Outside the Encanto

Denial

You awake to the sound of crying, the smell of fresh blood. Looking over, you see Antonio crying on his bed, blood soaking through his gown. You instantly rush to his side, soothing and comforting him. Once he's stopped crying, you reassure him that you're there to help. Once he realized that, he gives you an embrace as dear as a child's first sight of his mother.

"Shh.. it's okay, it's okay." You say, not wanting to squeeze him too tight. You hadn't seen his wound yet; what if his organs splatter out?

"Okay, what I'm going to do is lay you down, and put your head in a water basin. I'll be able to connect to you, making sure you don't feel any pain. You'll be awake for this, but entirely numb." You promise, explaining, even using dirt to show the details. Antonio seems alright, although you're not.

"Alright, lay down Toñito. Nice and easy, good job. I'll be right back with the water." You leave him, finding a large basin. You fill it with water, not bothering to say hello to your relatives. After all, they're responsible for Antonio's injuries.

You replace Antonio's pillow with the basin, laying his head down.

"It's cold!" Antonio complains, gazing at you with those gorgeous chocolate eyes. You sigh, gesturing for him to lift his head up. You place one hand in the basin, creating fire. The water extinguished it immediately, but not without heating.

"Better?" You ask, letting Antonio feel the water. He dips his fingers in, and nods to you.

"I'm hungry. Can we eat first?" He begs, but this time you have to refuse.

"Sorry kiddo, but we don't want any.. accidents while we're taking care of you."

"Well.. I'm thirsty!" He moans, looking around.

"Same reason, come on now." You help him lay down, take some tweezers, and prepare to lift the gown.

"No! Wait! I-I'm.. I want to read a book first!" Antonio screeches, shooting up, dripping water everywhere. You sigh and clean it up, before looking back at him.

"Antonio.. I know you're scared-"

"I'M NOT SCARED!" He yells, before all his composure collapses. He sobs, snot dribbling out of his nose, while two rivers of tears cascade down his cheeks.

"Oh Toñito, I'm sorry. You're so brave, and your family is so proud of you. I'm proud of you. You'll be okay, I swear."

"Know what? Wait here." You kiss his forehead, rushing to the jail. You sprint through the prison room, straight to the Madrigals.

The room is strange, although not as bad as before. Bruno and Augustine are playing tik-tac-toe on the wall, Julieta is beating Felix in a series of deadly Rock-Paper-Scissors, though Camilo is still pouting in his corner. His hair covers his entire face,

"Y/n! You're back so early, did something go wrong?" Augustine panics, abruptly dropping his stick. Each adult freezes, slowly turning their heads towards you. Camilo's hair shifts, you guess he can see you through the matted curls. You made a mental note to sneak a brush into the cell.

"No, no. Everything's fine. I was just wondering if Señor Felix would come sit with Antonio. He's really scared, although I promise there's nothing to be concerned about. I've already taken precautions to make sure he doesn't feel anything, but he won't sit still." You explain, watching everyone relax one by one. Camilo's hair shifts back to its original place.

"Of course. If Antonio- or anyone, in my family needs me, I'm there." Felix exhales, shuffling up. He crosses the cell in three strides, though has clear mixed feelings about leaving the rest of his family.

"Go, Felix, Antonio needs you." Julieta encourages, while Bruno and Augustine murmur in agreement. Felix looks over at Camilo, who's still in his corner.

"Go, Papi. I'll be fine. They hurt me once, I could take it again." Camilo says, not really comforting anyone. Your mouth drops, astounded. "But if they hurt Antonio, or something goes wrong, he might not be able to. Go." Camilo commands, before turning back into a statue.

You and Felix rush upstairs, careful not to be seen by anyone. Luckily, it was dinner time, and everyone was off delivering food to homes.

Antonio lay exactly where you left him, though his face lights up to see his father. Felix rushes to his side, hugging him, not being at all careful. You grin, wishing you had this pure of love with your father.

"Your family is doing so well, we miss you though. I bet the sooner we get this done, the sooner you can see everyone. Especially Tio Augustine. He's for sure been missing you." Felix chatters away, while you maneuver him around into the right position. You dip his head into the water, using your powers to calm him, making him nearly fall asleep.

"Thanks, Señor Felix. He wouldn't sit still before." You laugh, because you really do like Felix. He was the one who invited you to La Casa Madrigal, the first one to speak to you as a human.

"Y/n, I'll always be there for Antonio. You know, he was named after my father." Felix laughs. "He was a strange man. For some reason he wanted me to marry Julieta." He makes an odd face.

"But, you and Señora Pepa-"

"Ah, Pepa. Originally I went to speak with Julieta,  for that who Papa wanted me to be with. But I saw Pepa running somewhere, so I followed her. Some older girls had told her she couldn't be around them. I understood, who would want to be friends with someone who made a hurricane because she was losing a simple round of cards? Pepas friendly cloud had come back, drenching her. We talked, and after a while I accidentally told her she's pretty. Her cloud went away fast." Felix kept laughing.

The rest of the procedure went well. Felix told stories about his life, about his children, about his mother. He also asked you questions about your life, and you blushed when admitting that you and the twins had gotten second place in every relay race at the towns annual festival.

"Well, we'd always gotten first place, but I think they didn't want three L/n's being the faces of the festival."

You continued chatting, bringing in Eduardo to help clot Antonio's blood. He gave a skeptical look towards Felix, but you knew he wouldn't tell. One of the great things about the L/n grandchildren; they're not snitches.

The time goes on, though one question nags at the back of your head. You can't shake off the feeling of dread, you mentally prepare to ask the question. The worst part is, you know he'll tell you the answer.

"Felix.. earlier, Camilo said that they-" you pause, clearing your throat. "We, hurt him. I keep hearing things about after Casita fell, but I never got to know what happened. So, uhm.. what did happen?"

Felix shuffles uncomfortably in his seat, not quite looking at you. You lean forward, expectant. He then looks you dead in the eye.

"How much do you want to know?"

"Everything."