A Strange First Encounter

About half an hour had passed since the youngest of the Madrigal clan had set out to find their mysterious new visitors.

"Are you sure you hear them all the way out here? Maybe the loudness of earthquake messed up your gift". Camilo felt as if they had been walking forever and they had still yet to find anyone.

"I know what I heard hermano. Now shut it," Dolores snapped back. Her ears were already focusing on the heartbeat of one of the two strangers slowing down, she did not need her brother to distract her if God forbid it stopped.

"Alright, alright geez". Camilo said, noticing the tension his sister was emitting.

"Guys! Guys! Pico says they are right over there", Antonio said while pointing straight ahead.

The Madrigal children pushed past the tree line before stopping at the sight in front of them. They were now able to see that the two strangers were young girls and just as Antonio's animals had said the two were covered in cuts and bruises along with sunken cheeks attributed with malnutrition.

The smallest of the two indeed appeared to be just a little older than Antonio with wavy brown hair, with light brown skin, and was wearing an old, tattered orange dress. The older one had the same wavy hair and skin tone but was significantly taller, even taller than all of them except for Luisa, looking to be about 6 or 7 inches shorter than the strongest Madrigal. The girl was also wearing a similarly old and tattered pair of brown trousers and an oversized green shirt.

As they moved closer, Mirabel gasped seeing the blood-stained rags that were covering parts of the older girl's body.

"Oh, Dios mío, I think she's been shot!" The bespectacled girl gently pulled down the rag covering the older girl's arm, showing the others the bleeding wound.

The Madrigals were shocked, just what happened to these two that lead to one of them being shot?!

"They look so frail, like a strong wind could knock them over" Luisa muttered as sadness overtook her face and tone. "We have told get them back to mama". She then went over to the two and gently picked them up.

Luisa almost burst into tears on the spot "They're so light… like they weight nothing at all." She noticed that their wounds looked much worse up close. Her sisterly instincts kicked in as she secured them in her arms. Isabela rubbed her hands on her sister's shoulders to try and make her feel better.

After this the Madrigals began their trek back down the mountain, careful and quiet in their movement as not to distribute the two girls.

"'Cia…"

The six of them suddenly stopped at the mumbled voice. They turned to the source seeing that it was the little girl resting on top of the older one.

Her eyes opened just a bit revealing a pair of beautiful chocolate brown orbs. They were glossed over, showing just how tired the young girl was as she had not noticed the six people, jaguar, and toucan surrounding her.

"Mm… 'Cia sleepy" the young girl said before burying her face in the into "Cia's" neck and falling back to sleep once more.

It was right then and there that the 5 eldest of the group decided that they were adopting the cute young girl before they continued to walk.

The sun had begun to set, and the air had gotten colder as they arrived in town. They began to move faster as the two girls started to shiver.

Luisa held the two tighter to try and share some of her warmth with them and was delighted when they snuggled closer to her. The younger girl burrowed deeper into 'Cia's chest while 'Cia held her tighter.

2 Days Later

Amira slowly woke up from one of the best rests she had in a long time. She stretched out on whatever she was lying on as it was extremely comfortable and soft.

It took the young girl about 10 minutes to realize that she was no longer in the forest

10 minutes and 5 seconds to realize that Alicia was not with her.

She scrambled to get out of the bed, falling to the floor and quickly standing up as panic began to fill her heart.

Memories of that day began to rush to the forefront of her mind. Memories of the last time she saw her papa.

She remembered clearly how after her papa and Alicia left the house how strange men had come to get her, how she later woke up in a strange and unfamiliar house just like this one.

She remembered what followed when she woke up. The screams, the pain, the blood.

Amira began to breathe in and out to calm herself. She couldn't freak out now, she needed to find Alicia so they could escape.

Amira had walked towards the door and was about to reach for the doorknob when she felt the floor shift beneath her feet.

Huh?

She then turned around, seeing the windows, the floor, and the drawers all moving as if they were trying to gain her attention.

She didn't know that Casita was trying to get her attention along with everyone else in the house.

After her cuts were healed, Amira was placed in the nursery while Julieta focused on Alicia in one of the guest rooms as she was in serious condition. Although it took a while since both girls had an extraordinarily strong grip on the other despite both being unconscious.

