A Dark History

So sorry for the long wait. I was facing a bit of writer's block and I got carried away with another story. But it's here as promised. Enjoy it.

Julieta and Agustin were sitting quietly with their daughters near a campfire. Isabella offered her mother some tea and she accepted it, taking a long, quiet sip from the rim of the cup.

"It will be okay mum," Luisa tried to keep her spirits. "I know that Mirabel will want to see you, papa and Antonio. And when you three do, you can explain everything to her and it will all work out,"

Juliet couldn't speak.

"It's gonna take more than that," Alma approached them with her crane. "May I...take a seat?"

The father nodded. She sat down slowly on a log, Isabella gently supporting her. "I...have to speak to her. And Bruno,"

"Promise me you'll make it right with them," Agustin implored.

"I will. I have to fix this,"

Right after she spoke, they heard the sound of a neighing horse and the entire family turned around to see Elonzo approaching them. He looked sinister but something tingled in Antonio's spine. "Mirabel...has agreed...that she'll speak to you Julieta, Agustin and Antonio," the family were elated with joy. Julieta hugged her husband and the parents hugged their daughters. Camilo and Dolores eagerly hugged Antonio before their parents hugged them. No left out from their group hugs, Alma smiled a little bit. "The rest of you are not allowed to come,"

Alma wouldn't have it. "Sir...if you could just..."

"It's only them or no one comes. None of them want to talk to anyone else...especially you Alma Madrigal,"

Julieta spoke up, seeing this was making her grandmother more unsettled than others. "Thank you so much for delivering her message. When can we see her?"

"She needs a moment to prepare herself,"

"We can't wait another moment!" Agustin stood up, defiantly. Since hearing that answer, he had felt his heart skipping for joy at the thought of having his beloved glass-wearing daughter back in his arms again. "We want to see her now!"

"I'm sorry but she needs a while to keep herself calm. Your unexpected visit has formed a dark cloud over the entire family's heads," Elonzo's arguments continued to rouse the Madrigals.

As they argued, Antonio saw some of his friends nearby. He recognised them as the kids Mirabel had sung to all those years ago, the ones who had kept pestering her with the question of what gift she had before Dolores blurted out her lack of magical power. He snuck away. "Guys...Mirabel wants to see me and my tio and tia,"

"That's wonderful," praised the ten-year-old with long black hair in a plait.

"But the guy won't let us see her quite yet. I can't wait another moment. Can you help me sneak over to see her?"

"Of course," the kids said.

Antonio took a sideways glance to make sure no one was watching. "Let's go," he whispered. Together they snuck away from the camp and into the streets without anyone spotting them. Or so they thought.

Carlos observed them from behind a tent. He looked at Mariana. "You're to follow them and spy on them. You come back when you hear something. Got it?"

She smiled. "As you wish father," She pulled a hood over her hair and stuck it off.

When Carlos turned around he saw Alejandro appearing. "What took you so long?"

"Sorry," Alejandro was irritated by his impatience. "Couldn't dash back without being spotted. Men were searching the forest and they found a cave with a symbol on,"

Carlos was intrigued. "What did this symbol look like?"

Alejandro quivered a little. "It was a snake slithering up to an eye in a triangle. And that's not all,"

"Go on,"

"Mirabel has a gift. I saw her descending from the sky with wings made of butterflies. Her miracle candle is magical,"

The more he told him, the more Carlos's face darkened with bigotry and repulse. "Then it seems we have some investigating to do,"

Mirabel and Juano were sitting together in the gardens.

"How would I know what to say to them?" Mirabel was quivering with fear. "I can't even think of the right words to say," She had specifically requested that they wouldn't come until she was read but now that she was trying to think, she felt like she wouldn't be ready at all.

"You'll know," Juano promised. "At least you've had family who've missed you,"

Mirabel held his hands as he quivered with fear. "If I ever set my sight on him again...or if he tries to hurt you..." as he spoke, he became considered with rage the same way he did back at the Encanto that day. His girlfriend noticed and pulled his face to her.

"Look at me," she begged. "He's not here. I'm safe. I'm safe as long as I'm with you,"

Juano realised he was being consumed by the same darkness as all those years ago and calmed down. "Thank you. I'm sorry," he apologised. "Ever since I tried to bring the light back to our candle...I've felt that darkness that took over me years ago with me every night when I try to sleep,"

As he spoke, Mirabel saw the cycles under his eyes. "I'm so sorry. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I meant to...but then they came and things just started getting more difficult than before. Look at the candle now," he formed a light-ray image and Mirabel saw that the candle was nearly half black. They stared up at the green clouds brewing more ghastly than ever. "I'm really starting to think we should evaluate the city,"

"Let's at least find out what that symbol means," Mirabel said. "If this is the chance we have to save everything, we have to take it. I'm not about to lose our city, our home. Let's head to Elonzo's house...he said he's meet us there after delivering the message. It'll keep our mind off things for a while,"

They linked hands and walked away from the invisible Casita towards a large house where Elonzo and his family lived. They sat down on a bench to wait for him and a moment later...Elonzo came over. "I told them you'd meet them when you were ready,"

"Thank you," said Mirabel. "I'm sorry if this has been troubling for you,"

"No need. Now...I'll help you guys search for that symbol,"

"Good. The sooner we can the better," Juano approved. They walked into the house and Elonzo took them through the study towards his massive library. They began searching through large books of ancient legends of the history of South America.

