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Chapter Text

I parked in my usual spot, grabbed my stuff from the passenger seat and went to my apartment. I was completely drained from a whole day of classes.

I locked the door behind me and put my Chipotle order on the table. I went to sit at my desk, looking at the assignments I had to do. To say I was overwhelmed was an understatement. I sighed and rubbed my face. I didn't have the energy for any of these things. 

I went to the kitchen table and watched YouTube videos while I ate my tacos. I looked out the window. It was night outside, too late for me to wash my hair. I'll just do it in the morning.

When I finished eating, I laid on the couch and went on TikTok. The first thing that came up was "If this is on your for you page, then TikTok thinks this is you." The first verse of She Don't Like Boys by Aria started playing. I rolled my eyes and kept scrolling. That was the third time I've seen that TikTok. It's annoying that it's somewhat accurate. 

A short Latina with tan skin, medium dark brown, wavy hair with purple highlights, brown eyes, dark blue glasses, wearing jeans, a pink shirt, sneakers, and a gold necklace. 

I was tired. It felt like I was numb. I've been feeling that way for a while now. Life was doing a good job of draining me. I was the embodiment of Numb Little Bug.

I played I'm Just A Kid by Simple Plan on my phone and sang along. As I got close to the end, I got choked up. I connected too much to this song and the words were sinking in. I was lonely and I hated it.

When the song ended, I sighed and wiped away a tear. I wasn't helping myself by moping. I'm uncomfortable in these clothes and I definitely smell. I'm just gonna shower, watch TV, have a cookie and then go to bed. I'll worry about work tomorrow. 

Just as I was getting up from the couch, I heard what sounded like static. I looked around the room. At first I didn't see anything, but then I saw a faint white glow. 

"What the…?" I said to myself. 

The glow got brighter until it was the size of a basketball. I froze in place. What the heck is that thing?

I heard what sounded like a voice from the glowing ball. I didn't hear it at first, but it got louder. It was a man saying, "Protect the stone!"

Something shot out of the glowing thing, or… portal, I guess, and crashed into the room. I ducked into a ball on the floor, afraid of being hit.

After a few moments, I slowly got up and saw the portal was gone. I looked behind the sofa to see what fell. It was a rock. 

I picked it up and examined it in my hands. It just looked like a normal rock. That was kind of underwhelming. 

At least, that's what I thought until the rock started vibrating, "What the hell?" 

Another portal appeared, but a lot bigger and it was light purple. 

My heart stopped. I dropped the rock and was about to hide, but I felt the portal pulling me in. I gripped onto the couch, but it was too strong. I felt my legs being lifted off the ground. 

I screamed as I felt my grip loosen from the couch and suck me into the portal.

Chapter Text

I was being tossed around like I was in a washing machine inside a purple vortex, screaming my head off. I didn't know how long I was in there for, but it felt like an eternity. 

The vortex opened and I somehow went through the hole. I screamed louder as I fell. This is it, I'm gonna die. This is how I die.

The wind was knocked out of me as I landed in the grass. I don't know if I should be dead or seriously injured. I either under or overestimate the strength of the human body. Maybe a bit of both.

I winced in pain as I got up, looking around. It was daytime, and I was outside in an open, grassy, space with some mountains in the distance. Everything was bright and colorful. It looked very familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. 

"Where am I?" I asked myself.

I walked forward, trying to figure out where I was. I know I've seen this place before, but I don't know where. I wasn't looking where I was going and bumped into a tree. 

Just then, I heard snarling. I looked up and saw a group of hairy horned creatures with clubs and masks. They were slowly walking towards me. I froze, not knowing what to do. 

I immediately knew what they were. Hilichurls. But that's impossible, they're not real! They only exist in… Genshin Impact. 

I did the first thing I thought of and sprinted away. I could hear the hilichurls right behind me. I probably made the wrong choice. 

This isn't happening! This isn't happening! What is even going on?!

I tripped and fell into a small ditch, "Ow…" I sat down and hugged my knees. Hopefully the hilichurls won't find me here. As I tried to catch my breath, I felt something in my pocket. I took it out and it was the rock. The rock that crashed into my apartment. Why do I have this? 

I heard growling. Uh oh.

I slowly looked up and the hilichurls were right above me, weapons drawn. I moved out of the way before they could hit me. I tried to climb out of the ditch, but my lack of upper body strength wasn't helping. Just as I thought I was a goner, I heard arrows being fired.

I turned around and saw a woman with long brown hair fighting the hilichurls with a bow and arrow. She was wearing a brown and white shirt with a red jacket, red stockings and white thigh-high boots. She had a big red ribbon in her hair with the ends up to look like bunny ears.

I've seen her before… Amber? Am I in Genshin Impact right now?!

I watched as Amber fought the hilichurls with ease. Each time she killed a hilichurl, it disappeared like burning paper.

When the last hilichurl was gone, Amber turned to me, "Are you ok?"

It took me a second to realize I was staring with my jaw dropped. I brought myself back to earth and said, "Uh- yeah, I'm ok. How did you find me?"

"I was out gliding and I heard what sounded like hilichurls. Didn't think I'd run into you." Amber explained.

"Thanks for saving me." I said.

"Anytime." She held her hand out to me, "I'm Amber, knight of Favonious."

I glanced at her hand and took it, "I'm Fabi."

Amber firmly shook my hand, "Nice to meet you. Do you want me to escort you home in case we run into trouble?"

"I, uh… actually don't have anywhere to go. I'm not from around here."

Amber looked confused for a second before saying, "Oh, so you're a traveler?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"No worries. This isn't the first time I've met a traveler. Let's take you to Grand Master Jean. She can help." She climbed out of the ditch before helping me out, "Let's go. Mondstat isn't far from here."

As we walked, I looked at the rock in my hand. None of this makes any sense. This rock crashed into my apartment, I'm teleported here, and I got rescued by Amber from Genshin Impact?

"I have to be dreaming." I said to myself. Amber punched my arm, "Ow!"

"Did that hurt?" She asked. 

"Yes." I said, side-eyeing her.

"Then it isn't a dream."

I smiled and began to silently panic. Ok, so this clearly isn't a dream. But how is this possible? Genshin Impact is just a video game. It's not real. I shouldn’t be walking with Amber right now. But I am. What is happening?

"Here we are." Amber said. I didn't realize we already made it to our destination. We walked across a stone bridge that led to a large castle-like wall (is that what a fort is?). Mondstat.

When we walked through the gate, my jaw dropped. Everything looked just like it did in the game. It was all so beautiful and bright. And a lot of gray stones and bricks. I could almost hear the background music.

"So, this is really Mondstat?" I asked.

"Yep." Amber said as we kept walking.

I felt a little less anxious when we reached a large gray castle. I was tired from all the stairs we had to climb to get here, but whatever. Maybe Jean could help me figure out what's going on. 

We walked inside and went down a few halls. We got to a large brown door and Amber knocked.

"Come in." A voice said.

Amber opened the door and led us inside. 

There were two other women in the room. One of them had blonde hair tied in a ponytail wearing a black, white, teal, and gold army type uniform, who I recognized as Jean. 

The other woman was in a white dress with matching thigh-high boots and arm warmers. Her blonde hair was in a bob with two longer locks of hair in the front, and two off-white flowers. That's Lumine.

Next to Lumine was a fairy of sorts. She had white hair and was wearing a white, puffy outfit with rose gold accents, and matching boots. She had a navy blue scarf that looked like the night sky and had a navy blue star in her hair. A rose gold crown floated above her head. Paimon.

I'm a very casual player of Genshin Impact, but it was so surreal being in the same room with the characters. My chest was tight and I glanced at everyone anxiously. Is this what meeting a celebrity is like?

"Oh, hello, Amber." Jean said, "I wasn't expecting to see you back so soon. And who is this you brought with you?"

"This is Fabi." Amber said, introducing me, "She says she's a traveler." 

"Hi." I waved, shyly. 

"Another traveler?" Paimon asked, "And here, Paimon thought she and Lumine were the only ones." Lumine grinned and shook her head.

Paimon's comment made me relax a little. I almost forgot that Lumine and I were on the same boat of not being from here.

"So, Fabi, what brings you to Mondstat?" Lumine asked.

"I honestly don't know." I said, "When I say I'm a 'traveler', I mean I'm like Lumine. Someone who's not from this world."

"Do you know how you got here?" 

I held up the rock, "It showed up in my home and teleported me here. I don't know what it is or where it came from."

Jean took the rock and examined it, "Hm. That is definitely strange. I'll have Lisa examine it so we can find out what it may be."

"Thank you, Jean." I said, "Do you happen to know a place for me to stay? At least for a while?"

Jean thought about it, "Well, there is the Goth Grand Hotel, but it's reserved for Fatui."

"We could ask around town to see if anyone would be willing to rent a room." Amber suggested.

"Oh, no, no." I said, "I wouldn't want to intrude on anyone."

"Nonsense. We'll say it's official knight of Favonious business."

"I'll have someone ask around." Jean said, "Please, Fabi, explore Mondstat while we find you a place to stay. And as soon as we find something about your stone, we'll find you right away."

"O-Oh. Uh, thank you, Jean." I said. 

Lumine, Paimon and I explored Mondstat for the afternoon. I recognized a bunch of different shops and NPCs in the game. The sun was warm with a gentle breeze. Everything was just like the game. We stopped at a tavern for some drinks. I had water while Lumine and Paimon had bright yellow drinks.

"So, Fabi, how do you like the world of Mondstat?" Paimon asked.

"It's really cool." I said, "Everything is so big and colorful, and everyone is so friendly."

"Is it any different from your world?" Lumine asked.

"Oh, absolutely. To be honest, in my world, your world is a game."

Paimon and Lumine exchanged a confused look, "A game?" 

"Yeah… Everything here; Mondstat, Luiue, all of you, it's all a game."

"But… we're real." Paimon said, "We're right here." 

"Well, yeah, this is real to you- I mean, clearly this is all real… somehow. But where I'm from, this is a video game. Everyone here is a character, even you guys."

Lumine and Paimon looked like they were just punched in the face. For a second, I regretted telling them, but then Lumine chuckled, "Wow. So our lives are a game in your world. You think your lives are a game in this world?"

I smiled, "I doubt it. But aren't you surprised about this?"

"We are." Paimon said, "Paimon finds it strange that your world knows about ours."

"But there are so many different worlds out there." Lumine said, "I think it's great you already know about our world."

I took a sip of my water. I'm just glad I didn't freak them out too much like that scene in Free Guy. They were taking it surprisingly well.

"What kind of character is Paimon?" Paimon asked.

"You're an NPC." I explained, "A non-playable character. You're all who you are now in the game, so you're still a guide, Paimon."

"Phew! Paimon is relieved to hear that."

"You're playable, Lumine. You and your brother are the main characters."

Lumine's eyes grew wide, "My brother? Do you know where Aether is?"

Oh, crap. I looked down and said, "I'm sorry, I don't. I haven't gotten to that part of the game yet. But I think I'm getting close."

I could see Lumine's light drain from her eyes. I felt bad crushing her hopes of finding her brother, but I knew as much as she did.

"What I meant was that players can play as you or Aether." I explained, "If they choose Aether, then it's you we have to find."

"Oh." Lumine said. A flicker of light came back to her, making me relax.

"You'll find your brother, Lumine. I promise." Lumine smiled at me and nodded.

After we left the tavern, Amber found me, saying that Sara from the Good Hunter restaurant had an extra room she was willing to rent me. Sara led me to the room that night. It was a simple room, with a bed, bookshelf and lamp, connected to a simple bathroom. By the time I got there, it was night. The sun sets pretty fast around here.

"I can't thank you enough for this." I said, "I promise this isn't permanent."

"Please, stay as long as you need to." Sara said, handing me a nightgown, "I'll be downstairs attending customers if you need anything."

"I'll be alright. Thanks again." Sara nodded and left the room.

I changed into the nightgown and sat on the bed, looking at the moon. This has been the craziest day of my life. I'm in Genshin Impact. I talked to Lumine, Paimon, and Amber from Genshin Impact. I'm in Mondstat from Genshin Impact. 

What… is even going on? 

As exciting as it all was, I was also terrified. How am I gonna get home? Lumine is technically stuck here too. Who's to say the same thing isn't happening to me?

I didn't know when I'd see my family again. They'll be worried sick about me. I didn't have my medication, so my ADHD will be at full force. I didn't have my phone, so no one knows where I am. And I'm stuck in a video game.

There has to be a way out of here. If I got here, that means I can somehow get out. There just has to be a way.

I took off my glasses and placed them on the bedside table. I didn't realize how tired I was until I got in bed. It was surprisingly soft, warm, and cozy. I fell asleep almost immediately. 

I woke up to the sun blinding me through my eyelids. How did I forget to close the blinds? Dang it, what time is it? I wanted to get a headstart on my assignments. 

I opened my eyes and… I'm not in my room. Well, if this doesn't prove I'm not dreaming, I don't know what does. I'm still in Genshin Impact. 

I put my glasses on and headed to the bathroom. I took a bath and washed my hair with what I was 85% sure was shampoo. It smelled like almonds, so I'll take my chances. I didn't see anything that looked like conditioner, so I guess I'll have frizzy hair for a while. 

I got dressed and went to the Good Hunter downstairs for breakfast. Sara was already working at the front.

"Morning, Sara." I said, "I hope it's ok, but I washed my hair using the… shampoo that was there."

"Oh, you're more than welcome to." Sara said, "I actually took the time to wash your clothes last night."

"Oh, thank you, you didn't need to do that."

"It's quite alright. I'm guessing you came down for breakfast?"

"I did, actually. An egg would be great."

"Coming right up." 

Five minutes later, Sara gave me a Teyvat fried egg and a glass of water. I sat at the nearest table, setting my breakfast down. I normally like my eggs scrambled, but the fried egg looked pretty good. It was also bigger than I imagined. 

I was about to take my first bite when I heard, "So you're the new traveler in town."

My heart stopped. I know that voice. I slowly looked up. Standing in front of me was a tall man with tan skin, and long, dark blue hair tied into a ponytail that hung over his shoulder. He wore a black, blue, white and gold outfit with a white cape with a snowflake. He had an eye patch over his right eye. 

Kaeya. My sweet Kaeya.

I dropped my fork on the table.

Chapter Text

My heart was beating faster and my face was heating up. This isn't happening. This isn't happening! Kaeya isn't in front of me! In the flesh!

"Huh. I've left her speechless." He said.

I didn't realize my jaw had dropped. I shook my head and stammered, "Uh-Uh, hi. I-I’m Fabi." 

"Kaeya. But I'm sure Amber has already told you about me."

"Yeah, she has. I've heard a lot about you, actually."

"Have you now?" Kaeya smirked and put a hand on his hip, "Maybe later we can get together and share stories. I'd love to hear about your travels."

Air got stuck in my throat, "O-Oh, I'm not that much of a traveler. I don't have much to tell."

"I find that hard to believe. Why not join us during our commissions at noon? You can share your story there."

My eyes lit up with excitement, "Can I, really?"

"Of course. The more the merrier. I'll be waiting for you." Kaeya walked away into the city.

I hid my face in my hands and squealed. Did Kaeya just ask me out?! He must've, right? I knew he was a flirt and there's no romance in the game, but I can still dream.

I'm gonna do commissions with Genshin Impact characters! This is amazing! I can't believe this!

I remembered the egg and finally took a bite. I hummed in satisfaction. It was so good, like it was seasoned with magic. The only fried egg I'll ever have.

Kaeya never told me where we should meet, but I found everyone at the city gates. Along with Paimon, Kaeya and Lumine, there were two other women.

One had dark hair with two braided loops in the back. She wore a brown, red, yellow and white dress with matching boots and fingerless gloves. Xiangling.

The other woman had off-white hair in pigtails. She wore a white and blue dress with a matching hat and shoes with white leggings. Her church outfit looked somewhat like a maid's outfit. Jean's little sister, Barbara.

"Fabi, you made it." Paimon said. 

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." I smiled.

"Come on, let's get moving." Kaeya said, "We're not frozen in place, after all."

I tried my hardest not to fangirl. He said it! 

"Are you feeling alright?" Barbara asked, “Your face is flushed.”

Dear lord, am I that obvious? "Yeah, yeah, I'm ok."

We walked away from the city into the wilderness. Everything was warm and beautiful and bright. It was relaxing with the gentle breeze blowing in my face. 

“So, Lumine told us we're a game in your world.” Xiangling said.

“Yeah, that's right.” I said, “You, Barbara, and Kaeya are all playable characters. I use you guys all the time. You're probably some of the strongest characters I have.”

“Wow!” Paimon said, “Lumine is that powerful?” 

“Not that strong. It's been a while since I've leveled you guys up cause I need stuff that's impossible to find.”

“How many of us do you know?” Barbara asked, sweetly.

“The game is constantly adding new characters, land, and stories. I've met a handful of characters, but I doubt I'll get all of you. Come to think of it, almost all of my characters are girls.”

“You know so much about our world.” Lumine said, “I'm impressed.”

“I honestly don't know that much. It's been a while since I've played.”

“Wait.” Lumine lifted her hand and all of us stopped, “Look.” At the bottom of the hill was a hilichurl camp. Lumine pulled out her sword and gave everyone a determined nod. She, Kaeya, Barbara, and Xiangling ran down the hill into the camp while Paimon and I stayed behind. 

“Aren't you gonna go with them?” Paimon asked. 

“Me?” I scoffed, “No, I can't fight. I haven't done karate since, like, 2nd grade.”

As soon as the team were at the bottom of the hill, the hilichurls squared up. I was getting excited. I'm about to watch a genshin impact fight in person.

The team were going ham on the hilichurls. Fire, water, ice, and wind were everywhere.

“Bobo!” Xiangling said, summoning a bear, “Get them!” Everytime the bear ate the pepper in its hands, it breathed fire a few times before disappearing. Xiangling's special move.

“Dodge this!” Kaeya said, blasting ice at a hilichurl. It froze instantly since it was wet from Barbara's water power. 

“Whoo!” I cheered, “Get em, Kaeya!”

The hilichurls died off one by one, disappearing like they were burning away. It was so awesome seeing a genshin impact battle. Battling enemies with these characters made me feel so powerful. Seeing it unfold in front of me had me pumped with adrenaline. 

“Let the show begin.” Barbara said, blasting water at a hilichurl.

“Prepare to be blown away!” Lumine shouted as she summoned a mini tornado. The tornado swept away some of the hilichurls, effectively killing them. After that, the camp was cleared.

“Woo-hoo!” I cheered, jumping around, “That was amazing!” The team looked up at me with proud smiles.

“Anyone else in the mood for a snack?” Xiangling asked. 

The next thing I knew, everyone had something to eat. It was like the food appeared out of thin air. Everyone had things like mint jelly, chicken mushroom skewers, and mint and radish soup. I had an apple.

After filling our health bars, we went on to the next commission. It was somewhat similar to the last one, having to fight slimes, hilichurls, and abyss mages. I really hate those guys. Seeing everyone in battle was so exciting. It never got old.

While we walked to our last commission, I silently sang I See Fire by Ed Sheeran to myself.

“What are you singing there, Fabi?” Paimon asked.

“Oh, just a song from my world.” I said.

“Ooh! Can you please sing it?” Barbara asked. 

“Uh, sure.” I sang the first verse and chorus of the song. I'm not the best singer, but I did alright. When I finished, everyone clapped politely, making me smile bashfully. 

“That was wonderful.” Lumine said. 

“Thanks.”

“It sounds like a song one sings before heading into battle.” Kaeya said.

“It's something like that.”

“Welp, here we are.” Xiangling said. There were two giant towers made of logs that had to be destroyed.

“Shouldn't be too hard.” Paimon said. 

The party got to work destroying the towers when we saw hilichurls coming. Paimon and I ran a few feet away as they fought.

“Yeesh. And you guys do this all the time?” I asked.

“It's not anything they can't handle.” Paimon said, “They've been through worse.”

Just then, Lumine was thrown towards us, landing in the grass, “Maybe I wasn't… meant for this world…” She disappeared like burning paper. 

“Lumine!” I yelled.

“Don't worry, this happens all the time.” Paimon rummaged through a bag I didn't know we had and took out a steak. She put it on the ground and after a moment, Lumine materialized back.

Lumine sat up and rubbed her head, “I hate it when this happens.” 

I let out a sigh of relief, “Oh, I forgot you can respawn. I thought you were actually dead.”

“Don't worry, this happens to all of us.” Lumine said, eating a sunsettia fruit, “Do you want to step in there while I recharge?”

My heart stopped, “Me? Over there?” I looked at the fight going on a couple feet away, “As awesome as that sounds, I'm not a fighter.”

“Come on, it's easy. You can use my sword.” Lumine handed me her sword.

The sword was heavier than it looked. I felt a sense of pride and awe. I was holding an actual sword. It made me feel like a hero.

I smiled, holding up the sword in determination, “Ok, I'll do it.”

“Good luck, Fabi!” Paimon said.

I nodded. I yelled and charged into battle, sword in hand. This is my moment. I'm about to be a warrior! 

…Until I saw a hilichurl running towards me and my fear came back. What am I doing?! I don't know how to fight! Why am I here? I'm gonna die!

I couldn't run away either, so I just… started swinging the sword around in hopes of hitting it. I've never been in a fight before, there wasn't much else I could do. 

Thankfully, I got a few hits on the sucker. The hilichurl whacked me a few times with its club, which really hurt. That's gonna bruise. Honestly, I was kinda having fun. It made me feel powerful.

“Take that!” I shouted, landing another hit.

The hilichurl lit its club on fire and ran full speed towards me. I screamed and tried to hack at the hairy horned beast. I landed a few more hits, but I was having more trouble this time. The hilichurl had me backed against a rock. 

Ok, I'm in trouble.

Before anything could happen, I heard Kaeya, “Freeze!” He blasted ice at the hilichurl, killing it. He smirked at me, making me blush.

After that kill, the other hilichurls were gone. Xiangling summoned a fire bear, burning down the last tower.

“Alright.” Barbara said, “That about does it.”

We went back to Mondstat to collect our reward for the commissions. After getting some primogems and other goodies, I noticed the sun was already setting.

“What the heck?” I asked, “How fast are the days here?”

“What do you mean?” Paimon asked, “Paimon thinks the days are perfectly normal.”

I sighed, “I… guess days are slower in my world.”

“It's about time for dinner.” Xiangling said, “Any suggestions on what I should make?”

My eyes lit up as a thought came to me, “Can you make sweet madame?”

“Sure!”

We went to the Good Hunter and grabbed a table while Xiangling made dinner with Sara's help. And it was delicious. I had always wanted to try sweet madame. It always looked so good in the game. I'm glad it met my expectations. It was one of the juiciest chickens I've ever had.

“Oh, Xiangling, this is so good.” I said.

“Aw, thank you.” Xiangling smiled, “I've actually been thinking about using slime condensate next time I make it.”

“Uh… Paimon thinks sweet madame is good just the way it is.” Paimon said.

“You know, I'm glad you guys invited me to do commissions.” I said, “I had fun.”

“We're glad you came.” Lumine said.

“We saw you in battle with us.” Barbara said, “You fought very well.”

“Oh, come on, no I didn't.”

“Well, it's nothing a little training can't fix.” Kaeya said, “I'd train you, but I currently have my hands full.”

“I think the fight was a one time thing, but thanks.”

“Is this anything like your world, Fabi?” Lumine asked.

I looked around the table at everyone. Lumine, Kaeya, Barbara, Xiangling, Paimon. Their eyes were wide and bright as they looked at me with soft smiles.

“Not at all.” I said, “This place is so big and magical and beautiful and colorful and exciting. My world has none of this. I'm a college student who lives in a tiny apartment, stressed out of my mind.” I frowned a little, “But I still miss it.”

Lumine put her hand on my shoulder, “I know how you feel. This world has so many wonders, but I still get homesick all the time. Every day, I think I'll find Aether and we can go home.”

“You'll find him, Lumine.” 

“And you'll go home one day, too.” Barbara said, “Will you remember us when you do?”

“Of course, I will. Besides, it'll be hard to forget when I'm playing this game.” Everyone chuckled. We spent the rest of the night chatting and enjoying the sweet madame. 

That night, I went to bed feeling bittersweet. On one hand, I'm living the dream of being in a fictional world, fighting alongside some of my favorite characters. But on the other hand, as boring as earth is compared to this, I desperately wanted to go home. My family must be worried sick about me. I can't stay here forever.

Chapter Text

I woke up and sat up in bed. Still here? Yes. While I know this is all real, it almost feels too good to be true. Like I'm gonna wake up on earth at any moment. A part of me still thinks it's all a dream.

I got out of bed and put on my glasses. As I walked to the bathroom, I caught my reflection in the mirror. I didn't realize what the shampoo did to my hair. I thought my hair would look super frizzy since I didn't have conditioner, but my hair looked great. The curls in the front were intact, the rest of my wavy hair flowed down my back, and the purple didn't look washed out.