Pepa then got her out of her grimy and ripped dress before cleaning her off and putting her in some of Dolores' old clothes.

The same treatment was given to Alicia. Her own body of littered with scars, cuts, and bruises, a lot of which were infected. It was honestly surprising that she had not lost any body parts to the infections. Julieta slowly fed her soup to heal the bullet wounds the woman had.

Her skin soon returned to its rich brown appearance. However, both girls retained all the older scars that had healed on their own. Both girls were also still underweight, they figured it would only be a matter of time before they filled out.

While they were physically fine Julieta and Pepa noticed that the girls each had a larger scar on their right shoulder blades. The scars were identical and were a large circle with four small triangles, three of the triangles were above the circle while the fourth was underneath it and upside down.

Upon closer examination the scars were some sort of brand, like the ones farmers use on cattle. While Amira's looked to be placed on her with a branding iron, Alicia's looked as if it had been carved into her skin.

After this, Alicia and Amira had been asleep for days before either of them had awakened.

Casita was excited that Amira had finally woken up. They could tell that there was something special about the two girls, they could feel the magic radiating off them.

They had lifted the floorboards gently when they saw the girl nervously make her way to the door. The children of the village loved it when they interacted with them, so much that many would stop by just to say hello.

But this child did not react in such a way. Her eyes got bigger as they quickly turned around and as Casita began to move around more, tears formed in her eyes.

Amira was freaking terrified.

Santa Mierda! The house! It's alive?! I am inside a living house! "The house! The house has eaten me!"

'No darling, it is okay. You are safe here.' Casita tried to calm the child down, moving the windows, floor, and even the ceiling to try and get their message across but this just served to make the 7-year-old panic even more.

"AAAAAAAA!" the girl screamed, bolting from the room in search of Alicia and a way out of this monster house.

"AAAAAAAA!" Everyone was jolted from sleep when a terrified scream bellowed from the nursery.

Mirabel was the first one of their rooms "Casita? What was that?" Casita frantically shuffled the floorboards, pointing towards the nursery. "Guys! Guys, the little one's awake" Mirabel yelled. She moved towards the nursery just as the young girl ran out.

"Hey there" the older girl said while giving her a large friendly smile. "Did you sleep well?"

But her reaction wasn't what she had expected. Instead of returning her greeting or wondering who she was…

The girl jumped back, raising her fists in front of her and moving her feet further apart in what looked like a boxing stance.

Mirabel quickly raised her own hands in surrender, showing that she meant no harm. "Whoa, hey it's okay I'm not going to hurt you". But the closer she tried to get the further the younger girl moved back.

Amira stopped in front of Luisa's door, her eyes darting back and forth trying to find a way to escape.

It was at that moment the door opened and the young woman inside stepped out in all her muscular glory. She then noticed Amira standing in front of her and smiled. "Hey! You sleep well little one?"

"iiiikkk!" the girl squeaked in fear as she got a good look at the woman.

Luisa felt her heart shatter. She knew that some kids were slightly intimidated by her large stature. She tried to move closer to clear up the misunderstanding "I-I'm sorry sweetheart. I didn't mean-"

Before she could finish the girl suddenly split apart into four identical copies!

Three of which charged at the two Madrigals as the fourth quickly turned on her heel and ran down the stairs.

Mirabel jumped back as Luisa caught the three Amiras. They tried to fight back but their kicks and punches did nothing against Luisa's firm body.

The other Madrigals kids had similar experiences while trying to catch the girl, luckily Isabela was able to use her gift to hold down the clones. It was clear that Amira knew how to evade their advances with skillful ease. The courtyard was then filled with dozens of clones being held up by Isabela's vines.

They hadn't meant to scare the poor girl. They had planned to welcome the two with food, warmth, and safety. But her awakening had led to a misunderstanding that ruined the good first impression they wanted to make. Not to mention they were not expecting the girl to be magical just like them.

Did the older girl have a power just like her? Like them? What had scared the girl so much?

Casita noticed that the girl was especially afraid of its more colorful parts and thus used the brighter floorboards to herd the young girl into a corner with only a pillar to hide behind.