Antonio and his friends were kept out of sight. The two girls threw pebbles to throw them off track. The boy knocked over carts to draw them away.

"You sure you can't just wait till she's actually ready?" asked the girl with pigtails. She was so scared they were going to get caught.

"I can't spend another moment away from her," said Antonio. "Losing her has been the hardest thing that has ever happened to me," he wiped a tear away. His friends comforted him.

"We'll help you see her," the boy promised.

"Oy!" shouted a loud voice behind them. The four kids jerked their heads around and saw an unfriendly city guy pointing at them. "You're not supposed to be here!"

"Run!" shouted Antonio. They shot off down the streets, jumping over crates and boxes but the strong man was closing in on them. They turned a corner. The chaser turned the corner and chased after them as they ducked behind one another. Antonio poked his head out of a barrel and looked out worriedly. He hoped his friends wouldn't get into too much trouble. With the time they were giving him, he hopped out of the barrel and rushed as fast as he could up the main road, not realising Mariana was watching him closely from a distance.

Mirabel and Juano still hadn't found any luck. "I found it. I remember it now!" Elonzo squealed out for joy. The couple dashed over to the large golden lectern in the centre of the room and he placed it on the stand, opening the cover to the same symbol. The green etch made them quiver a little. "It is a symbol of dark magic,"

Mirabel gazed in horror at the symbol she had seen in the cave. "What's it doing on that cave here?"

"There was a time many millennia ago when our lands were conquered by greedy conquistadors, more brutal than the soldiers who drove us from our homes," As he flicked through the pages, the couple saw murals of people being slaughtered, cruel men taking gold and treasures, plundering the lands of green flora to wastelands of grey ash. "The gods wanted to punish those invaders for their crimes so they unleashed a terrible curse," when he flicked through the next page, they saw entities above mountains raising their palms, unleashing magic. "But what saved our people, became a powerful force which could not be contained," when the next page turned, they saw innocent native people become dark, infected by the dark powers of the god's curse. "The god's magic turned on, punishing us for the sins of those invaders, bringing conflict, hatred, war..."

As the book pictured the story, Juano's anxiety grew more and more and the light of the room was swallowed and darkness covered the walls. Mirabel held his hand gently and he calmed down again. "What happened?" she asked.

"All those tempted by the dark magic were condemned to death. Every trace of dark hypocrisy was destroyed. And it was never heard of again," Elonzo closed the book.

"But if dark magic was banned and everyone tempted by it was put to an end...what's the symbol doing here?" Juano wondered.

"Somehow this cave was well hidden and it holds traces of the god's evil power,"

"We cannot let anyone near it," said Mirabel. "What if this is what's causing the candle to turn dark? What if being in this valley so long has caused it to become corrupted?"

Juano realised she was onto something but something didn't make sense. "How come it wasn't corrupted before?"

"It's probably been here too long,"

"If this place is still littered with dark magic...then we have to leave this place,"

"No!" Elonzo disagreed. "This is our home! We cannot abandon it. There has to be some way right?"

"He's right Juano," Mirabel agreed. "We have to try. We can't give up,"

He sighed. "Okay. But we have to tell the people, we should give them a choice to leave if things get much worse,"

"I agree with him on that," their friend approved.

Mirabel nodded. "It's settled then. Elonzo, call the council at the great hall,"

"What about meeting your parents and Antonio?" he reminded.

She sighed. "It'll to wait. This is more important,"

Alma was sitting still staring worriedly up at the sky at the green clouds.

"Hey," a voice behind her approached. "You okay?"

The old lady turned around to see the grandfather approaching. "Yes. I'm fine," her voice was broken.

The grandfather sighed in sympathy. "May I...keep you company?"

Alma saw the generosity in his eyes and nodded. He sat down beside her. "Thank you," her appreciative smile faded and the kind elderly man saw the sadness on her face.

"If you want to talk to someone..." he offered.

"That's kind of you but you can't fix this," she said.

He knew exactly what she was going through. Word had spread of Mirabel's shock and the family's disheartenment that she was afraid and unwinding to see most of them. "I'm so sorry about what's happened with your family today. But everything will work out. It has to,"

"Mama!" shouted a voice. The two elders turned to see a worried Pepa and Felix. "Have you seen Antonio anywhere?" the frantic mother asked.

"No," Alma answered sadly.

Julieta came dashing over to the scene. "I've looked in all the tents. He's not here,"

Loud voices rang from close by. They turned to see a rough but out-of-breath citizen urging three naughty children towards their parents. "I'm gonna ask you again. Where's the fourth one?"

"We ain't telling you," the dark-braided girl refused.

"Never ever," the pig-tailed girl supported.

"He's trying to find Mirabel!" blurted out the boy, scared of the stiff man. The girls glared at him.

