Chapter Text
Oscar took a deep breath before taking another shot.
Boy, that sure was a close call.
For someone who’s been doing this for… wow, nearly 30 years now, his most recent con was a bit too dangerous for his taste. Maybe pretending to be a representative for a fake tutoring center in a major city was not a great idea. He was able to pull it off for a few months, to the point where he acquired money from overbearing parents and spoiled kids, all thanks to his future-seeing powers.
But he knows when enough is enough.
Two of the more wealthy families had become suspicious of his actions, and started to notice inconsistencies in the documents he presented. With this development, Oscar knew that it was time to grab whatever cash he earned and bolt it out of there. Plus he also had a vision of being able to get away, which was a clear sign that he should stop while it was still safe.
And now he is here, back in his old village of Salonia to escape the situation before he was caught.
This was his usual mode of operation. Get a relatively stable job, be settled somewhere, survey the place, and plan for possible lies that he could use to get money. Once he gets his earnings, he spends a few months back in his old hometown to lay low.
In summary, it was always: Lie, deceive, check the future, escape, hide, and do it all over again.
He thought of trying to live an honest life, he really did. But every time he got a new job, something bad would always happen to him. There was one time he briefly worked for a restaurant as a waiter, when in a dream, he saw one of the younger staff members steal from the cash register. He tried to warn the manager, but because the two of them were secretly fooling around with each other, they managed to pin the blame on him, forcing him to quit within the week.
He kept having dreams of the future, most of them showing unfortunate occurrences. He used to voice his visions out loud, but when they only brought negativity and despair, he kept to himself. When he was young, the nuns forced him to shut up about the dreams he’s been having, and some of them even thought he was possessed by the devil. Bad luck Oscar is what his playmates back in the orphanage call him, and when he was adopted to the Castillo household at 13 years old, he kept this ability a secret in order to keep himself safe.
His love for theater and telenovelas since childhood somewhat helped him with his current chosen career too. He loved using wigs and make-up to pretend to be different kinds of people, and he has somewhat mastered using different personalities to reflect how he was dressed. When he was using a sketchy, hooded disguise, he was Jorge. His favorite alter ego by far was Hernando, who was pretty much the face of all his schemes. As Hernando, he wears crisp suits and fixes his hair, in order to look more confident and trustworthy. He is able to charm most gullible people and take insane risks, because Hernando was scared of nothing.
His talent for acting combined with being able to plan ahead by using his prophetic dreams made him decide to just continue and fool around to get more money. If no one liked him because of what he could do, then he might as well benefit from his skills somehow.
But unfortunately, despite the arduous preparation, his most recent scam didn’t last long though, and now here he was, in one of the old bars in Salonia, mulling over what he should do next. He never expected to get caught only 2 months in.
Was he getting rusty?
“Miercoles.”
A tall, well toned man with a peculiar mustache patted him on the back. “Oh, Oscar! Back so soon? What went wrong this time?”
He was pulled from his thoughts by the loud voice. It was Nicolas, an old friend of his who was currently manning the bar in the late afternoon.
They grew up together here in Salonia, a small town located a few kilometers from the tall mountains. His house was only a few blocks from the orphanage, which was why he was close with most of the kids from that area. Unlike Oscar who moved to the city shortly after he was adopted at 13, Nicolas stayed and made a living by taking over his family’s small bar.
“Ha-ha, you’re hilarious amigo.”
“Come on, you only ever visit here whenever your plans fail. So, are you filthy rich yet?”
“For your information, I did not fail, I just escaped early before I got caught. Also, I’m working on it. My last plan was a bit too risky. Parents are getting smarter these days.”
Nicolas sighed. He continued to wipe the glassware. “This is why I keep telling you to find an honest job soon. Come on, you’re already 50 years old. You can’t spend your entire life scamming people out of their hard earned money.”
“I have been working honestly!”
It was true. After every sleazy scheme, he relocates and tries to work an honest job, just to remove the police from chasing his tail. With all his fake documents and identities, and the peculiar talent he has for taking a peek at the future, he was able to escape every single time.
But his talent has limits.
Oscar has been able to take a peek of the future ever since his 5th birthday. At first they were short visions in his dreams that saw a day into the future, but eventually he was able to see events that were 1 week ahead, and nothing more. Through years of using this nifty skill, he is also able to control seeing events just seconds before they happen.
“I meant a real honest job that lasts until you die, amigo. You’re definitely headed for hell if you keep doing this. You’re good at acting, maybe you should do something about that.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
The two sat in comfortable silence, leading Oscar to wonder what he was doing with his life. As Nicolas said, he was already 50. Unlike him, the man was running his own business, and was genuinely happy with his chosen path.
Oscar has sometimes considered stopping, but it was too difficult. He loved playing different characters, and so far he was able to stay in relatively nice places because of the money he was able to acquire. He had no one to care for anyway, so everything he has been doing so far was only for himself.
While he was busy drowning in his own thoughts, a group of young adults entered the bar, excitedly chatting with each other. They took a seat on the table close to Oscar.
“So you can go in now?” asked a brunette woman, hair fixed in a short ponytail.
A man in his late 20’s beamed. “Yep! Hikers finally paved a path to the Encanto. They said the town was closed off by mountains 50 years ago, no one knew why. But now it just takes a few hours of hiking above the smallest hill, and you can get into the town!”
Their topic grabbed the attention of the older man. A hidden town? Near Salonia?
That meant more people to trick.
“However you have to watch out for the Madrigal family. I think they are the most influential people there… and there are rumors that they are quite powerful.”