I admired my hair in the mirror for a bit before getting changed. While I ate breakfast, Amber walked up to me.

“Fabi, there you are.” She said.

“I wouldn't be anywhere else.” I said.

“Grand Master Jean wants to see you as soon as possible. Lisa found something about your stone.”

My heart stopped. The stone. I almost forgot about that thing. I finished my breakfast and went with Amber to the castle. I followed her into a library with Jean, Lumine, Paimon, and a woman wearing a purple and white shirt. She had light brown, shoulder-length hair with light green eyes. She wore a deep purple skirt, black gloves, shoes, and thigh-high leggings. Her matching purple hat looked like a witch hat. Lisa. 

“Oh, you must be our new traveler.” Lisa said, “I've heard so much about you.” Her voice was soft and sultry as though she was flirting with me. I had to remember she talks to everyone like that.

“Lisa, this is Fabi.” Amber said.

“Nice to meet you.” I said, “Amber said you found something about the stone I had?”

“Yes.” Lisa said, “It took a while and was harder than I expected, but I found this.” Lisa held up the stone, which started glowing white. 

“Hello?” A man's voice said, scaring me. Was it coming from the rock? 

“I don't know if you can hear me, but my name is Galor. I am a powerful wizard of another world. Listen to me carefully. There is another wizard of my world who calls himself the Baron. He seeks the Mora Stone, which contains the power to travel to any universe imaginable. In the wrong hands, the Mora Stone could destroy the multiverse and reality itself. To protect the Stone, I activated it for the first time and sent it to the first universe I thought of. I don't know who you are, but you must protect the Stone with your life. When the time comes, I will summon you to my world so we can defeat the Baron once and for all. Because the Stone has never been used before, it will be unstable for a good while. Good luck and protect the Stone.”

The Stone stopped glowing. Wizards? Multiverse? What?

“Mora?” Paimon asked, “Does that mean the Stone is made of money?”

“I think Mora means something else this time.” Lumine said.

“Do you understand any of this, Fabi?” Jean asked.

“Yes… No… I don't know.” I said, pacing the floor, “What the heck just happened?! I'm really supposed to believe that a random wizard from another dimension is trying to destroy time and the Stone was sent to me?!” 

“Uh… Yes?” Paimon awkwardly said.

I sighed, “I'm sorry, this is… wild.”

“He said the Mora Stone is unstable.” Jean said, “What do you think that means?”

“Since the Stone is used to travel to different worlds, I can only assume he means that it will take you to different worlds at random.” Lisa explained, “But we can't know for sure until it actually happens.”

“Does that mean I could be sucked out of here at any moment?” I asked. 

“It would appear so.” Jean said.

“Ugh! That's great! Awesome! I'm stuck here.” I sat on the floor, “Am I just gonna be going to world after world forever?”

“Don't think of it that way, Fabi.” Paimon said, “Think of it as… an adventure!”

“An adventure I never signed up for.”

“Lumine didn't sign up for this either.”

“She has a point.” Lumine mumbled.

“Maybe you should do something to clear your mind for a while.” Amber said, “Going on a quest always helps me.”

“I don't know if I'm in a questing mood.” I said, “But I could use a walk.” 

I wasn’t going anywhere, just walking aimlessly through the forest with Paimon. I’d occasionally pick berries and pinecones and flowers. I never know what the pinecones are for, but I always collect them for some reason. I put everything I gathered into the bag that Paimon pulls out of thin air.

“You’ve been awfully quiet, Fabi.” Paimon said. 

“It’s just a lot to process.” I said, kicking a rock.

“Paimon guesses this isn’t normal in your world.”

“Pfft. Nope. First video game worlds are real, and now the multiverse is real? What else do I not know? How do I know I'm not a fictional character in another universe? What's real anymore?” My head was spinning, “And I'm supposed to protect the thing to prevent everything from imploding? I don't even know how this stupid rock works.”

“By the looks of it, neither does that Galor guy. You seem to know as much as he does.” 

“He knows a helluva lot more than I do. Why did he give the Stone to me? Of all universes, he decided to go with mine.” I sat under a tree and took out the Mora Stone, “‘Protect the Stone.’ Protect it from what?” I looked up and saw sunsettia. I stood up and jumped, trying to reach the fruit. I didn’t know how to climb trees, so this was my only option.

“Do you know of other worlds?” I asked.

“Paimon only knows that you and Lumine are from other worlds.” Paimon said, “Other than that, Paimon doesn’t know.”

“Figured. You know, sometimes I get a little overwhelmed playing this game.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“There are so many missions, events, characters, not to mention how big this world is.” I jumped and grabbed the sunsettia. I smiled and chuckled since I’ve never done that before, “The game is constantly updated, so there’s always something new.” I took a moment to catch my breath, “Don’t get me wrong, it’s great and all, but… I feel like they could tone it down a notch.”

“That does sound like a lot.” Paimon said, “Paimon sometimes forgets Lumine is looking for Aether with all the adventures.”

“Exactly. It feels like there’s too much to do. Plus I’m kind of stunted with powering my characters up, which is actually a lot harder than it sounds.”

“Everyone is weak?! How do you fight?”

“I didn’t say that. But I guess it’s just luck.” I jumped a few times, trying to grab another fruit, “I still like to play the game. When I defeat monsters, I feel invincible. And the world is beautiful.” I grabbed the fruit and landed hard on my ankle, “Ow.”

“Are you ok?” Paimon asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve heard a lot of people say you’re annoying.”

“What?! Paimon is not annoying! Why do people say that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s your voice. I don’t mind your voice, it reminds me of another character from something else.”

“Aw, that's very nice of you, Fabi.”

By the time we got back to Mondstat, it was night time. I had dinner and took dessert to my room. I didn't think there was ice cream in this world, but it's pretty good.

There was a knock at the door, “Come in.”

Sara came in holding a small blue pouch, “Hello, Fabi.” She said, “Lisa asked me to give this to you. She said it's a money pouch. Since you'll be going to many different worlds, you're going to need money. This pouch holds an endless supply of money of whatever world you're in.”

“Whoa, really?” I asked, taking the pouch, “I didn't know that kind of magic existed here.”

“It's magic, we can do anything with it.”

“True.” I reached into the pouch and pulled out a handful of mora coins, “Wow, it works. Thanks.”

“It's Lisa you should thank.” Sara left the room, “Goodnight.”

“Night.”

I finished the ice cream and got ready for bed. I laid in bed staring out the window for a while. I didn't know how to process today. I'm supposed to protect the fate of the multiverse. I've never had to protect anything so important before.

How am I gonna do that?

Well, I guess Paimon is right. This could be an adventure. I'll be going to so many different worlds. A part of me is a little excited. Who knows where I'll go next.

Chapter Text

After breakfast, I paid Sara for letting me stay in her room. She said it wasn't necessary, but I insisted. It was the least I could do after she let me stay with her. Besides, it was a great way to test out Lisa’s pouch. It might as well be bottomless.

After dinner, I walked around town with Paimon and Lumine. 

“Paimon, don't you have something to ask Fabi?” Lumine asked. 

“Ask me what?” I asked.

“Oh, oh, nothing.” Paimon said, “Except… Paimon was wondering if she could join you on your adventure.”

I stopped in my tracks, “Wait, what? Why?”

“The idea of going to so many different worlds is exciting. With all the magic we have, that's something we haven’t figured out yet.”

“You already do that here, don't you? I already explained there's so much to do here.”

“Well, yeah, but all our adventures are in the same world. Paimon wants to see other worlds with different adventures, too.”

I was touched that Paimon wanted to join me on this crazy journey, but it felt wrong to pluck someone out of their world. “But… but doesn't Lumine need you here? You're her guide.”

“Don't worry about me.” Lumine said, “I'll be fine. I have missions to keep me busy. Besides, I don't want to lose any chance to find my brother.”

I looked at Lumine and then at Paimon. She really wants to come with me. Paimon isn't really capable of getting into trouble, so maybe this will be fine. It'd be nice to not be alone during all this. I smiled and hugged Paimon, “Ok, you can come. But I'm gonna keep an eye on you.”

“Thank you so much, Fabi!” Paimon said, “Paimon will do her best to be a great guide.” I almost started squealing. There’s the line.

We overheard the guy in front of the tavern talking to himself, “Shame I only get to listen in from the other side of the window and don’t get to join in the debate. I’d love to give my two cents…”

“Say what?” Paimon said, “What’s up, what’s up? Paimon wants in!” Ok, I guess we're talking to this random NPC now.

“Recently, all the customers at the tavern have been debating the exact same topic: ‘who is the strongest fighter in Mondstat?’” Patton explained. 

“The strongest fighter? Must be someone who can floor a whole gang of hilichurls with just one punch!”

“Pff! I do that for fun.” Lumine said.

“Then Paimon nominates you! But anyway, is there, like, a general agreement in the city on who it is, or…?”

“Hah. expecting people to come to a swift and straightforward consensus in the city of freedom is like expecting Fisherman’s Toast to drop out of the sky.” Patton said, “Everyone’s got their own opinion, backed up by a unique set of cherry-picked information, but let’s be honest, that’s what makes the discussion so impassioned and entertaining. Mainstream opinion is polarized, with most people supporting one of two candidates. One is the Dandelion Knight knight, the other is the Darknignt Hero.”

“Who the heck are those guys?” I asked.

“Paimon, Fabi, who are you voting for?” Lumine asked.

“Ooh! Ooh! Paimon votes for you!” Paimon said.

“Me too.” I said.

“But let’s go into the tavern and talk to the patrons, maybe we’ll pick up some juicy gossip.”

“Oh, I do envy your life of leisure, but don’t mind me, of course.” Patton said, “I guess I'll just get back to work.” 

“Maybe you should take a few days off.” I said as we went inside. 

We asked around for who everyone thought was the strongest fighter in Mondstat. Someone talked about a destructive little girl dressed in red. I already knew who they were talking about, but I wasn’t about to spoil anything. Some drunk guy said Jean. I’m pretty sure he was thirsting over her and I don’t blame him.

“Patton was right about one thing.” Paimon said, “Not just that, but some people’s choice of candidate was just plain weird.”

“You're telling me.” I said, “Not once did they mention you, Lumine.”

“I don't mind too much.” Lumine said.

“If everyone’s got their own opinion and can’t be persuaded, how are we ever gonna find out who mondstat’s strongest fighter is?” Paimon wondered, “Eureka! Paimon’s got it! Let’s go see what Jean says. Bet the knights have got an official ranking table for this kind of thing!”

“That's a good idea.” I said.

“What makes you so sure?” Lumine asked.

“Come on, let’s just go and ask already.” Paimon said, “We’ll never find out if we don’t! Guess it depends if they counted all your shenanigans or not. Don’t worry though, Paimon has full confidence in your abilities!”

By the time we got to Master Jean's office, it was already day time. Am I the only one who's noticed that the days here are literal minutes long?

“Oh, Master Jean!” Paimon said when we walked into the office, “Sorry to bother you, but we’re collecting intel on the strongest fighter in Mondstat. Do you have - uh, one of those… official Knights of Favonious- verified ranking table… thingies?”

“Strongest fighter in Mondstat?” Jean asked, “I am sorry, but I cannot help. I do not have any relevant documentation on that topic.”

“Oh… Well, that sucks. Paimon was hoping Lumine would at least make the top five.”

Jean chuckled, “Well, although I do not have the data to make such an assessment, I will say that my faith in our honorary knight’s abilities has never wavered.” I smiled and looked at Lumine proudly.

“Which reminds me. Recently, one of the Abyss Order’s Mages has been active near the city, although he is keeping a low profile. If you are staying around Mondstat, please be on the lookout for danger. Given your… well, high-ranking fighting strength, I hope you will be able to help keep the area safe.”

“Awesome!” Paimon said, “After she beats the Abyss Order, she’ll climb up that ranking table faster than she climbs up all those cliffs!”

“Paimon, there is no ranking table.” Lumine said. 

“Well, either way, smashing the Abyss Order to bits is the right thing to do.”

Jean laughed, “I like your enthusiasm. It is infectious. But be careful out there.”

“We will.” I said.

We left Jean’s office and into the hallway. A short girl wearing red, carrying a bunch of scrolls ran into Lumine, knocking them both to the ground.

“Oh, my god.” I helped Lumine up and we went to help the girl.

“Are you alright?” Paimon asked the girl.

The girl got up and I immediately recognized her. She was short, most likely a child. She had cream colored hair in pigtails with cow-like ears, for lack of a better term. She had a red and white dress, brown shoes, a red hat with a white feather, and a brown backpack. Klee, the newest character on my team. I've heard almost everyone talk about how adorable she is, which could not be more true.

“I-I’m fine!” Klee said, “I’m not hurt! Sorry for bumping into you.” 

“You dropped something.” Lumine said, holding out a notebook.

“Hey, look, there’s some writing on here.” Paimon said. She read what was written in the book, “‘Explosion inside city wall grounded be thy woe. Explosions can hurt people. Jean can be dreadful. Monstat be bombed, Klee be doomed’?”

“Yikes! Mr. Kaeya wrote these down for me, um… they’re um, survival rules.”

“Survival rules?”

“Kaeya?” I asked, “Is he around anywhere?” Paimon looked at me and I blushed.

“Y-yeah.” Klee said, “Rules that I must absolutely never break under any circumstances. Otherwise, something terrible would happen.”

“Kaeya writes like this?” Lumine asked.

“Yep! Ah, I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Klee.”

“My name is Lumine.” Lumine said.

“I'm Fabi.” I said.

“And Paimon’s name is… well, Paimon.”

“I’ve heard all about you guys!” Klee said, “You’re the Honorary Knight who helps Mondstat!”

“Wow!” Paimon said, “More recognition, yay! Paimon is so happy right now.”

“I heard it from Amber… but wait, no- there’s no time for this right now. I’m dealing with a big emergency. I grabbed my map and ran as fast as I could all the way here.”

“What emergency?” Lumine asked. 

Klee became sad, “Th-the treasure I buried in the whispering woods, its… gone.”

“Did you say… Buried treasure?” Paimon asked.

“A girl dressed in red… hm…” Lumine said. 

“And she has treasure! Seriously? Klee gets six-fingered Jose’s vote for strongest fighter in Mondstat? What is wrong with people?”

Sometimes in the game, Paimon and the player would have conversations that feel telepathic. I don't remember if they established that Paimon is a mind reader. 

“Lost treasure is a big deal, let us help you find it.” Paimon said out loud.

“Yay!” Klee said, “Thanks, you guys! Let me see… Here! Here’s where the map says the treasure should be. I put a circle around it. I also put a wooden sign in the ground at the place where I buried it. To make it easier to find!”

“Paimon is starting to understand how this treasure went missing so easily.” Paimon said in her head. How the frick can I hear her?

“Come on, Miss Honorary Knight, let’s go!”

We followed the map to where the treasure was in the forest, fighting the occasional slimes and hilichurls along the way. We saw a sign next to a big pile of rocks and a hole.

“Well, at least the treasure wasn't hard to find.” I said.

“We’re here!” Klee said, “This is the place! Look, this is where my huge treasure was buried.”

“And where there’s now a huge empty hole in the ground.” Paimon said.

“Wait, who’s that over there?” Lumine asked. We looked up and my throat closed up.

“It’s… an Abyss Mage!?” Paimon exclaimed, “Maybe he’s the one Jean was warning us about.”

“Aaahhh! I hate these guys!” I said.

The red, black and white monster had a small glowing hovering orb next to him that sort of looked like a bunny. 

“What’s that in his hand?”

“My treasure!” Klee exclaimed. 

“What?!”

“I see the little girls’ brought her friends with her!” The Mage said in a distorted voice, “Time for a change of plan.” The Mage hovered away.

“Hey, you!” Paimon said, “If you think you’re so tough, get back here and fight!”

“After him!” Lumine said. We sprinted after the Mage. My lungs were burning, but that didn't stop me. At least it was better than running laps in middle school.

“What’s an Abyss Mage?” Klee asked, “I play in the forest all the time, but I’ve never seen one before. They ran after the abyss mage. It looks so cute! Soft and fluffy. I wanna stroke it.”

“Bad idea, Klee.” I panted. Soon enough, we backed the Mage into a corner.

“Game’s up.” Paimon said, “Now hand it over!”

The Mage growled, “You fools think I would give this up so easily after what I have been through to acquire it? Hehe.” The Mage summoned fire slimes to slow us down. I think they're actually called Pyro or something, I don't remember.

“Careful, Klee, don’t be drawn in by it.” Paimon said as Lumine fought the slimes, “Abyss Mages are the bad guys.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Klee said, “Master Jean says that stealing is wrong.” After defeating all the slimes, we had the Mage backed into another corner.

“Freeze!”

“That girl’s lucky she didn't come alone, otherwise I’d… hmph.” The Mage summoned electric slimes. I think they're called Electro?

“Hmm… but if we could just get him to give it back…” Klee wondered. 

We chased the Mage further into the forest until we ran into an empty mountain side.

“No!” I said, “A dead end.”

“Where'd he go?” Paimon asked, ‘The Abyss Mage! He just… disappeared! What’s going on!”

We looked around, wondering what to do, when I found what looked like a torch, “Hey, guys, look at this.” 

Lumine looked at the torch thing, “It's a puzzle!”

“Of course. By the color and symbol, we need fire power.” I said.

“You mean Pyro?” Paimon asked.

“Uh, yeah.” I looked down, a little embarrassed. I sound so stupid. 

Somehow, Lumine turned into Amber, making me do a double take, “Wha…? How did you do that?!” 

“We don't really know.” Paimon said. 

Amber, or Lumine, I guess, lit the torch and with her bow before turning back into Lumine. After the torch was lit, a secret passage was revealed inside the mountain. 

“A gateway to a domain!” Paimon said, “The Abyss Mage must have snuck inside.”

“Then he has no way out.” Lumine said.

“Great!” I said, “Let's get in there and nab him then.”

Klee was panting, making us a little worried. It made me wonder how Klee got involved with the Knights of Favonious, anyway. She's just a kid, she shouldn't be in this line of work. 

“Klee, do you need a rest?” Paimon asked, “Why don’t you wait here while we get your treasure back for you?”

“No, I’m coming with you!” Klee said, “It’s my treasure that Mr. Fluffball stole, and it’s up to me to get it back!”

“But these domains can be dangerous.” Lumine said.

“Yeah, there are all kinds of monsters in there.” I said.

Klee giggled, “Don't worry. Klee is a big girl! Come on, miss honorary knight, let’s go!”

I smiled at Klee’s dedication. I mean, as long as this is something she wants to do, then who am I to judge?

We went into the domain. It was dark, cold, and looked like a ruined temple. 

“Ugh, this place is creepier than in the game.” I said, “Let's not be here longer than we need to, ok?”

“You got it, Fabi.” Paimon said.

We went down the halls, looking for the Mage. Domains are where the player would try out new characters, testing their skills and powers. I actually really like going through domain-like places because of the rewards. It also has a cool atmosphere, at least they do in the game. In person, it's scary.

In this case, the player would play as Klee. Klee’s skill was bombs and fire, or Pyro or whatever. She may be as cute as a button, but she’s quite deadly, in a not self-aware kind of way. And it showed as we fought all the monsters. It almost made her cuter.

After defeating the final monster, we found the Mage hovering menacingly above us. 

“Hmph.” The Mage said, “You followed me. I must say, I’m impressed. But this is as far as you will get.”

“Oh, yeah?” Paimon said, “What are you gonna do?”

The Mage laughed maniacally, “Oh, the human proclivity to gossip has provided us with everything we need. We learned that your little red friend has in her possession the most powerful treasure in all of mondstat. That treasure is now in my hands. There is nothing you can do! Now your precious treasure shall be your undoing!”

“No, no, wait!” Klee said, “D-Don’t touch it!”

“Oh, how you fret now your predicament is finally clear to you! Now, what have we here - a flame symbol?” I don't know how it happened, but the Mage exploded. 

My jaw dropped in shock. I put my hand over my mouth to not laugh. That was so random. 

“No!” Klee exclaimed, “I broke the survival rules… explosions can hurt people… Jean can be dreadful… This is it… This time i’m done for.”

“It's really nothing to worry about, Klee.” I said.

“Wait, so, Klee’s treasure is a bomb?” Paimon asked.

“That was epic.” Lumine said. 

“You can say that again.” I snickered. 

“No wonder Klee was rumored to be the strongest fighter in Mondstat.” Paimon said, “Paimon for one is never picking a fight with her. Ever.” We noticed that Klee wasn't with us anymore, “Hold on… why has she gone and run off?”

“Something to do with Jean.” Lumine said. 

“And the survival rules.” I added.

“Seems like it!” Paimon said, “Well, then. Let’s head to the knights’ headquarters and report to Jean.”

We went back to Mondstat and to the knights headquarters. When we got to Jean's office, Klee was already there, her head hung down in shame.

“Klee?” Paimon asked, “You’re here, too?”

“I… turned myself in.” Klee said, tearfully. 

“Huh?”

“I… m-my bomb… I hurt someone… I broke the rules… I'll never see the light of day again.”

“Let's not get too dramatic here.” I said, getting worried.

“Klee, I need you to answer me.” Jean said, “You said someone was injured. Where are they?”

“Wait!” Lumine said, “There’s been a misunderstanding.”

“Why is that?” Jean asked.

“The person that Klee blew up was an Abyss Mage.”

“I-It’s true.” I said.

“But… but Mr. Fluffball was only a thief… he didn’t deserve to blow up.” Klee sniffed.

“Hey, come on now… Paimon already told you that the Abyss Mages are the bad guys.” Paimon said, “And actually, they’re the worst kind of bad guys you can imagine. They don’t just hate the good guys, they hate all people. Their enemy is… humanity itself.”

“She's right.” I said, “Plus, they're super hard to defeat with their stupid shields.”

“Mr. Fluffball was a bad guy on purpose?” Klee asked, “Mr. Flufflball is the enemy of humanity? What? I don’t get it!”

“This was an oversight on my part.” Jean said, “I did not tell you these things before because you are still young. In fact, the Abyss Order is a hostile force in Mondstat which has been unusually active lately.”

“Because of Mondstat's most powerful treasure?” Lumine asked.

“Aha, that’s it!” Paimon exclaimed, “Paimon understands now! They were tracking down poor Klee because they heard rumors about the treasure! Just like the way Paimon’s first reaction was to try and get her hands on… ah, no- to try and get the facts on the treasure.”

“It’s ok to want money, Paimon.” I said, “Who doesn’t want treasure?” Paimon chuckled nervously.

“So… does that mean…?” Klee asked.

“In light of your contribution on this matter, I will allow you to take part in the next Ludi Harpastum.” Jean said. Wait, what’s Ludi Harpastum?

“Ludi Harpastum! Whoa!”

“You got very lucky.” Lumine said.

“Miss Honorary Knight, you’ve gotta come too!”

“Whoop-de-doo, it’s a happy ending!” Paimon cheered.

“Except…” Jean said.

“Except what?”

“Klee, where did you hide the treasure to begin with? Were you trying to blow up the fish in Starfell Lake again?”

“I’m sorry, what?” I said, “Blowing up fish? Again?” What kind of sick kicks does Klee get out of that?!

“I wasn’t! I swear I wasn’t!” Klee winked at us, basically telling us that she was.

“She’s giving us that look that means, play along.” Paimon said, telepathically.

“Uh-oh, Jean noticed it too.” Lumine thought. How am I hearing this conversation?

“Klee?” Jean sternly said.

“I’ll see myself to solitary confinement.” Klee ran out of the office, giving herself away.

“Paimon bets Klee must get bored in there all by herself.” Paimon said.

“Let’s go check on her.” I said. We left Jean’s office to visit Klee in solitary confinement. We stood outside the door.

“Guess who?” Paimon said.

“That’s Paimon’s voice I hear!” Klee said, from the other side of the door.

“Need a bite to eat or anything?” Lumine asked.

“Ooh, ooh, yes, please! Wait- no, i… I can't. Klee needs to be a good girl and think about what she did. Stop tempting me!”

“It's good that she’s taking her punishment seriously.” I said.

“Anyway, while I'm grounded, I'm making an extra special new treasure… the Ludi Harpastum version!” 

“Wait, what?”

“When you say treasure…?” Paimon asked.

“I made it into the shape of a Harpastum and everything.” Klee said, “It looks so cute.”

“So… another bomb.” Lumine said.

“Just wait for Ludi Harpastum. They’re gonna love it.”

“Yeesh, if Jean was listening to this, Klee might find herself grounded for an awful lot longer.” Paimon said.

“You’re telling me.” I said. I was about to leave when I felt the Mora Stone vibrating in my pocket, “Oh, no.”

“What is it, Fabi?” Paimon asked.

“I think… I think the Stone is opening a portal.” I said. Just as I thought, a light purple portal appeared in front of us. I was just as scared as the first time I saw it. The portal pulled me in immediately, lifting me off the ground. I noticed Paimon being pulled in too.

“Fabi!” Lumine said, grabbing on to me and Paimon. I gripped her hand tightly, terrified for my life.

