"Is she okay?" A concerned voice asked. It sounded like a girl about my age. It sounded like there was a thunderstorm as well.
"She will be." An agitated voice answered.
"Are you sure?" A boy, again my age, asked.
They all sounded like they were speaking through rubber- like my ears had candle wax in them.
I felt something in my mouth -something like bread- and out of instinct, I began chewing it and swallowed it.
I jolted back to full consciousness and stood up, scaring the people around me. They all looked related- curly hair, brown eyes, similar face shapes. A girl with red hair and a yellow dress had a thunderstorm above her. One of them, the eldest, looking to be in her thirties, was holding her hands out to me, as though warding off a rabid animal or an attacker.
I looked to the future for knowledge of how to de-escalate the situation, but found nothing but a jarring pain in my head. My face contorted and I put a hand to my forehead in an attempt to ease the pain.
"Are you okay?" A girl wearing blue asked.
I nodded, not knowing if talking was the right move.
"Are you sure?" She asked.
"Yes, I'm all right. I've always gotten headaches." I answered truthfully.
"What's your name?" The eldest asked. "I'm Alma Madrigal, and these are my children; Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno." She said, pointing to each.
"My name is Athena Marrow." I told them.
"It's nice to meet you Athena." Said Alma Madrigal. "How did you find yourself here?" She asked.
I remembered then that I did not fall here, I was still on the mountain. I looked around, and indeed saw mountains above their roof.
"I don't remember exactly..." I started. "I was climbing a mountain... I was about halfway up when I blacked out."
"Do you know why you blacked out?" Julieta asked.
I shook my head. "No. It just felt like all the energy I had left me."
Everyone looked concerned. The storm above Pepa's head grew thicker and it began to rain on her. Julieta and Bruno went to her side and consoled her while Alma came to me.
"How old are you? Where did you come from?" She asked.
"I'm 17, and I came the United States."
"You're 17?" She grew more concerned. "Why are you here and not with your family?"
I bit my lip to keep from crying. "They're dead." I said bluntly.
"Oh my goodness..." She said. Pepa, Julieta, and Bruno turned their heads at this as well, Pepa's storm dissipating.
"If you're from the United States then how'd you get here?" Bruno asked.
"I ran away. I didn't want to be anywhere near where it happened." My voice broke on the last word, and I sat down on the tiled floor, bringing my legs to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.
"How long ago was that?" Pepa asked warily.
"Over two weeks now." I replied weakly.
They all looked grim, but Alma changed her expression and sat down in front of me.
"If you ever want to talk to anyone about it, you can talk to me. I lost my husband just days after my babies were born." She told me in a low, soothing tone.
I nodded at her offer, and stood up. When I stood, I caught sight of something glowing in a windowsill. A bright white candle emblazoned with butterflies. Alma followed my gaze.
"Ah, the candle. That's what gives us our powers." She said. When I turned my head and narrowed my eyes in confusion, since that's not how magic works, she elaborated: "A few days after my babies were born, our village was set aflame by attackers and we had to flee. We were crossing the river when they caught up to us. Pedro sacrified himself to save us, and in that dark moment, we were given a miracle. The mountains grew and this Casita came alive to shelter us. I keep the candle safe, and Pepa, Julia, and Bruno have their own abilities.
"Pepa's mood influences the weather, Julia can heal people with the food she makes, and Bruno can see the future."
I looked over at Bruno, who met my gaze, but looked away quickly. I wondered if he knew how I got here. I sure didn't.
"Do you feel well enough to walk?" Alma asked, to which I nodded.
"Great, we need to find you a place to stay. We don't have spare rooms. Come along!" She said.
I looked around once more, seeing four doors made of wood that glowed on the second floor, and realized how colorful everything was. The floor, the walls, the front door was even blue!
No one had touched the door before it opened. Now I was no stranger to doors that opened when people were within a certain vicinity, but this place seemed so not-magical in a sense that I nearly jumped out of my skin.
"Woah it's okay," Julieta coaxed. "The Casita is alive." She said. After we had gone out the door I turned around to look at it from the outside. It was as colorful as the inside; blue, pink, purple, and green.
Alma led us down a dirt path that led from their house to the rest of the village. The road turned from dirt to stones, and deeper into the village we stopped at what looked like the center.
Everyone, and I mean everyone, stared at me. Maybe it was the way I was dressed. Witch robes and a cloak? No one else was dressed like that. If my knowledge of flags were correct, then the one hanging in the plaza indicated we were in Columbia. Columbian fashion consisted of bright shirts and skirts, not black robes that made muggles think I came out of the pages of a novel.
"Excuse me! Could I have everyone's attention please?" Alma called. She already had everyone's attention, but no matter.
"We have a new guest here! This is Athena Marrow, she's 17 and needs a place to stay. Would anyone like to have her as a guest?"
Plenty of people said they would, but Alma said I could choose whoever I wanted. I looked around, and found an old woman at the back of the crowd. She was leaning against a post, and something about her demeanor struck me. I narrowed my eyes at her, and she met my gaze, narrowing her eyes as well.
She came forward and said she'd be happy to give me a home. I told her that'd be wonderful. Alma introduced me to her as Inez, then bid me goodbye. I went with Inez to her house which was right around the corner. It was green with paintings of flowers and it had a straw roof. Once we were inside she shut the door and immediately drew her wand on me.
"What are you doing here? What do you hope to gain?" She demanded.
"Nothing!" I said as I held up my hands.
"Lies!" She said. "No one would come this far if they didn't want something!"
"I swear to you it is only sanctuary I seek. I've been orphaned and hunted by a dark wizard. I want nothing more than peace."
She eyed me apprehensively, then asked me for my bag. Knowing why, I gave it to her. She searched for anything made of dark magic, but found nothing.
"Alright." She said through gritted teeth. "I'll take you at your word. Who is this dark wizard?"
"The Wyle King." I didn't expect her to know the name since this place was so secluded, but her eyes widened and her face contorted in fear.
"Oh my goodness dear child!" She exclaimed before pulling me into a hug.
Normally I hated hugs, but this was the first hug I'd gotten in years.
After she pulled away, she asked me what happened that I ended up here.
"I'm a seer, I come from a very powerful bloodline of seers, and that's why he came after me."
"A seer? Like the Madrigal boy?" She asked.
"I'm not sure. I can't see anything here. I think it's because of the magic they have."
Inez nodded. "Yeah. That candle they have squanders my magic too. I think it's to help protect them. That's all the miracle wants to do." She talked about it like it was it's own entity, like it had a mind of its own.
She led me to a spare room to drop off my stuff (I didn't have much to drop off besides my cloak), and asked me if I planned on staying.
"I don't know."
She thought for a moment, then said "well you don't seem to have anywhere else to go seeing as you came here, so let's assume yes for now."
I agreed to that, seeing nothing but reason in her thoughts. Since I didn't have any other clothes, Inez took me back into town to see a seamstress.
"Oh the new girl!" She squealed in excitement. "What can I make for you dearest?"
I had no idea about muggle clothes, so I asked if she had any catalogs. She had one, and I ended up loving a design with a black shirt and a big green skirt.
She made me two on the spot, giving me them for free. When I asked why, she said that they didn't have a money system in the village. Wow. I've never lived in a place without money. They didn't even have a trade and barter system.
I tried them on, and still loved them. The black shirt hugged my curves tightly and the green skirt twirled so brilliantly.
"You look so beautiful!" The seamstress exclaimed over and over. I thanked her profusely, and Inez took me back to her house. Or maybe it's our house now.