Morning always dawned bright and warm on the Encanto, especially when Pepa was in a good mood. They'd long since gotten used to it. Any minute now, the family would awake to a bright sun, the sound of birds chirping, and a refreshed mind to start the day.

…except that today, it was a thunderstorm, the sound of a shrill scream, and sheer widespread panic.

Bruno jolted awake at the sound of Pepa screaming bloody murder from what sounded like just outside his door. Bleary-eyed and light-headed, he flailed out of bed, so much so that he got tangled up in his blankets and fell face-first on the floor.

"Thanks for breaking my fall, Casita," Bruno mumbled. He finally shook himself free and made a clumsy beeline toward the noise. By now, it had devolved into even more chaos. It sounded like several other family members had joined in on the shouting, and now they were trying to open his door. Bruno stumbled to reach it as well, his mind going through a million horrible scenarios about what might be happening.

The few steps to the door felt like an eternity, but Bruno managed to pull his door open before the family could break it down. "What?" he shouted. "What's happening? What's going on? Did someone die?"

Silence.

Pepa, Julieta, Alma, and various other members of the family were staring at him like they had seen a ghost. Pepa's makeup was already running down her face, not helped by the downpour which was comically falling over all of them like a curtain.

Now Bruno was just confused. "Um—is everything okay? Why were you screaming?"

This seemed to break some sort of spell. Pepa broke the silence with a sob, and pulled Bruno into a bone-crushing hug. He hugged back, of course, but that didn't give him any answers. Alma and Julieta followed, both of them muttering various relieved words under their breath.

"Ay, thank God," Alma said, kissing Bruno's cheek. "Thank God you're still here."

"I—what?" Bruno tried in vain to shake free of their grip. "I'm so lost, guys. What is going on?"

"W-we thought you'd disappeared again," Julieta replied, sniffling.

"Huh? Why?"

"Because your door went out, tonto!" Pepa finally snapped. She pulled away from the hug and opted to shake him violently instead. "That's only ever happened once before, and—and you'd better not scare us like that again, do you hear me?!"

"Pepa, please stop shaking him—"

"Wait, I—hold on, hold on, hold on!" Bruno managed to get Pepa's hands off his shoulders. "I didn't do anything! What do you mean my door went out?"

"Just turn around and see, bro," Félix piped up from the back. With this, the gathered group finally gave him some space to move, and he turned around to actually look at his door for the first time that morning.

They were right. It was just like before. His door was there, but the magic glow was gone. It was just like what had happened when he'd left, and the same thing had happened right before his eyes. When he'd renounced his Gift and let it disappear from his door and his identity. Lightless. Lifeless.

"…well. That's strange."


Mirabel awoke to the sounds of commotion and immediately wished she was asleep again. She had barely even opened her eyes and she suddenly felt so heavy. She could barely move and she felt…a little warm.

Dang it, of all the times for her to get sick. With a groan of both fatigue and annoyance, Mirabel slowly pulled herself into a sitting position. Even that small movement succeeded in exhausting her. Her heart was pounding fast and she still felt like a sack of bricks, but she didn't want to lie down. Something was happening outside, and she would just stew in her worry if she didn't see what it was.

By the time she actually got to her door, the noise had already died down. Mirabel opened it to let the cool after-rain air hit her face. For a moment, she let herself relax and breathe against the doorframe, catching her breath.

At that moment, Julieta appeared. As expected, she took one look at Mirabel and knew something was wrong.

"Mira!" she gasped. "Goodness, mija, what happened to you?" She crossed the corridor and went right to checking Mirabel's forehead. "You look horrible."

Mirabel blew out a breath. "I-I don't know, I think I'm sick. But—I heard something going on outside. Is everything okay?"

Julieta pressed her lips together. "We're all okay, dear, don't worry," she said. "I'll explain it to you—but you need to lie down. Lola, dear, if you can hear me, please bring me an arepa from the kitchen."