Jean ran out of her office to see what the noise was about, “I’m guessing you’re on your way to the next world.” She said.

“I guess.” I said, “Guys, I’m scared!”

“Don’t worry, Fabi!” Lumine shouted, “I got scared in every world I went to! I promise it’s worth it!” 

“I hope you’re right!” I looked back at the portal, its pull getting stronger and stronger, “Tell everyone thank you! Thank you for the adventure!”

“You’re welcome!”

“Paimon will see you soon, Lumine!” Paimon said.

“Have an adventure!” 

“Good luck!” Jean called out.

The pull got too strong. Lumine let us go and Paimon and I got sucked into the portal, on to the next world. I wonder where we’ll go next.

Chapter Text

Paimon and I were back in the purple vortex and it wasn't any less scary. I could tell Paimon was scared too, probably more than me.

I was getting dizzy. I almost didn't notice a portal open. We were pushed through the portal and into the next world. We screamed as we fell, landing hard on the ground. I'm gonna get killed if this keeps happening.

“I'm never getting used to that.” I winced, “Are you ok, Paimon?”

Paimon floated up from the ground and shook her head, “Paimon is alright. What about you?”

“I'm ok.” I slowly got up and took the Mora Stone out of my pocket, making sure I still had it. I noticed something strange. There was a small spot on the stone that looked like a purple gem, “Huh, that wasn't there before.”

Paimon looked at the stone, “What's that?”

“I don't know.” I gently scratched the stone with my nail. I was expecting the stone to fall apart like chipping paint, but nothing happened. I cringed at the sensation, “Is the gem inside the stone? Like a shell?” The spot felt cold and shiny while the rest of it was just a normal rock.

“Well, whatever it is, we can think about it later. Do you know where we are?”

I put the stone back in my pocket, “I'm not sure. It might be a while before-” I looked up for the first time since landing and my jaw dropped.

We were in front of a giant tree that I instantly recognized. My eyes were on the verge of popping out of my sockets.

“Uh, Fabi? Are you alright?” Paimon asked.

I turned around, and sure enough, there it was. A bridge leading into a town in the middle of a lake, “I actually do know where we are!”

“Great! So, where are we?”

“Only the best movie ever! We're in The Book of Life! You have no idea how much I love this movie! Oh, my god, I'm actually here! And this, this is the proposal tree! And there's the bridge! The town is right there!”

My fangirl meters were off the charts, “Come on!” I ran down the bridge towards town, skidding to a stop on the outskirts. My heart was beating a thousand miles an hour as I took everything in. The town looked exactly like it did in the movie, “I think I'm gonna cry.” 

“Don't leave Paimon behind like that!” Paimon said, floating next to me, “Paimon doesn't know about any of this.”

“Oh, right, sorry.” We walked into town, looking around. 

“So, what is this place? And what's a movie?”

“A movie is kind of like a play, I guess.” I explained, “And this is my favorite of all time, The Book of Life. We're in San Angel, Mexico, where the story takes place.”

“Oh! So this place is a story, or a… ‘movie’, in your world.”

“Yep. This movie literally changed my life, I love it so much.”

Paimon looked around at the townsfolk walking around, “Why does everyone look like they're made of wood?”

“They're technically made of wood. The story is told using wooden figures, so this is just how everyone is in this world. Except for us, I guess.” I noticed that Paimon and I must've stuck out like a sore thumb, “We should probably keep a low profile. We don't want to freak anyone out.”

“Good idea.”

Something caught my eye, “Oh, my god.” I ran to a wall full of flyers and squealed.

“What is it, Fabi?” Paimon asked.

“It's Manolo’s bullfight today! I love this part!” 

“Who's Manolo?”

“He's the main character of the story. Come on! We have to go see it!”

It didn't take long to find the arena. I was too excited. We easily snuck into the arena and found a spot near the front. Luckily everyone was too preoccupied to notice us.

“It sure is crowded.” Paimon said, “Oh, is that Manolo?” A man wearing a sombrero and a blue military uniform with dozens of medals walked in the middle of the arena. He had that iconic mustache that I'd recognize anywhere.

“No, that's his best friend Joaquin Mondragon.” I explained, “He's the town hero. He's visiting to see the bullfight.”

Joaquin whistled and was whisked away by his horse. He rode around the ring in a pose as the whole town cheered for him.

Paimon crossed her arms, “Kind of full of himself, isn't he?”

“Yeah, but he's a good guy. At least he tries to be.” Joaquin swiped the town soldier's sombreros away and autographed them. His horse somehow jumped high enough for him to jump to the balcony seats on the other end of the ring.

Suddenly, the crowd was silent. We looked over and I gasped. A woman with long, brown, wavy hair in a ponytail was covering her face with her fan. She wore a white blouse and red skirt. A pig was following her. It's her!

“What's going on?” Paimon whispered.

“That's Maria Posada.” I whispered, “She's the general's daughter. She just came home from years of studying abroad. She's so cool! Joaquin and Manolo are in love with her.”

Paimon grinned and looked at me, “Really?”

“Yep. Manolo gave her the pig when they were kids before she left. His name is Chuy.”

I almost didn't notice Maria walk by. I held my breath as she passed us, “Oh, my god.” I whispered when she left, “I think we made eye contact!” That was probably me being delusional, but a girl can dream.

Maria made her way to the balcony seats with Joaquin and her father. When she finally lowered her fan, the crowd cheered.

“Oh, she’s beautiful!” Paimon exclaimed.

The three mariachi brothers played a tune. My heart stopped and my adrenaline shot through the roof. It's happening!

Right behind the mariachi brothers was a man in a black bullfighting uniform. His black hair had his signature curl with a ponytail. There he was. The light of my life.

The crowd went wild for him, especially when he pulled his cape off his shoulder.

“That's him!” I shrieked, shaking Paimon by the shoulders, “That is Manolo Sanchez!!!”

“I would like to dedicate this corrida to Miss Maria Posada.” Manolo called out, gesturing to the balcony seats.

There was banging on a large door. A large, angry bull ripped said door right off its hinges.

“That's the bull?!” Paimon exclaimed, “He's gonna get himself killed!”

Manolo waved the red cape, making the bull charge towards him. He dodged the bull, swerving it behind him. The crowd cheered for Manolo, throwing roses at him as he bowed. He picked up one of the roses and held it up to Maria with a loving smile.

“Wow!” Paimon said, “He's good.”

“I know, right?!” I shrieked. Paimon looked uncomfortable by my enthusiasm. 

“Watch out!” The bull was charging at Manolo from behind. Thankfully, he noticed. Just as the bull was about to hit, he jumped and back-flipped out of the way. Manolo landed on his knees and slid a few feet. He caught the rose he was holding in his teeth.

“Oh, my god! That was so good! That was so good! ” If I am dreaming after all, don't wake me up.

When the bull charged at Manolo again, he had the bull go around him a few times, creating a cloud of dust around him. When the bull ran off, Manolo waved his cape to get rid of the cloud, revealing he wrote Maria’s name in the sand with the bull's horns.

The crowd went wild, especially me. “Did you see that?!” I screamed, “He's so good!!! WE LOVE YOU, MANOLO!!!!!” Thankfully, the only one to judge me was Paimon.

Next thing we knew, Manolo had a sword. He held it up, aiming it at the bull. The crowd was silent in anticipation.

“What's going on?” Paimon asked, “Why is he holding a sword?”

“Manolo has to kill the bull at the end of the fight.”

“W-What? But… But why?”

“I don't know. I don't like it either.”

We watched nervously, waiting for Manolo’s next move. From where we were, I could see Manolo looking at Maria from the reflection of his sword. That was all he needed to know what to do.

Manolo rammed the sword into the ground and stood up, “Killing the bull is wrong!”

Paimon and I exchanged a relieved smile, “Phew. Paimon thought for a moment he would do it.”

“Manolo wouldn't hurt a fly.” I said, “Oh, look. Maria likes it, too.” We saw Maria clapping for him from her seat.

Manolo let the bull run into the cape and into the wall, sending a shock wave throughout the arena, knocking everyone off their feet.

“Woah!” I exclaimed, almost falling over.

The whole crowd was jeering at Manolo and throwing stuff at him as they left. I didn’t want to leave, but I knew standing around was a bad idea.

“Ok, we should hide.” I said. We quickly hid in a corner out of everyone's view, listening as everyone left.

“Paimon doesn't understand.” Paimon said, “Why is everyone angry?”

“They expected him to kill the bull.” I said, “That's how bullfighting is in my world, too.”

“Really?!”

I nodded, “The sad thing is, Manolo doesn't want this. He wants to be a singer.”

“So why doesn't he just be a singer?”

“It's not really his idea, it's his dad's. He wants Manolo to carry on the family legacy.” Paimon had a sad look of understanding.

After a little while, we heard silence, meaning that everyone had left, “Come on.”

We walked back in the arena and found Manolo lying unconscious in the sand next to his guitar.

“Oh, no!” Paimon exclaimed, “What happened?!”

“Ugh, someone threw Manolo’s guitar at his head.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Manolo’s dad and great-grandmother walk into the arena. I ducked to hide, pulling Paimon with me. We peeked over the seat border thing, listening to them.

“Manolo.” Carlos sternly said, “Manolo! Get up!” Manolo winced as he slowly got to his feet, his family glaring at him.

“I'm sorry, Papa.” Manolo said. 

“Do not make it worse by apologizing. A Sanchez man never apologizes. Never!” 

“Ever.” Anita said.

“If being a bullfighter means… means killing the bull… Well, then I'm no bullfighter.” Manolo said.

“No. You are no Sanchez.” Carlos said. He and Anita walked away, leaving Manolo defeated. Even the bull disapproved.

My heart broke for Manolo.

“How can they be so cruel?” Paimon whispered, “All for doing the right thing?”

I shrugged, not knowing what to say. Manolo picked up the rose and guitar off the ground sadly. He put the rose in the head of the guitar, “Ay, Maria.” He whispered. 

He softly played his guitar, singing Creep by Radiohead. The clouds above parted, the sunlight acting as a spotlight for him. It took everything in me not to fangirl. I had to bite my lip to not scream. 

We could see Maria watching Manolo’s lament from the balcony seats. 

As much as I loved this moment, I couldn't help but feel for Manolo. He was being punished by the whole town, especially his family, just for being himself. He feels like he doesn't fit in anywhere. “I know how you feel, Manolo.” I thought. 

“Wow.” Paimon whispered, “He's even better at singing than he is at bullfighting.”

When Manolo finished playing, he slightly turned his head to the balcony seats, as if he sensed Maria was there. She had left before he could see her.

That's when I woke up from my trance, “And that's our cue to leave.” I said. 

We ran out of the arena, trying not to be seen, “We have to find a place to hide. We can't risk anyone seeing us.”

Just as I said that, I looked up. Standing in the arena doorway was Maria herself. Time slowed down when I saw she was looking at us. Oh. My. God.

“Maria!” I said.

The next thing I knew, I was on my back with the wind knocked out of me. Maria was upside down. Was I just body slammed by Maria Posada?

“Are you ok?!” Paimon asked.

“That… was… awesome.” I said.

“So much for not being seen.” Paimon said. 

Oh, no.

I got up and saw we were all outside. Maria looked scared of us, “Ok, before you freak out-”

“Maria.” We turned and saw a random guy walking towards us with a creepy smile, “It's great to see the town jewel home. You've grown into such a beautiful woman.” Maria rolled her eyes, “How would you like to-”

Before Maria could say anything, I stepped up and said, “Alright, buster, I'm gonna have to ask you to step away before I…” Not that I knew what I was gonna say anyway, but the guy looked me up and down, scowled, and left, “Ok, then.”

“Uh, thanks, I guess.” Maria said.

“O-Oh. Uh… no p-problem.” I stammered. Oh, my god. I'm talking to Maria! She's such a bad bitch, I love her!

“And you are?” 

I snapped out of my admiration. I looked around and pulled us all to the side, “Right. I'm Fabiola, but you can call me Fabi. And this is Paimon.”

“Hello!” Paimon said, “We've heard so much about you, Maria.”

Maria looked calmer around us than she was before and smiled, “You're not from around here, are you?”

“Is it that obvious?” I asked, a little embarrassed. 

“Well, we don't have a lot of… uh.” She looked at me and Paimon, trying to figure out what to say without sounding rude.

“Yeah, yeah, we get it.” Paimon said.

“So, where are you from?”

“My parents are Puerto Rican.”

“Do you speak Spanish?”

“Un poquito, pero no soy muy bueno.”

Maria chuckled, “That's ok. At least you're trying.” I was a little embarrassed by my most likely broken Spanish. 

“So, Maria, did you enjoy the show?” Paimon asked, “Fabi thought it was fantastic.” I nudged Paimon’s arm, not wanting her to blab.

“I actually did.” Maria brushed a strand of hair from her face with a shy smile, “I normally don't like bullfighting, but this one was different.”

“Yeah, Manolo put on quite the show.” I said.

“He did. Manolo surprised me back there, as you saw.” Her smile fell and she looked towards the arena, “I just hope he’s ok. He was humiliated back there.”

Paimon and I exchanged a knowing smile, “Don't worry. He's ok.”

“Well, it was nice meeting you two. I have to go.”

“Bye, Maria.” Paimon said. 

“Bye.” I said. Maria bid us goodbye one more time before she left, “Oh, my god, that did not just happen.” I silently squealed and hopped in place for a moment.

“Paimon is pretty sure it happened. She seems nice. Did you see the way she talked about the show? She's in love with Manolo, isn't she?”

“Bingo. Come on. Let's grab some lunch.”

I just talked to Maria. I couldn't believe it! And I had a front row seat to the bullfight! Paimon was right. This is gonna be the adventure of a lifetime. 

Chapter Text

After lunch, we walked around town for a while, trying not to attract any attention to ourselves. Thankfully, it wasn't too hard since we stayed away from crowds and were in the shadows. It was peaceful once night had fallen.

“You know, the funny thing is that it's technically my birthday.” I said.

“Really?” Paimon asked, “How does that work? You said this was a story in your world.”

“Yeah, but the Day of the Dead is Nov 2nd and I was born on the first. It's technically, but not really my birthday, you know.”

“Right.” Paimon and I heard noises coming from a large house, “Ooh, is someone throwing a party?”

“Yeah, actually. Maria's dad is throwing a party to celebrate her coming home.” I slowly opened the door and we snuck inside, keeping our distance near the stairs.

“Wait, where's Manolo? Paimon thought everyone would be here.”

“The general did invite the whole town, but not Manolo.” I explained.

“Now that's just bad manners.” We heard the general spit out his drink, drawing everyone's attention, “What… What happened?”

“Shh.” We heard Maria berate Joaquin for his sexist comments. There was an awkward tension among the guests as Maria got up to leave, heading toward the stairs. Without thinking, I grabbed Paimon’s hand and quickly ran up the stairs.

“Fabi?” I jumped. Shoot. We turned around and saw Maria, shocked to see us again.

“Hi…” I said awkwardly. 

“What are you doing here?”

“I honestly don't know why I'm up here. I guess I didn't want to be a part of the party.” 

Maria grinned, “I don't blame you. Come on, I'll introduce you to Chuy.” I internally squealed before following Maria to her room. It was practically empty with just her bed, a wardrobe, a bedside table, and a couple of posters on the wall.

“Wow. Looks like you've been around.” I said, looking at some of the posters.

“Yeah, I traveled a bit while I was in Spain.” Maria said, “This is Chuy.” The large pink pig with a heart-shaped collar trotted towards us, bleating like a goat.

“Aw, look at the little guy.” Paimon said, patting his head.

“‘Little’? You should've seen him when he was a piglet.”

“He's adorable.” I said, petting Chuy.

“Thanks. Manolo gave him to me before I left. That's when I gave him his guitar.” 

“You gave him the guitar?!” Paimon exclaimed, “Wow! You must really love him to give him such a great gift!”

Maria’s eyes went wide, “W-What are you talking about?”

“Come on, Maria.” I said, “We know you're in love with Manolo.”

“Pfft! No, I'm not.”

I picked up her fan from the bed and opened it, showing her the bullfighter print. She looked at me and Paimon with wide eyes and sighed, “What does it matter?”

“What do you mean?” Paimon asked, “Of course it matters.”

“But my father wants me to be with Joaquin. It's the only way for him to stay and protect the town.”

“But you don't love him back, do you?” Maria shook her head.

“Joaquin is nice, I just don't…”

“There has to be another way for Joaquin to stay.” Paimon said.

“I don't know.” Maria said. She sat down on the bed, Chuy rubbing against her legs in sympathy. Paimon and I looked at each other sadly.

“This… is really hard for you, isn't it?” I asked, sitting next to her.

“You have no idea. Have you ever been in love?”

I shrugged, “Once. It didn't work out.”

“What happened?” Paimon asked.

“We never dated, but I wanted to. Just a bit of awkward mutual pining. Long story short, the timing wasn't right. I haven't seen him in years.” I turned to Maria, “Pretend that you didn't have this pressure on your back. Who would you choose?”

“Manolo.” Maria said, “It's always been Manolo.”

“That was easy.” Paimon said, “Maybe you could try following your heart this time.”

I smiled and shrugged. Maria looked between me and Paimon, thinking about what we were saying. Before she could comment, we heard a shout from outside.

Oh, no…

Manolo’s friends, the mariachi brothers, were trying to serenade Maria. I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose as they sang badly. Chuy was able to shut them up by throwing a flower pot at them.

“That was definitely not Manolo.” Paimon said, cringing.

It wasn't long before they tried again with a different song. It was torture, “Please stop.” I mumbled. Thankfully, Chuy threw another pot at them, shutting them up for a moment. 

Maria laughed as Chuy growled at the mariachi brothers from the window. Maria pulled him away from view. Before the last brother could sing, Chuy threw a gigantic cactus plant on him. Maria went to turn off the light.

“A for effort, I guess?” I said with an awkward smile.

Maria sat down next to Chuy with a sigh as she patted his head. Just then, we all heard guitar strings being softly plucked. My heart stopped. Oh, my gosh!

We faintly heard Manolo singing. Maria got up and opened the balcony doors, stepping outside to listen. Paimon, Chuy and I stayed inside and listened to the love song.

I was smiling ear to ear. I fiddled with my necklace as we listened. This was one of my favorite scenes closely followed by the proposal scene. Manolo’s voice was so beautiful and soft and soothing. It was surreal.

We could all tell Maria loved the song and how could she not? The hottest, sweetest, most romantic guy on earth is singing to her with the voice of an angel.

We heard Manolo getting more and more passionate as he sang. It made our hearts melt. We could faintly see Manolo being lifted towards Maria by the mariachi brothers. They were getting closer to each other as the song ended, so close their noses touched. But Maria stopped him before they kissed and chuckled, separating them, “Did you think it was gonna be that easy?” She teased.

Manolo lost his balance and fell, Maria catching his guitar. The mariachi brothers landed on top of him one by one. “I… I kinda did…” Manolo slurred.

“Manolo!” Maria laughed, “Hold on, I'm coming.” Maria left the room with Chuy right behind her.

“Go get your man!” I called out. 

“Now that was music!” Paimon beamed. 

We followed Maria and Chuy out of the room. We were mid-way down the stairs when we saw Maria and Chuy had stopped before they could make it to the doors.

Joaquin was holding a ring out to a speechless Maria as the general forced him on one knee. He was proposing. 

Paimon and I gasped in shock. 

“But… but she can't!” Paimon said. 

“Well, who else could protect us from Chakal?” The general asked. Ugh! That man makes me so mad.

Everyone was staring at Maria and Joaquin, waiting for her to answer when Manolo, still dizzy, and the mariachi brothers burst through the door. 

“Uh, oh.” Paimon said, hiding behind me.

“What… What did I miss?” Manolo asked, staggering inside. Joaquin looked at Maria and back at Manolo, “W-Wait a sec. Did he propose too?” He asked.

“No.” Maria asked, “Were you going to?” I smiled when I saw Maria smile at the question. She wants Manolo. We can all see it. 

Manolo and Joaquin started acting silly, trading cheap insults and getting into a slap fight. Paimon and I looked at each other, tired of how ridiculous they were being. It was kinda hilarious, so I couldn't help but snicker. 

The two men almost got into a real fight until Maria broke it up, sending Manolo’s guitar and Joaquin’s sword in the air, “Did I mention I also studied fencing?” Maria asked, twirling her sword.

I bit my lip and squealed a little. She's so cool!

Joaquin left the party upset, “Don't go, Joaquin!” One of the soldiers cried, “What if the banditos come?”

As if on cue, there was a loud bang that shook the walls, “Whoa!” I said, almost plugging my ears.

Two little boys opened the doors, “The banditos are coming!” One of them shouted. Everyone started freaking out.

“Who are the banditos?” Paimon asked.

“Bandits.” I said as we went outside, “Chakal is their leader.”

A small army of short men with metal sombreros stormed the town, one of them listing Chakal’s demands. They looked funny, but they were dangerous, “Anyway, if you give all these to us, then maybe we won't burn your town down.” 

The general, Maria, and Manolo stepped up, “You want the town?” Manolo asked, “You're gonna have to go through me!” He pulled out his swords, ready to fight.

“Hey! Ugly!” Joaquin called out. He was on his horse on the rooftops. Somehow, “Why don't you fight a real man, with a really awesome mustache?” He rode his horse off the roof, “JOAAAAAAQUIIIIIIIIINN!!!!”

He landed in front of Manolo and proceeded to make him hold his stuff.

“Ugh. What a show off.” Paimon said.

Joaquin announced himself as the protector of San Angel and the banditos just laughed at him, “Prepare to be beaten.”

This finally set the banditos off, “Get him, Plomo!” One of the bandits charged at Joaquin. He easily threw the bandito back into the army, impressing everyone.

“Hey, girl.” Joaquin flirted with Maria. She giggled at how silly he was being, but Manolo growled at how obnoxious he was. I had to admit, that line was smooth and it made me blush. Joaquin has a good voice.

The banditos dog piled on Joaquin, “Whoa.” I said. 

After a bit, Joaquin shouted his name again, punching the banditos off him. He glared at one of them before they retreated out of town.

“And don't ever come back!” Joaquin called out. 

“Yeah, you better run away!” Maria shouted, “That was incredible.”

“Yeah, you really are a hero.” Manolo said. I could tell by his tone that he was feeling insecure.

Joaquin offered for Maria to continue their conversation, to which she was hesitant about. As soon as it became romantic, Maria hesitates. She doesn't love him that way.

“Maria, please.” The general said, “Without Joaquin we are at the mercy of Chakal.” 

Maria looked around at the townsfolk and left with Joaquin, “So, why don't you tell me about some of your medals?” I looked back at Manolo to see his smile fall, heartbroken. Everyone else went about their business.

“But it's not fair!” Paimon exclaimed, “Why should Maria marry Joaquin if she clearly doesn't want to? She's in love with Manolo anyway.”

“I know.” I said, “It's not even her choice. It's all-” The general caught my eye and I glared at him, walking straight toward him before I could stop myself, “You.” I snarled.

The general looked at me confused, “Uh, who are you?”

“You've got a lot of nerve, general.” 

“Excuse m-” The general looked shocked when he noticed Paimon, “What on earth-”

“Don't change the subject. You know that Maria doesn't want to be with Joaquin, but you're manipulating her with the town! What kind of father are you?”

“I am doing what's best for everyone. And how dare you tell me how to-”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Manolo would never say this because he's the sweetest man on earth, but I hope you choke on your breakfast for a solid minute.”

I walked away before the general could say anything. Seeing the look on his face was worth it, “Well, that felt good.” I said, my head held high.

“Wait, where did Manolo go?” Paimon asked. We looked around to see Manolo had gone, “Oh, there he is!” He was walking away not far ahead of us.

“Manolo!” I called out, running towards him, “Wait up!” Manolo turned around and saw us catching up to him. 

“Hello.” He said.

My heart stopped and my throat closed up. Manolo Sanchez, in the flesh! I can't believe this is happening! What do I do?! What do I say?!

“Are you… alright?” 

I blinked when I realized I was staring, “Oh, right, sorry. Uh, hey. We just wanted to say that we saw you back there. Even though Joaquin did everything, you were still very brave.”

Manolo grinned, “Oh, uh, thank you.” I blushed. Oh, my gosh.

“We also saw you fight that bull.” Paimon said, “You were amazing! But if you ask Paimon, you really are more talented as a singer. Your voice is absolutely magical.”

Manolo’s eyes went wide and he looked away bashfully, “You heard me sing?”

“We heard you serenading Maria.” I said.

He looked at us with a shy smile, “Th-Thank you. I didn't know anyone was listening.” 

“Come on, you made the whole town fall in love.” I smiled. I was trying my hardest not to look insane, but on the inside, I was freaking out, “Manolo, I love you.” I thought, “I LOOOOVVVEE YOOOOOOUU!!!”

“I'm Fabi, by the way.” I said out loud, “And this is Paimon.”

