AUTHOR'S NOTE

You're welcome for the fast update lmaoo

So glad everyone's into the story. Enjoy another chapter.

To A Guy With A Big Imagination, to answer your question.. you'll find out in this chapter :)

PART 2

"Is she dead?"

"No, she's not, idiot! Her pulse is still going!"

"I do hope she's okay, though."

"Look, she's waking up!"

Mirabel fluttered her eyes open, sitting up immediately. Her head whipped left to right. She was in a cozy, well-lit cave behind a waterfall. Candles were in a circle around her like a sacrificial ritual.

Ritual?

She looked behind her. There was a boy about her age staring at her. Her scream echoed in the cave, causing bats to jump out of their morning sleep and flutter around. This caused more panic in the poor girl.

The boy tried his best to calm her down. He raised his hands up innocently and spoke in a gentle voice that was drowned out by her incoherent cries for help.

She shrieked, "Don't drink my blood please!"

He froze. "What?"

The bats stopped flying around; her screams ended. Mirabel covered her face with her hands. "You're gonna eat me . . ." she trailed off, realizing how silly she sounded.

He lightly chuckled, "Really? Me and what army?"

"Th- The other people you were talking to. I heard you guys while you were- I mean, I was asleep. Now where are they? Hiding, waiting to pounce?" She took one of the candles and aimed it at the boy. Wax dripped to the ground.

The boy put his hands up again. "It's only me here, I swear!"

"Then who were the other voices?" Mirabel asked, unconvinced.

"Ohh," he nodded, then hesitated, thinking, "that was me talking to myself." He gulped.

Mirabel raised an eyebrow. "Do you, uh, live here?"

"Mhmm," he lied.

Mirabel fixed her hair. She wanted to question why he wasn't in the village, but that wasn't her mission right now. "I need to get back home. I'm so, so lost."

"I found you passed out nearby. I brought you here with good intentions and luckily you woke up. I'm assuming you live in the village nearby. So, can I ask how did you even get so far into the forest? Did you run away?"

She sighed, "I didn't run away- well, in a way I guess you could say I did. I meant to just be alone for a few hours because I couldn't be in that environment at the moment. I really meant to go back for-!" She gasped. "Antonio's ceremony! I missed it!"

"You did?" he asked.

"Yes! I missed my little primo's party! He's gonna hate me." She paced around towards the end of the cave. The waterfall covered the opening, sending sounds of loud crashes to the water below.

"He's not going to hate you," the boy reassured.

"Yes, he is. Everyone hates me already enough! Thanks for the help, really. But I have to go." She zoomed to the exit without much of a thought.

The boy reached his hand out. "No, no, don't!"

Mirabel's scream tickled her throat as she slipped on the wet rocks and fell down the edge of the cave. Her eyes were opened so wide in fear to the point that they hurt, yet she could not see a thing due to the intense mist of the waterfall.

She suddenly felt light. Her watery eyes filtered out the remaining cloudiness, causing her to finally see clearly again. The river below her looked so small from a bird's eye view. She inhaled deeply. How was she so high?

"I'm flying!" she squealed. "No way am I flying. This isn't real. This is another dream. Is this my gift? It must be-" She looked up to see the same boy with his arms wrapped around her, carrying her through the air. "Oh, it's not my gift." She panicked again, "Hold on, how are you flying?"

The ground drew nearer and nearer. The two landed on a soft patch of grass, away from many trees. She stared at him with her jaw relaxed and her mouth agape.

"I think these belong to you." He placed her glasses back on her face. They were covered in tiny droplets, but at least they were still intact. That wasn't the point, though. She was flying and all because of him. It didn't make sense. Were there other enchanted families?

"How did you-? We were in the air. Y'know, like butterflies. Except you have wings- I mean, don't have wings," she couldn't seem to end her stuttering.

"Follow me," he told her while walking into a long line of trees.

She stood still in astonishment for a second, then ran after him. "Wait! You literally flew and you're not going to answer? Are you a Madrigal and we happened to be switched at birth or something?"

"A Madrigal?" he chortled. "Funny you should say that."

"Funny I should say what? Is it true? Because it's completely believable right now."

He stopped walking. "Look down."

"Don't change the subject!"

"Seriously, look. This is how you'll get home."

That caught her attention quick. Mirabel looked at the ground to see two caterpillars. They were cute and green with black and yellow spots like the ones in her dream. But she was expecting a map or a type of way to navigate back to the village.

"How is that gonna get me home?" she questioned.

"What do you see?"

She squinted at him as if he had ten heads. "Is that a joke?"

He couldn't help but chuckle at her impatience. "Just answer."

She didn't get what was so funny. "Two caterpillars. Happy?"

"They're like you."

Her hands rested on her hips. "I feel like that's supposed to be an insult."

"They're so afraid to change in a world that never stops changing," he continued. "Mirabel."

She looked at him.

"I know things at home aren't going the best for you at the moment, and I'm sorry. I didn't . . . I didn't know things would end up like this for you," he sighed. "But don't hold on too tight. Don't let it define and confine you. Wonders await you, Mirabel." He held her hands.

Her eyebrows scrunched together. She honestly didn't understand half the things that came out of his mouth. "Why are you saying all this stuff?"

"You need to hear it. Someone needs to remind you of how important you are to your family. You are not a mistake; you don't have to run away. You'll see in time. Just let the walls come down."

"I don't understand what . . ." she trailed off. Whatever he was saying was bringing tears to her eyes. She sniffed.

He released her hands. "You're going to do something important soon. Not to please Alma. This journey is for yourself and many others."

"How do you know my Abuela's name?" She watched him crouch down to the caterpillars. They were already in cocoons. They couldn't possibly be the same caterpillars, could they?

"Be ready to follow them home," he informed.

"You can't follow cocoons," she rubbed her temples, "God, I'm so confused."

He stood up and walked behind her. "Safe travels. I'm so glad I've gotten to talk to you."

She whipped her head around. "Where are you going? I never even got to know your name."

He looked back at her. "Pedro."

Her stomach dropped as her gaze fell to her feet. "Pedro? . . . No, it couldn't be. That's not possible." By the time she looked up, he was gone.

"P- Pedro?" she called out. And she called out his name again and again. Every time with no response. Mirabel fell to her knees and cried hopelessly, not knowing what's real anymore.

She felt tiny little legs on her arm. She screamed once she saw a yellow butterfly on her finger. She hated the feeling of it crawling on her. Luckily it flew up in the air once she screamed. Yet it wouldn't leave. It just flew over her head, waiting.

She looked at it in confusion. That's when she heard a crack. She looked downwards to see one of the cocoons were broken and the other was breaking. Another butterfly came to be, scared but exhilarated, seeing the world in a new way.

Once that butterfly saw the other, they danced around one another in jubilation. Mirabel stood up, suddenly feeling a sense of peace. Everything was going to be alright.

The two started to fly away but stopped when the girl didn't come with. She glanced around. "You want me to follow you?"

They twirled in response. They were so bright and captivating. Mirabel didn't know how they transformed so fast, nor did she know how this boy flew across a waterfall, but all she knew was that she was desperate to get back home. If getting home meant following two butterflies to the ends of the Earth, so be it.

I was going to make this fanfiction a 3 part story, but now I'm thinking of more I could add. We'll see !