the questions. "Except maybe the upcoming hurricane. And the magic- where's Mirabel, by the way?"
If Casita could talk, it would have happily told you Mirabel was chasing a little man and his rats in the wall. Instead, the house's tiles gave you a weak push towards the courtyard, which was not of much help.
"I don't know, mija, but you should probably go see your Tía. She could use your help. And your father's looking for Mirabel."
"I guess I should go help Tía then." You sigh, hopping off the counter and heading towards the courtyard. Before you exit the room, your mother hugs you briefly, brushing a strand of hair behind your ear.
"I'm proud of you, (Y/n)."
You raise a questioning eyebrow. "For joking about our family's downfall in front of the whole town?"
She breathes in and tilts her head, thinking. "Yes. Because this is how you are, and you were not afraid to show it. You're brave, braver than most of us in the family."
"Uh," You nod in approval. "true."
She laughs. You smile.
"Come on, now. I have to speak to Abuela, so go take care of Pepa for me, okay?"
"Yup. Good luck."
She takes a deep breath, bracing herself for what's to come.
"I'll need it."
___
"Tía?" You gently open the door after knocking on it and getting no response. You knew she was in there with Camilo and Carlos, while Félix tried to distract Antonio from all the ruckus by playing with him in his room.
"It's okay, mami, deep breath in, deep breath out..."
A loud banging makes everyone in the room jump. Pepa panics, zapping Camilo with lightning.
Carlos bursts out laughing, partly out of nervousness, as Camilo shifts into a few persons within a few seconds. You roll your eyes at your hilarious cousin, who suddenly finds his calm again when he sees you, and pat Camilo's back comfortingly as Pepa apologizes profusely.
"Sorry, mijo... Oh, (Y/n)!"
You kneel before her and grab her trembling hands. Rain had started pouring on her again. Carlos and Camilo join you at her side, and the three of you begin attempting to calm your aunt down.
It would not be easy, with your gift acting up, but you had to try.
At least so that a hurricane doesn't kill you all before Mirabel can save the magic.
___
You were sitting on the floor of the courtyard balcony, in front of Carlos' door, with the twins. Listening to the cracks. And to the adults talking, down below in the kitchen.
"You should have told me the second you saw the vision! Think of the family-"
"I was thinking of my daughter!" Agustín snaps back at Abuela, and the house shakes. Camilo scoots closer to you and leans his head on your shoulder, seeking comfort. You plant a kiss on his forehead, then glance at Carlos, who didn't seem too reassured either, now that he thought no one was looking.
You wrap your free arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer in a side-hug. He acts reluctant at first, but it only takes him a few seconds to sigh in annoyance and rest his head on your other shoulder, unwinding for a bit.
In the kitchen, the adults were still talking, and the bursts of their voices kept reaching your ears.
"You're lucky it's not a hurricane!"
You had managed to calm Pepa down, and Félix had eventually knocked on the door, saying it was time for 'adults talking' and that the kids should go to sleep.
You didn't agree with this. So you and the twins decided to go search for Mirabel, who you didn't find since she was in the walls talking to your long lost uncle.
You were extremely worried for her, but there was nothing you could do.
"Mamà, you've always been too hard on Mirabel." Julieta's voice sounds faintly.
Small cracks emerge around you, and Camilo snuggles closer. You bring your hand to his hair and stroke it, humming a song he used to like when he was a child.
"That old song?" He says weakly, and Carlos snorts.
"You used to sing it all the time, even in your sleep. I still hear it in my worst nightmares sometimes."
Camilo gasps softly, entering his twin's game. "That's not true. I would have known if I could sing in my sleep."
"That's one sick talent." You comment. Even though you're quite tune deaf, I fear."
"What!" He giggles. "Did you not hear me sing earlier? It was spectacular."
"She meant in your sleep. Your singing was horrible when you were sleeping."
"You're lying!"
"Not." You and Carlos say in unison.
"We know better than you. I spent the first three years of your life in the nursery with the two of you and Mirabel."