“It's nice to meet you.” He looked at Paimon curiously, “If you don't mind me asking, what are you?”

“Paimon is Paimon.” She said, crossing her arms. I shrugged, not knowing how to answer.

“Ok…”

We started walking together. I noticed Manolo was still upset, “Hey, don't feel too bad about what happened back there. Maria didn't want to go with Joaquin.”

“Who am I kidding? Of course, she wouldn't choose me.”

“Of course, she would.” Paimon said, “Anyone would choose you any day of the week.”

“Believe us. Maria loves you.” I said.

Manolo frowned, “I want to believe that. But even my own father thinks I'm a failure.”

“Don't say that, Manolo.” I said, “You did what you thought was right. You're doing your best.”

“I know, Fabiola-”

“Please, call me Fabi.”

Manolo looked at me, “Ok, Fabi. I just wish everyone else could see that.”

I looked at my feet, “I know what you mean.”

“You do?”

“Mhm. I have a complicated relationship with my dad, too. He doesn't listen or understand me or accept the way I am. I love him and all, but…” I sighed, releasing a little frustration.

“Paimon is really sorry for you both.” Paimon said. 

“It's ok.” I grinned, “I just wish I had someone who understood me.”

“Me too.” Manolo said, smiling at me. I smiled back as we kept walking. I could cry having told him all that. I felt like we really connected with him just now.

“You know, I play a little bit of guitar, too.” I said.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but I'm just a beginner.”

“That's a start.” Manolo said, “Do you sing?”

“I like to think I'm a good singer, but I'm not the best. Maybe we could sing together some time.”

Manolo smiled and nodded, “I'd like that.” I prayed to God that I wasn't blushing, “I have to go. It was nice meeting you two.” 

“O-Oh, yeah. You, too.” I stammered.

“Goodbye!” Paimon waved as he walked away.

“Bye.” I kept staring at him as he walked away with a dopey grin, “Was all of that real?”

“Paimon is sure it was real.” Paimon said, crossing her arms, “You're in love with Manolo, too, aren't you?”

“Ok, fine! Yes! I've had the biggest crush on him since I was twelve. Can you blame me? Look at him! And he and Maria are so adorable together! They're my ultimate ship!”

“Right… You're very excited to be here, aren't you?”

“Of course, I am! I told you this is my favorite movie! You have no idea how much this means to me. It helped shape me into who I am now. It's a story about love, family, following your heart, writing your own story. Not to mention the art is beautiful! I know animation is always evolving and I love all of it, but this movie-” I paused when I noticed how confused Paimon looked, “Oh. I'm sorry. You must not understand what I'm saying. Part of my ADHD is hyper fixations and rambles.”

Paimon sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, “Well, to be honest, you kind of lost Paimon at a certain point. But Paimon can see how much this place means to you. And if it's important to you, it's important to Paimon!”

I smiled warmly, “Aw. Thank you, Paimon.” I hugged her, “That's really sweet of you.”

“Anytime. Now, can we please go get something to eat? Paimon is dying to get some of those tacos again.”

I chuckled, “Me too, Paimon. I'm glad you discovered the beauty that is Hispanic cuisine.” 

We ate dinner and looked for a place to sleep. I don't know if San Angel has any inns or hotels or anything like that. As we walked, we saw Manolo running down the street.

“Oh, hi, Manolo.” Paimon said, “Where are you going in such a hurry?” 

“To Maria.” He said, turning around, “I talked to my family and you were right.” He started running again.

My face lit up, knowing what he was talking about, “Eep! Come on!” I grabbed Paimon’s hand, dragging her with me as I ran, “Whoa!”

By the time we caught up to Manolo, he had climbed up the street lamp post in front of Maria’s balcony, throwing small rocks at her window. 

“Wha-? How did he get up there?!” Paimon exclaimed. 

Maria opened the balcony doors with Chuy, “Meet me at the bridge at dawn.” Manolo whispered. 

“I can't, Manolo.” Maria said, “My father won't-”

“Please, Maria. I beg you.”

Maria looked at Chuy who smiled at her. She turned back to Manolo and nodded. Manolo was beaming as he climbed down the post and ran off.

I looked up at Maria and smiled, giving her a thumbs up as we left, “Oh, my goodness! He's gonna propose!” I squealed when we were far enough.

“Really?!” Paimon exclaimed.

“Yep! Come on, we have to get to the edge of town.”

Paimon and I slept in an alley near the outskirts of town. It wasn't comfortable but I was able to get some sleep. The night was a little warm, so that was good.

I woke up and stretched, cracking my back and neck. God, I needed that. Paimon was sleeping on a crate, “Paimon, hey. Wake up.” I whispered, gently shaking her.

Paimon slowly woke up and yawned, “What time is it?”

“I don't know. It's still pretty dark out, but I guess it's-” I gasped when I saw Maria running in our direction. We hid in the alley as she ran past us.

“It's dawn, all right.” I whispered, “Don't let her see you. This is their moment.” We quietly walked where Maria ran. 

We walked to the bridge where we first arrived. This time, the edges were lined with dozens of candles that softly glowed in the night as the sun rose over the water. Manolo was on the other side of the bridge, playing his guitar for Maria as she crossed the bridge, like a merman calling his sailor home.

“Oh, my god.” I smiled, “It's even more beautiful in person.”

“Wow!” Paimon marveled, “It's all so pretty! Did Manolo really set this all up by himself?”

“I think he had help.” I wiped away a small happy tear. I sat down on the bridge, taking in the sunrise.

After a bit, the sky had gotten a little brighter and Maria had crossed the bridge, “I can see why Manolo likes it here so much. We can't see it from here, but when the sun rises, the town sparkles.”

“Ooh! Paimon wishes we could see it.” 

“Me too. But I don't want to crash their proposal. This is my favorite part of the story.” I looked towards the other side of the bridge where Manolo and Maria were, “I want a love like theirs.”

“Paimon is sure you will.”

“Do you ever think about love, Paimon?”

“Hm… not really.” I chuckled.

“HELP!!!”

Paimon and I were startled at the sudden shout, “What was that?” Paimon asked.

“Oh, no…” I said. I almost forgot about this.

It almost immediately began to rain, which extinguished the candles. Joaquin, the soldiers, and the general ran towards us and skidded to a stop in horror. 

Manolo had crossed the bridge with an unconscious Maria in his arms. He looked devastated. My heart dropped and Paimon and I gasped.

“What did you do, Manolo?” Joaquin asked. 

“Th-There was a snake and…” Manolo said.

Joaquin grabbed Maria’s hand and recoiled, “She's gone!” He reached for his sword, “Why didn't you protect her?!” The general pushed his way to the front of the crowd, grieving his daughter as Manolo handed her to him. In a rage, the general blamed Manolo for what happened and kicked him out of town.

There was a loud clap of thunder and lightning. Everyone turned to leave, “What have you done, boy?” The general cried, “What have you done?”

“It should've been me.” Manolo said to himself.

“Yes, it should have.” Joaquin said, bitterly before leaving. Manolo looked up at the rain in defeat.

I put my hand on his arm, “Oh, Manolo. I'm so sorry.”

He just looked at me and Paimon. I could see the heartbreak in his eyes.

We walked to the tree in silence to get his guitar, “I will never see her again.” Manolo said sadly before falling to his knees.

“Are you certain?” Hearing that voice made my blood run cold. Oh, no…

“You want to see Maria again?” I didn't dare turn around.

“With all my heart.” Manolo said.

There was a green glow, making us turn around in confusion and curiosity, “Think about what you say, boy.” A tall being made of tar with black wings and red skull eyes looked at us. Xibalba. 

“Who… Who are you?” Paimon asked, fearfully, grabbing my arm. 

There was another clap of thunder as Manolo looked at his guitar. He stared at the message written on the side. He seemed to know what was going on. He knew who Xibalba was and what he was offering. Manolo wasn't scared. After everything he's been through these past few hours, he doesn't care anymore. The last good thing in his life was taken from him. And he wants to get back to her.

“With all my heart.” Manolo repeated, determined. 

“Done.” Xibalba snapped his fingers. A purple two-headed snake slithered around Manolo’s ankles, hissing before biting him.

He groaned in pain, “Maria…” Those were his last words as he collapsed to the ground.

Paimon and I looked down at Manolo’s body in horror. I was speechless. I knew what was gonna happen, but it's all still shocking. 

“What did you do?!” Paimon demanded. She floated over to Xibalba in anger.

“Paimon, wait!” I said.

Suddenly, Xibalba grabbed me and Paimon's wrists. It felt like my life force was draining out of me. My heart stopped in fear.

With what little strength I had, I glared at the death god, “Ass-hole.” I weakly said.

I blacked out and collapsed on the ground next to Manolo.

Chapter Text

I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. There was a dull pain throughout my body like I exercised yesterday. 

“Fabi!” Paimon rushed up to me, “Are you alright?” 

“Yeah, I'm ok.” I said, “Where's-?” I heard groaning and turned my head, gasping. Manolo slowly got up and balanced himself against the tree. He looked at his hands in confusion.

He was a skeleton.

“Wha… What happened to you?!” Paimon exclaimed.

Before he or I could answer, Manolo turned around and gasped in amazement. Paimon and I looked in his direction. I was blown away.

The Land of the Remembered. 

It was a beautiful place with such vibrant colors. There were sugar skull-shaped balloons floating into the sky with beautiful music in the air. Every time I saw this in the movie, I was always captivated. Nothing could prepare me for how beautiful this place is in person.

“Wow! What is this beautiful place?” Paimon asked with stars in her eyes.

As if on cue, a skeleton on a horse arrived on a balloon, “Welcome to the Land of the Remembered!” He said as he rode to us.

“I made it.” Manolo said to himself. 

“And on the Day of the Dead, no less.”

“Ahem.” Paimon cleared her throat, making Manolo finally notice us.

“Wait, what are you guys doing here?” He asked.

“I'll explain later.” I said. I looked down and realized me and Paimon still had our skins.

 Paimon noticed too, “Wait, how come we're not…?”

“Maybe it's different for us since we're not from this world.” I whispered. Paimon nodded.

“Yes.” The skeleton on the horse said, “You'll feel a little disoriented at first. Don't try to take it all in at once.”

Manolo wasn't listening, “Where… where is…?”

The skeleton took out a pen and clipboard, “Let's start with your names.”

“Maria Posada!” Manolo blurted out.

“Really?” The skeleton flipped through his papers, “Parents and their crazy baby names. And there's no Maria Posada on my list.”

“No, no. I'm looking for Maria Posada.”

“Oh.”

“My name is Manolo Sanchez.”

“Another Sanchez! That family just keeps on growing. And you two?”

“Oh, uh, I'm Fabi, and this is Paimon.” He quickly jotted us down on the paper.

“My family!” Manolo exclaimed, “They will help me find Maria. Can you take us to them?”

The skeleton helped Manolo up on the horse and Manolo helped me. Paimon held onto my shoulders tightly. “I would love nothing more than to reunite a young couple!” The skeleton said, “Just hold on!” 

The skeleton screamed as we rode down a steep hill. My stomach dropped. It was like a ninety-degree angle. While the rest of us were shrieking in fear, Manolo was shouting in excitement. Glad one of us was having fun.

Finally the road evened out more and we were on the flat ground. 

“You know, I've been down here for years awaiting my beloved honey bunny.” The skeleton told us.

In a flash, a small woman appeared, “Hi, honey!” 

“Ah! Too soon!” We zipped away from his wife. Ok, don't know what that was about. 

We looked around at the beautiful buildings, floats, and skeletons as we rode through the realm. There were flower petals falling from the sky. It was magical.

“There. Your family is in that one.” The skeleton showed us a float with bullhorns. Of course, it did.

“Whoa.” Manolo gaped.

“Get in there!” Out of nowhere, the skeleton shoved us off his horse towards the float. 

I screamed and squeezed my eyes shut, holding onto Manolo like a spider monkey. I don't know how I ended up on him, but here I am. Being pressed against his guitar and swords wasn't comfortable. 

Paimon was holding onto my arm. I could feel us being thrown around, twisting and turning in the air. I swear my organs got rearranged. 

We were caught by a large skeleton in a turquoise bullfighting uniform, “Oh, yeah! Another Sanchez bullfighter!”

He set Manolo down, but I didn't let go. Paimon and I were too dizzy to even speak. Manolo pretty forgot we were there, “You are the amazing Carmelo Sanchez!”

Carmelo proudly stated that he was famous for fighting bulls without a cape. When Manolo asked if he could help find Maria, Carmelo said La Muerte could help us. Next thing I knew, a piñata hit us, making us fall down the pyramid float.

Manolo disassembled on the way down only to quickly reassemble when he landed on his feet.

“I think I'm gonna be sick.” I said. We saw a skeleton with swords for one of his arms and legs. He was another one of Manolo’s relatives, Jorge Sanchez, famous for fighting bulls with one arm and leg. Not like he had a choice, no offense.

Turns out, he and Manolo are kindred spirits. Jorge wanted to sing in the opera, but you know, “Music is not work fit for a Sanchez bullfighter.”

I opened my eyes just in time for Carmelo to launch us into the air as he landed on the plank Manolo stood on. While we were in the air, a skeletal bird kissed Manolo on the cheek before we fell to the ground. I wish I could do the same.

As soon as we landed, Paimon and I rolled onto the ground, our heads spinning, “Please… no more.” Paimon said.

Manolo was reunited with his grandpa Luis, famous for fighting three bulls at once. He berated Manolo for being a musician. Paimon and I got up when our dizziness died down.

“Welcome home, mijo.” Luis said, “Your mother will be so happy to see you.” We looked up at the float in front of us.

“Mama?” Manolo said to himself. 

I smiled as Manolo made his way to the top of the float to reunite with his mother. 

“Wow. You weren't kidding when you said Manolo’s family was bullfighters.” Paimon said as we made our way to the next float.

“Tradition.” I said, “You gotta love it. Believe it or not, his mom didn’t even want him to be a bullfighter.” 

“Really?! So then what was Carlos talking about?” 

I chuckled and shrugged, “Yeah, it hurts.”

When we made it to the front of the float, the whole Sanchez family was gathered at the bottom. We saw Manolo with his mother, Carmen, as they came down the steps. 

“Everyone!” Carmen called out, “This is my son, Manolo!” Everyone cheered for Manolo. Carmen introduced him to two of his cousins who fought in the revolution.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Manolo brought Carmen to me and Paimon, “These are my friends.”

“Glad you remembered we exist.” Paimon said with a smirk. Manolo laughed sheepishly.

“Friends?” I asked, lovestruck. I cleared my throat, “Hola. I'm Fabi and this is Paimon.”

“Hello!” Paimon said.

“It's great to meet you both.” Carmen said, “This is La Muerte's castle.” We all saw a giant colorful castle and were in awe. This place keeps getting more and more amazing, “Come. She will help find my new daughter-in-law.”

We were even more flabbergasted when we were inside the castle. It looked like a candy land that went on for miles. We walked on these floating red platforms, which made me a little uncomfortable since I couldn't see the ground. We made it to the main hall where there was a large table filled with food.

“La Muerte's throwing a big Day of the Dead fiesta for everyone.” Carmen said.

“Mmm. That all looks so yummy.” Paimon said, practically drooling.

Carmen urged Manolo forward, “Ask her, mijo.”

Manolo politely bowed, “My lady. Will you help me find Maria Posada?”

“No one here can help you, bullfighter.” 

My heart stopped as a pair of black wings appeared from behind the chair. The chair turned around to reveal Xibalba, “The Land of the Remembered had a new ruler!”

Everyone gasped in horror.

“Who, you ask? Lil' ol me.”

“You again?” Manolo asked in confusion.

“What are you doing here, you monster!” Paimon yelled. I held her back when she tried to float to Xibalba. 

“But La Muerte would never hand her domain over to you.” Luis said.

Xibalba burped loudly, “She lost a bet.”

“Oh. She would do that.”

“This land is finally mine! All thanks to you, Manolo.”

“What?” Manolo asked. Paimon looked at me in shock.

“La Muerte bet that Maria would marry you. I bet that Maria would marry Joaquin. And since you're not around anymore, Maria’s gonna marry Joaquin to, you know, protect her beloved town. So I win.” 

My blood was boiling. How could he be so cruel?

“But Maria passed away. I saw her.” Manolo’s eyes filled with realization, “Oh, no…” 

“Oh, yes.”

Manolo fell to his knees in shock. Xibalba explained that his snake bit Maria once, which only put her in a Snow White sleep and has most likely woken up by now. That means Maria is still…

“...Alive.” We all gasped in shock.

“Cheers.” Xibalba taunted.

“One bite. Your snake. It bit me twice!” Manolo snapped, slamming his fists on the table, “You cheated! You will pay for this!”

Everyone was shocked by his sudden outburst. Would it be bad if a part of me thought that was kinda hot?

Xibalba stood on the table. He made his way towards Manolo, pushing the food off the table.

“The food!” Paimon exclaimed. 

Xibalba was kind of intimidating, asking Manolo if he was threatening him. Which he was. 

He flicked Manolo across the room, his relatives catching him. Xibalba taunted us one more time before flying through the ceiling.

“You big cheat!” Paimon fumed, “Oh, Paimon knew he was sleazy the second we saw him!”

“How could I have been so foolish?” Manolo asked himself.

“It isn't your fault, Manolo.” I said, “He tricked you. You were vulnerable and he took advantage of that. When I get my hands on that little…” I sighed, “So, what are we gonna do now?”

“I have to find La Muerte.” He turned to his family, “Please, help me.”

At first, Manolo’s family tried to convince him to stay, but Manolo was determined to get back to Maria. 

I love you, Manolo.

“If La Muerte is where Xibalba rotted away…” Carmen thought.

“Then she's in the Land of the Forgotten.” The Adelita cousins finished.

“Manolo, there is only one way to reach the Land of the Forgotten.” Jorge said, “Through the Cave of Souls.”

“Going there would be certain doom!” Luis said.

“Well, it's a good day for doom.” Manolo said. Everyone cheered, including me. Such a badass! 

Manolo, Carmen, Luis, Paimon and I got some horses and began our journey to the Cave of Souls. I rode with Manolo while Paimon held onto my shoulders.

“Do we know where we're going?” Paimon asked.

“We're going to the edge of the Land of the Remembered.” I said, “I think we just keep going in a straight line.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“Hey, Fabi.” Manolo said, “I've been meaning to ask you. How come you and Paimon aren't skeletons?”

Paimon and I looked at each other with wide eyes. Oh, no.

“Uh… well… I really don't know.” I said. I didn't lie, but I wasn't too sure if I should tell him the possibility as to why.

“Anyway, how do we know when we'll get there?” I asked, changing the subject. 

“I'm not sure.” Manolo said, “I guess we'll know it when we see it.”

I don't know how long we rode for, but it was long enough for my legs to hurt. Real bad. Didn't think skeletal horses could be so uncomfortable. 

We saw a giant cliff-side that intimidated all of us, “Caramba.” Luis said, “It hurts just looking at it.” 

“I'll say.” I said. I'm not the most athletic person. If I'm not already dead, this would definitely kill me.

Thankfully, Carmen, Luis, Manolo, and Paimon helped me up when I was struggling, and I struggled a lot. I was jealous that Paimon just floated to the top while the rest of us had to climb. I couldn't even blame Luis when he complained.

After what felt like an eternity climbing this death wall, we finally made it to the top. We were all tired, minus Paimon, and relieved we made it.

Luis ran ahead of us. A wall suddenly shot up from the ground as a loud voice boomed, “You are not worthy!”

Luis’s head was sent flying back to us, “Hey! My arthritis is gone!” Carmen went to help Luis. 

The ground was cracking and shifting, lowering and raising, “Uhh…” 

Manolo pushed Carmen out of the way of the ground splitting, “Mama!”

“Manolo!” I called out. I tried to avoid the cracks forming in the ground as walls were forming around us. Manolo was trapped in the shifting ground.

“Face the labyrinth and earn the right to be judged.” The voice said.

“What's going on?” Paimon panicked.

“It's a maze!” I realized. And not only that, but it was moving. We couldn't see what was going on, but we heard stone grinding and movement.

“I can't see him.” Luis said, “Lift me up!”

Carmen threw Luis into the air to see what was going on, “I see him! Uh, oh.”

“What? What's happening?” Carmen asked.

“It's alright, honey. He's totally ok.” Luis when tossed into the air again, “Run for your life!”

Paimon floated up to try and see Manolo, “Oh! Manolo, watch out!”

“What's going on?” I asked.

“Manolo is running from these large boulders!” Paimon said, “Come on, Manolo! You got this!”

I held my breath as the maze stopped moving. We all saw Manolo stop and dodge the boulders with that beautiful knee slide he does. 

Be still my beating heart.

“Ay, that was so beautiful.” Luis cried.

Manolo climbed on top of the boulders as the maze disappeared. A giant skeleton statue made of stone appeared with a giant sword, “You have earned the right to be judged. But be warned. No mortal has ever passed.”

We began to panic as the guardian raised his sword, “Manolo!” Carmen exclaimed. 

“No!” I screamed. 

As the sword striked Manolo, the sword shattered. Whoa…

“Manolo Sanchez.” The guardian said, “Your heart is pure and courageous.” The guardian lowered its head, becoming the entrance to the Cave of Souls, “You and yours may enter.”

“Whoo-hoo!” Paimon cheered, “Paimon knew you could do it!”

“Ay, mijo.” Carmen slapped Manolo, “Don't do that again!” She hugged him before we entered the Cave of Souls.

Here we go.

Chapter Text

The cave was dark and kinda misty. It was freaky.

“Uh… Paimon doesn't like it here.” Paimon said.

“This is the Cave of Souls?” Luis asked, a little disappointed. 

“Shh! Grandpa, show some respect.” Manolo whispered, pulling out his swords.

Out of nowhere, a glowing blob of light slithered through the mist, freaking us out a little. A loud voice said, “That… was… awesome, man!”

A large, glowing, wax man with a cloud beard emerged from the ground, praising Manolo about his performance in the maze. While everyone else was confused, I knew exactly who he was. Candle Maker, the one who keeps balance.

Seeing that he was harmless, Manolo put his swords away and waited for Candle Maker to finish talking, “I have to find La Muerte.” 

“La Muerte?” The floating book I didn't realize was with him opened up in front of him. He frowned, “Sorry you missed her, Manolo.”

“Wait, you know me?”

“Yeah, man. We know everybody. We know Luis, Carmen, and Puddle.” Everyone was confused by the puddle, but we went with it. Candle Maker looked at me and Paimon, “But we don't know you two. Who are you, anyway?”

I held my breath. Crap, I completely forgot about Candle Maker. Of course Paimon and I aren't on his radar, we're not a part of this world, “Uh… I'm Fabi and this is Paimon. We're not really… from around here?”

Everyone gave me confused looks, but there are more important things to worry about right now. 

“Alright, then. We'll talk about that later.” Candle Maker said, making me sigh in relief, “Come on in, y'all.”

The spot we were standing on suddenly rose up in the air, “Whoa!” I said.

We kept going up until we entered the real Cave of Souls, “Welcome to the Cave of Souls!” The cave seemed endless with candles as far as the eye can see, “Mi casa es su casa.” There were four waterfalls in between some of the hills of candles.

“Now this is a cave!” Luis marveled. We looked around the realm in awe.

“And I'm your humble, yet strikingly handsome, Candle Maker!” His voice echoed, but no one was really impressed. The only one clapping for him was the book of life.

“I don't get it.” Luis said.

“Yeah, what does that mean?” Paimon asked.

“Oh, wait.” Candle Maker said, “I got to do the thing, I got to do the thing. Watch this.” He clapped his hands together, summoning many candles to circle around us in a large beautiful display.

We looked up at the candles in wonder, “Amazing, huh? This is our work! This is what we do! Look, that group, that's your town.” He grabbed a lit candle from the floating display, “And that's Maria.” He grabbed another unlit candle, “And next to her, Manolo. One aflame with life. The other, kaput.”

Manolo looked down in shame. We all looked at him with sympathy. Talk about kicking a man while he's down. 

“You see, as long as someone alive remembers you, you get to live in the Land of the Remembered.” Candle Maker explained.

This didn't make Manolo feel better, so I said, “Hey, on the plus side, he just said you're next to Maria. That means it's fate, right?” Of course, it's fate. They're soul mates. Literally. 

Manolo looked at me, “You think so?”

“I know so.” I do.

“Santa Gordita!” Candle Maker exclaimed.

“What is it?” Manolo asked. 

“Chakal is on the march.” Candle Maker was looking into the book, “With him comes the end of your town. And there will be no one left to remember you!”

“We would all be forgotten.” Carmen realized. 

Manolo asked Candle Maker to help us go back, but the god said there's nothing he can do. The book nudged him, opening itself to him, “Santa Chihuahua!” Candle Maker exclaimed. 

“What is it?” Paimon asked.

“Alright guys, The Book of Life, it holds everyone's story. But the pages on Manolo’s life, they're blank!” Manolo’s eyes went wide with realization, “You didn't follow the life that's written for you, you are writing your own story!” Candle Maker did a “mind blown” motion.