A curly haired woman leaned forward. “Felipe, is it true that they have… magical powers? I keep hearing about it, but I haven’t gone there yet.”
The man shrugged. “My uncle came and went there, but I think those were mostly rumors. The powers the Madrigal family have are more of their… charm, I guess? Honestly, he did not know what was so special about them, but the people in Encanto respect them like they were gods or something. They only have good things to say about those people.”
“How does one go there?”
The trio turned to the older man, whose body was already turned towards them, drink forgotten, fully engaged in a conversation he wasn’t even a part of in the first place.
The two women were caught off guard by his sudden interruption, but Felipe was only happy to talk more. “Well, at the foot of the smallest hill, there are guides who help people visit. Although, you can’t stay too long there. The Madrigals are strict, they only allow people to stay for like, a week at most.”
“Oh.”
Nicolas smacked him lightly in the head. “Stop it. You won’t accomplish anything if you only have a week there.”
“What were you planning to do there, señor?” asked the brunette.
“Nothing really. I’m getting old, and I just really want to go out and explore the world, see new things and make the most of my life.” Oscar stated genuinely.
Except that he was not genuine at all. While the trio bought his lie, Nicolas did not. He was trying so hard not to roll his eyes.
They ordered their drinks, and the tired bartender cannot ignore the growing smirk on his friend’s face.
Oscar ignored his glares. “So, have you been there?”
“Encanto? Yes I have.”
The seer’s eyes went wide. “Really? What’s it like?”
“Pretty much like our town, but with more trees. Did you know that I have a whole branch of relatives that lived there? We all thought my Abuelo Jaime’s sister died all those years ago, but apparently she was just separated from them!” Nicolas slammed his hands on the counter. “Imagine that, a whole branch of relatives, hidden in the mountains! We had an amazing time visiting them.”
“Wow… who would have thought. Huh, now that I think about it, maybe a lot of the people from here have distant relatives from that place.”
His friend nodded. “Exactly. And maybe you do too. You know, have family in - “
“I’m going to stop you right there.” Oscar held out his hand in front of his friend’s face. “First of all, my very young mother gave me up for adoption when I was born, and I don’t think I have a father who wants to do anything with me. I’m pretty sure whatever family I still have out there doesn't even know that I exist.”
The tall man shrugged, obviously not having the energy to argue. “Alright alright, it was just a thought… Anyway, I’m telling you, don’t do it.”
Oscar feigned innocence. “Don’t do what? I haven’t even done anything yet.”
Nicolas sighed, already aware of his friend’s brewing ideas. “You heard them. The powerful family won’t let outsiders stay for more than a week. Knowing you, you won’t accomplish anything by then.”
Oscar drummed his fingers together, sneering goofily. “Oh but I will. I don’t know how yet, but I’m going to think of something. Besides, the people there sound stuck up, keeping their place to themselves. If I leave, they won’t follow me at all. This is a great opportunity! I just need to research more before I proceed.”
So apparently there was not much to learn about Encanto.
The path above the small hill was only recently opened, literally just 2 weeks ago.
Oscar spent the next few days talking to people around Salonia, trying to find out more about the hidden town behind the mountains, even though there was not much to be said about it.
There were only a few people who had gone, Felipe’s uncle and Nicolas included. Most of them only stayed for a day or two, treating it as some kind of vacation, so there was not much they knew about the place.
However, this was the information he was able to dig up:
1.) The Madrigal family were definitely the most powerful people there. The whole town pretty much kissed the ground they walked on.
2.) They had a huge house, and with all the prestige related to their name, they are probably very, very rich.
3.) The children from the household had special talents.
4.) The matriarch, Señora Alma, had a husband who died from a raid long ago. She had 2 daughters. They only mostly saw Julieta, a kind woman who was great at preparing food. Pepa, her other daughter, had red-orange hair and that was all they knew. She didn’t show herself much to the visitors.
5.) Alma had a younger son named Bruno, but he disappeared shortly after his birth, when the raid happened.
And there it was. His way in.
Oscar had already pretended to be different people before, so this would be easy. With his skill in forging documents and using disguises, he might be able to integrate himself into the family, even if it was just going to be for a short while.
The fact that the son was missing since birth can give him an excuse of not knowing anything about the family. Now he just had to figure out how he would look.
He was currently staying in a motel owned by Nicolas’ aunt. Oscar stood in front of a bathroom mirror, staring at his messy shoulder length salt and pepper wavy hair and intense eye bags.
Man, he looked tired.
He probably looked nothing like the missing son.
One thing was certain, and it was that he definitely looked too old for the part. The townspeople remarked that Alma Madrigal had a younger son, so maybe he was about 30 to 40 years old? He was going to have to use a lot of makeup to cover his wrinkles and eye bags. And he should probably shave too.
For some reason, the mention of the red-haired sister stuck to his mind. He had brought a bunch of wigs, one one of them being a short, curly red one. Maybe he should use it.
After shaving, applying make up and putting on the wig, he looked significantly different from his old self. Probably late 30s than his usual 50’s. He looked the right age now, and most likely resembled the family, even by a little bit.
He should do more research once he gets inside the Encanto.
Oscar smiled to himself, and the mirror showed a whole new person smiling back at him.
He won’t have one week. Once the Madrigals accept him, he won’t be forced away.
He took a deep breath, and instantly changed his expression into that of a curious, hopeful, vulnerable person. .
“M-my name is Bruno… and I think I’m your son.”