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What the green shards of prophecy created was not something Mirabel expected. Is this really why she’s been shunned from the family her whole life? Every. Single. Day. Mirabel though of herself as lesser than because she’s the only descendant of Abuelo that doesn’t have a gift. A gift to help their village. A gift to help build their reputation. Is that why tio left? Because the others thought that he was wrong?
“What the hell” Mirabel muttered under her breath. Her eyebrows furrowing as she thought through her whole life and anytime the others whispered whenever she questioned the disappearance of her tio. So much suddenly made sense to her hurt mind. She quickly gathered the shards back into her satchel under her bed and went downstairs to where everyone else would be. Her grandmother’s eyes tracked Mirabel’s every movement as she walked towards Pepa.
“Tia Pepa, can I burrow you for a second?” Mirabel said casually as if she had just learned nothing. It looked as if her grandmother was going to intervene before casita tipped Pepa’s chair lightly for her to stand up. No one ever questions casita’s decisions, not even the almighty Abuelita. The elder nodded her head stiffly at Mirabel and turned to smile at Pepa with a hand at her shoulder. Now that was just blatant. Shows how much her familia cares for her. Pepa followed Mirabel upstairs into... her own room? The door’s golden engravings depicted a beaming sun and lightning storm around Pepa. As they both walked into the room, Pepa closed the door since Mirabel made it seem like something private and waited. Seeing Mirabel turn away and take a deep breath in made a small grey cloud gather above Pepa’s head, though she did try to fan it away. Without turning around, Mirabel asked a seemingly simple question.
“Why did Tio leave” Mirabel’s voice was small, yet no emotion could really be heard. Pepa was annoyed by this repetitive question but answered it none the less.
“He left the family. I don’t know why he made that choice, sobrina” Pepa’s annoyance was probably voice. She might be holding up the most important moment in today’s dinner for a question Mirabel has asked thousands of times before. Right as Pepa was about to leave her room, Mirabel spoke again.
“I’ve heard another take” Mirabel finally pieced together every bit of information she gathered about her tio Bruno from hushed whispers, and she will not be letting another lie slide. In that moment, Pepa’s eyes widen and the small cloud above her head gets darker and bigger. She can’t even gather herself to speak before Mirabel turns around and continues.
“First you turn on Bruno because of me, and now you turn on me because of him "It was phrase that allowed tears to gather in the corners of her eyes. Pepa wasn’t denying anything, meaning she was in the right. Mirabel had still hoped she was somehow wrong and that she didn’t understand but alas. She never gets what she wants.
“You realise I saw your whispers, right? I may not have always heard them, but I saw each and every time you glanced my way and whispered to the others” She sometimes wished she had Dolores’ hearing just so she could be sure of exactly what they were saying. It was also kind of funny to see Pepa realise she’s not as discrete at whispering as others. Her cloud had overflown from the top of Pepa’s head and had started to fill the room. The only reason the room didn’t completely fill up is because of a window left open by Pepa earlier. Pepa was joyful to see a butterfly fly through the window since a butterfly would always distract Mirabel, no matter what she was doing. Therefore, you can imagine the fear that grew in Pepa’s eyes as Mirabel crushes the butterfly in her hand before raising a figure to her lips and saying a familiar phrase in their home.
“We don’t talk about Bruno” Mirabel then walked towards the door and opened it. Smiling at Pepa in a way that was normal yet unsettling. Pepa quickly made the cloud disappear and made sure she didn’t look as rattled as she felt. The curly hair bounced as Pepa exited the room, followed at once down by Mirabel. As it had turned out, Mariano was not able to make it to dinner due to his mother suddenly feeling unwell. Since Mariano couldn’t propose tonight, Pepa had to sit at the same table as Mirabel in general silence.
A day or so has passed since the dinner and Dolores was sat in their small courtyard thinking. Thinking about what the conversation between Mirabel and Pepa had been about. It looked private so Dolores was going to try and block out the conversation, but it had seemed that they walked into Pepa’s room since Dolores was unable to hear anything even if she tried. That was one thing that Dolores liked about her gift, it couldn’t access people’s rooms. Well, sort of, it had to be room given to you by the gift. Meaning Mirabel’s conversations were almost always audible to Dolores. Must’ve been something incredibly important for her cousin to think that through, but what? Just as she was thinking about that, she heard footsteps step into the courtyard. She was not expecting to see Mirabel walking up to her, smiling kindly like she always does. It was always saddening to hear people whispering about her cousin, but she never wanted to interfere. Dolores didn’t really know why though, but at least she herself barely ever whispered about Mirabel.
