The next day came way too fast for Mirabel, who together with the rest of her family didn't sleep too much. Her padres, tías, and tíos spent their time talking with her grandmother once she came back home when the night came. She wanted to listen but she preferred not doing it and focused on taking care of her hermanas.
Isabela and Luisa were not hurt but they weren't good either. Isabela had fallen asleep just when she returned and hadn't woken up yet, this is why Camilo told them that her older hermana was who used her power more, so that is why logically speaking she was tired
On her part, she looked a bit better, she was silent, but from time to time she talked to her, smiling and making sure that she was all right. She saw the faces of her hermanas and she knew very well that they weren't fine, but she didn't want to pressure them; she waited until they were ready to speak that's what they wanted.
On his part, Camilo was better when Dolores and Antonio took him to his room. He seemed to be more calm, talking and bothering his sister as part of his habits; but she knew her hermano and knew that it was just his mask used not to show how he really felt.
Dolores was certain that what her primos and her hermano had lived through was not even close to the horrible feeling she had when she arrived to a small destroyed town; there were images that made here tremble, she couldn't imagine what they were feeling.
In the morning, Luisa and Mirabel left Isabela's room letting her sleep since she didn't seem like she was going to wake up soon; they entered the kitchen where the rest of the family was there sitting, waiting for them for breakfast.
They were worried about Isabela but Mirabel told them that it was normal that she was sleeping so much after the previous day, so they decided to get started with breakfast in silence; the environment was gloomy and nobody seemed to have the courage to break it.
"Abuela what will we do now?" Of course, if there was something Mirabel had a lot of it was bravery.
Her abuela looked at her thoughtfully, she was aware that she had to talk with her family but she wanted to avoid it as much as possible; although with everyone's attention on her it proved to be difficult, specially when the hustle and bustle began, everyone raised their voices expressing their doubts and fears.
" Calm down! " Abuela's hand hit the table shutting everyone up, she understood that they were scared and doubtful but, in that way, they wouldn't get anywhere "We will talk later, once we are all here. By now we will go to the city to help as many people as we can." Isabela was not present and she didn't want to repeat what she had to tell them "Mirabel, please stay here taking care of Isabela. Luisa and Camilo, I also want you to stay and rest, please."
She couldn't imagine what they would have had to have seen in that massacre, she knew they needed to rest but especially, she felt a need to keep them alive.
She left the dining room ignoring Camilo's angry growl; she started to be bothered by the way in which her family was treating him and her primos but she didn't say anything. Maybe some rest would be good for them.
It wasn't that way.
No matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop thinking about what happened, what she had seen, her mind revived each moment with so much precision that she could almost feel that she was there again; she could feel the blood splashing on her face, the horrible smell that seemed not to disappear.
She tried to sleep a little bit but every time she closed her eyes, she saw the soldiers being drained by her cousin's big plant, her heart accelerated to the point that she felt it would jump out of her chest. Angry because she couldn't stop thinking about that, she decided that being alone was the best so she went out of his room and went to Isabela's where she knew that Mirabel would be.
She knocked on the door and peeked inside a bit, her primo was sitting at the foot of the bed watching his hermana with concern. Isabella had slept for about 20 hours, maybe she should be worried but she was a witness to everything that her primo did. The level of tiredness she had was understandable.
"Are you all right?" Mirabel asked him when she saw him entering, Camilo nodded sitting at her side.
"Where is Luisa?" He asked without seeing here in the room, generally, those 3 were always wherever they went.
"In her room, she said that she would try to sleep a bit." Of course, Mirabel didn't believe it, but she knew that her sister needed some time alone so she decided not to bother her.
Camilo didn't say anything because he completely understood his prima, without wanting to think more on the topic, they talked about something else for a couple of hours; they spent the time laughing and joking, he felt better to be honest.
For her part, Luisa tried to sleep but it was impossible for her. She was suffering from horrible anxiety, her body trembled and her breathing became more difficult by the moment. Each time she thought about the last events, a nervous feeling and fear invaded her.
Even though she repeated to herself that everything was over, she felt that in any moment they would attack again, it was not possible to stay away from the fear that they returned and this time her family would be part of the victims. She felt like crying, she hugged herself crying during the night, she couldn't do anything else.
Once the sun went down, the rest of the family came back to their casita. There were hundreds of people without any place to sleep, so while the abuela talked and thought about where the survivors would stay, the rest of them helped as much as possible in their own ways. They were tired but it was almost important for them, their people needed them.
Mirabel welcomed them and directed them to the kitchen where Camilo and Luisa were serving the food that the three of them had prepared; they knew how exhausted they would be, so they thought that the least they could do was to prepare food for them; the family thanked them, smiling for the first time that day.
