Chapter Text
“Did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Last night, a group of people came in through the mountains. They say they’re from a city far from the Encanto.”
“What are they doing here?”
“They say they’re doing research on wilderness and just happened upon it. They didn’t even know it was here, and now they plan on mapping out the whole thing and bringing it back to show people.”
“I never really thought about the world outside of the Encanto. I wonder what it’s like?”
“Well, according to them it-”
Julieta was with her cart in the center of town like any other day. The conversation she heard was one of many about the explorers who had shown up in the Encanto late the night before. She handed out her bunuelos to people with cuts and sprains, thankfully there was only one really gruesome injury, but with her gift, it was an easy fix. Julieta, along with her brother and sister all had gifts bestowed upon them by a blessed candle that formed the Encanto that they lived in. Their mother called it a miracle, and it truly was. The Madrigals had been given this miracle after Julieta’s father Pedro sacrificed himself to save his family and the many others fleeing their homes for a better life. His life was lost, but in that, he gave his family the chance at surviving.
The young woman had the gift of healing with her cooking and after fifteen years of having this gift, she had perfected many recipes. Person after person, she healed them all. She smiled as she was thanked and laughed along with some of their jokes. They walked away happy only seeing the result of her careful work; what they didn’t see was her getting up at 5 o’clock every morning. She didn’t mind though, so long as she was helping others, and it pleased her Mamá.
A low rumble came from behind her as she handed a tart to a little boy, maybe only 6-years-old who had fallen while playing a game of chase with his friends. His knee scraped up pretty bad, but an easy fix. His sniffling was just subsiding as Pepa came up irritated beyond words. “Did you trip over the log, again?” Julieta asked, not even turning away from the boy, wiping away one of his tears, “There you go,” she smiled and the boy blushed, shrinking back a bit before running off to his friends who snickered at the attention he had gotten from her.
“ Why is it even there?” Pepa, Julieta’s younger sister by ten minutes, huffed. Pepa was different from her sister and brother with fair skin and fiery hair in a beautiful shade of red. She was the tallest of the three always called upon when Julieta just couldn’t reach something in the kitchen. “It's a field of corn . Where would a log even come from?”
Julieta shook her head, turning to her sister, “You should know it’s there by now,” she chuckled. Pepa was soaked to the skin… again… from her rain. Her gift was that of weather manipulation. The only downside was that it was attached to her emotions. So, with her frustration, a cloud hung over her, raining and thundering. “Do you need anything?” she gestured to the smorgasbord of food she had out.
“Not unless it’ll fix my mood,” Pepa crossed her arms.
Julieta laughed, “Sorry, Hermana, same answer as any other day. I can only fix the physical.” She patted her sister on the shoulder. Wiping her hand on her apron, she turned back to the line of people at her cart, it was dwindling as the day moved along.
Eventually, Pepa did calm down with the help of her novio, Félix. He always had a way with his words that could talk her down from a category five hurricane and had whisked her away not long after she’d shown up to Julieta’s cart.
The healer packed up her basket of only a few leftover bunuelos, a day well spent, but thankful that she was heading home for the evening.
“Señorita Madrigal, por favor,” a voice called to her. Startled, she turned around finding three young men headed toward her, the one in the middle being supported by the other two. “Lo siento, Senorita, but Señor Torpe over here really messed up his leg.” the one to the right said.
“I told them it could wait, but they wouldn’t listen. - Ow!” the one in the middle spoke up, hopping on the one good leg he had left.
“Hombre, your foot isn’t supposed to face inward like that.” the one to the left said now.
In front of her now, Julieta could see what they were talking about. The young man in the middle seemed to have not only twisted his ankle but managed to tweak his knee inward too. “Dios mio, sit him down here,” she pulled up one of the chairs from a nearby table where she’d watched many take their lunch breaks. The two nodded and set the last in the chair and he winced.
