Prologue:
"Alicia! They're getting closer!" A young girl with long wavy brown hair screamed. She looked like she couldn't have been more than 7 years old. Tears streamed from her deep brown eyes as she looked behind them, seeing a group of about 10 men yielding guns and machetes getting closer.
"It's okay Amira! It's okay I'm not going to let them hurt you. Not again". The soothing voice belonged to a tall young woman with similar wavy brown hair. Unlike the girl in her arms her hair only came up to neck and instead of chocolate brown, her eyes her a deep emerald green.
She swore to him that she would do everything in her power to protect this little girl, and it was a promise she would keep until the day she died.
In truth, Alicia was not confident that they would be able to escape their pursuers this time around.
She had no idea where they were, forested mountains were the only things she could see. In her defense she was more worried about getting the two away from the bastards behind them than what direction she was running in.
She figured it would be best to stay close to the river next to them, finding it about 20 minutes into the chase. Roads and civilization can often be found downstream and that is what she was hoping for.
The yells of the men continued to get closer and closer. Alicia knew she could run faster than this, but she and Amira had gone the last 2 days without eating and sleeping, so she was running on fumes at this point.
BANG! BANG BANG BANG!
Bullets began to whiz past them as the men tried to incapacitate her. "Keep your head down 'Mira!" The older girl quickly pushed her head down as she herself crouched a little to avoid the shots.
"Alicia!" Amira screamed as she felt the warm blood on the side of her body and saw that the older girl had been shot, once in the left arm and another in her left abdomen.
"Dammit!". That hurts like a mother! Well at least 'Mira did not get hit. She was relieved the younger girl was unharmed but now her fear intensified. With her new injuries escape seemed increasingly unattainable. It was more likely she would bleed out and Amira would be left at the mercy of those demons.
"I got you little freaks now!" the two girls quickly turned their heads to see one of the men had caught up and was running right next to them, grinning a sadistic smile while brandishing a long machete.
Just as the man was about to swing at the two, a torrent of fire burst from the eldest girls right hand, hitting the man directly and turning him to ash.
The screaming and the gunfire increased as the men were no doubt angry at seeing their comrade murdered by their targets. Well at least they no longer want to capture us. They want to kill us!
Just as the girl was about to lose hope, she saw a golden light from the corner of her eye. Turning her head saw what looked to be a large mountain, with a crack in it? She didn't think twice of it as she quickly turned and began to desperately sprint towards it.
The light began to get brighter and brighter the closer they got to the crack. It was so bright that the two were unable to see what was beyond it.
There must be something on the other side of the mountain, or at least an area that will let us lose them!
Once the girls reached the mountain's base, the ground began to shake, the crack slowly closing.
Alicia quickly put Amira down, pushing her towards the closing mountain. "Go Amira, I'll be right behind you".
"B-Butt…", Amira was terrified and worried. Why would Alicia put her down? Should they go through at the same time? Is she going to stay behind?!
She trusted the older girl more than anyone and knew she was strong, one of the strongest people she knew but she wouldn't be able to fight those men head on in her condition.
"Amira please just go! I swear I will be right behind you just trust me", the older girl swayed slightly as the blood loss began to make itself apparent. She turned back around facing the men coming towards them.
"Ok-okay" the little girl turned and began to make her way as quickly as she could through the closing chasm.
Once she saw Amira going through Alicia brought both her hands up, creating a large wall of fire separating her and the men who just reached the crack. The heat of the flames melting the bullets they began shooting again.
Alicia turned, noticing the crack was almost closed as she quickly shoved her way in, praying to whatever higher being existed she would not be crushed and reach the other side.
Luck was on her side that day as the second she was completely out, the chasm was gone, and the ground was no longer shaking.
The girl looked around; they were still in a forest, but they were now separated from their pursuers; she even noticed that she could no longer hear them.
"Cia look! Everything is so pretty here!" the younger girl began pointing at the beautiful plant life around them.
"That's great buddy". It seemed that the safety and calmness they had now found had caused her adrenaline to fade. Now she was very much aware of how tired and hurt she was as she began to sway. Her vision became blurry as she fell to the ground.
"Alicia!" Amira rushed to her side kneeling as she brushed away hair from her face. She quickly began ripping the bottom of her dress, using the fabric to wrap around her wounds as makeshift bandages.
"Thanks Amira. I don't know what I would do without you". Alicia smiled at her before pushing herself up just enough to lean against a nearby tree. Amira then moved in front of her and sat in her lap.