"Thanks Casita" Camilo huffed trying to catch his breath still in disbelief over what just happened. "First off how can someone so small run so fast? And second, how did she make all those copies herself?! I thought we were the only ones with magic? Hey kid how did you do all that and why were you running from us?"

Amira didn't answer his questions, only crying harder when she realized that she was now cornered. She couldn't create any more clones as she had reached her limit, not that they would be all that effective with the vines. She tried to stop crying and remain strong in the eyes of the enemy, but she could only think of one person.

Alicia! Where are you?! Did they hurt you? Did the house eat you? Alicia, I need you!

The girl just cried harder as the situation began to overwhelm her.

Camilo had not meant to make the little girl cry "No no! I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry."

It was then that his sister had taken over, trying to calm the girl down. "It is okay pequeña… you are okay. You are safe we are not going to hurt you." The girl whipped her head towards Dolores.

"You're lying. You people took Alicia away from me and took us to your strange monster house." Amira finally stopped crying as she spoke, many times she thought she could trust someone only for them to hurt her in the end.

"She is not lying… we just want to help you. I am sorry if I scared you earlier" Luisa hesitantly stated not wanting to scare the girl again.

Amira stared at Luisa for a moment before nodding. Luisa felt her heart soar at the acknowledgment, there was still hope.

"Do you… remember how you got here?" Mirabel hesitantly asked. She shook her head flinching slightly when Casita moved to comfort the child.

"We found you and your sister in the forest outside of town and brought you to our home". Mirabel said, moving slightly closer when she saw that the girl was not as scared as she was before.

Amira tilled her head to the side in confusion and most of the family had to stop themselves from cooing at the adorable sight. "Alicia is not my sister… she's, my Tia!" A slight smile forming on her face as she thought of the young woman.

Mirabel smiled at the girl "Well you don't have to worry about your Tia Alicia because she's just fine, she's in one of the other rooms sleeping".

At the sound of her Tia's name, she perked up "Yo-you mean the house d-didn't eat her?"

Camilo snorted "Casita, eat her? Casita would never hurt anyone they were just trying to say hello. Right Casita?"

Casita replied with an upbeat wave of their bricks. Instead of running or screaming the girl moved a few inches away from the pillar and hesitantly waved back. "Ho-Hola Casita?"

Casita started rumbling and moving around in joy that the girl was no longer afraid. This made the girl giggle and move just a little bit closer to them.

Dolores decided to send Antonio to go tell the rest of the family what had happened. The boy nodded before taking off up the stairs.

The Madrigals were happy as well with the reaction and Mirabel took it upon herself to introduce everyone.

"I'm Mirabel" she said and gestured to her sisters "The pretty one over here is my eldest sister Isabela, next to her is second sister Luisa, she is super strong. On the other side of you over there my primas, Dolores, and her hermanos, Camilo and Antonio..."

Mirabel went on about her family, the house, and their town to the little girl. The others joined in, gently coaxing the child from behind the pillar. "Can you tell us yourname, conejita?

The girl stood up straight looking at the family. Despite both having magical powers she didn't have Alicia's confidence in her power, nor her ability to read people but the people in front of her seemed genuine, different than others they had come across. So, she chose to ignore her head and follow her gut…

"I..." Slowly, but surely, she came just a little closer to them, until finally, they could see him fully, "I'm..." They could see that she was nervous, as the trembling on her shoulders didn't stop. But she came closer and introduced herself.

"I-I'm Amira Delgado. I am, um, seven years old" she said before shrinking a little into the collar of her dress.

She continuously looked between the floor and them before finally speaking again, "I-I want my Tia, I w-want to see Alicia."

"She's with my mama. I-I can take you there if you want. Is that okay?" Luisa said, reaching her hand down to her. She waited patiently before Amira took her hand much to her shock and delight.

She was barely able to grip Luisa's fingers because of how small she was. With a whisper, she answered her, "T-thank you Lu-Luisa"

The Madrigal children had an extremely challenging time not cooing at the young girl. They could not act on any impulse to squeeze her chubby cheeks or ruffle her wavy brown hair as it would destroy all the effort, they made in getting her to calm down and trust them.

However, Amira was not the only one to wake up, Alicia had woken up a few minutes later.