Agustín wasn’t unfamiliar with pain. He managed to hurt himself all the time, but rarely ever this bad, as it was usually a papercut, or he’d stub his toe. But it seemed that since he and his classmates from Universidad accompanied by their professor, entered this place they called ‘El Encanto’ the injuries increased in severity. This was the worst so far, as he hadn’t had to come to the square to be healed yet. It was a couple of locals who had pointed them in this direction, saying the oldest of the Madrigal triplets could heal him. She must be some doctor. He thought, especially if those she’d healed would be better in no time like they said. When he looked up from his mangled foot and to the woman they called ‘The Healer’ and blinked a few times. Rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses, watching as she moved.
Julieta unwrapped one of the arepas, still fresh from the morning, and handed it over to the young man. His eyes went between her outstretched hand and her face, “I… Uhm… No, thank you.” he said.
Julieta raised an eyebrow, “Wha- Oh. You must be the ones they say are from outside el Encanto.” She chuckled, seeing his friend’s expression of confusion matching his. “I’m guessing no one has told you,” she offered the arepa again along with a smile, “Go on, you’ll see.”
Agustín took the food against what his mamá had always told him. Being from the city, not everyone was to be trusted, especially if a stranger offered you food. But something about this woman… he just trusted her. Looking down at the food, he raised it to his lips and took a bite, the flavor covering his taste buds and a warm sensation came over him. The pain in his foot and leg went away; when he looked down his foot was the right way again…
“How-?” he started, but Julieta had already picked up her basket.
She gave the trio an apologetic look, “Lo siento, I have to go. Mamá is expecting me, and if I take too long, Bruno tries to cook and I would rather not have my kitchen burn down.” she flashed them a smile, her eyes lingering on the one she’d just helped.
Agustín shot to his feet, “Muchas gracias, Señorita.”
“Please, it's Julieta,” she said over her shoulder with a smile as she headed toward Casita, her family home. She ran through recipes in her head of what she could make for dinner. But for some reason, that young man popped into her head. She would refocus her thoughts only for them to drift again.
I didn’t even get his name… or his friend’s names. But what was his?
“You seem distracted, Juli,” a voice came from behind her.
Julieta turned, “Brunito, no. I was thinking of how many bunuelos to make for tomorrow. They were favored over the arepas today, and honestly they are easier for people to take.” she shrugged. “What did you do today?” she smiled at her younger brother. He was the third of the triplets and the shyest of the three as well.
Bruno shrugged, “You know, same thing, different day.” Stepping up to the counter next to his sister he helped her with cleaning up by grabbing one of the leftover arepas. “I got out of bed, ate the breakfast you left for me, Pepa tried getting me to conjure a vision for her again.” He took a bite, “Nothing new.”
“Ay, Pepa. I’ll talk to her… again. She needs to stop asking you when Félix will propose. They’ve only been courting for a month.” Julieta handed Bruno another arepa before putting the rest aside and began to pull out ingredients to start on dinner.
“No, Juli, it's fine. I don’t mind if you or Pepa asks. Though you never ask… but you guys?” he waved a hand, “Meh, I’ll look for anything.” Smiling, he took another bite of his first arepa. Bruno was essentially Julieta’s personal garbage disposal when it came to any leftovers she may have- and there were always leftovers to ensure that there was enough for everyone.
“It’s not fine, she needs to be patient and wait like anyone else. If you didn’t have the gift of Sight, then what would she do then?” the older sibling made a valid point. If none of them had any gifts then the town would have to function as the rest of the world did. Unaware of the future, waiting on the weather, and longer waits at the doctor's office.
The Seer shrugged, “She’d have to wait, I suppose.”
“And wait she will,”
Bruno did hate having visions… They always left him with a headache and sometimes when they were really bad, he couldn’t even keep his eyes open. But for his sisters, he would do anything. They were always there for one another, through Pepa’s worst storms, through the days that Julieta was held up in la cocina all day when Bruno could hardly get out of his bed some days - they always found their way to one another.