"You would probably bleed to death by the looks of it". Alicia's laughter could be heard in the quiet area around them, but Amira just pouted seeing it as Alicia not taking her own health seriously.
"This isn't fu-funny!" A yawn broke through the girl's protest, she too knows, feeling fatigued now that they were safe.
"You can sleep 'Mira, it has been a long two days just get some rest. We will figure out what to do afterwards." Alicia wrapped her arms around the younger girl, holding her tight as she started combing her fingers through her hair.
Amira nuzzled her head closer to her chest and although she was still worried about Alicia wounds in the end sleep had won and she was out like a light.
Alicia's smile soon faded once Amira had fallen asleep. She knew these two bullet wounds would cause serious problems especially with her body already covered in bruises, cuts, and scrapes, some of which she was sure were infected.
While she knew Amira was right in attending to her wounds earlier, these pieces of fabric were not going to help much.
Ironically, it's like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound.
There is also this mountain. Was this just an earthquake that appeared at the right time? Or is this something magical? And if so, does this mean that this whole place is magic? Is the crack closing an everyday occurrence? Will it open again and let those putas catch us?
The girl's many thoughts soon left her mind as she lifted her head to look at the treetops, her eyes becoming heavier as her body was screaming at her just to sleep.
She tried to fight it as she knew with her injuries, she might not wake up the allure of sleep was too much as she gave into her fatigue and closed her eyes giving into the blackness
It was a normal Saturday for the Madrigal family, while as normal as the days had been in the 6 months since the reemergence of their missing kin and the destruction/rebuilding of Casita.
Things, while not perfect, had improved within the magical family. Each day the group was learning to be more open with each other and themselves. While also no longer overextending themselves in the community and letting the townspeople do some things on their own.
As each family member was off doing their own with the house, the ground began to violently shake.
"What is going on?!," Alma Madrigal yelled as she and the other members of the family gathered as quickly as possible in the courtyard.
"Th-the mountain! I can hear it moving! I think it's-", Dolores was unable to finish her sentence as the mountain just beyond Encanto began to shake faster. Everyone throughout the village could feel the tremors, it sounded as if a meteor had just struck the ground.
After a few moments, the earthquake subsided, and everything became still and quiet. Although this silence was shattered by Dolores gasping.
By then the family gathered around the young woman waiting for her to tell them what she had heard. "I can hear someone up there." She spoke.
"Are they alone or are there others?" Alma asked. "I can hear two heartbeats" Dolores pointed to the far side of the Encanto, the same area that had splintered and cracked when Casita fell apart and they lost their magic for a time. "They are in that direction; they came when the mountain was shaking. I think they might be unconscious."
Alma nodded her head in understanding, as for the first time in decades there was someone new in Encanto. Before she could ask another question Antonio ran up to her with one of his toucans on his shoulder.
"Abuela! Pico said he saw what happened. He said that two kids came through the crack and that it closed after them."
Pico began to chirp more, "He said that one of them looks as old as Luisa and the other is closer to my age." Antonio's face became upset causing the rest of the family to worry.
"He said that they are really thin and covered in cuts and that the older one is bleeding a lot. I'm sorry that's all Pico knows…" Antonio looked down at the floor upset that he couldn't give them more to go from.
"It's okay Tonito, you did wonderfully," Alma told him causing the boy to beam at her praises.
The information, however, was alarming. Alma then turned to her family giving them instructions.
"Pepa, Felix. You two help Casita prepare spare room for Julieta." The couple nodded, rushing off to one of their extra rooms.
"Julieta- "
"I'm on it mama". The woman replied. After hearing what Dolores and Antonio had told them both her and Pepa's maternal instincts were in overdrive. She headed to the kitchen to prepare some food.
Julieta knew from past experience that if the two hadn't eaten in a while that feeding them a lot of food would do more harm than good. She would have to steadily get them back to full health so her magic could properly heal them.
For people in serious conditions a sudden bolt of magical healing would have a negative affect so they would have to be monitored around the clock, hence the room. This was common in the elderly, infants, and the seriously ill like the two young strangers.
Alma turned towards her grandchildren. "Get them back here safely and quickly. I will go explain to the town what is happening."
They all nodded as Antonio hopped on the back of his jaguar Parce. "We can lead you to them. Let's go guys!" The jaguar took off as the others quickly followed behind them.
Alma watched as her grandchildren faded into the distance before walking towards the town. She was worried about those children, hoping that her own grandchildren would get them back safely.
Alma didn't know why, but she felt something strange was going to happen with those two. There had to be something special about them if they were able to make it all the way here.
I suppose we'll know the answer once they return…