Alicia was slow to wake up. While she was not in as much pain anymore, she had no strength. She realized over time that she was not lying on grass anymore. It was then she realized she no longer felt any weight on her chest. Amira fell asleep on me, so where is she?!

Alicia quickly sat but instantly regretted it was the world around her had begun to spin as her eyes were unable to focus. It was then that she heard voices she didn't recognize. It was two women and a man.

"Oh! Guys, she's awake!" One of them exclaimed. "Hi, honey!" she notices that there were literal rainbows blooming behind this woman.

Alicia quickly jumped out of the bed pressing herself against the wall to keep distance between her and the three strangers.

She then summoned a small ball of fire in her hand causing the three to move back in surprise and fear. "Stay back!"

Normally she would have just blasted them and be done with it but the three didn't look like the usual people who came after her, she wanted to know their intentions, especially since she did not know where Amira was.

Seeing her retreat and summon fire put a big damper on the energetic lady's mood, "Oh, no, no, I didn't mean to scare you, sweetheart." The lady became depressed as clouds formed above her head as she then turned to the other woman in the room for assistance, "Julieta, what do I do? She is terrified of me!"

"Calm down, Pepa," A gentle voice soothed, "It's natural, she just woke up after two whole days. She's disoriented and more than likely very weak right now." She knew the girl might react in a similar way that her sobrina had earlier, but they definitely weren't expecting the fire.

"Querida," The gentle voice said softly, "My name is Julieta Madrigal. My daughter, Luisa, brought you and your niece here two days ago along with her sisters and cousins." She explained slowly, "Do you remember?"

The girl's eyes widened in shock as she shook her head. Two days? I have been asleep for two days? Wait brought…

"I'm Pepa." The other woman introduced herself with, a softer tone in her voice, "You had a lot of injuries on you and a really high fever. Julieta and I were the ones taking care of you."

With her mind more awake, the first thought that brought itself forth was where her niece was. She realized that her niece was not anywhere in the room with her. "Amira? What did you people do with her?" She asked, her voice hoarse and dry from lack of use. The flame in her hand continued to grow larger as her anxiety increased, causing the room to get hotter with each passing second.

"Hey, hey okay," Bruno soothed, slowly walking towards the girl with his arms raised "You're worried about your niece, right? She just woke up a few minutes ago, she's downstairs with the rest of family. Her injuries have all been healed. She's okay. Everything is okay." He said, now standing only a few inches in front of the young woman. She flinched slightly at how close he had gotten without realizing, but steadily relaxed and extinguished the flame as he continued talking, "Just breathe. That's it. You're doing great, kid."

After a few minutes, she finally managed to calm down. She still looked on edge, but she no longer looked as tense as before. She looked around for a moment before looking down at the floor.

"Thanks for that." She whispered, and Bruno smiled, "I'm sorry."

"No, no. no. You don't have to apologize. You did nothing wrong." He said firmly, he understood the anxious feeling that could overtake a person when they were placed in a new situation or in the presence of those you didn't know or trust. Bruno lived his whole life in an anxious, nervous fog which did not get better during his years inside the walls, but he was working on it.

He continued to say more soothing words as he led her back to bed, standing off to the side when she sat down on the edge of the bed, still tired from her previous injuries.

Julieta and Pepa smiled at the scene in front of them, their brother didn't even realize what he was doing. But they did, and they could not be prouder of him, it was not every day that Bruno could interact with others so causally, especially those who weren't apart of their family.

It was at that moment the door opened, revealing the tall and powerful Luisa bringing in the small and cute Amira. The moment she spotted Alicia, her entire world lit up.

"Cia!" She quickly let go of Luisa's hand and ran to her aunt. The girl herself opened her arms, letting Amira jump onto her lap. The moment she hugged her she began to cry again, telling her everything that happened.

"You weren't with me when I woke up! I thought I was in that we were in that house again! I thought they would take us again! I thought he got his hands on you!" She cried, releasing all the terrible feelings she had as her grip got tighter.

"I'm sorry,mi estrellita. No one will take you again. You're safe now, we are safe now. I won't let them hurt you, not again." She didn't notice the alarmed gazes of the adults and other teens in the room listening to her speak. All she cared about at that moment was calming down her niece.

