Chapter 3
5 years before Encanto
Bruno watched as everyone was gathered around trying to help Pepa with the birth. He wrung the edges of his ruana anxiously, memories of his latest vision haunting him.
Mamá had asked him to check the future to see if the birth would be successful, but he'd tried to refuse. Nobody ever liked what he saw, and then they always blamed him for it.
And this, this was serious. Nobody would ever forgive him if this went badly.
But of course, nobody ever says no to Mamá, especially when it comes to the safety of the family.
Abuela and Bruno went up to his tower together.
Begrudgingly, he lit the candles and began the vision. As the sand swirled around them, Bruno held onto his mamá's hands as they watched the prophecy unfold together.
They saw green images of storms, of his sister screaming.
It was not going well. Bruno tried to stop.
"Keep going." Abuela insisted. "We must see how it ends."
Bruno gulped, continuing the vision.
They saw rain. A hand tightening into a fist. Black clouds over the family. Lightning flashing. Agustín pulling someone out of the way. The sand swirled faster and faster, the images becoming less and less clear until they settled on an image of Julieta feeding Pepa an arepa, followed by the family crying as Agustín held a lifeless baby in his arms.
The sand stopped spinning and dropped, leaving Bruno and Abuela standing in silence, breathing heavily and staring at eachother.
"We cannot let this happen." Abuela said softly, staring down at the green glass image in her hands. She flinched, unable to look at it any longer. She handed the glass to Bruno, then turned and left him alone in the tower.
Bruno stared down at the image of his family. This was gonna be bad. Pepa would hate him for this, they all would. That's if she was still gonna be around to hate him. Bruno shuddered. He didn't want to think of the possibility of losing one of his sisters, but Pepa didn't look good in the vision.
Bruno remembered how angry the town got when he killed the fish. What would they do if he killed Pepa? What would he do? How could he live with that?
Bruno gulped as his thoughts spiralled.
"Give it to me." Bruno muttered in Hernando's voice. "I'll handle this."
Bruno passed the prophecy into his other hand and then straightened up, putting on his hood and finding courage and strength in his other self.
Hernando promptly smashed the prophecy against the stone wall and left the tower.
A scream brought Bruno out of his memories and back to the present. The family were still gathered around Pepa's bed, Julieta and Félix knelt by her side comforting her.
"Here they are." Agustín said breathlessly to Abuela, entering with Isabela and Dolores.
"Thank you." Abuela sighed.
She must have asked for them, Bruno pieced the scene together, unsure how long he'd been gone from the moment.
Bruno hoped no one noticed him disappear into his head and mistook it for him not caring. He cared so much about the family, but sometimes when things got hard he hid away, sometimes without even realising he was doing it.
"What did you tell the children?" Julieta quietly asked her husband in concern.
"I only told Luisa." Agustín said solemnly. "She promised not to let the little ones know anything is wrong. She took them to the fields to play. She said she'd protect them."
Julieta and Agustín shared a sad and silent exchange. Luisa was still so young, but she always seemed to be taking on burdens that shouldn't be hers.
Pepa screamed again, the clouds thundering.
Dolores covered her ears as she watched her mamá with wide eyes. Isabella looked horrified, but quickly forced a smile before Abuela approached them. Both girls didn't even notice the rain soaking them.
"My angels, you are here." Abuela said to her granddaughters.
"Of course, Abuela." Isabela smiled, before heading over to join Julieta and Félix by Pepa's side.
"Tía, I'm here." Isabella said in the warm, comforting voice that she had perfected over the years. Isabela expected Pepa to perk up at that voice like she normally did, but this time she hardly moved or opened her eyes.
Isabela held a hand against Pepa's cheek. Her Tía's face was hot and sweating, despite the cold rainwater pouring down over her.
Pepa's chest was heaving for breath and her body was shaking.
"Mamá, she needs healing." Isabela said softly. "Where is your food?"
Julieta's eyes flashed momentarily in anger. She took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. She glanced at Abuela, who was shaking her head as she watched Bruno. Her son had his hood on and was muttering frantically to himself in the corner of the room, seeming as if he was not present in the moment at all.
"Pepi got cursed." Félix muttered, shaking his head too.
Isabela turned to Abuela in confusion.
"No food until the baby is born." Abuela confirmed. "The vision showed Pepa eating Julieta's arepa, and then the baby was gone. We must wait till after the baby is born, or else the prophecy will come true."
Isabela turned to Dolores in concern, but her cousin didn't make eye contact. She was staring at her mamá, her hands still covering her ears.
Isabela took a deep breath and found the strength to put on another smile. That's why they needed her here, after all. That's always been why they needed her.
"There's not long to go." Abuela encouraged Isabela. "Pepa will be ok. We just need you to make flowers to help your Tía get through. Then, when the baby is born Julieta will heal her, and everything will be ok again."
Isabela pushed down her thoughts and feelings to make room for a smile, putting on a show for the adults as she nodded and then waved her hands gracefully, a pose she'd practised hundreds of times in her room.
"Of course." She said in her warm voice. "Flowers coming right up, Abuela."
With another practised wave, Flor de Mayo grew from her hands and she brought it down to Pepa, gently holding the petals to her face.
Isabela felt the whole room exhale in relief as the thunder and lightning stopped, the rain around them slowly fading down into a drizzle. Isabela smiled, placing the flowers next to Tía's head.
"There you go, mi vida." Félix sighed in relief, stroking Pepa's hair. "Does that help?" He kissed her face. "You're doing so well... You're gonna be feeling better really soon, I promise."
Pepa slowly opened her eyes to look at Félix. He gently stroked her sweating face as she shuddered, her breathing heavy and her eyes full of pain.