"Which means I had to bear your terrible singing for two more years." Carlos jokes.
"Alright. I didn't know it was Camilo slander time." Your cousin stands up, acting extravagantly offended.
"Oh, y-"
You hear a knock on the front door, making you all go quiet. You silently peek from over the balcony fence as Abuela goes to open the door. It was Arturo, one of the elders of the village, accompanied by a crowd of townspeople.
"Señora, perdõn, people in town are becoming anxious about the magic. They want to see you."
You lean a bit more forward to see Abuela hesitating before speaking.
"Mirabel was in that vision for a reason. Find her."
The door closes as she turns around, and you quickly fall back on the floor, hiding yourself from her.
The twins weren't that fast.
"Carlos! Camilo! I thought Félix had told you to go to bed." The twins both walk out of sight to facepalm when Abuela calls them. "Come help us search for Mirabel!"
"Coming, Abuela!" Camilo leans back over the railing with an enthusiastic smile. When she nods and walks back into the kitchen, he sighs. "I wish we could find her."
"Last time I checked, she did not have any invisibility gift." Carlos whined as they both made their ways downstairs after waving you goodbye. You watch them with a smile.
"Maybe her powers are like, being really good at hide and seek." Camilo suggests.
"You're dumb, Camilo."
"That's my best personality trait."
"...That's your only personality trait."
"Well, being rude is yours."
"Proud of it."
"Kids." You shake your head as you lean back on the railing, then sigh. "Say, Casita, you really don't feel like leading me to Mirabel right now?"
The tiles under your feet simply tremble a little, and you crouch down to touch them.
"Do you feel like you're getting weaker too?"
You look at the candle, whose flame flickers from time to time. Now that you were alone without anyone to reassure, you were forced to face your own anxiousness.
"Mirabel said she would stay with me, but here she is disappearing like that. What if I start seeing things again, uh?"
The railing behind you softly hits your back, shoving you forward a little bit. You giggle. "Yeah, yeah. I know she's probably working hard to save the magic right now. I should probably have stayed with her instead of mom, but I really needed that arepa."
The slight shot of pain provoked by the railing in your back reminds you your mother's food had not healed you completely, adding to your anxiety. Should you have told her about it? You didn't want to worry her even more.
"I'm a bit lost here. This could be the end of everything, so should we say our goodbyes now? Don't get the wrong idea, I don't want you to collapse at all, but... things look pretty bad for you. All those cracks..."
Casita sighs. You had never heard your house sigh, so that was quite weird for you. Suddenly a wonderful idea strucks your magnificent head.
"Could we say you're having a mental break down?"
The tiles you were touching snap up, hitting your fingers disapprovingly. You snort.
"Sorry, now's not the time for cracking jokes."
You puff out laughing at your own shit joke while Casita tries its best to make you understand it was not amused at all.
You were still ungracefully trying to silence your desperate chuckling when a voice called your name.
"(Y/n)?"
You shot your head up, delighted to hear the voice of the one you've been looking for.
"Mirabel!"
She was walking towards you with a big smile, stopping in front of you as you stood back up and jumping from one feet to another excitedly.
"I've arranged everything! I've saved the miracle, the candle is safe, everyone is safe!"
She takes your hands and squeezes them, and you feel your heart jump in joy... Not high enough. You don't feel your sister's usual energy through the fingers grazing yours.
"R-really? How did you do?"
She looked at you for a second, and something felt off, as if she was thinking about an answer that should have been evident.
"Oh, I figured the vision out, I did some things... But it's all good now! That's amazing, right?"
"Mhmm."
"Mhmm? Come on now, I saved the magic! I saved us! Where's my hug?" She happily opens her arms, wiggling her fingers for more effect. You don't feel anything.
"If I imagine I've given you one, will you go away?" You push the illusion away -and you feel your heart clutch for a millisecond, because it feels so real, but you know it is just your mind trying to trick you into thinking it is.
The fake Mirabel steps back, seemingly hurt. A pang of guilt makes you back away from her as well. What if it really was her? What if you rejected your own little sister?