"Then the walls and floors moved! I thought we had been eaten! But the house is actually really nice! Their name is Casita!" The small girl then looked at the floor before continuing. "Hey Casita, casita, this is my Tia, Cia!"

"Dios Mio, she's so adorable." The Madrigals struggled to contain the coos ready to spill from their mouths at the girl's cuteness.

Alicia tilled her head to the side like Amira did earlier. "What do you mean the walls and the floor moved?"

Casita then began to move around to answer the young woman's question. The only reaction Alicia gave was a raised eyebrow "Oh, okay".

The Madrigals were confused by the older girl's lack of reaction, especially given what happened when Amira learned Casita was alive.

"I was scared that we were being chased again!" She paused, beginning to check all over her while frantically asking, "You're not hurt anymore, right? Are your wounds gone? All of my injuries were all gone when I woke up!"

"Yes… 'Mira they're all gone." A yawn escaped her in that moment. While she was no longer in pain, she was still extremely tired.

"Cia! You're not gonna believe it, these people are just like us! They have magic powers too!" She spoke. "Luisa, she's really big and strong! I was terrified when I first saw her, but she's actually really nice! And, then there's Dolores, she can hear everything! And Isabela can make really pretty flowers!"

The Madrigals were smiling at the sight of Amira being so excited by them.

"And Camilo turned into me! It was crazy! And awesome! There's also 'Tonio he can speak to animals! And he said he wants to be my friend! I have a friend, 'Cia!"

Alicia chuckled at Amira "That's great 'Mira, I'm happy for you." Amira smiled at the young woman before continuing. "Oh, I forgot Mirabel! She doesn't have a power but she is really funny!"

Alicia looked up from her niece to the other people in the room. While she was happy that Amira was safe, she didn't know what to make of this family, from what she had seen and been told they had magic just like them which is probably why they didn't seems overtly interested in their powers like others they've come across.

Alicia was broken out her thoughts when the door opened once more, revealing an elderly woman who walked past the others to stand in front of the two girls. Alicia felt Amira cling tighter as they stared at the woman.

"Hola mis queridas, my name is Alma Madrigal as my family no doubt told you we found the two of you injuried in the mountains and brought you back to our home so you could heal. I would like to know how you two found this place?" Alma stared at the girls with a serious look in er eyes, while she was glad, they were awake and feeling better, she still needed to make sure they weren't a threat to Encanto and her family. This feeling intensified when she heard about the younger of the two making doubles of herself from her grandchildren.

Alicia stared at the woman for a moment before speaking "We were in the forest when we saw a bright golden light. When we got closer, I saw that the light was coming from a crack in the side of the mountain. My niece and I went through it and the crack closed itself."

Alma raised an eyebrow "We did hear the and feel the mountain closing, that crack had been in the mountain for the last few months. Although I have noticed that you have yet to tell us how you and your niece ended up in such a grave condition."

"The two of us were fine-"

"Really because the two of you were covered in scars and bruises. Not to mention you yourself had two bullet wounds. I doubt you would have been fine when you bled to death." Alma's glare hardened when she noticed the young woman trying to avoid the topic.

"Mama..." Julieta was shocked by the tone her mother took, they were just kids, kids who undoubtedly been through something traumatic based on what they heard Amira say.

Alicia narrowed her eyes at Alma, she didn't believe that it was important for them to know the truth, but it didn't appear that the woman would let this go so the girl sighed before speaking again. "We were being chased by hunters, they shot at us as we were running away which led to us finding the crack."

To say that the family was shocked would be an understatement. Questions flowed through each of their minds, but Alma was the only one to voice her's aloud. "What do you mean by hunters?"

Amira flinching both times the word "hunters" was said was noticed that most people in the room including her aunt who rubbed her back trying to calm the girl down. Amira silently cried as memories began to come to the forefront of her mind.

Alicia wiped the tears away with her thumb and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Está bien mi Estrella. No están aquí, no pueden lastimarte de nuevo." Amira's breathing soon slowed as she buried her face in her aunt's chest.

