Things get Worse

Bruno and Elonzo were walking through town when they saw Isandra jogging through the streets, in tears.

"Isandra?" Bruno called. The niece saw her uncle and ran to him, hugging him. "What's wrong?"

"Camillo came. He just saw me and Balthasar and…they nearly got into a fight with each other,"

"It's okay. It's okay,"

"You think Mirabel's doing well with her parents?"

"Absolutely,"

"How are the children?"

"They're good. Antonio's just playing with them,"

Bruno smiled but then his mood turned sad. "I have to tell them the truth. I can't hide it from them,"

"How's Juano?"

"He's okay. But I feel if we don't do something soon, his condition could get worse,"

"Which is why Mirabel wants us to investigate that cave," said Elonzo. "No one from the camp can know of this. I don't trust anyone except Mirabel's parents,"

"We can trust Antonio," said Isandra positively.

Felix and Pepa had been searching for Camillo for ages when they finally saw him passing some carts.

"There you are," scolded Felix. "Where were you?"

The boy didn't answer. He just slumped onto a barrel. He looked heartbroken, with a pinch of jealousy.

"What's wrong?" asked Pepa.

"I met Isandra. And she was with a guy. I think she likes him. I really thought I had a chance of being with her…but it seems like I missed my chance. I never should have neglected what was important to me in the first place. Now she's in love with that pretty flower guy,"

"You don't know for sure," Felix tried to sound reassuring but he couldn't cheer his son up. "did you see Julieta and Agustin?"

"I don't know. But they're probably at the Casita. I hope they're having luck with Mirabel. Maybe she's told them the cause of those green clouds," they brewed darkly above the camp and the town.

"And your brother?" the panicking Pepa cupped his face. "Did you see him too?"

"No! But I'm sure he's all right. He can take care of himself. I'm sure he's found Mirabel too,"

"Guys!" the trio turned to see Isabella and Luisa rushing towards them. "Have you seen Abeula?' asked the leader.

"What?"

"She's disappeared!" freaked out Luisa. "We've got to find her before she leaves the camp!"

"Is something wrong?" the grandfather came over to them with his children.

"We're looking for our Abeula. Have you seen her?" asked Isabella.

"No. But we'll help you find her. Won't we children,"

"Yes Grandpa!" the kids said. Instantly they went off in separate directions and searched over the camp, with Abeula's age and disability they should be able to find her quickly. Carlos had spied on them.

"And what are you doing Mr?" spoke up another voice. He turned around to see Balthasar.

"How rude you are to spy on a lonely traveller like that?"

"I know who you are Carlos Sanchez. I know you to be a very selfish man. I know how you have treated Juano very selfishly. I was specifically requested by the leaders of this community to keep an eye on you. And I'm warning," he marched on him. "Don't even think of getting up to anything,"

After giving him a deep death glare, Balthasar walked off, meeting up with two friends of his. "I don't see Carlos's two children anywhere. Look for them," they nodded and walked off.

Gabriella served Juano some tea with honey. He sipped it slowly. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"A lot better. My head keeps dozing off but I think I'll be okay. How do you think Mirabel's doing?"

"Her parents I bet are so proud of her. And I'm certain they're just as proud of you as well,"

Juano smiled a little tearfully. "I'm sure your mother would be proud too,". The boy touched the pendant and she rubbed his back. "I hope so…sometimes whenever I try to help that candle…I feel…."

"You feel what?"

"I feel….like she's there. Like a word about to be spoken," he sighed. "I know it sounds crazy,"

"You're not crazy, Juano," she comforted. "Do you think you can walk now?"

Juano pressed his hand on the couch arm and strained, hoisting himself up. "I can," he nearly tripped but she caught him. "I'll get the hang of it,"

"No matter what happens you can't try to use your magic on the candle again,"

"What? But it may…"

"I'm serious. If you seizure again like that, it could kill you. Do it for Mirabel,"

He sighed. "Okay. Help me get to the casita,"

Mirabel told her parents about the history of this valley and how they believed the candle had been corrupted by its hidden dark magic.

"So, you think this cave is gonna help you all find answers to reversing whatever it is that's causing this?" Agustin asked.

"This is dangerous," after years of separation, Julieta was desperate for Mirabel to not be in any anger.

"I don't have a choice mama. I can't fail all these people. They have nowhere to go. We failed, I failed to save the miracle once. I can't do it again,"

"But what if we lose you?" Agustin, trembling as ever, clutched her hands. "Why do you have to risk your life like that?"

"She won't have to,". It was another voice.

They turned their heads and saw Juano entering the room. Mirabel overjoyed, rushed towards him and flung her arms around his neck. He hugged her tightly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm all right," he opened his eyes, looking over her shoulders and saw her parents. They came over and to his surprise, Agustin engulfed him in a hug. "Okay," he wheezed.

"Thank you for protecting our baby girl," he said deeply.