“Can I ask you a question, Dolores?” Mirabel sounded like she does normally, but something felt off. Dolores tried to shake the feeling and simply nodded at Mirabel as she took a seat next to Dolores.
“Why did you never stand up for me? I know you heard what everyone else whispers about me, so why not intervene?” This question shocked Dolores. She immediately felt guilty and voiced what she considered her reasoning.
“I was scared of what the rest of our familia will do about that. You know how they’re like” It was such an honest answer and yet, not a single apology was even hinted at. Without another word Mirabel stood up wave bye to Dolores and started walking towards the front doors. Dolores saw a bit of hesitance in Mirabel as she stood in the open doorway, biting on the inside of her cheek. Seemingly deciding against what she wanted to initially say, Mirabel voiced something strange to Dolores.
“You could have stopped this, y’know?” It was quiet, but enough for Dolores to hear. And then she waked out and closed the doors. Now Dolores would return to what she was doing before, although slightly more panicked. She yelped as a crash happened behind her. A broken shingle. Dolores picked it up and wondered if casita is okay. What was happening?
The others hadn’t seen Mirabel all day and decided to gather in the courtyard to see when they had all seen her last. Just as Pepa finally decided to talk about the conversation Mirabel had with her, the mosaics in the ground ripple quickly.
“Casita, what is wrong” Abuela questioned with concern. Over the years, Abuela had learnt the patterns that voice casita’s emotions, and this was one she dealt with only once before. The shingles behind started to ripple towards Abuela’s window: where the candle sat. Except something else stood by the window, someone they knew all too well. Mirabel. Anger promptly overcame Abuela’s eyes, and she yelled.
“Get down this instant Mirabel!” Abuela clenched her fists as she yelled at Mirabel again. What through her off this time is the defiance in Mirabel’s face and stance. Then right before their eyes, a giant crack formed at their feet
“After tio left, you were so quick to turn your back on me. So many years of feeling less than everyone else all because of some gift or prophecy! Well, I’m done playing nice so maybe think twice when you talk about your own familia behind their backs!” The fury in Mirabel’s voice riveled Abuela’s. Casita shaking made it seem like it was scared almost. When she started walking towards the candle is when everyone started to yell at her. Hell, Isabela even shot out a vine to stop Mirabel, but it got crushed by a beam that fell in front of them. Mirabel then turned around with the candle in one of her hands and waved it in her family’s horrified expressions.
Mirabel jumped on to the second floor through one of the holes that were forming in the small roof. All it took was a glare in Isabela’s direction to have a silent phrase come from Mirabel. Something that said that Mirabel knows something dire.
“I suffered all this heartache, I sacrificed for your sake as you acted as if you were above everyone else. Well now all that will be over, I’m done with your pretending, and I’ll finally be free from trying to chase after your pointless love!” Agustin, Julieta, Luisa, Isabela and Antonio had tears running down their faces. Everyone tried to protect each other by huddling and holding each other close as the house started to rapidly fall apart except Isa and Abuela. Tears blurred her vision, but she still shot out a vine to her sister to protect her. The vine deteriorated just as it reached Mirabel. Isabela’s eyes widened once more as realisation dawned on her, their gifts have gone, and she can’t save Mirabel. Luisa pulled Isa and Abuela to the rest of the group in one of the already fallen apart areas of the house. Still trying to protect her familia even though she already feels ten times weaker than moments prior. Luisa reached out a hand to Mirabel, wanting her to be safe with them but not wanting the risk of everyone trying to reach her. Her arm went slack as Mirabel calmy walked away with candle in hand towards the doors, seemingly not affected by the house crumbling around her and getting incredibly close to hitting her on multiple occasions. She opened the doors and turned to them, holding the candle in both hands and closing her eyes. Abuela screamed as Mirabel blew out the candle and spoke loudly enough for them to hear.
“Should’ve talked about Bruno” And then, she turned her back on her familia, her home, and closed the doors.