Alicia looked up at saw the Madrigal family staring at the two with looks of sadness and pity. She had to grit her teeth to stop herself from speaking out of turn, she hated when others would look at them like this, like they were some pitiful and pathetic creatures. Alicia took a deep breath to get rid of the anger coursing through her. "Hunters are people who specialize in tracking, restraining, and killing targets that they are hired to go after. It doesn't matter who the target is, if you pay them enough, they'll hunt you down and they won't stop until they accomplish their goal even if it takes years or their client rescinds the order."

The silence in the room was deafening, the family taking in the information given to them. Alma clenched her hands when a pervasive thought hit her. "Why were these hunters after the two of you?"

"People hate those different than them. Freaks like us make others uncomfortable, afraid so they try to get rid of us in order so they can sleep better at night." Alicia's tone was laced with venom as she thought about all the hunters who had come after them over the years.

"Do you believe these hunters will come back for the two of you?" Alma feared that whoever was hunting the girls would come back for them. That these hunters would take one look at her magical family and decide that they two should be eliminated.

Alicia just chuckled, seeing what the elderly woman was really thinking. She didn't care about them, she just wanted to be sure that her own people wouldn't be affected by the street rats that wandered in. "You don't have to worry about that Señora Madrigal, we'll be leaving right now."

Amira quickly lifted her head and stared at Alicia. "But 'Cia! The people here are so nice a-and they're just like us! So why do we-"

Amira was cut off when her aunt gently grabbed her face in her hands, "Amira you know we cannot stay here. I know you like the Madrigals, but we must keep moving." We cannot stay, the hunters saw us enter the mountain, they know where we are. It will only be a matter of time before they regroup and come back for us. We would be putting these people in danger; the hunters would not hesitate to raze the village to the ground to get to us. Especially if they find out about the Madrigals...

"But you guys can't leave yet, you're still recovering from your injuries!" The Delgado's snapped their heads up and saw that it was Mirabel who spoke, worried that the two would leave too early and make their conditions worse.

Julieta came up behind her daughter and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Mirabel is right. You both still at least another day's rest. It wouldn't do you any good push yourselves."

Amira turned to her aunt "Señora Julieta is right! We could end up really hurt if we don't rest our bodies properly!" She then proceeded to give Alicia her best pair of puppy eyes, "Please 'Cia"

Alicia rolled her eyes at the display, "Fine we'll stay, but only for one more day and then we're leaving Amira, you understand me?" Amira nodded her head excited that sister agreed with the Madrigal women, it wasn't every day that her aunt could have her mind changed once it was made up, so she was happy that she could spend more time with the magical family.

Once her enjoyment faded Amira felt drowsy and rubbed her eyes trying to fight off sleeping again. What if I fall asleep and the whole day passes by?!

Alicia pulled Amira into her chest and gently carded her fingers through her hair, "It's okay Amira, don't fight it. Sleep and we'll still be here when you wake up and with plenty of time to spend with your new friends."

Alicia placed Amira next to her on the bed once she drifted off. Once she was settled Alicia looked up at the Madrigals wondering what the group would do now. Alma stepped closer, kneeling, and pulling the blanket over Amira before looking at the young woman. "We will allow you two to rest more. You and Amira are free to join us once you're feeling up to it Alicia."

Alma stood as she and her family left the room one by one until it was just the two girls and Julieta remaining. "Are you in pain querida?"

Alicia shook her head, "No Señora, I'm fine. Thank you for healing my niece and I."

The older woman smiled, "You do not have to thank me, I am glad the two of you are feeling better. come find me or any of my family if you feel something is wrong."

The healer turned on her heel and walked out the door, leaving the two girls alone to rest. Alicia released a sigh as she crawled over to the other side of the bed, pulling herself under the blanket and staring at the ceiling. Amira cuddled into her side once she settled, Alicia smiled at kissed her forehead. Alicia's thoughts continued to consume her; she had no idea what they would do next, she had no plan and now they were in a living house with a magical family in a secret village.

What are we going to do? We have to leave before those bastards come back but I don't know where we'll go or even where we are. But if we just live will the hunters just follow us anyway or will stay come to the village and...

Alicia shook her head, no it's not our problem, it doesn't matter what happens to them I just need to keep Amira safe. That's all that matters...

Alicia soon drifted off into a dreamless sleep, forgetting about her anxious thoughts and once again giving in to the darkness calling out for her and closing her eyes.