"Look at you, amor. So brave." He whispered, kissing her face and smiling encouragingly. "You know that, hm? You are so brave." He kissed her again. "You're gonna be ok, I promise. After all this is over, I'm gonna take you dancing, and then we'll go up to the mountain and see the trees, ok?
Pepa smiled weakly at his words, a tear slowly rolling down her cheek as she nodded. She then took a sharp, shaky breath and winced, reaching for his hand and grabbing it with weak trembling fingers. She closed her eyes again, as above her the clouds darkened and thundered.
Pepa shuddered, her breathing heavy as she tried desperately to tell Félix something, but couldn't get it out. She whimpered as the wind swirled around her.
Félix's face softened in concern. "What is it, Pepi?"
Pepa gasped weakly, her hand gripping Félix's as she flinched in pain. Tears fell down her face and she looked up at Félix with frightened eyes.
"Hey," Félix put on a brave smile, blinking back tears as he gently wrapped his arms around her. "You're ok." He kissed Pepa's sweating forehead, holding her tight to his chest as she trembled in fear. "You're ok… Hold onto me. That's it. I got you… You're gonna be ok."
Pepa shuddered, her body becoming tense as the clouds thundered again. She moaned, closing her eyes in pain as her back stiffened.
Félix looked at Pepa in concern, then turned quickly to Abuela, his eyes hard with desperation. "We need to heal her. Right now."
"We will." Abuela reassured him, trying to keep her voice calm. "As soon as the baby's born. Which is any moment now."
"What if that's too late?" Julieta spoke up, her eyes fierce.
"That won't happen." Abuela said in a serious tone, her eyes staring back desperately. "Julieta, please. We cannot lose this baby."
Abuela then turned to Dolores, touching her shoulder.
"Is it time, Dolores?" Abuela asked. "What do you hear?"
Dolores held her breath, taking her hands down from her ears and slowly bringing them to rest by her sides. Her hands tightened into fists as she closed her eyes.
Dolores heard a lot of things.
She heard a room of hearts beating fast in fear, she heard her mamá's breath catching and slowing down. She heard the thunder and the wind and the rain. She heard Hernando comforting Bruno, telling him it wasn't his fault.
She heard Mirabel and Camilo in the fields, asking Luisa when they could go home to meet the new baby, she heard Luisa force an awkward laugh and then come up with another game for them to play. She heard Luisa's eye twitching under the pressure of caring for the younger two, meanwhile her own heart was beating fast with fear too.
She heard people of the town talking about the weather. Dolores frowned. They were always talking about the weather.
"Dolores."
She turned to see her Abuela waiting.
"The baby." Abuela repeated. "Do you hear it?"
Dolores made a soft, quick humming sound, turning her eyes back to Mamá and closing them again, listening hard.
There was something there, she wasn't sure if it was a weak heartbeat or something else, because it wasn't like the ones she heard when Camilo and Mirabel were born. Dolores strained her ears, but it was hard to tell with the storm, and all the other loud heartbeats and breathing in the room around her.
But she did hear her mamá, and she knew something was very wrong. Mamá's heart was beating too fast, her muscles were tightening and something inside sounded like it was breaking. She heard a tearing sound from inside and heard her mamá whimper in pain.
Dolores made a small squeak and opened her eyes.
"Dolores!" Abuela cried. "You must tell us what you heard!"
The whole room was staring at Dolores, waiting tensely for her response, but Dolores didn't respond. She watched behind them in horror. She saw black clouds forming over the family's heads. She saw Mamá's blood stain the sheets and spill down onto the floor, the red mixing in with the rainwater. She saw Mamá start to shake.
Dolores stared with wide eyes.
"What is it, mija?" Félix pleaded. "Is it time? Can we heal Mamá?"
Dolores squeaked again.
"What do you hear?"
"I don't hear." She whispered, watching Pepa. "I... see."
Everyone turned to see the angry black clouds thunder and spark. Pepa's body started shaking uncontrollably, sparks of electricity coming from her. Felix yelped, letting go of Pepa and falling back as her lightning struck him.
Lightning struck down from the clouds at Isabela, Julieta and Félix who were at the bedside. The casita quickly pulled over desks and cupboards to shield the three of them.
"Pepa!" Abuela called out, heading towards her daughter. "You need to stop! You are hurting your family!" Abuela stopped with a gasp as the floor of the casita cracked in front of her, forming a divide between her and her daughter. Abuela in watched in horror as the cracks spread up the walls of the room.
Lightning struck at Abuela, but Agustín ran for her, pulling her out of the way just in time, tripping as he did so. The two of them rolled to the floor. Abuela quickly sat up again to look up at the walls, but the cracks were gone.
Bruno watched in terror as the chaos unfolded. I did this, he told himself. I need to leave before I hurt more people.
Bruno put his hood on, but in doing so Hernando was there. Hernando stopped Bruno from leaving. Instead he headed for Dolores, who hadn't moved this whole time.
She just stood there, staring at her mama with wide eyes. Her hands were over her ears again.
"You're gonna get hit, kid!" Hernando warned Dolores in his deep, brave voice. He tried to move her, but Dolores stood her ground, ignoring him. She was still completely focused on Pepa.
"Hey, Dolores!" Bruno called out over the wind. "You hear me? I said you're gonna get hurt!"
"I won't." Dolores said in a soft voice, listening to her mamá's heartbeat slowing down. Dolores closed her eyes, hearing her mamá take one last breath before falling silent.
The storm faded and the air became very still.
Everyone looked around in surprise.
Now that the danger was gone, the casita swept the furniture back to its place, allowing the family to get back up to the bed.
Pepa was lying very still, her skin pale and cold.
There was no rain, no weather around them. Just silence.
