Alright, so here's chapter 2. Hope you guys like it.
Oh, and to Guest: yes, I do take requests, so if you have any, lay them on me. This film needs more fanfiction, anyway.
That said, let's get right onto the chapter!
Adelina turned around to see who exactly had taken her book and map, only to see that it was none other than Lord Piggot-Dunceby.
"Hello, Adelina," the older man greeted her.
"Good day, Dunceby," she returned the greeting, although there was a hint of annoyance in her tone as she kept focus on the map and book. "Could you please give me back my book and map?" She reached her hand out to grab them, but he moved them away from her reach and flipped through some pages.
"How on earth can you read through this rubbish?" he asked, glancing between the map and the page he'd landed on. "Half of it is mostly words, and the images that are there are such bizarre and grotesque drawings- scribblings straight from a delusional maniac."
"Maybe to you, it's rubbish," Adelina spoke, trying to hold back the urge to shout at him. She had disliked the man ever since she'd met him with how arrogant, snobbish, ignorant and borish he was. He was so rude, that she could not for the life of her understand how he even managed to become the head of a society for great man when he was anything but great. "But I think it's quite imaginative."
"Adeline, I believe it's time you stop this unhealthy obsession over maps and books and begin to pay attention to something worthwhile," Piggot-Dunceby stated, crumbling the map up and tossing it along with the book into a puddle of mud. "Such as finding a job more befitting of a woman like yourself."
Adelina shot a glare at him, before going over to pick her things. She tried not to pay too much mind to what he was saying since he couldn't even be bothered to say her name correctly, though anger boiled within her at the words unhealthy obsession and more befitting of a woman like yourself. What did the old mamón know about what was good for her?
"The whole town's talking about your behavior," Piggot-Dunceby kept going on. "How it just isn't write for a woman to be so invested in adventure… soon, she'll start trying to assert herself in all the wrong places, and–"
"Might I say, Dunceby, that you are completely backwards," Adelina cut him off, just as she had picked up both her map and book, cleaning the mud off of both items.
"Is that so?" Lord Piggot-Dunceby's eyes narrowed slightly, before he went on with another approach: "Say, would you be interested in a new job? I could arrange something for you and have it so that the townspeople no longer speak behind your back, all for just one little favor…"
"No gracias," Adelina refused, trying to sound polite even though she knew exactly what Dunceby had planned. She wasn't some naive, foolish girl– she knew what he wanted and wouldn't give it to him, no matter how much he'd bribe from her.
"What is wrong with that girl?" Mr. Collick whispered to Stenk. "Has she gone mad?"
"I'm afraid I must be leaving now," Adelina announced, turning around and heading for her home. "I have to go help my father with his inventions. Adiós."
"HAH!" Stenk laughed loudly. "That old lunatic? I think he needs more than help with his inventions!"
Lord Piggot-Dunceby and Mr. Collick both laughed at this remark, while Adelina was fuming. "¡OYE! Don't you ever speak of my papá in such a manner!" she shouted at the three. "How would you like it if I called your mother a loca vieja moza, huh? You wouldn't, so if I were you, I'd keep my mouth shut."
In an attempt to look better in her eyes, Dunceby smacked both Stenk and Collick upside their heads. "You heard the girl! Don't talk about her father that way!"
"My papá is not a lunatic," Adelina said firmly, hands on her hips. "He's more of a genius than any of you three could ever hope to be."
At that second, an explosion rocked the streets. She whirled around, seeing smoke rise up from the roof of her house. Hearing the three men laugh behind her, she shot them one final glare before putting her things in her basket and running back home.
She reached home very quickly. The doors to the cellar were already open, leaving it very easy for her to enter and see all of the commotion. There was smoke everywhere for a second, filling her lungs and making her cough and choke. She tried waving it away with her handle while calling out "Papá?"
She heard a familiar cough, before the smoke cleared to reveal a grey-haired mustached man of eighty years, geared up in an inventor's clothes with a simple straw hat on his head. There was a barrel around his waste, along his pants.
"How on earth–" he started, before getting cut off by another cough. "¡Maldita sea!" he cursed, pulling the barrel off.
"¿Estás bien, Papá?" Adelina asked her father, looking over to see if he was hurt.
"Sí, estoy bién," Félix replied, eyes darting over to his latest invention, a sugar cane juicer. "No thanks to that piece of mierda!" He promptly kicked the machine. "I'm ready to give up on this ¡maldita máquina estúpida!"
