she'd considered stopping when she came across the river her Abuelo had passed away at but decided instead to follow the stream until she came across someone.
Mirabel was surprised to see a girl alone next to the river playing a silver flute with thin nimble fingers. it was a beautiful, slow song that made the flowers dance and the river splash, somehow literally.
the girl herself had a near identical stature to tia Pepa, only she was shorter, around primo Camilos height from what Mirabel could tell from her sitting position. she had smooth black hair resembling hermana Isabelas, only this girl had hers held back in a low ponytail that brushed against the back of her bright red dress with yellow music notes lining the hem and the string of her necklace, which hung a bright yellow feather against her chest.
"hello?" Mirabel whispered, to which the girl let out a deep breath as she stopped, much to the disappointment of the plants and water around her.
"hello. do you need something?" the girl asked in a voice almost as lovely as her music.
"um, hi. do you know somewhere I could stay for the night?" Mirabel asked, seeing the dusk sky behind the girl.
"of course. I just need one thing" the girl replied as she stood up, revealing herself to tower a foot above Mirabel and to be wearing dark blue alpargatas.
Mirabel nodded, almost expecting her to ask about her identity as a madrigal.
"what's your name?" the girl asked, her hazelnut eyes mesmerizing.
well she was right about the question being about her identity.
"I'm Mira. Mira Guzman" Mirabel answered, the lie slipping from her mouth before she could think about it.
it didn't matter. she was long from home by now, Mariano and his abuela wouldn't mind her using their last name right?
the girl smiled, an elegant yet mischievous smile.
"I'm Daniela. Daniela Diaz" the girl, apparently named Daniela introduced herself as she brought her free hand to shake Mirabels, to which she happily accepted.
"come on, I'll introduce you to my housemates. it'll be nice to have another girl there for once" Daniela spoke, guiding her by her hand with no resistance from the teenager.
"who are your housemates?" Mirabel nervously asked.
"my tio Andres and my second primo Aaron. he has star powers" Daniela happily explained.
"star powers?" Mirabel repeated in a confused tone.
did everyone in her family have gifts too? was she going to be the odd one out again?
"yeah. he can summon stars that kind of look like little sharp flat wheels, it's really cool. we have no idea why he has it. he just woke up one day as a ten year old with star manipulation powers. my tio doesn't have any powers, neither does my mama. my papa and everyone on his side of the family can control the elements with music. but somethings wrong with me. my singing voice does nothing and I need an instrument to use my magic" Daniela explained.
oh! she was the odd one out in her family too!
the thought sent a smile on Mirabels face.
"well your music is very pretty either way" Mirabel said truthfully.
"thanks. do you have any powers?" Daniela asked.
"oh. no. I'm in a similar boat as you. everyone in my family except my dad and tio Felix have powers. gifts as we call them. and a door. but instead of my door appearing when I touched the doorknob, it just disappeared" Mirabel replied, gently squeezing Danielas hand, to which it was returned.
"don't worry. my tio will be happy to hear someone else in this house doesn't have any magic" Daniela spoke as they arrived at a cozy two story cottage.
"tio! primo! we're having someone stay here tonight and I will fight you about it!" Daniela declared as she kicked open the front door.
Mirabel observed her new surroundings, seeing the kitchen entrance to the left, the living room entrance to the right and a set of stairs leading to the second floor at the end of the hallway next to a door she could only assume let to the bathroom.
"why do you do this?" a middle-aged man asked as he exited the kitchen. he had a similar frame to Agustin, only this man had broader shoulders and was slightly less skinny. his wavy black ponytail stood out against his buttoned-up white shirt, pale pink wing shawl, beige pants and pale pink alpargatas.
"its a habit. so can she stay tio? please? shes just like me! shes the oddball in her familia too!" Daniela practically begged as she approached the man, who Mirabel assumed was Andres.
"what's your name?" Andres asked.
"I'm Mira. I'm from the encanto" Mirabel replied.
"the encanto? isn't that the land inside those huge mountains that cracked earlier today?" a teenage boy asked as he slid down the first line of railing of the stairs. he had piercing blue eyes that stood bright against the walnut brown hair framing his face along with the buttoned-up white shirt and silver star headband he wore. his lower half was covered by dark brown pants and a black cloth belt.
"yeah. my family all have powers except for me" Mirabel spoke, keeping the explanation short.
"want to come have dinner with us and talk about it?" Andres offered.
"Aaron, get off the stair railing" he continued, pointing at the boy.
so he must be the boy with star powers.
"I'd love some dinner" Mirabel said, her stomach rumbling as though on que.
"if the explanation gets longer than 3 hours you'll have to stop okay? that's the only rule I'm setting" Andres replied as he went back into the kitchen.
"hey what's for dinner anyways tio?" Daniela asked.
it felt like she changed personalities completely in this house.