Mirabel muttered under her breath, but let her mother lead her back to bed. Once she lied back down, she looked up and her impatiently.

"Ok, so what happened?"

"Well, you see…don't freak out, but it seems like your Tío Bruno—has lost his Gift."

"What?!"

"D-don't panic, dear, deep breaths," Julieta replied gently. "We're going to figure it out. He's in the living room with the others right now."

"But how did this happen?"

"We don't know. The light in his door went out, and…and then Abuela asked him to try a vision, but he couldn't."

Mirabel's nose scrunched up. "Are you sure he wasn't just too tired to do it?"

Julieta seemed to catch on and smiled at her. "I think your Tío wouldn't keep anything from us in a situation like this. Now, listen," she pushed Mirabel's shoulders into the mattress in an attempt to relax her. "You're going to stay here and rest until you feel better, then you come down, okay?"

Before Mirabel could argue, another voice joined them from the door:

"Knock, knock."

Julieta whirled around at Bruno's voice, standing up in annoyance. "What are you doing here?" She snapped. "I asked Dolores to bring an arepa. You're supposed to be downstairs figuring this out with the family."

Bruno held his hands up in defense. "Well I—I just got overwhelmed, okay? I told Dolores to give it to me so I could give it to Mirabel. Speaking of, here you go." He shuffled over and handed Mirabel the arepa. "Uh, feel better, Mira."

Mirabel angrily stuffed the arepa in her mouth. "Tío, what the heck is happening? Can you really not use your Gift?"

"Uh, no," he chuckled. "It's uh, all gone. I can't feel that—that tug of the future anymore. No magic in my room anymore, either. Heheh."

"How are you laughing at this?"

"That's a coping mechanism, actually!" Bruno laughed. "I am freaking out right now!"

Mirabel swallowed the arepa (it didn't help), and threw the blankets off of her once more. "Okay, look. Maybe I can find some answers. I figured out what was going on with the miracle last time, so—"

"No, no, no, absolutely not," Julieta butt in. She all but shoved Mirabel back down, reminding her of how sluggish she actually felt. "You're sick, mija, and you need to rest before you collapse. Look at you, you can barely move! Go back to sleep, Mirabel, that's not up for debate."

"But I want to help!"

"And you'll be able to help more effectively," her mother replied, tucking her in like she was a child, "When you're rested up and able to give us your energy. Is that not what you're always saying to us?"

Julieta was smiling cheekily now, and Mirabel pouted. Curse her own words of wisdom being thrown back in her face for her benefit.

"She's right, kiddo," Bruno agreed. "And come on, give us some credit. We can do some magical mystery-solving too. Can't be relying on you for everything, can we?"

Julieta rolled her eyes. She stood up off of Mirabel's bed, taking Bruno's arm.

"I'll send some soup up for you in a few hours. With Dolores."

"Okay, okay," Bruno shook himself loose and headed for the door himself. He called over over his shoulder to Mirabel. "Hey don't worry, okay? We've got it all under control! Uh, at least 90% under control! Or—85, same thing."

"Please move."

They finally left and shut the door behind them, but Mirabel hadn't been paying attention to any of it. She was too busy trying not to scream at the ceiling.


"Nice of you to join us again, Bruno," Alma sighed.

Bruno sat down across from her, already tired of this. The rest of the family was surrounding them, looking on with that worried intensity that always made him want to shrivel up and die.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I just lost my head a bit. You know."

Alma's face softened. "No, I—I know it's hard. It's okay." She sat up straighter and addressed the family again. "Now, as I was saying before—this has happened before, sí?"

"When Tío Bruno left?" Isabela asked quietly.

"Yes, but not just that. When the Gifts started disappearing. When the magic was failing. It was because we were—having problems." She swallowed, but pushed on. "So, that's why it's good that we're all here. Are we—having problems? We should talk about them now, get them sorted before it goes any further."

No response.

"…Bruno? You're the one being affected by this."