Julieta and Agustin had checked on Isabela who had already slept for more than a full day. They tried not to panic, repeating to themselves that she would wake up soon and they were not wrong; they were halfway through dinner when Casita began to lift several of her slabs in a hurry, calling everyone's attention.
"Casita, what is going on?!"
Mirabel didn't have to wait for an answer, not even a second later a cry that came from Isabela's room was heard alarming everyone. She stood up to run to her sister, but casita was faster dragging her to leave her in front of her door.
"Isa!" The smile that appeared on her face from knowing that her sister woke up, was erased in the moment she saw her face full of fear, watching the room without recognizing where she was.
She saw her trying to stand up but a moan of pain came out of her and that was all she needed to get close.
"Isa…" Isabela saw her without really seeing her, she seemed to look beyond her not really noticing her. She touched her shoulder feeling how her sister trembled. "It is me, Mirabel."
She sat down at her side slowly, taking her hand and caressing it gently. She began to whisper to her repeatedly telling her that it was her, her younger hermana and that nothing would harm her, With the same calm feeling she wrapped her arms around her, gently pulling her into a hug.
"Mirabel…" Isabela hugged her back, still trembling.
In that very moment, the rest of the family were stopped by Mirabel who was waving her hand so that they would leave, they went out without saying anything, trusting that Mirabel would take care of her hermana.
"What happened?" Mirabel felt her heart break when she heard the sadness in her hermana's voice. She hugged her stronger trying to console her. She felt pain from seeing her sister crying, Isabela was always the strongest of the 3, she was the one who always consoled her and Luisa. Seeing her that way broke her heart.
They stayed like that for a few minutes and it wasn't until she felt that her hermana had stopped trembling, then Mirabel loosened her embrace a little; she looked at her worriedly still remembering the distant look she had given her when she had arrived. She knew something was wrong with her but she preferred not to bother her with it, she had just woken up and didn't want to give her more to worry about. Once Isabela broke away from her embrace, she told her everything that had happened.
"24 hours?!" She yelled surprised, it couldn't be possible that she slept for a whole day, it was true that she was tired but that was too much.
"Can you stand up?" Mirabel helped her to stand up. The tiredness in the face of her sister was clear, she would help her eat and then bring her back to rest more.
As always Casita made her way to the kitchen easily, the family immediately approached Isabela to hug her but again they stopped at Mirabel's refusal, who gently helped her sit down smiling at the low "Thank you" her older sister gave her.
"You have to eat well." She set a dish full of food on the table and sat next to her make sure that she was nicely fed.
"How do you feel, Isabela?" Abuela as well as everyone else looked on with concern. She had a strong headache and was very tired and she didn't want to worry them more.
"I feel well, sleeping helped me a lot." Her abuela nodded and seemingly everyone believed her, except, of course, Mirabel who frowned but didn't say anything. No one was willing to joke or speak so they finished dinner in silence.
"Well, as you already noticed, the Encanto is not a safe place anymore." Abuela started, she couldn't postpone it anymore. "We had many losses, and thanks to you there weren't more." She looked at her nietos with pride and sadness "We have lost a whole town, we are looking for the best place they can build their homes again but right now it is not our priority. Our main priority is to protect the Encanto."
One of the big mountains broke in half, it was very obvious but they never did anything to change it. They were too busy enjoying their new life free of so many burdens, also no one expected that anything like that could happen.
Putting the Encanto on top of family was a big mistake that almost cost too much, she swore that she wouldn't ever do it again but now she had no other option. The lives of many people were at risk; even though she couldn't avoid wanting to leave it behind, focusing on her family and keeping them out of danger.
"I feel pain for asking this, family, but we have to protect the Encanto." "We are the Madrigals". She thought, before she had seen one reason to raise her glance with pride, now it felt as a curse, a big load that her beautiful family needed to carry.
Isabela looked at her family, they were all scared, it had always been easy to be lulled into the safety of the Encanto. They never had to worry about anything bad happening, but that was no longer the case, the illusion was shattered and reality had slapped them in the face in the worst way.
If she was honest, she was terrified, not for herself, but for her family; she was terrified at the thought of losing her loved ones, she didn't want anything bad to happen to them but she also wanted to protect all the innocent people of Encanto. They were good people, maybe a little annoying, but they didn't deserve to die.
"We will do it Grandmother, you don't have to ask for it." Everyone nodded in agreement, Alma saw them with sadness, her heart broke from having to leave such a responsibility to her grandchildren; she felt guilty, it hadn't been long since they finally started to enjoy their lives and now they had all of this on them, it wasn't fair.
"We will do everything we can to keep our home safe." Mirabel might not have a gift but that mattered little to her now, she would do everything in her power to protect her home, she would protect her family no matter what.
"Thanks, girl." Alma smiled to them with love, she felt happy looking at her family, the Encanto was really lucky to have them to protect the townspeople.