“That's good?” Luis asked.

“Of course, it's good!” I said, “It's better than good.”

“Does this mean you'll help us find La Muerte?” Manolo asked.

“Well, I'm not supposed to interfere, but I may be able to bend the rules, just a little.” Candle Maker said, “Afterall, it is the Day of the Dead. Right book?” The book and Candle Maker fist bumped.

With a snap of his fingers, Candle Maker moved our platform towards one of the waterfalls, “Come on. I'll take you to La Muerte.”

Manolo said he was going alone, Luis countering that. Candle Maker was trying to get the Sanchezes' attention, but they weren't listening.

“Uh guys, Candle Maker is trying to-” Paimon tried to say.

“We should go.” Carmen said. She ran towards the waterfall as Luis tried to protest this.

“No retreat, no surrender!” Manolo shouted as he dove into the waterfall with Luis.

Candle Maker, book, Paimon and I looked down at the three Sanchez members, “I tried to warn them.” Candle Maker said. 

“We know, man.” I said. I closed my eyes and fell through the waterfall, “I hate this!!!!”

I landed on something hard and I opened my eyes. We all landed on the book who had caught up to us in time. Even though we were safe, Manolo was still screaming. I snickered a little. He's such a dork, it's adorable. 

“Are you sure we're in the right place?” Luis asked. We all climbed off the book.

Candle Maker chuckled as he floated down to us, “Y'all Sanchezes need to look before you go jumping into magic waterfalls. What if you went in the wrong one? You could've ended up in Tijuana.”

“I think I died there.”

“Welcome to the Land of the Forgotten.” It was a gloomy place. It was hot and gray with ashes falling from the sky. It was like the inside of a volcano. “Sad, huh?”

One of the skeletons disappeared in black ash. “Oh, my gosh.” I whispered. It was heartbreaking to watch.

“You poor things.” Carmen said.

“And that's gonna happen to us if we don't hurry.” Manolo said, “Come on.”

We quickly made our way through the realm. “Behold. Xibalba's castle.” Candle Maker said. 

“Ok, that's freaky.” I said. The castle looked like a snake in the middle of a lake of lava.

We ran inside the castle, which took a lot more effort than I thought. “I'm out of shape.” I wheezed. I wasn't used to running this much.

Finally, we saw La Muerte at the top of the castle. “La Muerte!” Manolo called out, “I need a word with you, my lady!”

La Muerte turned around, confused at the sight of us, “Manolo? But how did you get here?”

“I had some help.” Candle Maker waved excitedly.

“Candle Maker, Carmen, and… the head of Luis?” La Muerte snapped her fingers, putting Luis’s body back together. He wasn't too thrilled with arthritis returning.

“But you two, I don't know.” La Muerte said, looking at me and Paimon. 

“I'm Fabi and this is Paimon.” I said, “We're not from here.”

“Hello!” Paimon waved enthusiastically.

Before she could dwell on us too long, Manolo stepped forward, “I know about the wager.” He said, “Xibalba cheated!”

“He did what?!” La Muerte exclaimed. 

“Yeah, w-with a two-headed snake!”

To say La Muerte was furious was an understatement. She was shaking with anger.

“You might want to cover your ears now.” Candle Maker said. We all did so when La Muerte started to scream.

“XIBALBA!!!!!!!!!”

The candles on her dress and hat glowed so bright that she lit up the whole realm. When the light went out, we uncovered our ears. “Ah, I thought I went blind there.” I said, blinking a few times. 

Xibalba appeared with two glasses and a bottle of wine, “Yes, my dear-” He dropped what he was holding when he saw us, “Oh, boy.”

“Now he's gonna get it.” Paimon smirked, crossing her arms.

“You misbegotten son of a lepros donkey!” La Muerte shouted, “You cheated! Again!”

“I did no such thing!” Xibalba said. He was proven wrong when La Muerte pulled out his snake, snapping it back into a staff. Xibalba laughed nervously as he took his staff, “Oh, that. It has a mind of its own… or two.”

“That is unforgivable!” La Muerte fumed. She began to walk away from her husband.

“Oh please. I never sent that snake after Maria. And I never gave that medal to Joaquin.” Xibalba realized his mistake when he said those words.

La Muerte stopped in her tracks, “What medal?”

Xibalba tried to play dumb, “The one I never gave him. Ever. At all. Who is this Joaquin?”

La Muerte grabbed Xibalba by the mouth, “You gave Joaquin the Medal of Everlasting Life?!” Xibalba meekly confessed.

“Medal of Everlasting Life?” Manolo asked. 

La Muerte simply explained that whoever wore the medal became invisible. I could see on Manolo’s face that everything had clicked in place for him.

“Wait, so Joaquin was a fake this whole time?” Paimon asked. 

“Kind of.” I said, “But his heart's in the right place.”

Xibalba got well-deserved slaps from both La Muerte and Carmen. “Can I get a slap too?” Candle Maker asked.

“Dude, what the heck?” 

“My son did not deserve this!” Carmen fumed.

“Come on.” Manolo said, “I have to go back.”

Despite everything, Xibalba was being frustratingly stubborn. Not even La Muerte calling him by his pet name worked.

“Listen, tar man!” Paimon shouted, “You're the reason we're in this mess in the first place. So it's only right you get us out of it!”

“Hey, what about a wager?” Manolo suggested, grabbing the death gods’ attention, “If I win, you give me my life back.”

“You have nothing I want.” Xibalba said. 

“But I do.” La Muerte said, “If you win, Xibalba, you can rule both realms.”

“What?!” Paimon exclaimed, “No! That's a terrible idea!”

“You name the task.” Manolo said, “Anything you want and I will beat you.” Xibalba scoffed. “What? Are you afraid you might lose?”

Manolo. Is this confidence I see in you? Cause it's sexy.

“What you doing, kid?” Candle Maker asked.

Carmen looked at Manolo and gave him an approving nod. “Do we have a deal?”

“We have a deal.” Xibalba finally said. He stalked closer to Manolo, making me uncomfortable, “Tell me, what keeps you up at night? What eats at you from the inside? What, do tell, is your worst fear?” For a second, Manolo looked away from Xibalba, “Got it.”

With a snap of his fingers, Xibalba sent us to a large arena in the land of the dead. It kind of reminded me of the Roman coliseum, filled with cheering skeletons.

Manolo was in the center of the arena, looking up at everyone. Paimon and I were with the Sanchez family. 

“What… what's going on?” Paimon asked nervously. 

Xibalba shouted that Manolo’s challenge was to defeat every bull his family killed. If he loses, he'll be forgotten. As if this couldn't get any worse, he had to defeat thousands of bulls.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed, “What is with you people?!”

The challenge began and the many skeletal bulls charged at Manolo, running around with no real direction. He was doing a good job dodging the bulls, but got hit a couple of times. Even his family was getting worried.

“Manolo, get out of there!” Jorge called out.

“Come on, Manolo!” I shouted, “You got this!”

After a while, there was a flash. Carlos was with us. As a skeleton. 

Paimon and I gasped when we saw him. Carmen realized her husband was here and the parted lovers quickly embraced. 

Candle Maker called out to Manolo that his dad was here.

“What… what happened?” Paimon asked.

“Chakal and his men are at the gates of San Angel!” Carlos shouted.

Oh, no. We're all in trouble now. 

The bulls started running to the center of the ring. They somehow combined together to transform into a giant skeletal bull. It roared so loudly that it shook the arena.

“Wha… How is that fair?!” I shouted.

Regardless, the fight continued. At some point, a ring of fire appeared around Manolo and the bull. Manolo was flung into the wall by the bull, making me wince.

“Ouch… that's gotta hurt.” Paimon said.

“Get up and fight like a Sanchez!” Luis shouted. Out of nowhere, Manolo’s great-grandmother appeared, knitting as though nothing was happening, “Mama? What are you doing here?”

“Eh, cholesterol.” Anita nonchalantly said.

I knew this meant that Manolo was most likely one of the last surviving members of his family, but I didn't want to bring that up.

We kept watching the fight. With every passing minute, things got more and more tense. At one point, Manolo dodged the bull, causing it to slam into the wall. The shockwaves were so strong that they sent Manolo backwards.

We all gasped in shock. That was probably the hardest hit Manolo took. 

“The beast is out!” Luis exclaimed. 

“Time to finish this.” Carmelo said, menacingly.

Manolo’s guitar and sword had landed on the ground. He got up, gripping his side with a wince. A part of me wondered if he fractured a rib.

The whole arena was chanting for Manolo to finish the bull as he approached the guitar and sword. For a minute, it looked like he was about to grab the sword, but at the last minute, he chose the guitar, shocking everyone.

“What is he doing?!” Luis asked.

Carlos looked down in disappointment, but we kept watching.

Manolo played a few chords, but the bull knocked him to the side. Did I forget to mention the bull was now on fire for no reason?

Manolo silently got back up. He was looking at the message Maria wrote on his guitar. Even when she wasn't here, she still inspired him to be great. 

He started playing the apology song from the movie. I almost teared up. I've heard this song dozens of times, but hearing it in person is really something else. 

The bull looked like he was going to crush Manolo, but narrowly missed him. The song was getting through to the bull. His fire went out as he slowly laid on the ground. Manolo gently touched the bull, which turned into thousands of marigold petals that ascended out of the arena.

He did it.

The whole arena cheered. 

We all jumped from our spot to congratulate Manolo. I let his family go first in giving praise. Carlos even apologized for how he treated him. Manolo understood, knowing his father only wanted what was best for him. I smiled at their reconciliation. 

“But then what was Manolo’s worst fear?” Paimon asked.

“Being himself.” I explained. 

“Oh! Paimon understands now!”

Once Manolo was set back on the ground by his family, Paimon and I went to hug him, “Oh, Manolo, I knew you could do it!” I said, hugging him tightly.

“Thank you, Fabi.” He said.

“Paimon almost thought you weren't going to make it, but you sure proved her wrong!” Paimon said. 

La Muerte, Xibalba, and Candle Maker approached us, hands held, “In accordance with the ancient rules, we give you life!” They said.

“Yes!” I said.

“Be careful up there, mijo.” Carmen told Manolo.

Manolo, Paimon and I ascended into the air in a beam of golden light. We watched in awe as Manolo got his body back. 

“Uh, where are we going?” Paimon asked, “We're going pretty fast, too.”

“I think we're going back to San Angel.” I said.

Manolo held his fist up, shouting as we kept rising. Next thing we knew, we shot up out of the ground, Manolo punching Chakal in the face. 

I landed hard on my side, while Manolo landed gracefully on his hands and knees, looking like a bull ready to charge. He looked like a badass while I'm on the ground writhing in pain.

We were in front of the church and the whole town. Everyone looked like they had so many questions since the man they all thought was dead this morning had shot up out of the ground.

“What?!” Chakal fumed. I have so many questions on how this man is as big as a house.

“Manolo?” Maria asked. Manolo helped her up before immediately dipping her into a kiss. 

I had to cover my mouth not to fangirl too hard, especially when Manolo held a finger up to Chakal for him to shut up. They earned this kiss, sir. Let them have this. When he broke the kiss, Maria looked disoriented for a second with a smile. They're so cute!

“Hold this for me, amigo.” Manolo said, tossing his guitar to Joaquin. He turned his attention to the giant bandit leader, “So, my father tells me you hate bullfighters.”

“I hate everybody.” Chakal sneered. 

Manolo drew his swords, “Ok, let's do this.”

“You and what army?” Chakal mocked.

As if on cue, the whole Sanchez family appeared to help. The whole town was confused, but they cheered. Is no one confused right now? Is this a regular thing to you guys?

“What are they doing here?” Paimon asked. 

“It's the Day of the Dead, Manolo!” La Muerte said from the church rooftops. Xibalba, La Muerte and Candle Maker explained they were helping us one more time.

“Thank you!” Manolo shouted.

“No retreat.” Maria said. 

“No surrender!” Joaquin and Manolo said. The three amigos raised their swords together. 

The whole town fought the bandit army. Paimon and I didn't know how to fight, so we were pretty much useless. I did manage to throw a few punches and kicks. It was an adrenaline rush.

“This is amazing!” I shouted.

There was a random explosion, scaring the crap out of me, “Oh, my god!” 

The next thing I knew, part of the church had crumbled to the ground. Manolo had thrown Maria off the church roof to his family. He somehow managed to land safely.

Chakal's arm was pinned under the rubble of the church. He lit the explosives strapped to his chest, “I'm taking this whole town with me.” He snarled.

“No!” Paimon exclaimed. 

He's seriously about to destroy the whole town… oh, my god…

As I was processing this, Manolo and Joaquin charged towards Chakal, pinning him to the ground. They were trying to knock the bell over Chakal so the explosion would be trapped with him. 

“No. No!” Maria yelled. She tried to go help them, but was held back by her father and one of Manolo’s friends. 

But then Manolo pushed Joaquin out of the way. 

“Wait, what is he doing?!” Paimon exclaimed, “He's going to die again?!”

“He's willing to sacrifice himself for the town.” I said, “Even if it means dying again.”

Manolo looked at Maria one last time, “Don't forget me.” He kicked the column, trapping himself and Chakal under the bell.

“No!” Maria screamed. 

There was a large explosion under the bell. It felt like a stab in my heart.

Seeing their leader was dead, the bandit army ran out of town. The bell tipped over revealing nothing but black smoke. Maria gasped in horror and fell to her knees, mourning the love she just got back. Paimon and I looked at each other sadly. 

But then Manolo got up from the ground completely unharmed, shocking everyone. 

“What?!” Paimon exclaimed. I pulled her into my arms, hugging her in excitement to repress my fangirling, “Too tight…”

Maria was about to run into his arms, but hesitated. Not that I blame her.

“It's me, mi amor.” Manolo said. This was all she needed for her to embrace her love. 

Maria pulled away and looked him over for injuries, “But how did you survive?”

They looked at the gods, thinking they had something to do with it. “Don't look at me.” La Muerte said, just as confused as they were.

Turns out, it was the medal, which Maria found pinned to Manolo’s back. The couple ran to check on their wounded friend. Joaquin had a rag wrapped around his left eye. Manolo wasn't the only one willing to sacrifice himself for his loved ones. He wanted to be a true hero for once. Like Manolo. 

“Aw, that's actually very selfless of him.” Paimon said.

“Hey, Manolo is like a brother.” I said, “They'd do anything for each other.” I wish I had someone like that. 

Joaquin looked down at the medal, “I've never seen more clearly.” He tossed the medal back to Xibalba and turned to his friends, “It's time to cast our own shadows.”

“And write our… our own stories.” Manolo said. The three amigos shared a heartwarming group hug.

When they broke away, the general walked up to them, “Ah, ah, ah. There's still one more thing we need to do, son.” He lowered Manolo to one knee as he and Maria smiled at each other.

“Ahem, apologize.” I sarcastically coughed, “You're a douche.”

The whole town and the dead Sanchez family was gathered at the church for Manolo and Maria's wedding that the priest and Candle Maker officiated. 

This time, it was Maria’s turn to dip Manolo into a kiss. I finally unleashed my fangirl when they did. It was ok for me to jump around and squeal in happiness since everyone else was too.

“Today was a good Day of the Dead.” Candle Maker said, “Ah, yeah, yeah!”

“Yes!” I cheered, “Yes! Whoo-hoo!” 

We all went outside where Manolo and Maria sang an adorable duet and danced as husband and wife. Everyone, including me, joined in the song and danced. It was so much fun to be a part of.

After a while, Paimon and I walked around town. I was starting to feel kind of down.

“What's the matter, Fabi?” Paimon asked.

“I'm worried, Paimon.” I said, “We just lived through my favorite movie of all time. But now what? This is where the story ends in my world. I like to think there's more to the story once it's done, but with everything going on with the stone… I'm scared that we're stuck here.”

“Hm… Paimon can see how that's a problem.”

“Fabi!” I turned around and saw Manolo and Maria running towards me, Maria out of her wedding dress, “Paimon, hey! We’ve been looking for you guys, you just disappeared.”

“Uh, yeah.” It was a little hard for me to hide my emotions, so I could tell they knew something was up.

The newlyweds looked at each other with concern, “Fabi?” Manolo asked, “Are you ok?” 

Everyone was looking at me, waiting for an answer. I sighed, “Should I tell them?” I asked Paimon. She nodded, “When we told you guys we’re not from here, we were telling the truth, but… it's more complicated than that. You’re gonna think I’m crazy but… we’re not from this world.”

“What?” Maria asked.

“I’ve been teleporting to different worlds. First to Paimon’s world, which is a game in my world, and now here, which is a movie, or story, in my world.”

Manolo and Maria looked at me like I had two heads, “You’re… not making any sense.” Manolo said.

“I know. This thing randomly appeared in my home and has been sending me place to place.” I took the Mora Stone out of my pocket to show them.

“This kind of thing has already happened in Paimon’s world.” Paimon explained, “But so much magical stuff happened already. So should this really surprise you?”

The couple shrugged, “When you put it like that, it’s not the strangest thing to happen all day.” Manolo said.

“I promise everything I told you guys was true.” I said, “I don’t know where we’re going next or when, but part of me is afraid I'm stuck here. This is all an adventure, but I’m also scared I can’t go home.”

As if on cue, the Stone started vibrating violently in my hand, “Oh, no…”

“It’s happening again!” Paimon exclaimed.

“What’s happening?” Maria asked, scared and confused.

A portal opened up, almost immediately pulling me and Paimon into its force. These things scare me every time. What really scared me was seeing Manolo and Maria grab me and Paimon’s wrists to try and stop us from getting sucked in.

“No!” I yelled, “Guys, let go!”

They didn’t listen. They kept trying to help us, trying to pull us away from the portal. But it was no use.

“It’s too strong!” Paimon said.

Manolo and Maria were being pulled into the portal too, “No!”. There was nothing we could do as we were all sucked into the vortex. Off to the next world I guess.

Chapter Text

No, no, no, no, NO! This is bad, this is so bad! 

We all screamed as we were once again spinning in the vortex. How did Manolo and Maria get dragged into this? This is the last thing I wanted for them! 

After a while, the vortex threw us out, and we landed hard on the ground. We landed in the grass, but it still hurt really bad.

“Is everyone ok?” I asked.

“Paimon is ok.” Paimon said.

“We're good.” Maria groaned as Manolo helped her up. 

I stood up and dusted myself off, “Aahhhhhhh! I hate this freaking-!” I turned to the unwilling travel partners, “I'm so, so, sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen. Now you're stuck here with us, far from home, and I don't know how to send you back, let alone if you can go back-”

Maria grabbed me by the shoulders, “Fabi, look at me. Yes, all of this is crazy. But we'll figure this out.”

“She's right.” Manolo said, “The important thing is that we stick together.”

“Aren't you scared?” I asked. 

“Of course, we are. But we don't have many options now, do we?” 

I took a deep breath. They were right. There wasn't much we could do now. Paimon and I explained everything a bit more to Manolo and Maria.

“Please don't think you're not any less real than you are right now.” I said, “Because you clearly are.”

“We know, it's just… a lot to take in.” Manolo said. 

“Yeah, I thought the same thing.”

“So, if the Mora Stone changed when you came to our world, do you think it changed again?” Maria asked. 

I took the Stone out of my pocket and saw the purple gem part had gotten a little bigger. More of the stone shell had chipped off.

“Hm. Paimon thinks the more we travel, the more the Mora Stone turns into a jewel?” Paimon wondered. 

“That does make sense.” I said.

“What happens when it's completely transformed?” Manolo asked.

“I don't know…” I'm a little scared to find out.

“Well, we'll get there when we get there.” Paimon said, “The important thing is figuring out where we are.”

“Right. Uh…” I looked around and saw we were in a jungle not far from a village. I racked my brain trying to figure out where we were. This place looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

“Try not to draw too much attention to ourselves.” I said, “We're most likely gonna look weird to these guys. N-Not that you look weird, it's just that-”

“Fabi, it's ok.” Manolo said, “We understand.” 

Just then, three young kids ran past us. Wait. Those kids look familiar. I looked up at what they were running towards. Ahead was a colorful house on the outskirts of town. 

“I… think I know this place.” I said, my heart stopping.

“You do?” Maria asked, “Where are we?”

“We're in Colombia! Come on!” We ran along with the kids. When we caught up with them, I asked, “Hey! Where are you off to?” 

“We're going to the Madrigals!” The boy running on coffee said excitedly. I knew it. 

We ran closer to the house until we were looking through the kitchen window. A teenage girl with tan skin, short, curly dark hair was laying plates out on the table. She had a white shirt and blue skirt that was decorated with butterflies and had green round glasses. Mirabel Madrigal.

“Hey!” The jittery boy called out, “When's the magic gift happen?!”

“My cousin's ceremony is tonight.” Mirabel answered.

“Ceremony?” Paimon asked.

“What's his gift?!” One of the girls asked.

“We're gonna find out.” Mirabel said.

“What's your gift?!” The boy asked.

“Who's asking?”

“Us!” The kids replied.

“Well, ‘us,’ I can't just talk about myself. I'm only part of the amazing Madrigals.” Mirabel gestured to a family tree painting on the kitchen wall.

“Who's all the amazing Madrigals?”

“Aw, you're not gonna leave me alone, are you? Casita, help me out.”

“Ok, this world is a musical. Pay attention to this song.” I said, “It'll explain everything better than I could.”

It took everything in me not to sing along with Mirabel. She was singing about how everyone in her family has a magical gift, just as unique as they are. Their grandmother, Alma, is the main matriarch of the family. The amazing Madrigals. 

The large family left the house and walked into town as the song continued. We followed the kids to get to Mirabel, “Oh my gosh, it's them!” The kids were begging Mirabel to talk more about her family and their powers. 

“JUST TELL US WHAT EVERYONE CAN DO!” The boy shouted.

“And that's why coffee's for grownups.” Mirabel said, taking the coffee cup from him.

The song continued with Mirabel talking about who was in her family. Her Tía Pepa controls the weather with her mood, her Tío Bruno, who disappeared and no one talks about, could see the future, and her mom Julieta can heal injuries with her cooking. Since Mirabel's dad Agustín and her uncle Felix married into the family, they don't have powers. 

The song was so upbeat and fun. It was hard not to sing along, but I did dance a little. I could tell Manolo, Maria and Paimon felt the same.

The whole family uses their gifts to help the town in any way they can. According to Alma, it's so they earn their miracle.

Mirabel explained who the children of the family were. Her cousins are Dolores, who has super hearing, Camilo, who's a shape-shifter, and Antonio is getting his gift today.

Mirabel has two older sisters. Isabela, the golden child, could make flowers grow, and Luisa, who had super strength.

After she finished singing, Mirabel turned to leave, but one of the kids stopped her, “But what's your gift?”

An accordion was tossed to Mirabel by some nearby musicians who started playing again. She awkwardly played away and tried to avoid the subject of her gift, recapping her family. The kids kept begging her to say her gift.

Next thing we knew, we were all in front of the Madrigal house. Alma called out to Mirabel from the front door, “What are you doing?”

Mirabel explained, “Uh, they were just asking about the family and –”

“She was about to tell us about her super awesome gift!” One of the girls shouted.

Dolores overheard and said through the doorway, “Oh, Mirabel didn't get one.” Things got a little awkward. 

“What?” Paimon asked, confused.

“How… is that possible?” Maria asked.

“No one knows.” I said.

The kids looked up at Mirabel with sympathy, “You didn't get a gift?” A girl asked.

Just as Mirabel was about to explain, a guy came over to deliver fireworks, “Mirabel? Delivery! I gave you the ‘special' since you're the only Madrigal kid with no gift. I call it the ‘not special’ special. Since uh, since you have no gift.”

Mirabel smiled awkwardly as she held the basket, “Thanks.”

“Ooo and tell Antonio good luck. Last gift ceremony was a bummer. Last one being yours that did not work.”

“Well, that guy is just plain rude.” Paimon said.

“If I was you, I'd be really sad.” A girl said.

“Well, my little friend I am not, because the truth is, gift or no gift, I am just as special as the rest of my family.” Mirabel said.

We all looked at the house. Flowers and rainbows were magically appearing and Luisa lifted a whole wagon like it was nothing. 

Sure…

“Maybe your gift is being in denial.”

After the kids left, Mirabel went inside the house. “Come on.” I said. We followed Mirabel inside where everyone was getting the house ready for Antonio's gift ceremony. It was pretty chaotic, so Mirabel was trying her hardest not to bump into anyone decorating.

It was kind of a challenge for us too, but we managed, “Hey.” I called out, “Hey! Mirabel!”

She turned around and saw us, “O-Oh, hi.” Mirabel said, “Wait, you were with the kids from earlier, right?”

“Oh.” Manolo said, “We didn't think anyone saw us.” 

“You were kinda hard to miss, not gonna lie.”

Dang it.

“We just wanted to say hi and introduce ourselves.” I said, “I'm Fabi. This is Manolo and Maria, and that's Paimon.”

