Julieta remembered the one, and only time, she had been so enraged that she'd been moved to violence.
When she and her siblings had been growing up everyone had thought that Pepa was the odd one out. The spitfire with a temper while her hermana and hermano were more mild mannered. Pepa had always been someone who spat nails and snarled when her temper got the better of her. She also held grudges… everyone loved to bring up her feud with Bruno over the 'It Looks Like Rain' incident but Pepa had given her the silent treatment as well, from time to time. Never more than a few days but it had happened.
Bruno, for much of their lives, had always been awkward and quiet. She now understood it was partly having Pepa as the hermana and partly due to his Gift. When one could get a vision showing them just how bad things would end if you attempted to fight back (mainly Mama punishing him) then was it any wonder Bruno preferred to take the easier route and just take the scorn and mocking of the town?
It was only after he had left the valley and learned not just how to master his Gift but also the ways of the Astral Monks that he had revealed his true self. Her shy little hermano was a FIGHTER. He could battle with the best of them… had fought with them. He had stood shoulder to shoulder with a war god and held his own. All in the name of helping others (and sometimes profit he had admitted once with a cocky little smile).
But Julieta? Be it because of her gift or just her temperament but Julieta had never liked violence. She preferred other ways to deal with people. Stern looks. Disappointment and guilt. Logic that cut to the bone. Those were her ways of fighting. Even forgiveness could be a weapon, something that Pepa had never learned. Julieta had humbled more people by quickly accepting their apologizes, thus making them feel small and foolish for their issues, than Pepa had by punching or kicking or sending hail at them.
And yet…
Something people didn't realize was that Agustin was a proud man.
Oh, she knew of the talk. That he was spineless, unable to say no to her mama. Never mind that until Mirabel had returned to the Encanto NO ONE said 'no' to mama… Agustin was a gutless coward, wringing his hands and whimpering his assurances that he would do whatever mama wanted him to do. And if not her then the rest of the family. That he was little more than a servant who got to sleep in her bed.
But Agustin was proud. The difference was that it wasn't merely for himself that he was proud. When he welcomed someone into his heart he made their victories his own. He was proud that Julieta was such an amazing cook. That Luisa was so strong. That Mirabel was so brave and daring and had helped so many. That Isabella… well, he had admitted even he had been proud for the wrong reasons and now he would make clear that he was proud of her cunning and her willingness to break every mold.
Agustin was a proud man.
So… after the battle with the hollow dragon, Mirabel had gotten them all therapists and mind healers and every other being who dealt with healing the mind and the soul. Forced every family member to sit down and talk with them. Sometimes alone, sometimes in groups.
And it had been one time…
"How long have you been dealing with these rumors?" Julieta asked Isabella, who had squirmed a bit at that.
"Isabella," the psychologist, a truly MASSIVE man named Brom Bones, had said calmly, "its okay. We aren't judging you. Your mother just wants to know."
"I'm just embarrassed. If I had just let you all know-"
"But you didn't," Brom said though it wasn't worded cruelly or anything like that. He said it with patience, gently and softly. Which was so odd when compared to his massive frame. "And you do yourself no favors dwelling on things you can't change. Instead you remember them and use them to move forward. And to move forward you need to be more open with your mother."
"Of course," Isabella had said softly. "Since… well… after Mirabel's ceremony failed."
Julieta let out a moan but before she could say anything else Brom shook his head. "No, Isabella." He stated, "if didn't fail. That makes it sound like there was something wrong. Do you think something was wrong?"
"Well… yes," Isabella admitted. "Mira should have gotten or a gift… or at least a door. The Miracle embarrassed her and it was cruel to do that to her."
Brom murmured at that. "Hmmm… we'll discuss that next time, I think." Julieta was now shifting in her own seat… sometimes it felt like they were never going to stop needing therapy because each session would uncover something new. "Do you remember the first rumor you heard?"
Isabella nodded. "That Mirabel wasn't really my sister." Julieta pressed her lips together to keep herself from saying anything. She wanted to scoff at that… she remembered Mirabel's birth rather well, thank you! "And that… mama would cast papa off because he had failed to give her a proper child." Isabella looked down at her lap, playing with her fingers, vines appearing in her hands that she began to weave. "Some were taking bets on which man mama would select next, because everyone knew she didn't actually love papa, he was just a… breeding stallion."
Julieta and Brom had talked with Isabella about that for the rest of the session, getting her to understand that she should have sought adults out for help and not taken on that burden alone, nor dragged Dolores into it. That it wasn't weak to seek help and no one would have thought less of her (well, of her direct family… mama would have been a different story back then).
But during the conversation Isabella had let slip just WHO had made those snide comments. Ricardo… one of Agustin's childhood friends. Someone he still thought of as a friend.
Someone who had been RATHER startled to find her hovering over his bed at 1 in the morning.
"What?" Ricardo said just before Julieta had lashed out with her hand, chopping it into his throat and making the man gag. But it was a muted sound, barely a whisper. As was what she assumed to be a scream when she found the soft spot between his neck and shoulder and applied some pressure, forcing him to remain still to keep the pain from increasing.