"It was nothing,"

"It wasn't nothing," after her husband let go, Julieta grasped his hands tightly. "You've given Mirabel the love that she deeply deserves. You both truly are a wonderful miracle,"

"I'm so sorry for all the years you've both felt so broken,"

"There is nothing to apologise for," she said. "The important is that you're both safe an so is everyone else,"

"No one will be safe until we end this curse,"

"And you guys hope you can find the answers in that cave," said Agustin grimly.

"It's our only chance," said Juano. He looked upwards at the candle.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" asked Mirabel. "That candle put you through such a seizure," her words gasped the parents.

"I am. Gabriella says if I do it again…" he didn't want to say anymore. "I mustn't try and use my magic on the candle again,"

"Please don't," begged Mirabel. "I can't bare it,"

Pedro and Antonio were playing with Angelo and Harmony in the nursery. He laughed for joy. "You so remind me of when I was your age," he said. "I used to play all the time like this with Mirabel," he sighed, reflecting on all those times he and Mirabel had fun together when he was very young.

"I can't believe I spent nearly the first five years of my life trapped in isolation," Pedro said to himself. "My parents didn't want me to grow up in a life where they were judged by everyone. Just because of my dad's gifts,"

The door opened. They turned to see it was their father. "Papa!" the twins ran to embrace him.

Pedro saw his worried face. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Antonio, could I talk to my children alone please?" the man requested.

"Of course, Tio Bruno. It really is wonderful to see you again,"

"It's good to see you too,"

Antonio left the room, leaving the father with his kids.

"Papa, something's going wrong with our magic," Harmony said.

"We keep making things fly all over the place and we can't read each other's minds properly," said Angelo. "And we saw the candle going dark. What's wrong with the magic?"

Bruno shared a glance with Pedro who shook his head. He didn't want his dad to reveal the truth and frighten the children. But he knew he couldn't pretend that things were going wrong.

"Children…there's something you should know. It's about the magic candle…it's…"

Suddenly there was a loud rumble and the ground underneath their feet began to shake violently. Quickly Bruno grabbed on tightly to his children. "Earthquake!" cried out Pedro.

Down below, Mirabel pulled her parents and Juano under a table.

"What's happening?!" screamed Agustin.

Gabriella and Isandra outside held onto a column and to each other's arms.

Everyone in the camp fell off their feet. Pepa and Felix steadied the grandfather who was with them; they had yet to find Abeula.

"Why is the ground shaking?!" cried out Luisa.

The earthquake rumbled the city and its outskirts for several minutes until finally, it stopped. The dust cleared. But the city was in worse shape than ever. The cracks had snaked their way through the village along every pathway. Bricks and blocks were scattered everywhere. Acres of trees had fallen down. And to make matters worse, the flowing streams had run dry due to water flowing out through the cracks and the crops had fallen down. Milagro de Amor had never looked more in terrible shape.

Balthasar and his friends looked at their home in shock. Several children came out from their shelters around town. Many people pressed their hands over their mouths in shock at what had happened to their home.

Mirabel and Juano walked out into the open air. They gasped. The rest of their family joined them. The couple were brought to tears. The city was so damaged. It was terrible. And this was no natural disaster. The curse upon their home had caused more destruction and it seemed like it was only going to get worse.

"Oh no," Juano breathed.

"Our home…" Mirabel felt like all hope was fading. This was becoming even worse than what had happened back at the Encanto all those years ago.

Julieta touched her shoulder. "I'm so sorry dear,"

"How can this be happening?" she was beginning to cry.

"Papa…" Harmony and Angelo's scared voices made Bruno embrace his children.

"It's okay," he whispered. "Everything's gonna be okay,"

Pedro embraced his mother, frightened now more than ever. Isandra held the scared Antonio's hand. The silent atmosphere grew loud as they heard screams and shouts. They quivered with fear. Just then, Elonzo came limping over to them; he tripped.

"Elonzo!" Juano rushed down and helped him up. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he coughed. "So many were injured," his words brought terrible dread to everyone.

"Get everyone to look for any more casualties," Juano ordered Bruno. "Isandra, Gabriella…find whatever water and food we can spare,"

"Mum, dad…will you help us?" asked Mirabel.

"We will darling," said her mother.

"And check the camp as well," Juano requested.

"Roger that," Agustin said.

"Pedro…take the children including your siblings to a safe spot," Bruno instructed his son.

"Will do. Antonio, will you come with me?" he asked.

"Absolutely," the animal lover rushed off with his cousins.

The tio, tia and Isandra looked at Juano and Mirabel, both frozen by all the destruction that was happening to their home.

"Guys…" Isandra approached them. "Even if we might save the miracle or this place…the only thing that matters is we're all together,"

They didn't quite listen. "She's right," Gabriella agreed. "Besides Milagro de Amor isn't a place. It's a people. And right those people need us,"

"We must evacuate the city," Mirabel boldly claimed. "You must take them as far away as possible,"

"Wait…" Bruno paused. "You're not…"

"I'm going into that cave," said Mirabel. "IF there's the slightest chance we can stop this, then I have to take that chance. And I'm doing it alone,"

"No. I'm coming with you," declared Juano boldly.