Overhearing them, Pepa's hands flew to her mouth. "Oh no. He went to find Mirabel. If they catch him, who knows what they'll do,"

"Are you crazy?" Felix criticised. "Mirabel wouldn't hurt him,"

"I'm talking about the city people you dumbo," Pepa hissed. "Now come on. We've got to find him. Before she could dash off, Julieta grabbed her arm.

"Let me and Agustin go," she insisted. "We don't want the people to think we're causing trouble. I promise you we'll find Antonio,"

Pepa wanted to argue but Felix held her shoulders and gave her a reasonable expression. "Please be careful," she implored.

Her sister nodded. "I will," she looked up at her husband and cocked her head.

He nodded in response. Isabella and Luisa grabbed his hands.

"Please...bring her back," Luisa implored.

"I will," he swore.

Mirabel and Juano were walking through the streets back towards their house. they walked up towards the front door through the invisible barrier. Bruno came dashing out. "Uh...thank goodness! I was about to go and find you!"

"What is it Tio Bruno?" Mirabel clasped his hands sensing how shaken he was.

"The inside of the house...it's turning dark. The candle's getting darker. I want to see the future but I'm scared it'll only mean something dreadful,"

"Bruno...we have found a way to reverse this," said Juano. Before he could speak, they heard the loud cry of her name being called. Her heart jumped. They turned around and they saw Antonio standing only twenty feet away from them. He had followed them.

"Antonio?" Mirabel was shocked but elated.

"Mirabel!" without second thoughts, he flew and threw his arms around her neck. She embraced him. She hadn't realised how much she had missed him. And she was overjoyed more than ever to have him in her arms. Her tears fell onto his shoulders. "I've missed you so much prima..." he wept for joy.

She sniffled. "I've missed you too," they let go and she wiped his tears away. "It's all right, primo. I'm here,"

Antonio pulled out his jaguar toy. Mirabel's heart rate accelerated as she remembered the day she gave it to him, six years ago on his fifth birthday. "The toy I gave you,"

"I always cuddled it every time I went to bed. And whenever I did...I thought of you,"

Mirabel held his hands. "You did?"

"Of course, I did. We all thought of you. And you too tio Bruno," Antonio looked up at his uncle not wanting to leave her out.

Bruno was about to say something when he suddenly heard two squealing voices from the front door.

"Is this our cousin?" Harmony asked excitedly.

"His toy looks so adorable," Angelo squealed.

Antonio blinked at the young five-year-olds. "You had more kids?!"

"Another primo!" they cheered together and they bounded over to Antonio and danced around for joy.

The animal lover was overjoyed. In the five years that had passed, Bruno had fathered two beautiful children and they looked beautiful. "You're so lucky Tio Bruno,"

Bruno felt anxious but when he saw how much his children were having fun with Antonio, his heart lightened. They looked very happy together. He shared a glance at his wife and she was smiling too. Antonio was being a sweet primo to their twins. Gabriella and Isandra stepped out, shocked but quite delighted to see Antonio; he was such a sweet boy. "What are their names?" he eagerly asked.

"This is Harmony," Isandra introduced. "And this is Angelo,"

"Mama! Papa!" Pedro came dashing outside. The young pre-teen almost jumped when he saw Antonio. "Who's this?" he was a little nervous; he stepped closer to his mother.

"It's all right Pedro. This is Antonio. Your primo. You probably don't recognise him. You saw him on the day we left,"

"It's really nice to meet you," Antonio offered a handshake. Pedro slowly took it but the moment his fingers touched Antonio's, ice spread over his hands and he squealed out, "Cold! Cold! Cold!"

"Oh sorry," Pedro apologised. "Cold hands," he knew that at times when he was anxious, he'd accidentally freeze something if he touched it.

"You have ice magic?" Antonio squealed excitedly. "Does that mean you two have gifts too?!" he asked the twins with big eyes.

"They do," said Mirabel, trusting him deeply. "They have mind abilities. Harmony has telekinesis and Angelo has telepathy,"

"Incredible," he said. "Just wait till the others hear about this,"

Bruno was alarmed. "What? No. No. You cannot tell anyone about this," he implored. "I will not see anyone take them for granted,"

His words reminded Antonio of why the Madrigals had been paralysed with shock. He looked agitatedly at Mirabel. "Guys...we know that our arrival was unexpected and quite a shock. But we just want to let you all know that we've missed you all so much. And we're all sorry for everything that's happened. And...we were hoping that perhaps...you could come back with us once this drought has passed. These last six years have been so tough...especially for your parents Mirabel,"

Mirabel felt her tears fall again. "We can't go back with you," she cried.

"Why not?"

Mirabel tried to answer that question but painful memories made her cry slowly. Isandra came forward and spoke for her as she hugged her. "Antonio...it's not as simple as you think.,"

"We have lives, here," said Bruno. "This is our children's home. He patted the backs of his three kids. Mirabel and Juano lead this city and the citizens need us. We can't just abandon them like this,"

"Mirabel...please see your parents," Antonio begged.

"I want to..." she fell to her knees and he held her hands. "But I don't know what to say to them. And we need to fix this problem first before something terrible happens,"

And that's the chapter done. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please send reviews and let me know what you all thought. I'll make sure to update this again next week. See you all soon.