As Marcella laid in the darkness, she was still aware of her surroundings. Everything hurt. Her arms hurt from all the tumbling down that mountain. Her legs hurt, climbing all the way up and falling down. Her head hurt so much. Her ribs hurt from repeatedly hitting the ground. Just how many things did Marcella hit when rolled down the mountain?
What was happening? She could feel someone's arms around her, almost as if they were carrying her. Voices around her sounded both worried and annoyed.
"She's still breathing", a male voice could be heard saying.
"Did you see what happened?" a female voice asked.
"I just saw her rolling down the hill outside of town."
More voices surrounded her, almost like a crowd of people had gathered. At least it felt like she was taken out of the rain. Marcella's eyes cracked open, everything glazed in a fog. Multiple people surrounded her. They were all dressed nicely, although soaked. They must've been part of that wedding Marcella had seen.
She struggled to talk, even utter a single word. A soft moan escaped her lips.
"¡Mira!" one of the voices gasped.
The person who was carrying her had curly black hair and was wearing a green ruana. Right behind him was a woman about his age, black hair tied back in a bun, blue dress completely soaked.
"Señorita, can you hear me?" the woman asked, looking extremely concerned.
Marcella's lips opened, letting out a moan instead of actual words. Her eyes roamed the room, taking in her surroundings. The man that was carrying her brought her inside a church, it looked like. There was a woman pacing back and forth, ranting about everything. She was wearing a white dress and veil, soaked from the rain. Her red, curly hair was dripping wet. She had to have been the bride.
"It wasn't bad enough you had to ruin my wedding! Now this happens! Were you planning to upstage me this whole time?"
"¡No, hermana!" the man said. "Honest!"
Marcella moaned in pain as she was laid on the table in the center of the altar. An elderly woman stood in the corner, keeping a stern, disapproving look as she watched the whole ordeal. Now, Marcella was feeling even worse. The weather may have ruined this wedding, but her crashing in on them was pushing it.
"I'm… I'm sorry…" the girl muttered out to the bride.
"Shh, save your strength", the other woman said. "The rain ruined all the food. I'm going to need to cook something fresh for her. Bruno, Agustín, keep her calm."
"Me?" the man in the green ruana gasped.
Marcella was confused. How was food going to help her? She turned her attention to the man who had helped her. It was clear he wasn't very comfortable with all of this.
"Uh… my name's Bruno", he said. "What's yours?"
"Marcella."
"I'm Agustín", the other man said with a smile. "My wife, Julieta, will have you feeling better than ever. What were you doing out there, anyway?"
No one could recall the last time someone came from beyond the mountains into the Encanto. Everyone knew how dangerous the jungles were, never mind the fact that the mountains surrounding the town were so high to begin with.
Marcella looked down, not wanting to talk about it. The elderly woman kept her disapproving frown, noticing the girl failed to speak. There had to be something she was hiding if she couldn't answer. Julieta came running with a couple pieces of food.
"Here", she said. "These arepas will help you."
Julieta held the food to Marcella's lips, helping her eat. The girl looked at the arepa, still unsure how this would do anything before opening her mouth and taking a bite. Like magic, as soon as she swallowed, Marcella could feel the bones in her body beginning to realign. Tears streamed down her face, showing just how painful it was.
"Another bite", Julieta encouraged.
"It hurts!" Marcella shook her head.
"Take another bite", Bruno encouraged. "It'll all be over in a bit."
With tears in her eyes, she opened her mouth to take another bite. With a hard gulp, all the cuts on her body began to close up. What was this witchcraft?
"Do you have a place to stay for now?" Julieta asked, trying to distract her from the pain.
Marcella shook her head. After a moment, her body began to relax, the pain disappearing. Bruno, Julieta, and Agustín looked at each other with smiles.
"Maybe you can stay with us until you get a place of your own?" Agustín suggested.
"No", the elderly woman quickly answered. "Absolutely not."
"Mama, please show some compassion", Julieta tried to reason. "She's been hurt. She has no place to go."
"I will not allow a stranger into our home. She made it past the mountains, this girl can clearly survive on her own."
The three of them watched her step out of the church without another word.
"Never mind her", Agustín said. "That's Doña Alma for you."
"Doña Alma?" Marcella questioned.
"Our town leader, so to speak", Bruno's voice was quiet. "Mama... takes a while... to get used to new people..."
Everyone looked up, hearing the door opened. The priest stepped into the church, approaching them.
"Is everything alright?" he asked.
"Señor Flores, padre, will you be able to help us?" Julieta asked. "Is there any way you and the church could provide sanctuary to Marcella?"
Señor Flores looked at the helpless woman on the altar, giving a sigh.
"The church is never one to turn away someone in need. You may stay until you find a home of your own."