“Nice to meet you guys.” She did a double take at us, “Wait, how did you guys get here? The walls around the Encanto are almost impossible to get over.”

“We, uh… are very good… climbers.” 

Manolo and Maria looked at me with a blank stare. That's all I could think of, give me a break!

“We didn't realize we were close to a town.” Manolo said, “When we heard about the ceremony, we wanted to see for ourselves.”

Mirabel smiled a little, “Oh. Ok, it'd be nice to see some fresh faces in the crowd.”

Just then, there was a mini tornado. It was Pepa panicking about the night needing to be perfect. Unfortunately, she was also messing up the flower decorations.

“Did someone say ‘flowers’?” Isabela re-grew the flowers while descending to the floor on two vines while everyone applauded. Mirabel watched in annoyance while me, Manolo, Maria and Paimon watched in indifference.

When Isabela was on the ground, she flipped her hair that hit Mirabel in the face. She rolled her eyes and told Mirabel to not be in the way so much. 

I knew Mirabel and Isabela had a rocky relationship. I just didn't know why Isabela was so mean to her sister.

As Mirabel was trying to clap back at Isabel, she ran her face into a beam.

“Are you ok?” Maria asked, pulling Mirabel away from the beam.

“Yeah, yeah, I'm ok.” She said, “Just wait here, I'll be right back.” Mirabel went to drop the fireworks off in the kitchen.

“That must be rough.” Manolo said, “Being the only one in her family without a gift.”

“As much as she doesn't want to admit it, it does hurt.” I said, “In my world, this is a story. It was made recently and I got so attached to it. It's my second favorite movie.” I smiled as I turned to them, “This place is beautiful, isn't it?”

“You can say that again.” Paimon said, “And that song Mirabel sang about her family. Paimon couldn't keep herself still.”

“Oh, there's something else I forgot to mention. This house is alive.” 

“Wait, what do you- whoa!” Maria almost lost her balance when the house, or Casita, moved her back and forth on the floor tiles. Manolo grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. Maria looked down at the tiles with wide eyes, gripping her husband's hand tightly.

“Wah!” Paimon exclaimed, “The tiles just moved!”

I chuckled at the house messing with Maria, “Don't worry, it's just Casita.” I looked up at the ceiling, “Don't worry about us, Casita. We're new here, but we're friends. You can trust us.”

A few tiles on the wall flapped up and down as if the house was waving at us. Paimon waved back, “Hi!”

“C-Can the house… talk?” Manolo asked, just as freaked out as Maria.

“Casita does communicate with the family, but I couldn't tell you what they're saying.” I said. I could tell it was going to take Manolo and Maria a bit to get used to Casita.

Mirabel came back, “Ok, I'm back. Hey, you want to see something I've been working on?” 

“Yeah, totally.” I said.

We all followed Mirabel upstairs where she started setting up little personalized decorations for her family.

“Oh, my gosh.” Maria said, looking at the colorful gifts, “Did you make these yourself?” 

“Yep.” Mirabel said, proudly, “I just wanted to do something nice for my family today.”

“They're going to love them.” Manolo said, “You're very talented, Mirabel.” 

“Aw, thank you. I also decorated this dress.” 

“Really?” Paimon said, “If you ask Paimon, she'd say your gift is sewing!”

“Stop! You're making me blush.” Mirabel knelt down to set up a magenta decoration in front of Alma's door with a small candle in the center. 

When she stood up, she looked at the many pictures of Alma throughout the years when the family got their gifts. It went all the way back to when her mom, aunt, and uncle were kids. The only child missing from the wall was her. 

I was about to say something when Alma showed up, startling all of us, but especially Mirabel. She accidentally knocked over the candle, lighting the decoration on fire briefly, as she quickly tried to snuff the fire out.

“Maybe you should leave the decorations to someone else?” Alma asked. Mirabel tried to explain that she made these decorations for the family, but Alma stopped her, “Mirabel, I know you want to help. But tonight must go perfectly. The whole town relies on our family, on our gifts. So the best way for some of us to help is... to step aside.”

Before anything else was said, we heard thundering. It was Pepa, “Pepa, you have a cloud!”

“I know, Mamá, but now I can't find Antonio!” Pepa yelled from the other side of the house, “What do you want from me?!”

Alma left us in the hallway before Mirabel went to her room. 

“They never let her feel included, do they?” Maria asked.

“No…” I said, “Even if they try to help her feel better, they're not exactly ‘helping’, you know?” 

“I know how that feels.” Manolo said, sadly.

Later that night, the party at the Madrigal house was in full swing. There was music and dancing and lots of delicious food. Paimon sampled one of everything. Isabela was dancing and making flower petals appear while kids were clinging to Luisa's arms while she walked, though she didn't seem to mind. Even Casita was playing around by sliding some kids off the stairs.

“Fabi! Over here!” I looked over and saw Mirable waving to us. We made our way over to her.

“There you are.” I said, “Where have you been?”

“I've just been… around. You enjoying the party?”

“Are we ever!” Paimon said, “This is as much fun as Manolo and Maria's wedding!”

“Paimon.” Maria said with an embarrassed smile.

“Well, the fun is just getting started.” Mirabel smiled, “The ceremony is about to start.”

And she was right. After a while, the crowd had quieted down as Alma stood at the top of the stairs with the candle. The drums had stopped and the lights had gone out.

“Fifty years ago, in our darkest moment, this candle blessed us with a miracle.” Alma said, “And the greatest honor of our family has been to use our blessings to serve this beloved community. Tonight, we come together once more as another steps into the light to make us proud.”

Everyone cheered for Antonio, who was standing on the other side of the room. The lights were on him and the floor tiles flipped over to make something like a red carpet for him.

Antonio seemed too nervous to even move. He turned and reached his hand out to the side.

“What is he doing?” Manolo whispered.

“You'll see.” I said.

A moment later, Mirabel slowly and reluctantly walked to Antonio's side and grabbed his hand. Everyone was shocked and concerned for her as they both walked towards Alma. We all knew Mirabel was reliving her own ceremony where she didn't get a gift. I can't even imagine how heart broken she was at such a young age.

Finally, they made it to the top of the stairs where Alma was waiting. She bent down to Antonio as he placed his hands on the candle, “Will you use your gift to honor our miracle? Will you serve this community and strengthen our home?”

Antonio nodded and went to the glowing faint door. He slowly touched the doorknob, which started glowing along with the faint door. Everyone was amazed. It gave me chills. 

A toucan flew down and landed on Antonio's arm, “Uh-huh, uh-huh.” He said, “I understand you.”

“Is he… talking to the bird?” Paimon asked. 

“Yep.” I smiled, “That's his gift.”

“Of course they can come!” Antonio said. More birds flew down around him along with some other animals. The door glowed as it took shape. On the door was a glowing image of Antonio surrounded by animals. 

Alma let out a sigh of relief, “We have a new gift!”

Fireworks went off as the crowd cheered. Everyone made their way up the stairs to look at Antonio's new room. It was a beautiful jungle to fit his animal gift.

“It's bigger on the inside?!” Paimon exclaimed. 

We watched in amazement as Antonio rode a jaguar through his room. There was a giant tree in the middle of the room that he rode through, went through a few waterfalls and streams, finally landing on his soft hammock. He was so happy with his new gift and room. It was impossible not to be happy for him.

His family was the most proud of all. They ran up to him to give him a big hug.

“I knew you could do it.” Alma said, “A gift just as special as you.”

I heard that last part. I looked over at Mirabel who was stung by those words. My heart broke for her.

The family gathered around for a picture. Well, everyone except Mirabel. I don't think they noticed she wasn't there.

Just as the picture was taken, it was like time slowed down. Literally. The only ones who were moving were Mirabel, Manolo, Maria, Paimon, and me.

“Is she… ok?” Maria asked.

Mirabel: Don't be upset, or mad at all…

Don't be upset, or sad at all

Hey, I'm still part of the family Madrigal and I'm fine, I am totally fine

I will stand on the side as you shine

She couldn't hold in the pain anymore.

Mirabel: I'm not fine, I'm not fine

I can't move the mountains 

I can't make the flowers bloom

I can't take another night up in my room waiting on a miracle 

I can't heal what's broken

Can't control the morning rain or a hurricane 

Can't keep down the unspoken invisible pain

Always waiting on a miracle, a miracle 

We followed her as she walked out of the room. She just wanted to feel as important as her family, but her not being different made her feel… well, different.

Mirabel: Always walking alone

Always wanting for more

Like I'm still at that door longing to shine like all of you shine

All I need is a change

All I need is a chance 

All I know is I can't stay on the side

Open your eyes

Open your eyes

Open your eyes 

I felt a knot form in my throat and tears fill my eyes. This was hitting too close to home for me.

Mirabel: I would move the mountains

Make new trees and flowers grow

Someone please just let me know where do I go?

I am waiting on a miracle, a miracle 

I would heal what's broken

Show this family something new 

Who I am inside

So what can I do?

I'm sick of waiting on a miracle, so here I go

I am ready!

C'mon, I'm ready!

I've been patient and steadfast and steady!

Bless me now as you blessed us all those years ago when you gave us a miracle

Mirabel was alone in the halls, looking up longfully at the candle. 

Mirabel: Am I too late for a miracle?

A tear ran down my face. I don't know what came over me, but I ran up to Mirabel, tackling her in a hug, “Whoa! Oh, it's you- wait, you heard all that?”

I took a deep breath and looked at her, “You're not alone, Mirabel.” I said, wiping another tear, “I know how you feel.”

Her eyes went wide for a moment, “You… You do?” I nodded.

“I do too.” Manolo said as he, Maria, and Paimon caught up to us.

“We were worried about you.” Maria said. 

“You were?’ Mirabel asked. 

“Of course.” I said. 

Before she could say anything else, we heard a small crash

“Gah! What was that?” Paimon asked.

“Oh, it was just a tile.” Maria said.

“Phew. Paimon thought it was something serious.”

Mirabel walked closer to the tile suspiciously. She picked it up, but it slipped, cutting her hand. 

“Are you ok?” Manolo asked. Mirabel didn't respond. 

Just then, we heard a faint rumbling coming from the ground, “Casita?” Mirabel asked in concern.

She reached for the floor tiles, only for them to crack, the rumbling getting stronger. The whole house was shaking now and cracks were spreading everywhere.

“What's happening?” Paimon asked, looking around in fear. 

Mirabel ran up the stairs to look at what was going on. The light on her family's doors were flickering as large cracks appeared on the walls. The cracks almost reached the candle on a window sill, and the flame flicked… as if someone was putting it out. 

The rumbling stopped. Mirabel's eyes were wide with fear and the rest of us were shaking. Something was definitely wrong.

Chapter Text

We all ran back into the party to warn everyone about the house, “The house is in danger!” Mirabel shouted, “The house is in danger!”

Everyone stopped and looked at us. I mean, they were looking at Mirabel, but whatever.

“The tiles were falling and there were cracks everywhere and… the candle almost went out.” She explained. 

When she mentioned the candle, everyone was shocked. Alma became serious and stepped forward, “Show me.”

Everybody left Antonio's room to find… nothing. The cracks were gone from the walls and the candle was burning bright. I looked at Mirabel with wide eyes, not knowing what to say.

“What?” Mirabel turned to the crowd and tried to explain what we saw, but there was no way to convince anyone. The fact that there was nothing at all made us look bad.

Alma cut off Mirabel and addressed the crowd, “There is nothing wrong with La Casa Madrigal. The magic is strong… and so are the drinks! Please – music!” Luisa and Agustín played the piano and the party was back on track.

Manolo, Maria, Paimon, Mirabel and I stayed behind feeling super embarrassed. I couldn't even be mad at them for not believing us because of course they wouldn't.

Julieta took us all to the kitchen to make some arepas to heal Mirabel's hand, “If it was all in my head, how did I cut my hand?” She tried to explain.

“She's telling the truth, señora.” Maria said. 

“I would never ruin Antonio's night. Is that really what you think?”

“What I think is that today was very hard for you-” Julieta said.

“I mean, she's not wrong there.” I mumbled.

“That's – I was looking out for the family.” Mirabel said, “And I might not be super-strong like Luisa, or effortlessly perfect like ‘Señorita Perfecta’ Isabela, who's never even had a bad hair day. But... Whatever…” 

Julieta looked at the rest of us. We shrugged in response. “I wish you could see yourself the way I do.” She handed Mirabel an arepa, “You are perfect, just like this. You're just as special as anyone else in this family.”

Mirabel looked at her hand after taking a bite of the arepa. The cut was magically healed, “Mm-hm. You just healed my hand with an arepa con queso.”

Julieta playfully messed around with Mirabel as she tried to push her mom away. I smiled to myself. That was an all too familiar situation for me. I saw Manolo and Maria were looking away, trying not to smirk. Of course they knew what it's like.

Mirabel finally pushed Julieta off, “I know what I saw.” She said, seriously.

Julieta sighed, “Mira, my brother Bruno lost his way in this family. I don't want the same for you.”

After Julieta left, the rest of us stayed in the kitchen for a little while before going back to the party.

“Mmmm!” Paimon was eating one of the arepas Julieta made, “This is so yummy!”

“I'll say.” I said, helping myself to one, “Even if your mom's food wasn't magic, this is delicious.”

Despite everything, Mirabel managed to smile, “Where did you guys say you were from again?”

“We're from Mexico.” Manolo said, wrapping his arm around Maria.

“And I'm from America.” I said, “My family's Puerto Rican.”

Mirabel looked at Paimon with a puzzled look, “And you are…?”

“Paimon is from Teyvat.” Paimon said.

“It's very far away.” I smiled nervously, hoping Mirabel wouldn't question anything.

“Ok…” She smiled softly, “I wanted to thank you guys for checking on me there. I know my family tries to help me feel better about not having a gift, but… I don't know, it felt like I was being heard this time.”

I smiled sadly, “Any time. You're not alone, Mirabel. Don't you ever forget that.”

“That's right.” Manolo said, “And if you ever need to talk, we're right here.”

Mirabel smiled warmly at us. I knew she needed someone who understood her cause I needed it too. And I do understand her. Not exactly, but you know.

Almost as soon as the party was over, Mirabel led us to her room to spend the night after we told her we didn't have a place to stay.

Mirabel was in bed while the rest of us slept with blankets and pillows on the floor. I was having a pretty decent sleep when I woke up to the door opening. I slowly sat up and put my glasses on. It was Mirabel who seemed pretty determined as she changed from her nightgown into her dress.

“Mirabel?” I asked, “What are you doing?” 

“There's something going on with the miracle.” She said, putting on her bag, “And I'm going to save it.” Just as she was about to walk out the door, “Wait. How do I save a miracle?” 

Some tiles lifted as though Casita was shrugging.

“You got me.” I said.

“I figure out what's happening to the miracle.” Casita rattled more tiles. I couldn't understand what they were saying but Mirabel knew, “Oh, I have no idea, but there is one person in this family who hears everything about everything.” She looked at a family picture on a dresser, referring to Dolores. 

“How do you know what Casita is saying?” I asked.

“I don't know.” Mirabel shrugged, sitting back on her bed, “I guess we just grew up understanding since they're a part of the family.”

“That makes sense. Gives a whole new meaning to ‘if these walls could talk’, am I right?” I chuckled awkwardly, but I managed to make a her smile and half-heartedly chuckle.

We chatted for a few minutes before finally going back to bed. When the sun comes up, we'll start our journey to save the miracle.

The next morning, the Madrigals decided to have breakfast outside. We were hiding out of sight, watching everyone from a corner of the house like stalkers. While everyone was setting the table and chairs, Mirabel snuck over to us with some food, “Ok, my family doesn't know you guys are still here, so just stay out of sight for now. Ok, gotta go talk to Dolores, bye!”

She went off with her family while we ate our breakfast. I filled up on arepas.

“Do you really think Dolores heard anything?” Maria asked. 

“If her gift is hearing, then she had to, right?” Manolo pointed out. 

“Well, she did hear something.” I said, “Just not exactly what Mirabel's looking for.” 

“What do you mean?”

“I guess Dolores wouldn't be able to hear everything, but she did hear Luisa's eye twitching.”

“What does that have to do with the miracle?” Maria asked. 

“She said Luisa might know something. I know that's a bit of a stretch, but it's something, right?”

“Oh!” Paimon exclaimed with a mouthful of food, “There she goes!”

We saw Luisa walking into town, Mirabel running after her.

“Ah!” I got up, eating the rest of my arepa, “Come on!” We followed after Mirabel as Luisa was gathering the donkeys in town.

We caught up to Mirabel when she fell off a small wall, “Oh, my god. Are you ok?” I asked, Maria and I helping her up.

“Yeah, yeah, I'm ok, thanks.” Mirabel went back to following Luisa, who looked like she couldn't care less about talking to us, “You gotta tell me about the magic. What's going on? What are you hiding?”

“Nothing, just gotta lotta chores, so maybe you should just go home.” Luisa said. She casually straightened up a house that was leaning to the side. I saw Manolo do a double take at that, marveled by Luisa's strength.

“Dolores said your eye was twitching and it never twitches, something's making you nervous –”

Luisa kept trying to avoid the questions, but Mirabel wasn't going to drop this. She knew Luisa was hiding something and she wasn't leaving without an answer.

Luisa finally snapped and turned around to face us, “NOTHING'S WRONG!”

We all flinched at Luisa's sudden outburst. If that isn't a sign that something's wrong, I don't know what is.

Luisa realized what she did and put the donkeys down, “Wow, uh, sorry, that, uh, that snuck out there... what I meant was... ‘why would anything be wrong?’” She grabbed Mirabel by the shoulders and moved her over, picking some lint off her, “I'm totally fine. The magic's fine. Luisa's fine. I'm totally not nervous.”

Luisa's eye twitched. When Mirabel pointed it out, Luisa started singing. While everyone else was confused, I knew what was coming.

Luisa sang about how she's the strongest one, physically and emotionally. While she looks calm and collected, she's super anxious about her responsibilities and family problems. But as the older sister, she felt like she had to be strong for everyone else. 

The song had gotten intense pretty quick, and by the end of it, Luisa was panting. We were all stunned by her confession. I stared at her with tears in my eyes. Again, this song hit too close to home for me. I'm the younger sister in my family, but I'm all too familiar with anxiety and mounting pressure that you felt like you couldn't show.

“Fabi, are you ok?” Paimon asked. 

I blinked and quickly wiped the tears from my eyes, “Oh, uh, yeah.” I said, “It was just… a lot.”

Mirabel gave her sister a hug, “I think you're carrying way too much.” Luisa hugged back, but way too tightly, lifting Mirabel off her feet and cracking bones.

“Maybe I over do it.” Luisa admitted. 

“Yup.”

“There's nothing wrong with needing to talk about your feelings, Luisa.” I said, “It helps to vent.”

Luisa nodded before saying, “Um, there is something you should know. Last night, when you saw the cracks, I felt... weak.”

Just as Mirabel was about to ask more, someone reminded Luisa about the donkeys. She put Mirabel down and gathered the donkeys on her shoulders again.

“Wait, wait, wait - what do you mean?” Mirabel asked, “What do you think's hurting the magic?”

“Don't know.” Luisa said, “But I heard the grown ups once: before Tio Bruno left, he had like some terrible vision about it.”

“Isn't that the uncle you guys never talk about?” Manolo asked.

“That's the one.” I said.

“Tio Bruno?” Mirabel thought out loud, “What was in his vision?”

“No one knows, they never found it.” Luisa said, “But if something's wrong with the magic, start with Bruno's tower, find that vision.” 

As she walked off with the donkeys, Mirabel called out, "Wait, how do you ‘find’ a vision?! What am I even looking for?”

“If you find it, you'll know. But be careful... that place is off limits for a reason.”

We snuck back to the house and found Bruno's old room. It was small and on the other side of the wall was a waterfall of sand. 

“What the…?” Paimon asked, “Why is there so much sand?”

Mirabel reached out to touch the sand, “Casita, can you stop the sand?” The tiles clattered outside of the room, “You can't help in here?”

“What?” Maria asked, “How can that be?”

Mirabel looked back at the sand. Casita clattered a few more times before she reassured them that she'd be careful. I remembered what this part of the movie was and went to Manolo and Maria, gently pushing them towards the door, “Maybe you guys should stay here and wait for us.”

The married couple blinked, “What? But we want to-” Manolo tried to say.

“I know, I know, but I feel like it'll be easier if the group was smaller. Trust me.” I could tell they were uneasy about this, so I said, “Hey, you're on your honeymoon, right? Spend time together, go have some fun.”

Manolo and Maria glanced at each other, before finally agreeing, “Ok.” Maria said, “We might thank you for this.”

“You will.” I looked down, “Besides, it's kinda my fault you're here in the first place. It's the least I can do.” 

“Be careful over there.” Manolo said.

“We will!” Paimon said. 

Mirabel, Paimon, and I stood before the falling sand. Mirabel tried to calm herself down, saying this was for the family and the miracle. 

I cleared my throat, giving her a look. When she looked at me, she admitted, “And a little bit for me.”

“There you go.” I said. We looked at the sand, determined, “Let's do-” When we stepped through the sand, we instantly fell, “Ahhh!”

Mirabel and I tumbled down a hill of sand. When we reached the bottom, we were covered in sand, which was beyond uncomfortable.

“Ah!” I exclaimed, “It's all in my hair!” We stood up and shook as much sand off ourselves as we could.

“Ugh.” Paimon said, “Paimon doesn't like so much sand.” She wiped the sand from her clothes.

“Well, Paimon, you're gonna hate it here.” I said.

The three of us looked up at the tower. It was really high up with an endless amount of stairs as our only way up.

“A lot of stairs.” Mirabel said. A toucan joined us, “But at least I have friends to join me.” The bird flew ahead of us, “Nope, he just flew away, immediately.” She grumbled at the bird while I snickered. 

“Alright, let's get to it.” I shrugged. We began our long hike up the tower. I've never been more grateful for wearing sneakers.

Chapter Text

Mirabel, Paimon and I walked up the many, many stairs. We had a really nice chat on the way up. It wasn't long before we were extremely exhausted. It felt like the stairs were endless.

“How long… How long have we been walking?” I asked, my lungs burning.

“You got me.” Mirabel panted, “Magical how many stairs fit in here. Bruno! Your room is the worst!”

We were extremely jealous that Paimon was just floating. 

When we finally made it to the top, we saw a small canyon with no way to get across.

“Great!” I groaned, “Now what are we gonna do?”

Mirabel looked around. She grabbed one of the rope railings from the stairs and used it as a grappling hook. The stick got caught on the rocks of the mountains on the other side of the canyon. Paimon floated to the other side.

Uh, oh.

I looked down from the edge of the canyon seeing how far the ground was, my throat practically closing up, “Uh… are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Do you see another way across?” Mirabel asked, “I don't think Paimon is strong enough to carry us.”

“Don't count on Paimon’s strength anytime soon.” Paimon said.

“I was afraid you'd say that.” I said, getting more nervous.

“It's ok. I'll go first.” Mirabel said. She readied herself at the edge of the canyon before jumping, screaming as she swung across.

“Mirabel!” Paimon exclaimed. 

Thankfully, she landed safely on the other side. Mirabel cheered for herself, stomping her foot down, causing a piece of the cliff to crumble.

“Ah!” We all watched as the rock fell to the ground. The bird that flew away from us earlier looked at Mirabel with a “really?” expression, making her chuckle awkwardly.

“Just… don't do what I just did.” Mirabel said to me.

I gulped. Paimon brought the rope over to me, “Paimon promises to do her best to catch you.”

I nodded, almost hyperventilating. I closed my eyes and jumped off the ledge, “Ahhhhh!!!” I felt myself swing across the canyon and was roughly caught by Mirabel and Paimon.

“See? Paimon told you we'd catch you.”

I opened my eyes, getting as far away from the canyon as possible, “Ay… thanks.” I took a deep breath to steady my nerves, “Let's just find the vision and get out of here.”

We slowly walked into the tower in a dimly lit hall. It was kinda creepy. We freaked out when rats ran past our feet. The toucan perched itself on Mirabel's shoulder, looking at the circular door on the other end of the hall. The toucan flew right out of there.

“Quitter!” Mirabel shouted.

“Well, it's now or never.” I said. We slowly entered the room. It was dark and covered in sand.

“What does a vision look like?” Paimon asked.

I saw a green glow buried in the sand, “There!” 

Mirabel picked up the piece, examining it, “What's hurting the magic?”

“Here's another one!” Paimon said, picking up another piece and handing it to Mirabel.

She noticed the pieces fit together like a puzzle. She put them together and saw something, “Me...?”

We felt rumbling. Oh, god…

“What's happening?” Paimon asked in a panic.

Casita was shaking again, and it was causing the tower to crumble. The whole room was shaking and was quickly filling with sand.

“We have to hurry!” I said.

We all dug through the sand, grabbing every piece of green glass we saw. Once we had all the pieces, we tried to leave, but the sand was making it hard to open the door. It took the three of us banging against the door a few times for it to open. When it did, we tumbled out of the tower just as it was destroyed. 