Bruno shrugged and refused to meet anyone's eyes. "I mean—no, not that I know of. I'm just re-adjusting, still. Maybe that's why it happened."

"Hmm." Alma pressed her lips together. "That is a possibility." She looked around the group. "What about the rest of you?" She was clearly anxious, but she was smiling now and trying to look inviting. "Don't worry, you may speak freely. There is no judgment here."

Isabela spoke up again. "Actually, uh—it's kind of the opposite for me. I feel like we've all been doing…better, but maybe that's just me?"

"I mean, I still forget to take breaks sometimes," Luisa said sheepishly. "I feel bad saying no to people who need help—but they're all really understanding! Whenever Mirabel tells them to leave me alone, they do. They're trying to understand the boundaries still, but no one is being disrespectful."

"I see. Thank you for telling me, Luisa." Alma looked around the group again. "Where is Mirabel, anyway?"

"She's feeling a little sick, Mamá," Julieta replied. "I told her to stay in bed and rest."

"Oh dear. I'll go check on her, then." Alma straightened out her dress, and her back. "I suppose, if there's nothing else we can do now, then…oh." She looked down when she noticed Antonio standing next to her. "Is something wrong, Antonio?"

"Um…" Antonio looked at the floor, shame on his face. "I have a problem, Abuela. I was supposed to leave Camilo one of the cookies from dessert last night, but I ate it and didn't tell anyone. I'm sorry."

"That was you?" Camilo cried, but then quickly backtracked. "I-I mean, it's okay, dude. It's just a cookie, but…say something next time…"

A few "awws" came up from the rest of the group. Alma decided that this was a decent note to end on, and patted Antonio's head happily.

"Thank you for telling the truth, Toñito," she told him. "That problem is gone now…and with that, I think we can say meeting adjourned."

The cloud above Pepa's head rumbled a little. "But Mamá. Are you sure?"

"Well, if no one has any answers, I see no reason to talk in circles, right? Maybe the solution will present itself to us later."

The others all seemed unsure, but couldn't disagree with her. As the crowd slowly started to scatter, Bruno hopped out of his seat and followed his mother, curious.

"You, uh…seem oddly at peace with the possibility of the magic dying…you know, again."

Alma paused in her step, mulling this over. Then she turned to him with a soft smile. "Well, Brunito, I figure if we've survived the magic dying once, we can survive again. I've learned that there are worse things in the world than not having Gifts."

Bruno remained silent. Alma had changed so much. It was somewhat disorienting.

His mother touched his cheek, bringing Bruno out of his thoughts. She was smiling that teary smile again, the one that left him slightly overwhelmed with sentiment.

"As long as we're all here and we're all safe," Alma told him. "That's what matters, right?"

"…yeah," he said, pulling away shyly. "Yeah, you're right."

Alma nodded and turned around. "I'm going to go check on Mirabel now. Do you want to come with me, or did you already check on her earlier?"

"I don't mind going again." He fell into step with Alma, and took another silent moment to think. "But I mean, still, even if it's not the end of the world, you know, with my Gift and everything—don't you want to know why it happened?"

"Well, of course I do. I mean, it's all so very bizarre. If it's not because of some issue, then what caused your Gift to disappear? Where could it have gone?"


Mirabel thought she felt, perhaps in a dream, people coming in and out of her room every now and then. First two people walking in and leaving quickly, then perhaps Dolores bringing in that soup for her. But she'd fallen back asleep surprisingly quick after her mother and tío had left, so it was all just vague memories that she wasn't sure were real.

Everything else was just…a blur. Restless, heavy sleep, occasionally interrupted by short hazy bursts of consciousness. She was never fully asleep nor awake. Just kind of lying there, immobile and useless.

When she finally did regain consciousness fully, it was the middle of the night.

Mirabel groaned. She still felt awful, and she wasn't sure if the arepa or the sleep had helped at all. This would clearly be one of those more annoying illnesses to get through. And she knew she would be much too impatient. Perhaps…well, the soup was probably cold by now, but maybe it could still help. Mirabel stretched her arms and slowly pulled herself into a sitting position.

