When you returned home later that day, you were surprised to see Paloma baking in the kitchen with Mamá Emma.
"Hey, guys," you mumbled, coming up to stand with them.
The two turned at your voice. Paloma looked like she wanted to say something, but Emma pushed past her before she got the chance.
"Ah, mija!" Emma pulled you into a tight hug. "Mmm! I have neeeeews!"
From the way her excited tone seemed to get slightly higher the more she spoke, she was certainly happy about something. When she let you go, Paloma gave her a sharp stare, which made her back away with an almost embarrassed expression.
"I mean, Paloma has news," she corrected.
Paloma dipped her head, satisfied. "Mamá Aríel told me this morning that she's letting me go to De la Garcia to reunite with other relatives of mine."
"De la Garcia?" you repeated. "The island? Isn't their closest neighbor Isla Gorgonilla?"
"Well, yes," Paloma answered. "We're going on a boat to get there."
"Wait, wait, wait." Your brown gaze went from Paloma to your mother and back. "We? You speakin' French?"
Paloma rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, very funny."
After yesterday, you'd assumed you wouldn't really be going much of anywhere, but now, here you were, with news that you'd be going to a whole other island of all places.
"Your father and I thought it'd be good for you," Emma explained. "You could get out of the house for a few days, leave Encanto, go see another part of the world."
"And we know how much you like the Madrigal family," Paloma added softly as she turned you towards the back door, "which is part of the reason why I wanted you to come with me."
Paloma led you away to behind the house in the backyard before continuing. "As you already know," she whispered in a hushed tone, "De la Garcia is an island for people all over the world that were cast out from their homes for having 'freakish' powers. The island is divided into cities, each one designated for a specific power. People who can levitate with people who can levitate, shapeshifters with shapeshifters, elemental powers with elemental powers, and so on. I have cousins and aunts and other relatives who live there because they have powers, too."
Most of that, you already knew. What you didn't know was that Paloma had relatives with magical powers.
"Do my parents know any of this?" you wondered aloud.
"Well, not exactly," Paloma admitted. "That's why I brought you out here to talk about it. As far as they're aware, this is just a temporary vacation for you. But now you and I both know that we're going for something else."
You stared after her as she backed away. "What do you. . .?"
You trailed off when Paloma suddenly disappeared. Confused, you glanced around warily. ". . .Paloma?"
"I'm right here!"
Again, your gaze travelled around you and you saw nothing. ". . .I can hear you, but I can't see you. . ."
Suddenly, her upside-down face was right in front of yours. "Boo!"
Startled, you yelped and flinched away from her.
Paloma was hanging upside-down in a tree, her hair swaying to and fro in the wind. "Gotcha," she sniggered.
"What the hell. . ."
Paloma was still snickering when she climbed down like a contortionist. "You just witnessed my power," she announced almost smugly.
It took you a minute to process that. ". . .You can turn invisible?"
You looked up to find she wasn't there. A moment later, her face was right in front of yours. "Yup!"
Again, you flinched away with a squeak.
"You're too easy to scare," she taunted.
"Only when I don't expect it," you huffed, taking her hand when she offered it to you to help you up. As you dusted yourself off, you murmured, "So when are we leaving?"
Paloma smirked ominously. "Tonight. My cousins and I will be scaring a lot of people when we get there."
She headed towards the gate as she spoke and you followed. "What powers do they have?"
"I'll tell you while we get ready to leave," she promised. "And I'll finish up whatever I don't get to say on the boat."
"Got it. See you tonight?"
"See you tonight."
You were just about to close the gate when you realized something else you wanted to mention.
Or rather. . .someone.
"Oh, and I'm bringing Camilo with us."
You disappeared into the house before she had the chance to respond.
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As you pulled your blue poncho over your black-and-indigo dress, you heard a knock at your door.
"Penita!" Emma called. "Someone's here to see you!"
"Okay, just a minute!"
You'd half-expected it to be Paloma, and while it was, you were surprised to see two other boys with her, one of which being Camilo.
"Cami!" You jumped into his arms on instinct and wrapped them around his neck. He seemed surprised, but happily hugged you back all the same.
"Peni," he breathed, pulling you close.
After a moment, Paloma pushed you two apart with her hands in front of your chests (like Pepa did to Felix and Mirabel just before the We Don't talk about Bruno song XD)182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01wkeP68Eb
"Alright, break it up, lovebirds!" Paloma muttered.
The two of you flushed and looked away before you quickly changed the subject. "Who's this?" you murmured, looking at the other boy standing with Paloma.
"This is Hector Gonzales," Paloma introduced. "Normally, when we hear about newcomers in Encanto, mi familia and I try to welcome them, so when we found out the Gonzales family had just moved here, we decided last minute that Hector would be coming with us. You see, Hector lived with his parents and younger brother, but his father killed Hector's brother and he fled here with his mom for safety."
"I'm. . .sorry for your loss," Anthony mumbled, keeping his gaze downcast. Beside him, Emma gave Hector a sympathetic look.
"Gracias, Señor y Señora Sanchez," Hector mumbled, his English accent almost annoyingly noticeable. "Mi madre and I are doing well in Encanto so far. We've been here for about a day and a half, and lived in London beforehand. Thanks to Luisa Madrigal and Paloma's familia, we've found a home and plenty of food. We are grateful. . .for the Encanto."
Something about the way he spoke just felt. . .off. Like he was trying too hard to sound genuine. Like there was something. . .more to what he was saying. You could swear he had a hint of menace under his mask of gratitude and pain.
Paloma seemed to agree as she rolled her eyes and quickly changed her annoyed expression to a happier one. "Alright, we're leaving now! Hasta la vista, Señor y Señora Sanchez, y buenos noches! See you next week!"
"Buenos noches," your parents echoed.
Emma grabbed your face before you had the chance to follow the others out the door. "Be careful, Penita," she breathed, then forced you closer to leave a kiss on your forehead, ignoring your protests. "Yo amor tu, mija."
You pried yourself free, eager to go. "Aye, Mamá," you muttered. "I love you guys too, bye!"
You quickly shut the door and sprinted away. "Go go go go GO GO GO GO!"
Paloma and Camilo snickered, all three of the teens behind you smirking, and followed you to the river where the boat was waiting.
Hector was quick to catch up to you, and his words wiped that smirk right off Camilo's face. "Ragazza," he cooed, taking your hand, "I've never laid eyes on anyone more beautiful."
He kissed the back of your hand the way Camilo had the day you met, but somehow, it didn't feel nearly as kind. Instead, it just felt gross.
To be kind, however, you slipped your hand away (as opposed to snatched it away like you wanted to) and glanced away. ". . .Thank you?"
"Let's get to that boat!"
Luckily, Camilo seemed to sense your discomfort (or was just acting on jealousy) and redirected the conversation. You happily followed Camilo, who dashed ahead as he spoke with Paloma following close behind you.
You pretended not to notice the way Hector's ugly lip curled at Camilo as he glared from where he stood, left in the dust behind the three of you.
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A/N: I swear I have nothing against English people from London, I just gave him a sorta random race just because. Hector is a character that I partially based on Caption Hook (Peter Pan series), Ercole Visconti (Luca), and Rudolph Dimitriev Stanislaw Artiem Rankovsky lll (Leap!) (stg, that boy's name is too fucking long and too hard to pronounce-) SO ANYWAY, HERES A NEW CHAPTER WHERE CAMILO'S GOT SOME COMPETITION, YOU GOT SOME ISSUES, PALOMA'S GOT SOME POWERS, AND HECTOR'S GOT SOME STUPIDITY IN HIS HEAD! HOPE YOU LIKED IT XD
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