chapter fourteen

"It looks like you still have a long way to go, manita." Dolores said with an amused smile after the man finished speaking with Camilo and walked away.

Carla pouted before sighing in defeat. "But I was doing so well..."

"Yeah but hardly anyone was paying attention to us anyway, so you didn't really have to worry about socializing." Antonio said.

Carla glared at him before shaking her head and sighing once more, "I can't even deny that."

Camilo gave her a sympathetic look while patting her back, "Don't worry, mi sol, I'm sure you'll get better someday. Remember? Baby steps."

Carla sighed before nodding.

"So what are we going to do now?" She asked, looking around at her siblings.

A look of realization suddenly crossed Dolores' face. "Weren't we supposed to look for Mirabel?"

"Do you really think Mirabel caused all this?" Antonio asked with a frown on his face.

His older siblings looked at each other, mirroring his expression. They didn't really want to believe that their prima had caused their magic and Casita to start crumbling, Mirabel only had good intentions after all. She was such a hardworking person and only wanted to help their family and the village, not unlike the rest of family.

The four siblings were suddenly pulled out of their thoughts when strange, bold-colored plants suddenly popped up in between — and basically everywhere around — them.

"What..?" Carla said in confusion as she bent down to touch the bush of indigo and deep purple flowers in front of her.

"Isa..?" Dolores said as she looked at the same flower bush in both confusion and interest.

"These are our prima's flowers?" Camilo said in disbelief.

"They're not all flowers. Look there's even a purple colored cactus and... is that snake plant..? I don't really know my plants." Carla said as she pointed at the colorful plants in the distance.

"Well whatever it is, it's definitely Isa's." Antonio said, pointing in the direction of Casita.

Carla, Camilo, and Dolores all turned towards where Antonio was pointing at, only to drop their jaws at the sight.

The Casita was covered in the same strange but beautiful plants that now covered the whole village, and on the roof was Isabela, their prima who liked her appearance and actions immaculate, now sporting a ruined dress and an equally ruined hair. Despite that, she looked like she's having — and not just sort of fun, but with nor less. It wasn't a secret in the family that the two sisters weren't too fond of each other.

"Is that really our prima?" Camilo gaped in disbelief.

Unfortunately, it wasn't just them that saw the two sisters on the roof. The whole village was watching them too, and that included who was marching her way towards Casita, looking livid.

The quartet saw this, looked at each other, nodded, before following after their Abuela, wanting to know what was happening and what was to happen.

-

Alma entered Casita to see both Isabela and Mirabel giggling as they laid on a pile of flowers that looked from Isabela's usual ones.

"What is going on!?" She demanded, as she walked further into the house, looking baffled at the new plants that now decorated Casita.

The sisters immediately stood up with Isabella looking ashamed while Mirabel looked both excited and eager as she tried to explain.

"Abuela! It's okay, everything's— we're gonna save the miracle! The magic—!"

"What are you talking about!?" Abuela asked in controlled anger. "Look at our home! Look at your sister!"

"Please, just— Isabela wasn't happy and she didn't—" Mirabel tried again, only to be cut short.

"Of course, she isn't happy! You ruined her proposal."

"No, no! She me to ruin her proposal, and then we did all this, and the candle burned brighter, and the cracks—"

"Mirabel."

"—That's why I'm in the vision. I'm saving the miracle—"

"You have to stop Mirabel!" Whatever control Abuela had on her anger was now gone as she exclaimed this, successful vanishing the smile on Mirabel's face.

By now, Isabela had made her way to the side, and Luisa had appeared.

"The cracks started with you. Bruno left because of you. Luisa's losing her powers, Isabela's out of control, because of you! I don't know why you weren't given a gift, but it is not an excuse for you to hurt this family!"

Mirabel gasped.

Casita was now shaking, the cracks worsening, alarming both Isabela and Luisa, but the two in the middle had not seemed to have noticed yet.

"I will never be good enough for you," Mirabel started as she looked up at her abuela just as Julieta and Agustin entered the main hall. "Will I?"