"Everyone thinks I'm just a healer," Julieta hissed. "A medicine machine that dispenses cures. What you forget is that for so many of you I get to see the damage. The broken bones. The torn muscles. The shredded flesh. They used to haunt me… made me wake up screaming in the middle of the night after the dreams of an army of the maimed and injured, begging me to save them. They don't anymore… I became far too used to all of that. And more interestingly… I found myself almost… morbidly fascinated with what could cause such injuries."
Julieta slowly reached her hand down, running it along Ricardo's side… before jabbing two fingers into the right spot that had his eyes swirling in their sockets from the agony.
"None of you ever wondered why I was asking so many questions," Julieta stated. "Probably thought I was lonely and bored. But see… I was learning. I don't know how to heal with potions like Dryft. My Gift doesn't work like that. But… I do know how to hurt people. For example, remember how you went behind Agustin's back and claimed that he was a spineless coward only good for putting babies in my belly?"
She suddenly grabbing his left hand and twisted, breaking Ricardo's thumb. He let out a rattle at that and Julieta paused, waiting for the pain to lessen enough that he could focus on her.
"Your friend. You said so many horrible things about your friend." She took out a simple cookie, sugary and soft, and forced it into his mouth, already backing away from him as her Gift began to mend the damage. "You are going to make it right. But you will NEVER let him know what you did. Because you will remember that I can find you… and I can hurt you… and NO ONE will ever believe you."
Her Agustin was a proud man. And she would do worse than kill for him… she would maim and torture for him. Because he had spent decades supporting her and asking for nothing in return. Merely happy to make sure she and their family was happy.
Which was why Julieta was so very delighted that the people currently singing praises didn't even know what she could do.
"I have never seen anything like that!" Finderga exclaimed, the elf waving his hands about wildly. He was one of the younger ones, not even 300 years old yet, so he still behaved like a human and not aloof and solemn like the elders of his clans. "I know that swarm keepers are able to command insects but that… it was like they were a part of you! I've never seen control like that before."
"That's because it wasn't control," another elf, far older but still holding love and excitement for the world, replied with flinty gaze towards Agustin. "They are a part of him. And he them. True harmony. I think too many of us have forgotten that." He looked at Julieta. "How long has he been a swarm keeper."
"He only knew about it for ten years," she said.
They were in a village of Forest Elves, having been guests of them for the last week. One of the new residents of the valley, Loonur, had asked Agustin to come to his village to show off his skills, for many of the Forest Elves that he came from had some talent when it came to nature but it was with plants, not insects. Insects tended to be seen as a nuisance at best and a threat at worst. Giant spiders that would stalk the trails, massive ants that spewed fire, chittering things that had no normal sized cousin and had startled Julieta greatly when they'd seen their hideous heads mounted in one of the hunting lodges. Agustin's power was amazing to them… they knew of swarm keepers but have never been able to talk with one for a long time.
They had wanted Agustin. Not her. Hadn't even given her a second thought.
Julieta had said yes before Agustin could even think it over.
He was currently in one of their underground caverns, one that was quite dry and airy thanks to the side tunnels that allowed winds to blow through. There were plenty of cracks in the ceiling that let sunlight through and Agustin was showing off what he and his swarm could do. He had made them as large of elephants and as small as their normal forms. He had called upon them to perform tricks and even at one point they had surrounded him, creating a buzzing living armor made of a million stingers. The elves had been entranced and were now asking him questions, though some had stayed behind to talk with her, realizing that they had a better chance of getting their questions answered talking with her rather than fighting to get themselves heard shouting questions at Agustin.
"Only ten years?" the elder elf said, it clear he was impressed. "He is a natural."
"Prodigy,' Finderga had proclaimed.
Julieta smiled. "Well, to be truthful he spent much longer with them than that. It was only the last ten years that he had his staff and the connection with them. Before that they were just bees."
"So you had already developed a strong bond with them before he became a swarm keeper…" The elf rubbed his chin at that, considering it carefully. "I wonder if that might be the key for us… to merely try and get to know the insects around us, to work with them, before attempting to bind them to us-"
"It isn't about binding," Agustin said with a smile, walking over to them. "It's about mutual need. I care for these creatures, nurture them when they are in their bee forms. Make sure the hives are protected. And before I bonded with them they in turn provided honey for me. Even when they stung me… which was often…" Julieta covered her mouth to hide her smile as the swarm behind her suddenly shifted to form the words SORRY SORRRY SORRY! before Agustin, "I never was angry at that. I understood they were merely doing what came natural to them. That… is what is important.
"Now, I thank you all for allowing us to visit but we truly must return home. There is a birthday party tonight and we must attend." The elves chuckled at that and Julieta knew they must see it as rather quaint; after all, for them birthdays were numerous and little reason to be treated any different than a normal day. But they were kind about it and made their goodbyes, allowing Agustin and Julieta to head towards on of Bureau's doors.
Julieta watched as the elves continued to wave to Agustin and beg him to return… and she realized something.
Like her husband… she was a proud woman too.
And just like her husband that pride didn't have to be for her abilities alone.