Mirabel and I laid on the ground, panting from all that. When we realized how close we were to the canyon ledge, we instantly backed away.

“Let's get out of here.” I said.

The three of us left Bruno's room so fast, “Ok, let's find Manolo and Maria.” I said, “We can go over the vision toge-”

Just then, we bumped into Alma. Oh, boy.

She noticed the three of us were in a little freaked out, “Uch, where are you coming from in such a hurry?” She also noticed we were covered in sand.

Paimon and I stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. As Mirabel tried to come up with an explanation, Luisa came in, freaking out, “My gift!” She cried, “I'm losing my gift!”

“What?!”

“Mirabel and I were having this little talk about me carrying too much, so I tried not to carry so much but I realized it was putting me behind and I knew I was gonna let everyone down and felt really bad so I was grabbing all the donkeys but then when I went to throw the donkeys in the barn, they were... heavy.”

“Luisa!” I called out as she ran off crying.

“What did you do?” Alma asked Mirabel, “What did you say to her?” Before they could talk, Alma looked at her watch, “Ach, I have to go get the Guzmans for Isabela's engagement. Stay away from Luisa until I can talk to her. Tonight we can't have any more problems. And whatever you're doing, stop doing it!”

I sighed as Alma left. I put a hand on Mirabel's shoulder, “Hey, she's just stressed right now. We're doing this for them and for you. It'll be ok.” She smiled which made me smile back. I turned to Paimon, “You look for Manolo and Maria. Meet us in Mirabel's room.” Paimon nodded and floated away.

Mirabel and I went to her room, pouring the vision pieces onto the dresser, “Why am I in your vision, Bruno?” 

We heard thunder, startling us as we turned around. It was just Pepa with a cloud, “Tía, jeez –” Mirabel and hid the vision pieces from her.

Pepa shoved the cloud out of the room, “Sorry, sorry, I- I didn't mean to -- shoo, shoo, shoo, -- I just wanted to get the last of Toñito's things - and then I heard ‘the name we do not speak.’” She started thundering again, but managed to calm herself down.

“Uh, Tía Pepa - if Bru-” Pepa started thundering again, “If he had a vision about ‘someone’ what would it mean for them?” 

“We don't talk about Bruno.”

I sighed as I stood there in silence. Mirabel tried to ask about Bruno's visions, but Pepa didn't want to talk about it. I never fully understood why they never talked about Bruno. They clearly miss him, so why-

“It was a nightmare!” I jumped as Felix randomly burst in.

Pepa tried to shut him up, but he didn’t listen, “He would see something terrible, and then crack-ba-boom, it would happen.”

“But that's the point of a seer, right?” I asked, “He just saw the future, he didn't-”

“What if you didn't understand what he saw?” Mirabel asked.

“Then you better figure it out, because it was coming for you!” Felix said. Ok, then, no one wants to listen to me then.

The best song of the movie started playing. We Don't Talk About Bruno. It was extremely hard not to sing along, but it was a hell of a toe tapper.

The whole family and town sang about how Bruno's visions confused and scared everyone. When he prophesied bad things, which was often, they'd blame it all on him. 

They blamed Bruno for causing a hurricane on Pepa’s wedding, killing a goldfish, the priest balding, a guy growing a gut. It almost felt off. They had to have missed him, right? Even a little? He was still a member of the family. 

Well, Bruno is our problem now. As the rest of the family got ready for the Guzmans, Mirabel and I went to her room where Maria, Manolo, and Paimon were waiting for us.

“There you are.” Maria said, “Paimon told us everything.”

“We have the vision.” I said, “Let's figure this out.”

Mirabel dumped the vision pieces on the table and we put the shards together like a puzzle. Before long, we had the whole vision, and… it was Mirabel standing in front of Casita filled with cracks.

Why did I talk about Bruno? 

I never should've brought up Bruno

We all looked down at the vision with confusion and fear.

“What… What does that mean?” Paimon asked.

“No…” Maria said, “You can't have…”

“We don't know what this means yet.” I said, “We still need to-”

“Miraboo.” Agustín came in unexpectedly, “Got your party pants on, 'cause I do–”

Agustín saw the vision, his jaw dropping. We tried to hide the vision, Casita even pushing the table behind our backs.

“Oh, señor.” Manolo said, putting on a nervous smile, “What brings you here?”

Agustín looked at Mirabel for answers, his mouth still agape. 

Come on, Mirabel, keep it together, “I... broke into Bruno's tower, I found his last vision, the family's in trouble, the magic is dying, the house is breaking, Luisa's gift is fading and I think it's all because of... me?”

Idiot.

Agustín slowly walked up to the vision, the five of us moving aside.

“Pa?”

“I promise we know just as much as you do.” I said, “This can’t be set in stone, right?”

Agustín shoved the vision shards into his pockets, “We say nothing, Abuela wants tonight to be perfect, 'til the Guzmans leave, you did not break into Bruno's tower, the magic is not dying, the house is not breaking, Luisa's gift is not fading, no one will know, just act normal.” He puts his hands on his daughter's shoulders, “No one has to know.”

We heard the faintest squeak. That's when we realized the door was open… and right across the house in front of her door… was Dolores, “I know.” She squeaked again as she hurried away.

Crap.

“She's gonna tell everyone.” Mirabel said.

“Time to eat!” Alma called out.

“Miércoles.” Agustín cursed.

We let Mirabel and her family have their dinner with the Guzmans and hid out in Mirabel's room, silently waiting for something to happen. It didn't take long before Casita was shaking and cracking again.

“It's happening again!” Paimon exclaimed.

“Hang in there, Casita.” I said. We heard commotion and ran out of the room. It was raining in some parts of the house and the Guzmans had left. 

“Maybe it went well?” Manolo asked nervously. 

“Mirabel!” Alma yelled. We flinched.

This is bad.

“Come on.” We went downstairs and found Mirabel chasing rats that had shards of the vision.

“Mirabel!” Manolo called out. We ran after her, only to stop when the rats went behind a portrait that hid a hole in the wall. We went inside the walls, which were more spacious than you'd think. 

“Ah… Paimon doesn't like it in here.” Paimon said. 

“Mirabel, what happened at dinner?” Maria asked. 

“We'll talk about that later!” Mirabel snapped. 

We saw the rats carrying the shards to something on the other side of the narrow space. Someone picked up the rat. Lightning flashed, revealing a man in a green poncho looking right at us. Bruno.

When lightning flashed again, he was gone.

“Wait!” Maria called out. 

Mirabel ran after her estranged uncle and we followed her as best as we could. We ducked and weaved many different corners, dodged wooden boards, all in the musty, dimly lit walls. Despite all this, Mirabel was doing a hell of a good job chasing Bruno.

“Why is everyone so much more athletic than me?” I panted.

After a while, Mirabel was gaining up to Bruno, but he got away by jumping over a huge hole in the ground. We all skidded to a stop.

“He's getting away!” Paimon exclaimed. 

Determined to follow her uncle, Mirabel took a few steps back. She ran forward, jumping on the scattered planks to get across. By some stroke of luck, she made it.

We let out a sigh of relief. As she was about to keep running, the planks she was standing on broke, leaving Mirabel gripping for her life on the edge.

“Mirabel!” I called out.

Mirabel held on tight to the bamboo piece that had bent from her weight, “Help! Help me!”

“Hold on, Mirabel!” Maria said, “Just don't let go!”

She held on as long as she could, but she was slipping. But just as she was about to fall, someone caught her. It was Bruno.

“You're very sweaty.” He said.

He ended up falling, too, but Mirabel caught both of them and held onto a root. Just then, a rat popped out of Bruno's poncho, startling Mirabel and she accidentally dropped him.

“No!” We all screamed. 

Just then, Bruno stood up and waved the dust away, revealing how shallow the hole actually was.

“Oh.” I said.

Bruno helped Manolo, Maria and I across the hole, afterwards we all helped Bruno up. He stared at us for a moment.

“Bye.” He walked away.

“Hey, wait.” We all followed him.

“Wait, where are you going?” I said.

“Have you just been here this whole time?” Maria asked, “Do you know the kind of things that are said about you?”

“Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock on wood.” Bruno seemed to be pretty superstitious. 

We tried to talk to him, but he didn't even want to look at us.

“Can you please stop for a minute?” Manolo asked. 

He randomly threw salt and then some sugar in Mirabel's face.

“Hey.” I said, “There are people behind you.”

Mirabel noticed something. The walls were patched up from the inside with cement or plaster or whatever, “Bruno… Have you been patching the cracks?”

Bruno finally acknowledged us, “Oh, no. I'm too scared to go near those things. All the patching is done by Hernando.”

“Who is Hernan-”

“I'm Hernando and I'm scared of nothing.” Bruno lifted his poncho over his eyes and put on a voice.

“Just me. I guess you could say my real gift is acting.” He put a bucket over his head, “I'm Jorge, I do the spade.”

We all looked at him blankly, “How long have you been back here?” 

Chapter Text

“You never left.” Mirabel said as we looked around the space in the walls. Bruno never left the Encanto in the first place. He left his tower, but not Casita. He was just living in the walls with rats. A lot of rats. Bruno tried to make it sound better than it actually was, but none of us were convinced.

“You’re fine with living with all these rats?” Paimon asked, not hiding her disgust. Maria nudged her.

“I don’t understand.” Mirabel said. Bruno tried to explain the plot of his made up telenovela, but she clarified what she meant, “I don’t understand why you left but didn’t leave.”

Bruno got nervous, “Oh, well... because you know the mountains around the Encanto are pretty tall... and uh - you know like I said, free food… and everything…” Bruno started talking to the rats, “Yeah, you guys, you guys love the free food, don't ya? Always hungry, never satisfied…”

Mirabel and I looked through a crack in the wall. On the other side was the family dining room. Right next to the wall was a small table with Bruno’s own plate set painted onto the wood.

“Bruno…” Maria said with sadness and sympathy.

“My gift wasn't helping the family... but uh... but I love my family, you know.” Bruno explained, sitting in his chair, “I just don't know how to... I just don't know how to… Well anyway, I think you should go, because um – well, I don't really have a good reason, but if I did, you'd be like, I should go 'cause that's a good reason.”

We didn’t argue with Bruno, but Mirabel stood her ground, “Why was I in your vision? Tio Bruno...? I just... wanted to make the family proud of me... just once. But if I should stop... if I'm hurting my family... just tell me.”

I looked at Bruno, “Please, Bruno. We need to know.”

Bruno sighed, and finally said, “I can't tell you... Because I don't know.” He assembled the vision shards as he explained, “I had this vision the night that you didn't get your gift. Abuela worried about the magic, so she begged me to look into the future, see what it meant. And I saw the magic in danger… our house... breaking... and then... and then, and then... I saw you. But the vision was different. It… it would change... and there was no one answer... no clear fate. Like your future was undecided. But I knew how it was gonna look, I knew what everyone would think because I'm Bruno and everyone always assumes the worst... so… so…”

Mirabel realized what he was saying, “You left... to protect me...?”

“I don't know which way it'll go… but my guess... the family, the Encanto, the fate of the miracle itself - it's all gonna come down to you.”

We all stood there, taking in the information. We sorta knew this was all going to come down to us, but it was a whole different thing hearing it.

“Or maybe I'm wrong.” Bruno said, making me jump a little as he dropped the vision, “You know, it's a mystery, it's a mystery that's why this vision is,” He blew a raspberry. “He led us all to the door, “Look, if I could help anymore I would but, that's all I know. Good luck. I wish I could've seen more.” He closed the door behind us.

“So, what do we do now?” Manolo asked.

“Yeah.” Paimon said, “How are we supposed to save the miracle if we don’t know what’s going on? Bruno explained almost nothing.”

Mirabel thought for a second, her eyes lighting up with excitement. She turned back and kicked the door down, scaring Bruno.

“Whoa! Mirabel!” I said.

“You ‘wish you could've seen more.’ So see more.” Mirabel shook Bruno, “Have another vision!”

Bruno tried to back away from his estranged niece, “Oh, uh, no, no, see, I don't, I don't do visions anymore.”

“But ya could.”

“But I won't.”

“You can't say ‘the weight of the world is on your shoulders, the end.’ If our fate's up to me, me says have another vision, maybe it'll show me what to do –”

“Look, even if I wanted to, which I don't, you wrecked my vision cave, which is a problem 'cause I need a big open space –”

“We'll find one.”

“Where?”

“Use my room.” We all turned to the door to see Antonio in the doorway.

“Antonio?” Maria asked, “How did you…”

“The rats told me everything.” He turned to a jaguar who was about to eat some of the rats, “Don't eat those.”

Mirabel turned to Bruno a little more calmly, “Our family needs help. And you need to get outta here.”

“You could say that again.” Paimon said.

Bruno looked around the room at the rats as they were scrubbing their feet with a toothbrush. He nonchalantly agreed. Well, that solves that.

We all gathered in Antonio’s room as Bruno prepared the area for his vision. “We might wanna hurry.” Mirabel said as we heard more rumbling.

“Ya can't hurry the future, uh…” Bruno said.

“Your gift is a whole process.” I joked.

Bruno sat down once it was all set up, “And what if I show you something worse? If I see something that you don't like, you're gonna be all, ‘Bruno makes bad things happen, oh, he's creepy and his vision killed ma' goldfish.’”

Mirabel sympathized with him, “I don't think you make bad things happen. Sometimes family weirdos just get a bad rap.”

Manolo chuckled, “She’s right, you know.”

“You can do this.”

Antonio hands Bruno his stuffed jaguar, “For the nerves.” Such a sweet little boy.

Bruno took a deep breath, did a few more preparations, and held out his hands to Mirabel, “You might wanna hang on.” She grabbed his hands. Bruno’s eyes glowed green as a dome of sand with glowing green energy formed around them. It was like a mini tornado. The rest of us couldn’t exactly see what was going on, but we heard them yelling inside the sand-nado. It was honestly a nightmare. 

“Does this happen every time he has a vision?!” Manolo asked, holding onto Paimon so she wouldn't fly away.

“I guess so!” I yelled, “I don’t want to imagine what this looked like in the tower!” 

“Why does his gift involve so much sand?!” Paimon yelled.

After a while, the wind and glowing stopped and the sand fell on everyone. Ah, I really hope I didn’t get any sand in my eyes.

Bruno was holding a sheet of green glass, “Oh, your sister, that's great!” Mirabel groaned in frustration, clearly angry with the vision, “Every time.” Bruno dropped the vision.

We left Antonio’s room and hid outside of Isabela’s room. We think hugging Isabela would help fix the miracle since that’s what we saw in the vision. But that’s a problem considering Isabela and Mirabel aren’t on the best terms.

“Why would ‘embracing Isabela’ do anything?” Mirabel asked.

“Idaknow, our family got a miracle, how do you help a family miracle?” Bruno asked, “You hug a sister.”

Mirabel started ranting about how much Isabela hates her and why it wouldn’t work. This was something I never understood about the story. Why did Isabela hate her so much? They should’ve fleshed it out more.

“Mirabel.” Bruno finally got her attention, “Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry, you see you're missing the point. The fate of the family is not up to her, it's up to you. You're exactly what this family needs. You just have to see it. By yourself, after I leave.”

“What? You're not coming?”

Bruno hid behind a potted plant and tried to leave, sneaking off to the other end of the hall, “It was your vision, Mirabel... not mine.”

“You're afraid Abuela will see you.” 

“Yep, I mean yes... that too.” We chuckled a little bit, “Hey, after you save the miracle… come visit.”

Mirabel smiled, “After I save the miracle, I'm bringing you home.”

Bruno smiled before knocking on wood and returning to inside the walls.

“We’ll wait for you in your room, Mirabel.” I whispered, backing towards her room.

Mirabel nodded and stood up, “You got this. Just gonna save the miracle…  with a hug.”

I sighed when we closed the door behind us, “I can’t imagine having this kind of relationship with my sister.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister, Fabi.” Maria said.

“Yep. She’s older than me and we’re pretty close. We fight from time to time, but we always make up.” I suddenly became sad, “She must be worried sick about me. I don’t know if I’d want her here, but still. I really miss her.”

Manolo put his hand on my shoulder, “Don’t worry. You’ll see her again.”

I smiled and quickly looked away, “Thanks.” Oh, my god, he’s so sweet.

After a bit, some plants randomly popped out all over the room, “Whoa!” Paimon exclaimed, “What’s going on?”

“It’s Isabela. Mirabel was able to break through to her.”

“She did?” Maria asked, “How?”

“She helped her realize that she doesn't need to be perfect all the time, how she can just let loose, and not be so restrained by expectations all the time.” My face fell as my own words sank in, “Something I need to remember sometimes. I feel that way with my art, too.”

“You’re an artist?” Manolo asked.

Before I could elaborate, we heard yelling outside. It was Alma and Mirabel. Oh, no… It was silent for a moment and then… there was more rumbling and cracking. Casita was falling apart. “We need to get out of here!” I yelled, running to the window, “Come on!”

Paimon went out the window, followed by Manolo, then Maria. I went up to the window and froze. Why do I keep having to jump out of stuff?!

“Jump, Fabi!” Manolo shouted up to me, “We got you!”

I was shaking. I looked back at the crumbling house, knowing I had no choice. I jumped off out the window, Manolo and Maria catching me hard. We all watched in horror as Casita crumbled to the ground. 

When the dust settled, we saw the Madrigals in the rubble. We ran down to them, “Mirabel!” I said, kneeling down to her. I gasped softly when I saw she was holding the burnt out candle, “Mirabel, I… I'm so sorry.” I backed away when Julieta came to check on her daughter. 

I didn't want to imagine the heartbreak this family must be feeling. They lost everything. The four of us went around checking in on everyone, “Mirabel?”

I turned around. Mirabel was gone.

We searched all night for Mirabel and kept searching when dawn came. I felt awful. This is exactly what Mirabel was trying to prevent, and now look at everything. We found a pink ribbon on a tree branch, “Señora.” Maria said, getting Alma's attention. It could be a clue. 

We didn't say anything as we followed Alma. We found Mirabel by a river. She was silently sobbing into her knees. Alma silently walked up to her and the rest of us stayed behind.

“I'm sorry.” Mirabel softly said, “I didn't want to... hurt us... I just wanted to... to be something I'm not.”

Alma was silent for a moment, “I've never been able to... come back here. This river... is where we were given our miracle.”

“What?” Manolo softly asked.

“Where Abuelo Pedro…” Mirabel realized what was happening. Alma was reaching out to her, maybe for the first time.

“I thought we would have a different life... I thought I would be a different woman.”

We didn't know how, but we were watching her story.

When Alma was young, she met Pedro. They were friends, fell in love, got married, and soon enough had the triplets. But their happiness didn't last long as they were forced to leave their home. As their village left, they were chased. To save his family, Pedro sacrificed himself.

My heart broke seeing Alma in so much anguish. I could tell the others felt the same. I tear up everytime I watch this, and this time was no different.

Somehow, not only did the candle grant the family a miracle, but the magic protected everyone from the attackers. Alma was by herself, raising three infants and in charge of everyone. She had to go through so much by herself, “I was given a miracle... a second chance.” Alma told Mirabel, “And I was so afraid to lose it… that I lost sight of who our miracle was for. And... I am so sorry… You never hurt our family, Mirabel. We are broken... Because of me.” 

Mirabel looked at Alma with empathy, “Abuela... I can finally see. You lost your home... lost everything... you suffered so much... all alone... so it would never happen again. We were saved because of you. We were given a miracle because of you. We are a family because of you. And nothing could ever be broken, that we can't fix… together.”

Alma's eyes softened. She smiled and held Mirabel's face, “I asked my Pedro for help. Mirabel... he sent me you.” The two tearfully embraced as the sun shone on them and hundreds of butterflies fluttered around them.

Tears fell down my face. Despite all the pain they went through, all the hurt Mirabel went through, they were able to apologize and are willing to work through their issues. And in doing so, their bond is only going to get stronger.

I looked over at the others, who were all tearing up with heartfelt smiles. Whoever doesn't cry during this scene is a heartless monster.

“Look.” Paimon pointed towards the mountains, “The mountain is split. Does this mean people can come to the Encanto now?”

“I guess so, Paimon.” I said. Mirabel and Alma noticed it too. Things are going to work out just fine.

“It was me!” Bruno clumsily came in on a horse, “She didn't do this! She didn't do this!” We all stared at him, “I gave her a vision! It was me! I was like go! And she was like fttt! She only wanted to help. I… don't care what you think of me, but if you're too stubborn to, to–”

To his surprise, Alma embraced her son, “Brunito…” She didn't care about the past anymore. She was just happy to see her son again.

Bruno was confused, “I feel like I missed something important.”

Mirabel walked up to them, “Come on.” The three of them mounted the horse.

“What - what's happening, where are we going?”

“Home.” 

The three of them rode off and we all followed them back to the Encanto. The three kids we ran into alerted the town that we found Mirabel. The rest of the family was waiting at the remains of Casita.

“Mirabel?!” Julieta exclaimed, embracing Mirabel in a hug.

Well, that solves one problem, but the family is still without a house, something Camilo pointed out, “So, what now?” Manolo asked.

Mirabel looked around the ruined house,

Mirabel: Look at this home, we need a new foundation 

It may seem hopeless, but we'll get by just fine

Look at this family, a glowing constellation, so full of stars, and everybody wants to shine

But the stars don't shine, they burn, and the constellations shift

I think it's time you learn you're more than just your gift

Alma appeared through the archway.

Alma: And I'm sorry I held on too tight

Just so afraid I'd lose you too

Alma beckoned Bruno to come over, The miracle is not some magic that you've got, the miracle is you, not some gift just you, the miracle is you

Alma/Mirabel: The miracle is you, all of you, all of you

Pepa and Julieta tightly embraced their long lost brother, “And to think you didn’t want to talk about him.” I said.

Camilo: Ok, so… we gonna talk about Bruno? 

Antonio: That's Bruno.

Bruno: Yeah, there’s a lot to say about Bruno. I'll start, ok! 

Pepa, I'm sorry ‘bout your wedding, didn't mean to be upsetting, that wasn't a prophecy, I could just see you were sweating

And I wanted you to know that your bro loves you so. Let it in, let it out, let it rain, let it snow, let it go!

Felix: That's what I'm always saying, Bro!

Bruno: I got a lotta ‘pologies I've got to say

Julieta: Hey we're just happy that you're here, ok?

Pepa: Come into the light! 

Agustín: The triplets all reunite!

Julieta: And no matter what happens

Julieta/Pepa: We're gonna find our way!

Dolores: Yo I knew he never left, I heard him every day 

Just then, we heard something behind us.

Alma: What's that sound?

Antonio: I think it's everyone in town

Townspeople: Hey! Lay down your load, lay down your load, we're only down the road, we're only down the road. We have no gifts, but we are many and we'll do anything for you!

I smiled warmly at the strong community of this town. With everyone chipping in to help rebuild Casita, the four of us helped out any way we could. I'm no construction worker or architect, so I helped by doing the bare minimum. It's something!

Isabela: It's a dream when we work as a team. You're so strong.

Luisa: Yeah, but sometimes I cry

Isabel/Mirabel/Fabi: So do I!

Luisa: I may not be as strong, but I'm getting wiser 

Isabela: Yeahz I need sunlight and fertilizer, c'mon, let's plant something new and watch it fly

Isabela/Lusia: Straight up to the sky, let's go!

It took us all day, but we all managed to rebuild Casita. Mirabel even played matchmaker with Mariano and Dolores. That evening, we all gathered around the finished house.

Mirabel: Home sweet home. I like the new foundation

Alma: It isn't perfect

Mirabel: Neither are we

Alma: That's true. Just one more thing, before the celebration

Mirabel: What?

Bruno: We need a doorknob

Antonio: We made this one for you

Antonio gave Mirabel a doorknob with an M on it. M for Mirabel and Madrigal. Antonio took her hand and walked her toward the front door. We all smiled. It was like a redo of her gift ceremony.

Camilo/Dolores/Felix/Pepa: We see how bright you burn

Luisa/Isabela: We see how brave you've been

Agustín/Julieta: Now see yourself in turn

Bruno: You're the real gift, kid. Let us in

Alma: Open your eyes

“Abre los ojos.... What do you see?”

Mirabel looked down at the doorknob, seeing her reflection. She smiled tearfully, “I see... me… All of me.” I chuckled and wiped a tear away.

Mirabel put the doorknob in the front door. As soon as she did, golden magic rushed over the house and the whole town. The magic and miracle had returned. 

“The magic.” Maria gasped.

Mirabel waved at the house, “Hola, Casita.” Casita waved back with a window.

Mirabel looked back at everyone, “C'mon, get in here!”

Everyone went inside the new Casita, celebrating that their miracle had returned. Pepa had more control of her weather powers, Luisa was able to relax for the first time in ages, and Isabela could let loose with her plants and just be messy.