And that's when she finally noticed something strange.

It was dark in her room. Almost pitch black now that her window was closed. And…it was glowing. Something in her room was glowing, and it was glowing green.

She knew this. This was just like when she'd discovered Bruno's vision shards in his cave…the same unmistakable color, the same light. But—how?! Where?

Her heart was pounding again. Mirabel sat up like lightning, head rush be darned. Bruno had lost his Gift, hadn't he? Why was there evidence of it in her room? Was she imagining things? Mirabel scrambled to pick up her glasses from off her nightstand.

She reached out her arm to the table.

The glow got brighter. The glow was right in front of her.

The glow was coming from her.

Speckles. Or, perhaps more accurately, sparkles. They were on her skin, dusting it like stars in the night sky. And they were Bruno's green. Mirabel stared at her arm, frozen like a statue, unable to process what she was seeing. Was this some kind of fever dream? Or…did this mean something?

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Mirabel picked up her glasses and shakily put them on her face. Seeing clearly didn't make her feel better, as now she could see the speckles spreading widely across her arms, down to her hands and palms.

It wasn't dust or dirt. She tried to wipe it, shake it off, but it remained. It was as if she'd fallen into a pile of glitter made of teeny, tiny vision shards, but the difference was that it wouldn't come off. It didn't feel like anything, either. There was no roughness or grit. Just her skin. But with sparkles ingrained in it. Like she was evolving into a jaguar with magical glowing spots.

Mirabel lifted herself out of bed. Now, in addition to the heavy fog in her head, she was shaking. After barely getting herself across the room, Mirabel managed to get a look at herself in the mirror. It was all over her. Arms, legs, face…she even checked under her clothes to make sure, and it was all the same. The glow of the speckles was dim, only to be seen in a dark room situation like this one. It really was like the shards. The sinking feeling in her stomach got worse.

This couldn't be happening. This had to be a dream. She couldn't stand to look at herself in the mirror anymore, so she instead headed for the door. To be honest, she still felt like she could barely move, but she had to try something because the pieces were starting to come together in her head and she did not like the picture it was forming.

Mirabel dragged herself, slowly, down the hallway, trying not to wake anyone up with noise. Thankfully, Casita helped her by gently raising and lowering the floorboards to absorb her footfalls.

When she finally made it to Bruno's room, she hesitated. The door was dark, and there was a thrumming inside her, drawing her closer, and her heart was still pounding rapidly. Surely, this wasn't true, right? This was some kind of crazy dream. Mirabel felt like she was going to pass out, but somehow she found the strength to continue. She had to make sure.

Hand trembling, Mirabel reached out toward Bruno's doorknob. Her vision was getting worse with fear, so she must have been imagining things when she saw the speckles start to gather and cluster near her fingertips.

Her hand made contact with the knob. The speckles traveled down. Down her arm. Through her fingertips. Out of her. Into the door.

Bruno's door shined brightly once more.

Mirabel was no longer ill. But she felt horribly, horribly sick.

Not taking her eyes off the door, Mirabel drew her hand back and shakily started to back away. Her breathing got heavier, and her vision tunneled. Had her sickness happened because she'd…she'd taken Bruno's Gift?! How?! How was that possible?

Please let this be a nightmare, she thought desperately. She couldn't be responsible for taking away Gifts from her family. But no such luck came, as she was completely awake, and this was really happening. What did this mean?! How?! Why why why why why—

CRASH.

Mirabel jumped several feet in the air at the sound of a glass dropping to the floor and shattering. Truthfully, the sound probably wasn't loud enough to wake anyone, but her senses were heightened at the moment. She'd thought she was alone. She thought no one would be there to witness the awful truth she'd just discovered. It was the middle of the night. They were all supposed to be asleep!

Unfortunately, Mirabel had forgotten that a certain uncle of hers had a terrible sleep schedule.