An Elemental Bender {Camilo Madrigal x Reader}

The Real Truth

Tío Bruno led you and Mirabel to what he called his 'room,' which comprised a lot of junk and... rats.

"Wow." You cringed at how much junk there was. It covered every corner. Especially the rats. It grossed you out how many rats there were.

"You never left." Mirabel said, inspecting the place.

"Well, I left my tower, which was, you know, a lot of stairs and here," He grabbed an arepa that was on the armrest of a chair. "Eh, kitchen adjacent." He grinned, clicking his tongue.

"Ooh, ooh, plus, free entertainment." He grabbed a rat and brought it over to a stage-like setup, where a rat was already chilling there. "So, what do you guys like? You like sports?"

He placed a small cutout in front of the two rats, displaying an image of them playing soccer.

"Game shows?" He asked, cycling through the cards. "Telenovelas?"

"Their love could never be." He said dramatically, sitting down in the chair.

"I don't understand." Mirabel muttered.

"Well, because she's his aunt and she has amnesia, so she can't remember that she's his aunt." He explained. "It's like a very forbidden kind of..."

"I don't understand why you left, but didn't... leave." She specified.

"Oh, well, because, huh, the mountains around the encanto are pretty tall. And, uh, like I said, free food and everything." He got up and grabbed the arepa that was on a nearby table.

"You guys love the free food, don't ya?" He talked to his rats, picking one up. "Always hungry. Never satisfied."

You and Mirabel walked over to the table. Looking down at the table, you felt a wave of sadness wash over you.

Mirabel looked through a crack that was in the wall, seeing the dining room and the dinner table. She then looked down at the table that had a drawn on plate and utensils with Tío Bruno's name on it.

He looked over, seeing how the both of you were checking out the table.

"Yeah, my gift wasn't helping the family, but, uh, I love my family, you know? I just don't know how to... I just don't know how to..." He quickly changed the topic.

"Well, anyway, I think you guys should go, because, um," He sat back down in his chair. "I don't really have a good reason, but, if I did, you'd be like, 'I should go, because that's a good reason.'"

A question popped into Mirabel's head. "Why was (Y/N) in your vision?"

"Tío Bruno?" She called when he didn't answer.

"Yeah, Tío Bruno... Why was I in your vision?" You asked. "Am I... the one who's hurting the magic?"

There was no response. He only continued to look down, also troubled by the question.

"Look, I don't know what's wrong with me." You said, looking down at your hands. "I'm just an ordinary kid who wasn't even born in the Madrigal family, and yet, I somehow have powers."

You clenched your hands into fists. "These powers shouldn't even be considered as a gift. I feel like ever since I came here, I was the one responsible for everything. The dying miracle, the cracks in the house, and just every unfortunate event."

"I just don't understand why I was given this... this... curse. My parents were just normal people. There's no way or reason it has cursed me with these powers. Of all people, Mirabel should've been given a gift, not me." You sighed, holding onto your arm. "It just makes little sense."