"What... Are you talking about?"
Dang, even the way she spoke was spotless. Of course it was, since your mind created it. It knew exactly how Mirabel behaved, her every tics and expressions, because you had noticed it. It was like your own knowledge of your sister suddenly turned against you.
"You're not real." You breathe out, voice breaking a little bit. You were exhausted. "And, and if you are, then you'll understand why I'm like this and you'll walk away. I'm sorry."
You watched her face turn from confused to angry in a few seconds. Now this wasn't like her at all.
"What? Why would I understand that? You're acting weird, (Y/n). You're weird. You're crazy. You're a freak."
Her voice wasn't hers anymore, but instead a mix of other familiar ones. Angela's, Abuela's, Isabela's... After a while, it just sounded like a crowd of people was screaming insults at you, calling you every word you ever thought you were.
Worthless, evil, rude, boring, contentious, obnoxious, repulsive, creepy, coward, burden, unlovable, aloof...
You calmly backed away against the wall and sat down, bringing your knees to your chest and burying your face in it, waiting for it to be over. Somehow it made it worse, because then you only heard their voice and you felt like they were all surrounding you, cornering you, but you didn't want to see the illusion of Mirabel telling you this.
You didn't notice you were trembling until you clenched your fist and dug your nails into your skin as an attempt to remind you none of this was real, as if you were trying to wake up from a dream.
You don't know how much time passes until you hear a small voice speak in front of you, a different one that stands out among the others. A voice calling you by what you really are.
"(Y/n)?"
You have the courage to look up and find Antonio, standing there with a tiny smile.
"T-tonito?" You croak, trying to put on a smile. It doesn't fit you. The voices get quieter, down to a murmur.
Your cousin holds out a small hand, that you take, and you feel the real warmth of his fingers enveloping your cold ones.
He helps you up, despite being way smaller than you, and you finally look around.
"What are you doing up that lat- Mirabel?"
Your face is in the middle of lightening up with a smile when you catch sight of someone standing behind your sister, both of you freezing as your eyes meet each other's.
"Oh, no." You sigh, dropping Antonio's hand. "This is just another illusion, I guess I'll just go fuck mysel-"
"(Y/n)." Mirabel steps forward, and before you know it you are forcefully pulled into Antonio's room, and your cousin quickly closes the door behind everyone.
You confusedly stare at your forearm, that the sister you believed was an illusion had full on grabbed a few seconds earlier. No illusion had ever dragged you like that before. They didn't have any physical power over you.
"(Y/n), this is me. This is real." Mirabel snapped her fingers in front of your eyes. "Sorry I disappeared like that, by the way- I had to talk with him."
She points to the tiny man who was awkwardly standing next to the door, watching you with big sad eyes and fiddling with his fingers, as if not knowing what to say.
You refused to believe it.
"Mirabel, that, that can't be true. N-none of this is real, this is just another illusio-"
"(Y/n), I'm telling you, it's not! Why-"
"Because he's gone, Mira! He's gone for real, and it took me too long to accept it! That can't be true, I, I..."
Tears begin building up at the corner of your eyes as you turn back to the man, who had taken a few hesitant steps forward, extending a wavering hand to comfort you, but placing it back into his pocket after you finally burst into tears.
"You're not really here, are you? You're not- I-"
Mirabel backs away as the man slowly, carefully steps in front of you, tears running down his cheeks as well. You both look at each other for a few seconds, you waiting for something he couldn't bring himself to do, guilt crushing every bone he would need to use to do so.
Finally, you don't bear it anymore, so you ask. You order. You beg.
"Talk. Talk to me." Your voice comes out angrily, bitterly. You almost spit your words out. You couldn't even see him clearly through the tears, but you knew he took in a deep, silent breath, just like he used to do when he was about to make an announcement in front of the whole family because he was nervous.
"Hello, niña." The real Bruno Madrigal says, standing in front of you, finally, after ten years of absence.
___
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note: 😌