"You say that every time you make a small mistake," Adelina said with a small smile, knowing her father's habits all too well.
"I'm serious this time!" her father barked. "I'll never get that damned hunk of junk to work!"
"Yes, you will," Adelina stated firmly. "You've made many fine machines before, and I have no doubts you can get this one to work in time for the fair. I bet that once it's finished, you'll win first place at the fair."
Félix crossed his arms, frowning. "Hmmph!"
"And become the greatest inventor of all time," Adelina added.
He eyed her. "Do you really believe that?"
"Claro, que siempre tengo," she replied affectionately. "Why else would I have stuck around all these years, other than to cheer you on as you show the world your finest creations?"
A smile made its way across the old man's face. "Well, there's no time to waste then- this thing isn't going to fix itself, after all!" He slid back over to the machine. "Now, let me see… where did I put that wrench?"
"Right here, Papá," Adelina said, holding out the tool to him helpfully.
He took it from her and used it to work on the invention, turning, twisting and tinkering with it. "So, mija, how was it in town today?"
"It was fine," she lied a little, not wanting to tell him about her encounter with Dunceby and his lackeys. "I got a new map and book."
"You sure love those maps and books."
"Well, they take me to these extravagant lands where there's adventure, mysterious creatures and even a bit of romance… and happy endings, for the most part." There was a pause as Adelina thought about what Dunceby had said, about how odd she was. She usually didn't care so much about what the townspeople had to say, but her encounter with Dunceby, Stenk and Collick left her thinking… "Papá, I'm to ask you something, and I want you to answer honestly."
"Haven't I always?"
She sighed. "Do you… do you think I'm too… odd? Like, unladylike?"
Félix looked away from his inventions to her daughter, flabbergasted. "Mi pequeña niña, odd? Unladylike?" he repeated. "From whom did you get an idea like that?"
"Dunceby," Adelina answered, shifting her feet. "And… almost everyone, really. People talk so much about me, how I'm into something that's a men's job and…" She bit her lip, shrugging. "I just don't think I fit in here. There's not a lot of people I can talk to, and the ones I can talk to are usually busy most of the time."
"They talk about me too, but you don't see me taking it to the heart," Félix told her. "The only reason they speak of you like that is because they're jealous of all the class you have, and how they'll never be as unique as you are."
Adelina smiled, though she was a bit teary-eyed. "You mean it?"
"Por supuesto," her father insisted with a nod of his head. "And even if you weren't so deep in adventure, why, I'd be on your side regardless." Both father and daughter smiled at each other, then he said, "Now, what do you say we give her a try?"
"Alright."
"Go fetch the sugar cane," Félix instructed. His daughter did exactly just that, bringing back the grasses and tossing them into the machine. "Alright, now stand back..." Once she stood back, he pulled the lever. "Here we go."
The invention slowly chugged to life, taking in the sugar cane and shredding it until it was nothing but sweet juice.
"It works!" Adelina exclaimed joyfully as she saw liquid come out of a small tube.
"It does?" Félix sounded almost surprised, checking to make sure. When he saw the liquid come out, his surprise gave away to joy. "It does!"
"I knew you could do it, Papá!" Adelina hugged her father tightly. "You're going to win that contest, I just know you will!" Whatever concerns she had before about the townspeople and Dunceby's view on her no longer mattered, for soon, she'd be far away from the village.
Her father was now as enthusiastic as she was. "Hitch up Felipe, mija! I'm off to the fair!"
—
Later that day, the two loaded the invention onto the wagon, before Félix sat at the front of the wagon, holding in Felipe's reigns.
Then, the family's black dog came up to them, barking.
"Hey there, Chief! How are you doing, boy?" Adelina cooed, bending down to pet the dog's head. Noticing how formidable he looked, she turned back to her father and suggested, "Perhaps you should take Chief with you– that way, if anything bad happens, he could find the way back home and bring me to you."
Félix looked at the black dog. "I don't know if that will be necessary, but if you think it's for the best, then alright," he said, looking back at his daughter.
Chief hopped onto the cart, and the wagon began to move forward.
"Adiós, Papá! Good luck!" Adelina called out to her father, waving at him.
"Adiós, mija!" Félix returned, waving back at her as he rode off into the distance. "Take care of yourself in the meantime!"
Pretty short, I know but hey, there wasn't a lot to work with in this one.
See y'all in the next chapter, bye~