"Also know that we will not do this alone." That really surprised them, they all looked at each other confounded without having an idea of what abuela had said.
"You are the best to protect our home, but that does not mean you must do it alone, the Encanto will have its own army." Her voice trembled, she didn't want to cry in front of her family, she had to be strong, she couldn't think about Pedro now.
"Whoever is able and willing will enlist to be part of our army, there won't be many of them but they will help as they can."
He had agreed when Sebastian proposed it, leaving all the burden to his family was a mistake he would not make again, it was also time for his people to learn to protect themselves; they would have the Madrigals, it was true, but they could not leave everything in their hands.
"What...? Wait abuela, I don't think it is a good idea." Isabela couldn't believe what she said, you really would let the Encanto people take up weapons? Fighting without any sort of gift?
"I won't let you take on all of this alone, Isabela." Her abuela interrupted her, the serious glance from her grandmother stopped her from any answer that she wanted to give.
"I agree with grandmother Isa, I think it is the best." Mirabel held her hermana's shoulder calming any impulse that she had to answer her grandmother. She was thankful that Alma thought of the family and if she was honest she was definitely agreeing with her.
"What's the plan, madre?" Bruno saw his madre, he knew how hard this was for her. He was angry with himself because he didn't give his family at least some time to get ready, his vision didn't help too much. No, this time he wouldn't make the same mistake.
They were left talking about some ideas that had been proposed by the Encantot's trusted people; the family proposed their own ideas, they were sure that it would not be the last time they would be attacked so they would have to be prepared.
It wasn't until they noticed that Isabela had fallen asleep that they realized it was time, they had already had some ideas, so they decided to leave it for another day. They said good night between yawns and went to rest; Luisa carried her hermana to her room and together with Mirabel they slept with her.
Worrying about what was happening made it hard for her to sleep. Luisa hugged her hermanas in an attempt to calm their fear, something that helped her so some minutes later she could finally fall asleep like Mirabel, who felt calmer knowing that she was with her hermanas.
Dolores stopped by Camilo's room before going to sleep, she was worried about him because she was sure that her hermano was not well. She found him in front of one of her big mirrors looking at himself lost in his thoughts.
It was true that they were not as close as their primos, at least not in the same way; they always teased each other in that playful way so normal for siblings, but she loved her hermano, she cared about him and would not leave him alone. She sat on her bed waiting for Camilo to decide to turn and look at her.
"I'm fine, you don't have to worry." He said said without turning to look at her, he didn't like to worry his family but it warmed her heart to know that her hermano cared about them, and he would never admit it but he loved it every time Dolores visited him in his room.
"I know, but I wanted to talk to you." It wasn't a lie but she didn't want to pressure him, Camilo looked at her without believing her but sat down next to her. Dolores kept asking him silly questions trying to distract him from whatever he was thinking about, they laid there laughing at each other until sleep finally won over them.
It took her almost two years to complete the first part of her plan, mainly because she couldn't get out of the Encanto, it was impossible, but then her opportunity came when one of the big mountains that were around it was split in half.
She would later learn that it had been Alma Madrigal herself who had been the culprit and she could not help but laugh, she herself had condemned her beloved Encanto.
Once she got out, the next step was not hard; to find the right people, greedy people with a thirst for power was abundant everywhere so that part was really easy. What took almost a year was getting close to them.
The right person was someone difficult to gain access to, he was a general after all, but once she got him the rest was a piece of cake; convincing him was easy because as soon as she heard about people with magical powers not far from there, his eyes sparkled with greed. The guy was not a genius but he liked her, he was greedy and unscrupulous, just what she needed.
They became fast friends, that made everything easier. Once they reached a certain agreement, he gave her a couple of instructions before returning to Encanto, he wanted to witness what would happen, he couldn't miss it. He returned two weeks before the attack, it gave him time to rest and prepare for what would be the beginning of his plan to wipe out the Madrigals, that bad family blessed with incredible gifts they didn't deserve.
She slammed the table in front of her, just thinking about them made her anger spiral out of control; she tried to calm down, there would be time to let her anger out, for now she had something else to do. She picked up the letter on the table and began to read General Santiago's handwriting.
I had heeded him by sending only a small platoon of 300 men, I wasn't looking to wipe out the Encanto all at once, no; it wouldn't be fun that way. A small platoon was more than enough to cause some destruction and break the bubble in which the bad Madrigals lived.
She took her time to write her response, she was well informed of what Alma and her family's next move would be so she gave further directions to the general. Once she finished, she walked over to her beautiful black owl and tied it to her leg; she smiled without a hint of joy as she watched it fly away. It was time for her next step, a more complicated one, but she was sure it would be just as much fun.
Short chapter because these are only some of the consequences of the invasion attempt, the next one is longer and it won't take long.
That's all for now, take care and see you in next chapter.