"No matter how hard I try."

By now, Pepa, Felix, and their children had arrived in Casita too, alarmed as the first thing they noticed was how Casita was slowly crumbling. And then their attention shifted to the two that were in the middle of the hall.

Mirabel then looked towards her family before realization struck her. "No matter how hard of us tries."

"Luisa will never be strong enough. Isabela won't be perfect enough. Bruno left this family because you only saw the in him—"

"Bruno didn't about this family—"

"He loves this family. I this family. We all this family. You're the one who doesn't care! You don't care about what feeling or we're doing as long as we do our part to keep the miracle alive. Look at Carla! You didn't even care that her gift wasn't helping her anxiety at all! Or how Camilo can't grow properly because of his! You don't even care about how Dolores must feel being able to hear everything that goes on in this village. Or how Mama has to cook for a single day so she could heal people! And you keep trying to make Tia Pepa bottle up her emotions instead of properly being there for her. She's your

The family all reacted in a different way upon being mentioned but they all felt the same emotions. Camila grabbed Carla's hand and squeezed it to provide comfort for the both of them. Antonio held Dolores' hand to do the same. Felix and Agustin held their respective wives in their arms, while Isabela and Luisa bowed their heads. All the while, Encanto was sent into a panic as the cracks stretched across the streets.

" not the one breaking our home, are—!"

"Don't you ever—!"

"The miracle is because of !"

That seemed to do it.

A giant crack appeared between Mirabel and Abuela Alma, finally making them aware of their crumbling home and forcing them to step back from each other. That crack stretched and spread, climbing up towards the candle.

"No, no, no!" Pepa exclaimed, as if willing the cracks to stop. Sadly, the cracks weren't as sentient as the house it was spreading through.

"The candle!"

And then the cracks finally reached it, shaking the whole home and causing the candle to fall over.

Mirabel then suddenly dashed forward, towards the candle.

"Casita, get me up there!"

Carla's eyes widened at this.

She didn't even get to finish her thoughts before she felt Camilo let go of her hand. Her eyes widened even more and her heart started hammering against her chest when she saw him running up the stairs.

"Camilo, no!"

She ran after him just as Isabela, too, went for the candle.

"Camilo, stop!" She desperately exclaimed, dodging and jumping over the obstacles on her way.

Camilo — who was in a different form — ignored her sister's cries and climbed up the railing before jumping.

he thought as he reached for the roof. He was going to make it!

Then suddenly, a strange feeling rushed through his body before he transformed back into himself.

He though in dread as he started to fall.

"No!" Carla cried out his thoughts as she leaned over the railing and caught her twin before he could fall further.

Carla's eyes met Camilo's, relief crossing their features, but it was short-lived when the railing Carla was leaning on broke and the two fell with Carla landing on top of Camilo.

Carla hastily got off of her brother but before she could ask if he was okay, she gasped when she saw her father scoop Antonio up just in time before he could get crushed by his own door.

"We gotta get out of here!"

At that, Casita started pushing the inhabitants out of the door. Except for one.

"Mirabel! Mirabel!" Julieta desperately called for her daughter, but Casita was adamant.

It didn't take long for everyone to be thrown out of the door.

Carla sat up and immediately looked for her twin. She found him situated a few feet away from her and immediately lunged at him.

"Oh thank goodness you're okay. Why would run off like that?!" She exclaimed as she hugged him.

Camilo didn't say anything but just hugged back.

The two got up and watched their home falling apart in front of their eyes.

"Mirabel!"

Carla thought with wide eyes, clutching her hermano's arm as she felt her heart, once again hammering against her chest.

"Mirabel, leave it!"

"Mirabel! Get out!"

Carla's breathing picked up — and it didn't look like she was the only one — and she gasped when she saw her Tio Bruno's tower collapsed, causing the rest of the house to fall with it.

The family either closed or shielded their eyes by impulse as the dust blew towards them.

And when they opened their eyes again, it was to a broken home.