Chapter Text
In the mountains of Colombia, there was a small but joyous village. It was filled with children laughing and running around the street and adults who are smiling and talking with one another. If you walk around the village you would see a family with magical gifts helping around the community. The family's casita rested on a hill slightly above the rest of the village, but the family did not look down upon the village for their gifts. No, they tried to help lift up everyone with the gifts instead. And now that the family was entirely reunited and was no longer divided the people were sure that the village would be happy for a long time to come.
However, in this village, there is a boy, who is roughly 16 years old. Like the rest of the village, the boy looks at the casita on the hill above the village. Unlike the rest of the village, the boy does not look at wonder at the casita, and in turn the family. He looks at it in envy and disappointment.
To him, he did not understand why a family blessed with such gifts would waste it on stupid things, like carrying donkeys or healing people too stupid to keep themselves from getting injured? If a gift was given to him, he would be ruling the village. It would be much better, people would stay and do their jobs, the children would quit screaming with their annoying laughter. If he had the power and gifts of the family, it would be him admired and loved by the village. They would respect him and in turn, he would be merciful and keep the village people safe. The village would actually do their jobs in their boring unspecial lives while he lived in the casita with others looking at him with envy.
But the boy, Diego, did not have a gift, he was just as unspecial as the rest of the stupid village. But unlike the rest of the village he, was better, would be better. After all, he knew what made the Madrigals special. It wasn't family as the Madrigals tried so hard to convince the villagers it was. No, that was a ploy by the Madrigals to keep their gifts to themselves. But Diego was too smart to be fooled by such lies. He watched as one Madrigal single-handedly gave the house and its inhabitants magic. He knew the key to getting a gift was Mirabel.
Now someone less intelligent would try to woo Mirabel and try to convince her to give them a gift. But Diego was smarter than that! He knew that love did not give people abilities, it was just a myth used to try and keep people "nice" to one another. The thought made him shutter. But once again, he knew that he did not need Mirabel to love him. No, he knew there was some way to make Mirabel give him the Marigal's gifts.
So Diego approached his window to look at the casita above the village on the hill. He could faintly see his target with her older sister, the strong one. One day that small village in the mountains of Colombia would be looking at him on that hill.
He thought silently 'Soon Mirabel, you and your gift granting abilities will be mine. And I will be the one living in the casita on the hill.' He felt especially smug that he did not say this allowed, despite his desire too, (oh he really wanted that super awesome monologue moment), but he was smug with the thought he already foiled one of his opponents Dolores, who would reveal his plan if he spoke it allowed. But it did not matter because he avoid it and so now he going to plot silently at the window. Waiting patiently for the opportunity to strike.