"Juano…if you react with that magic or whatever it is that lies in there…you could die. And I can't take that chance," she clasped his hands.

"None of you are doing this alone," declared Bruno. "We're all family. We stick together. All of us will find a way to save the miracle,"

"But right now, we have to get as many people as we can to safety," Isandra said. "That should be our priority,"

"Read my mind Isan," Mirabel said. "Come on. Let's help our people,". They headed off but watching them leave was Mariana who smirked snobbishly. "Oh Father is gonna love this,"

The village was searched. Houses were searched. Strong men freed hundreds of survivors from under the rubble. So far there were only hundreds of injured people and no deaths, much to their relief. Still, it broke their hearts to see so much damage done and with little supplies of water and food, they realised now more than ever that if they failed, there would be no future for this city at all.

Julieta and Agustin reached the rest of their family. "Oh, thank goodness," cried out Isabella as she and Luisa embraced them.

"Are the others all right?" asked the frantic middle daughter.

"They're all right," Julieta assured. "Antonio's with your cousins,"

"'Cousins'?" breathed Dolores. "What are their names?"

Bruno and Gabriella had twins. Harmony and Angelo,"

"Adorable names," complimented Camillo.

"And Mirabel?" Pepa asked.

"She's safe," Agustin said. "Wait a minute. Where's Abeula?"

"We've been looking and looking for her. She just disappeared," said Felix.

They became pale. What if she had died in that earthquake? For a lady her age, she was very vulnerable.

Alejandro helped Abeula walk amongst the crowd. She had managed to find her during the earthquake and saved her life. "I am in your debt Alejandro," she breathed, recovering from a near-heart attack experience.

"It was nothing," he said. "Thank goodness I reached you in time,"

"Please help me get into town,"

"Look at what's happened," he gestured to all the destruction.

"I'll take it from here then," Abeula gently released herself from his warm grip and started waddling through the village. She passed by hundreds of people being carried on stretchers, walking with crutches…her heart sank seeing so much pain like this. Just then across a street of people helping the injured, she saw Mirabel and Juano with some children. She tried to walk forward when Gabriella swerved out of nowhere and blocked her, pure hatred on her face. Then Bruno appeared. He wasn't as hostile as his wife but the look on his face as he faced his mother showed how discontent he felt seeing her face to face again for the first time in years.

"We specifically requested you were not to come anywhere near our family. Especially Mirabel," Gabriella reminded angrily. "Go back to the camp,"

"I just wanted to…."

"To what? Spy on us? Try to hurt our family?"

"Gabriella…" Bruno didn't like her temper.

Alma was extremely hurt by her choice of words. "Is that really what you think of me?"

"That's right," she spat back revoltingly. "You saw only the worst in your own son and granddaughter so you should be treated the same way,"

"Mama, please just leave," implored Bruno desperately. "Since you arrived here, you've made all of us disconcerted. We are not ready to talk to you yet. And we have more important things to do like helping all these people. Just go back to the camp,"

"I just want to talk to Mirabel," Alma implored desperately. "I know that I made dreadful mistakes with her. But I really just want a chance to be a better grandmother to her,"

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you blamed her for everything when all she was trying to do was help," Bruno retorted back. "And don't think we've forgotten how you slapped her, how you neglected her when she needed you,"

"I know I did a bad thing. And I've regretted it deeply every minute of every day since you all left," Alma was so close to crying. "When I saw you all dancing with all those people, it made me realise how I undervalued you all. I overlooked what made you both special. And I'm so proud of everything you've all done for all these people. All I want now is to make amends. I want to tell her, and you Bruno how wrong I was, how I drove you both away and how I wasn't there for you two when you needed me,"

"Even if you could admit you were wrong…" Bruno marched upon his mother with painful unforgiveness. "…What makes you think she'd want anything to do with you?"

She hung her head down. He turned his back on her. "I saw your papa,"

Bruno scrunched his eyes, thinking of the parent he never knew. "Don't speak of him,"

"Please," Alma begged. "He came to me. He told me that I could make things right with you and Mirabel. And I want to. I think…." She struggled to speak. "I think he wants us to be together. All of us. He hates how our family has been torn apart because of my actions. But if I have any chance of fulfilling his wishes, I want it to be now. I won't stop until I do. Please Bonito…do it for him,"

Bruno's eyes scrunched with tears remembering that pet name his mother used to call him. He was silent for a moment. "I will give her your message. For Papa's memory,"

"Thank you," Alma breathed out.

"But do not assume for one moment it means she'll forgive you," Gabriella spoke again grimly. "Now leave,"

Alma pressed her lips together and with tear-stricken eyes nodded. She turned and left for the camp again.

I am so, so sorry for taking so long. I've been getting carried with other stories and also because thye were easier to writer as i was following the plot line. I hope this has made up for it. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please send reviews and let me know what you all thought and send reviews. Thank you all so much for your support. It really means a lot. See you all soon.