After a while, the whole family gathered for a picture, “Everyone, together.” Alma said as the whole family, including Mirabel squeezed together. As the picture was about to be taken, everyone exclaimed, “La Familia Madrigal!” Casita hugged the family with the floor tiles, throwing everyone off balance, but took a wholesome picture nonetheless.

That night, the party was starting to die down. I was just outside of Casita, staring at the town and taking in the air. That’s another movie under our belt. So… are we just going to keep living through different movies forever? When was this all going to end? I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to go home.

I heard the door creak behind me, “Thanks, Casita.” I heard Mirabel say, “Guys! She’s over here!” I didn’t bother to look behind me as Mirabel sat next to me, “There you are, we’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Sorry, guys.” I said, “We just needed a break from everything.” Pushing my thoughts aside, I finally looked at Mirabel with a smile, “I’m… really happy for you, Mirabel. You were able to help your family confront their problems and you’re going to build something stronger than ever. Manolo was able to do the same with his family.” That thought quickly soured for me, “Unfortunately, some people are too stubborn for that. Too stubborn to admit that they have problems, that they’re in the wrong.” I took a deep breath when I realized I was getting tense, “I wish… that would happen to my family, you know.”

No one said anything for a second, “Oh, god, I’m sorry. I just dumped so much on you guys-” I wasn’t expecting Mirabel to hug me.

“Maybe one day, they’ll listen.” She said, “I’m sorry that’s happening to you, but things can only get better from there, right?”

“Yeah.” Manolo chimed in, “I didn’t think my father could change, but he did in the end.” I heard the hint of sadness in his voice, “Maybe your dad can change, too.”

I blinked away the tears. Why are they being so nice to me? I sighed, “Thanks, guys.” I remembered about the Stone and took it out of my pocket. It was the same as it was when we first arrived.

“Oh, what’s that?” Mirabel asked. 

“It’s…” I guess it’s ok if she knows, “It’s a magical stone that transports us to different universes that I have no control over.”

Mirabel blinked, “What?” We explained everything to her as best as we could. It didn’t take a genius to see how confused she was, “So… does that mean you’re all from different worlds?”

“Yep.” I said.

She stared at us for a second, “And you knew everything that was going to happen?” 

“In a way, yeah. But we just didn’t want to freak you out. We weren’t–”

“Hey, hey, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’d probably keep a secret like that, too. It actually sounds so cool getting to see so many different worlds.”

“It’s more scary than cool if you ask me.” Just then, another portal appeared out of nowhere in front of us, “Are you serious?!”

The portal started sucking the four of us in. Paimon grabbed onto me while Manolo and Maria held onto each other.

“Wait!” Mirabel grabbed onto me and Maria, “Don’t go!”

“No!” I said, “Mirabel, you have to let go! If you keep holding on, you’re gonna get sucked in with us! We don’t know when you’ll see–!” It didn’t seem to matter anyway, because she got sucked into the portal too.

Why does this keep happening to me?!

Chapter Text

I knew what was coming with the portal, but that didn’t make it any easier. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. And to top it all off, someone else was dragged into this nutty adventure! After a while, we were spat out the portal and landed on something hard, “Ow…”

“Is everyone ok?” I asked, helping Maria up.

“Yeah, we’re ok.” Mirabel said.

“Ugh! Why didn’t you let go?! First Manolo and Maria and now you! At least I got Paimon’s consent before she was thrusted into this!”

“Fabi, it’s really ok–” Mirabel tried to say.

“No, you don’t understand! I have no control over this stupid rock. I don’t know when we’re going home, let alone when we’ll see our families again. Not to mention you just fixed things with your family and suddenly you disappear?! Your family is gonna have a heart attack when they realize you’re gone!”

Mirabel’s eyes went wide, “Oh…”

“Yeah. You can see why I’m freaking out!”

“Hey, hey, hey.” Manolo said, “We’ve talked about this already. We just have to stick together.”

I sighed, “I know, I know, I just… I didn’t want anyone else dragged into this.” I looked at Mirabel, but I couldn’t read her expression, “I’m sorry, Mirabel. I should’ve told you the truth sooner.”

“No, don’t be sorry. If anything, it’s my fault.” She said, rubbing her arm shyly, “I didn’t want my awesome, weird, friends to leave yet.” She smiled, “But hey. I’ve never been outside the Encanto before. I’ll think of this as a vacation until we can go home. Time away from my family can do me some good.”

I smiled, unsure of everything. It felt a little weird to be having fun on this adventure when I was so scared. But I was glad everyone else saw this in a positive way.

“Speaking of the Mora Stone, what does it look like now?” Paimon asked, “Did it change again?”

“Oh, right.” I took the Stone out of my pocket and the purple gem spot got bigger, “Does this really change anything?”

“I guess not?” Maria said, “We still don’t even know what happens when it fully turns into a diamond.”

“We-We can’t worry about this right now. We need to figure out where we are.” I looked up and my eyes went wide. There were… modern day buildings around us, “Uh, oh.”

“What is…” Mirabel and the others looked up and froze, “Wh-Wh-Where are we?” Great, now it’s their turn to panic.

“Ok, listen. I don’t know where we are just yet, but I do know we’re, uh, in the future.”

“The future?” Manolo asked, “What do you mean the future?”

“So…” I pointed to Manolo, Maria, and Mirabel, “You guys live in the 1900s.” I pointed at Paimon, “I don’t know what time period you're from, but it’s sure as heck not this. The world I’m from is like… a hundred years in the future, the 2020s. B-But please don’t freak out! I will be your guide. Just stick with me and I’ll do my best to answer any questions. Ok?” 

The four of them nodded slowly, their faces clearly nervous, “Good. Let’s just walk slowly. I’ll figure out where we are soon, I promise.” I seriously had no clue what world this was. A modern setting isn't the best thing to go off of.

“So… Do all buildings look like this?” Maria asked.

“Depends on where you are, but most buildings look like this, yeah.” I said, “At least, a lot of cities look like this.” I stopped everyone at a crosswalk, “Car!” A few cars drove by us until the light turned green for us to cross.

“What were those things?” Paimon asked, staring at all the cars.

“They’re cars. It’s a form of transportation. A lot of people have one.” As we walked and I answered their questions, I noticed there were some Asian symbols and writing on some signs. Maybe we’re in an Asian neighborhood?

“We’re going to have to find a place to stay.” I thought outloud, “Hopefully, this place has a hotel or…” I looked up. There was a gate with a red panda statue on either side, “I… I think I know where we are.”

“You do?” Mirabel asked.

“I think… I need to make sure.” We slowly walked through the gates. Some people were looking around the open area. A crowd was following an Asian woman in a green outfit with a young girl holding a red flag to follow them.

“Oh, my god, I know this.” I turned to the others, “Ok, we're in the city of Toronto, Canada. It's 2002, which is the year I was born, and this is a pretty recent story in my world.”

Everyone blinked slowly, not fully getting what I was saying, “Ok.” Mirabel said.

“That woman is Ming, and the girl is her daughter Meilin. This story is about them. Let's learn about their family history, shall we?” We followed the tour Ming and Mei-Mei were giving.

“Our family runs one of the oldest temples in Toronto.” Ming said, showing an altar of the temple with different pictures, “And the most unique. Instead of honoring a god, we honor our ancestors.”

“And not just the dudes either.” Mei-Mei added with a proud smirk.

As the tour went on, Ming showed us a large shrine with a painting of one of their ancestors, “Our most revered ancestor, Sun Yee, was a scholar, poet, and defender of animals. She dedicated her life to the creatures of the forest. Especially the red panda.”

“Ta-da!” Mei-Mei slid in wearing a red panda costume, which everyone was impressed by.

“Which she loved for its fiery coat and mischievous nature.” Mei made different animal noises, making me chuckle a little. Ming was kneeling as Mei sprinkled glitter on her, “Ever since, the red panda has blessed our family with good fortune and prosperity.”

“And it can bless yours, too!” After the tour, Ming and Mei handed out some souvenirs the temple sold. I didn’t take any, but I still paid for the tour.

I led everyone out of the temple, “You guys understand who they are” I asked.

“Yeah.” Maria nodded, “It's always interesting to learn how other cultures honor their past.” Everyone nodded in agreement.”

“I was hoping that would work.” I looked back at the temple, “Maybe we should stay near them for now. And don't tell me how creepy that sounds, I'm out of options. Let’s find something to eat.” 

We walked around town looking for somewhere good to eat. I'm not good with directions so there was a good chance we were going to get lost. It's not like San Angel or the Encanto. We're in Toronto. The capital of Canada. 

“The rules are the same here.” I said, “Keep a low-”

“A low profile.” Paimon said, “Yeah, yeah, we get it already.”

“When did you develop such an attitude?” I asked playfully.

A car aggressively parked in front of us, startling me. I almost didn't register that Ming and Mei-Mei were in the car. Uh, oh.

We froze, watching as Ming stormed into the store in front of us. Mei was right behind her, begging her to stop what she was doing.

“What's going on?” Manolo asked.

“Nothing good.” I walked in the store and hid behind a shelf.

“Mom, no!” I heard Mei say, but Ming didn’t listen. 

Ming pointed at the boy behind the counter, “You!” The boy, Devon, was startled Ming, “What have you done to my Mei-Mei?” He was clearly confused and didn't know who Ming was even talking about, but that didn't stop mom-zilla on her tirade.

“Meilin Lee, right here.” A Filipino boy, Tyler, who had to make things worse, pointed at Mei. Poor girl couldn't be more humiliated.

“I should report you to the police.” Ming continued, “How old are you? Thirty?”

“I'm seventeen.” Devon said.

“Oh, see, see? This is what happens when you don't wear sunblock and do drugs all day! She's just a sweet, innocent child. How dare you take advantage of her!” 

I covered my eyes, knowing what was about to happen. Ming slammed Mei's drawings of Devon onto the counter for all to see, embarrassing both teens involved. I heard the customers laughing at Mei's and Devon's expense. This is so bad.

“The Daisy Mart has lost a loyal customer today.”

Everyone was still laughing as the mother and daughter left. Not wanting to face those guys myself, I grabbed some juice, some loaves of bread and left the money on the counter when no one was looking.

I rushed out of the store. “What was that about?” Mirabel asked.

“I'll tell you on the way back.” 

On our way back to the Lee's, I explained what happened in the Daisy Mart. Needless to say, we were all experiencing second hand embarrassment. 

“Ming did all that?” Maria asked, eating the bread, “Does she not know how embarrassing that is?”

“That's Ming for you.” I shrugged, “She's extremely overprotective of Mei. In her eyes, her daughter can do no wrong.” 

“That's… yikes.” Mirabel said, “Even my mom isn't that extreme.”

“Neither is my mom. Sure, she was strict growing up, but she was never like this.” I sighed, “I miss her.”

Maria put her hand on my shoulder, softly smiling. I smiled back at her. I'm glad I'm not on this journey alone.

We decided to sleep in a spot right outside of Mei's house. It was cold and uncomfortable, it rained a little, but we made do. The next morning, we thought it'd be a good idea to walk around town and look for breakfast. 

“Hey, Fabi.” Mirabel said, “Do you live somewhere like this in your world?”

“Sort of.” I said, “I live in a city in America. I'm studying to be an artist, but I have… literally no clue what I want to do with myself.”

“What do you mean?” Paimon asked.

“Like what I should do with my life. There's so many different jobs for artists. Not to mention the industry is being threatened–”

“Giant red panda!” Maria shrieked. I looked at where she pointed. A giant red panda was running around the city frantically, almost getting hit by a car, which caused an accident. 

“Mei-Mei?” I asked.

“That's Mei?” Manolo asked, “What happened to her?”

“I-I can't be the one to explain.” I said.

We watched as Mei climbed a fire escape, only for it to come apart when she got to the top. She would've fallen if she didn't catch the sign on a nearby building. The fire escape fell on the road, scaring everyone. Mei managed to climb up the building, but the coffee sign collapsed too, which coincidentally landed in front of Ming's car.

“Mrs. Lee!” I said as she got out of the car, “She went that way.” Ming took off her shoes in order to run after her daughter as she ran on the rooftops. 

“Come on!” The rest of us followed Ming as she ran after Mei-Mei. 

“Why are you following me?” Ming asked, not looking at us, “This doesn't concern any of you!”

“We just want to help!” Paimon exclaimed. 

“Ah!”

“We were at the temple yesterday!” I panted, “I know you have no reason to trust us, but please let us help you! I'll answer any questions later!”

Ming didn't answer, but she didn't say no either, so we kept running. After a while, we made it to the temple. “Mei-Mei!” Ming called out panting.

“Where did she go?” Paimon asked. 

Ming ran down a pathway that led to their house, “Mei-Mei!” The whole house was a wreck with furniture knocked over and some scratches on the walls.

“Oh, my gosh.” I said.

We followed Ming to Mei’s room, where she was crying under a blanket. 

“Mei-Mei?”

“Don't look at me! Stay back!” Mei was frantically brushing herself with two hair brushes. I don't think she noticed me and the others.

Ming went to console her daughter, “Sweetie, it's okay. Mommy is here.”

“What's happening to me?”

Just then, Mei's dad Jin, came in from the other side of the house, “What is it? What… What…” He gasped seeing what was going on, “It's happened already?”

Everyone froze, “What?” Maria asked.

“What did you say?” Mei asked, looking at her parents with fearful eyes.

“Ming?” Jin said, “It's time.”

We went to the Sun Yee shrine in the Temple. The five of us kept our distance. Mei-Mei was already overwhelmed, seeing us would make it worse.

Ming lifted up the bottom part of the tapestry, revealing a secret compartment in the wall. She opened it and took out a small wooden chest. 

“As you know, our ancestor, Sun Yee, had a mystical connection with red pandas.” Inside the chest was a small scroll, revealing a family secret. 

“In fact, she loved them so much… that she asked the gods to turn her into one. It was wartime. The men were all gone. Sun Yee was desperate for a way to protect herself and her daughters. Then one night, during a red moon, the gods granted her wish. They gave her the ability to harness her emotions, to transform into a powerful mystical beast. She was able to fend off bandits, protect her village, and save her family from ruin. Sun Yee passed this gift to her daughters, for when they came of age. And they passed it to theirs. But over time, our family chose to come to a new world. And what was a blessing became… an inconvenience.”

I looked at my friends for a reaction. 

“Huh.” Manolo said, “That's an interesting story.” He playfully nudged Maria, “God only knows what you'd do with that power.”

“I wish.” Maria laughed.

“Aw.” Paimon gushed, “Paimon wants to cuddle with the red pandas now. She's so cute.”

“Are...you…SERIOUS?!” Mei-Mei flipped out, trying to attack the tapestry and calling the blessing a curse. Jin and Ming had to hold her back.

“Oh, my god.” Mirabel said.

“Mei-Mei, stop!” Ming said, “Listen to me! Listen! There's a cure!”

“A cure?” Paimon asked.

Mei-Mei calmed down, “Really? How do you know?”

“Because… it happened to me.” Ming admitted. 

“What?” Manolo exclaimed.

“Why didn't you warn me?!”

“I thought I had more time! You're just a child. I thought, if I watched you like a hawk, I'd see the signs and be able to prepare.”

“You still should've told her.” I said to myself, slightly irritated. 

“But it's going to be fine. I overcame it and you will too. On the next red moon, you'll undergo a ritual that will seal your red panda spirit into one of these.” Ming held up her own red necklace, “And then you'll be cured. For good. Just like me. But any strong emotion will release the panda. And the more you release it, the more difficult the ritual will be. There is a darkness to the panda, Mei-Mei. You only have one chance to banish it, and you cannot fail. Otherwise, you'll never be free.”

Jin checked a calendar, “Let's see, the next red moon will be the 25th.”

“That's a whole month away.” Mei panicked. 

“We'll wait it out together.” Ming said, “And I'll be with you every step of the way.”

After a while, Ming and Jin managed to calm Mei down enough to turn her back into herself. After leading Mei out of the temple, Ming ran back to us, “You all stay here until I come back.” I nodded nervously, holding my breath until she left.

“Oh, man, what have I done?” I freaked out, “This was such a bad idea.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.” Maria said, “A red moon happens every year, doesn't it? It's not Mei's only shot at getting rid of the panda.”

“Thank you!” I heard someone clear their throat behind me, “Ah!” It was Ming, “Wow, you're fast.”

Ming stared at all of us intently, “I want to know who you all are and how you know about my family.”

I took a deep breath, stepping forward, “I'm Fabi. This is Manolo, Maria, Mirabel, and Paimon. Like I said before, we visited the temple yesterday. I promise we won't tell a soul about Meilin.” I pointed to Paimon, “As you can see, we have our own share of magical oddities.”

“Hey!” Paimon said, “Paimon is not an oddity!”

“So we don't find anything strange about your situation. We saw her running through the streets as a panda and we figured something was going on. I promise we just want to help.”

Ming's face softened for the first time since she saw us here. She put her hands on her hips, “Ok, I… can't say I trust you, but I'm keeping an eye on all of you.”

“That's no problem. Actually, we literally have no place to stay, so could we sleep in here in the temple, please?”

Ming blinked at the odd request, “Ok, ok, fine. That just means I can keep a closer eye on you.” She walked away from us without another word.

“Thank you!” Paimon called out.

I stood there, wondering what I just got ourselves into, “This is going to be more difficult than I thought.”

Chapter Text

The next morning, we were walking around the temple, stretching after a long and uncomfortable night.

“Ah, man.” I said, stretching my back until it cracked, “How I miss my bed.”

“Hey, who are those girls?” Maria asked.

I looked ahead and saw three girls outside a window. An Indian girl wearing yellow, a Korean girl wearing pink, and a Jewish girl wearing green.

“They're Mei's friends.” We walked up to them, “Uh, hi.”

The three girls looked at us confused, “Hey.” The Indian girl, Priya, said, “Can we help you?”

“We, uh…”

“We're here to see Mei, too.” Mirabel said.

“You know, Mei?” The girl in green, Miriam asked. 

I shrugged, “Sort of.”

“What do you know about her?” Abby, the girl in pink, asked us. Wasn't expecting an interrogation, but I guess it's fair.

“We heard about what happened yesterday.” Manolo said, “We just want to see if she's alright.”

“How do you-”

“We'll explain later.” I said.

Miriam knocked on the window, “Mei, it's us. And some… other people. Open up.”

“Are you okay?” Priya asked, “Tap if you can hear us.”

“One for yes, two for no!” Abby shouted.

“We were so worried.” Miriam said, “We thought you died of embarrassment.”

“It's ok, you're not the only one with an embarrassing parent.” I added.

“You need more pads?” Priya asked, “I brought extra.”

“Forget that.” Abby pulled out a flyer from her bag, “4-Town's coming to Toronto!”

“What?” Mei, in her panda form, stuck out of the window. At the sight of her like this, the three girls screamed, Mei pulling them inside. The rest of us climbed through the window.

Mei was holding her friends to her chest, muffling their screams, “Whoa! Mei, you're suffocating them!” I said.

Mei eventually managed to get her friends to stop screaming and to be chill. When they nodded, she slowly put them down.

“Mei?” Miriam asked calmly.

“Are you a werewolf?” Priya asked. 

“No! What?” Mei said

“She is a red panda!” Abby said. Priya and Abby were excited about Mei being a red panda, Priya stroking her tail and Abby hugging her fur.

“Priya, Abby, quit it.” Miriam said.

Mei finally noticed the rest of us, “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Who are you guys?”

“Please don't panic.” I said, calmly, “We won't tell anyone–”

“Wait, I remember you. You guys visited the temple.”

“Thank you for remembering us.” Paimon said. 

“Ah! Fairy!” Abby freaked out. 

I chuckled a little nervously, standing in front of Paimon, “I'm Fabi and these are my friends. Manolo, Maria, Mirabel, and Paimon.” Everyone waved at the four girls.

“We know about everything, Mei.” Maria said.

“Everything?” Miriam asked, “Mei, what the heck happened?”

Mei became sad again, remembering the weight of everything, “It's just some, you know, inconvenient, uh, genetic thingy I got from my mom. I mean… It'll go away. Eventually. Maybe.” The more she talked, the sadder she got, slumping on the floor, sobbing.

“Aw, Mei.” 

“I hate this! I'm slobby, I'm smelly. My mom won't even look at me, and now 4-Town? When are they coming?”

“Who's 4-Town?” Manolo asked.

“A musical group.” I explained, “They're big fans.”

“May 18th.” Abby said, “They just announced it.”

“The 18th?” Mei asked, “There's no way this will be gone by then. Just go. Go become women without me.”

“Mei. It's gonna be okay.” Miriam said.

“No, i-it's not. I'm a freak. Just… Just leave me alone.” Mei curled up on the floor.

Mei was softly crying, refusing to look at any of us. We all exchanged worried glances, not knowing what to do to make her feel better.

Miriam then started beatboxing, soon joined by Abby and then Priya. They started singing one of 4-Town's songs.

I've never met nobody like you

Had friends and I've had buddies

It's true

But they don't turn my tummy

The way you do

I've never met nobody

Like you

Mei looked at her friends, not too sure of what they're doing. They stopped singing to let Mei join in. It took a second, but she caved. 

You're never not on my mind?

Oh, my, oh, my

I'm never not by your side Your side, your side

I'm never gonna let you cry Oh, cry, don't cry

I'll never not be your ride or die

All right!

I smiled and giggled a little. They knew exactly how to cheer Mei up. I almost teared up at the wholesomeness. 

“Thanks, guys.” Mei sniffed, the three friends hugging, “You're the best.”

“Aw, we love you, Mei.” Miriam said.

“You're our girl.” Priya added.

“Yeah. No matter what. Panda or no panda.”

The friends shared a group hug when all of a sudden, Mei turned back into her normal self. The main difference was that she was a redhead now.

“Whoa!” Paimon exclaimed, “Mei! You’re human again!”

Everyone noticed that Mei had changed back.

“Mei!” Priya exclaimed, “She's right.”

“You're you!” Miriam said, “And you look amazing!”

“Red looks so good on you.” Priya said.

“It really does.” Mirabel said, “I kinda like it better than your old hair.”

“Aww Is it gone?” Abby asked, a little disappointed. 

“For now.” Mei said, “But if I get too excited, it'll come right back…” Abby pinched Mei’s cheek. 

“Hey, now.” I said, chuckling a little.

“Ow! Abby, what the heck?” Mei noticed something, “Huh? Something feels different. Abby, hit me.” Abby did hit Mei again, only she punched her, surprising all of us, “Ow.”

“Are you ok?” I was about to help her up when Mei got up on her own. Sure enough, she stayed human. I couldn't help but notice how disappointed Abby was at this, which I thought was kind of funny.

“Oh, my gosh! I stayed calm. Something about you guys, like, neutralizes the panda.”

“Aw! It's our love.” Miriam realized.

“We're like a warm and fuzzy blanket.” Priya said.

“Yeah.” Abby added sadly.

“So you can control it now!” Maria said, “That's great!”

“This means I can have my room back.” Mei said, getting excited, “I can have my life back!”

“No.” Miriam said, “Even better. You can come with us to 4-Town!” While Abby and Priya were excited, Mei seemed more confused, “This could be our only chance to see them together. We're all asking our parents tonight.”

“We're making our stand.” Priya said.

“Yeah.” Abby said, “You in or you out?”

“But I can't ask my mom.” Mei-Mei said, “I'm a furry ticking time bomb!”

“Of awesomeness!” Miriam added, “And now you can control it! So just prove it to her, and she's gotta let you go!” 

“What do you have to lose?” Manolo asked.

Mei seemed to consider it for a moment, but then Ming called out, “Mei-Mei?”

“Crap!” Mei said, pushing all of us to the window, “You guys better go.”

“Oh, yeah, right.” I said, somewhat reluctantly. 

“But…” We all climbed out the window as quickly as we could.

“No ‘buts,’ Mir.” Mei said, “My mom already doesn't like you.”

“Wait, she doesn't?”

“What?” Mirabel asked, just as confused as Miriam.

“I'll call you, I promise.” Mei said as she closed the curtains on us.

“We love you, Mei.” Priya said as they waved goodbye.

“Hang in there, girl.” Abby said. 

“Her mom doesn't like me?” Miriam asked, still in shock.

“Yeah, I'm sorry you had to hear that.” I said, “My mom didn't like some of my friends growing up either.”

“The four of you are really close, huh?” Manolo asked.

“That's right.” Abby said.

“Known each other since 4th grade.” Priya added. 

“Wow, that's a long time.” I said, “I'm guessing you also bonded over 4-Town.”

“Duh!” Miriam said. She turned to Abby and Priya, “Come on, guys.” She turned back to us, “Will you guys be around?” 

“Absolutely.” Maria said, “Good luck with your parents and 4-Town!” 

“Thanks!” Priya said.

The three girls waved us goodbye and went home.

“They have such a strong friendship.” Paimon said.

“Yeah.” I frowned, “I wish I had that.”

“What do you mean?” Manolo asked.

“Oh, nothing. I'll explain one day, but not right now.”

Later that day, Mei had us all inside the house to help her with a presentation to convince her parents to let her go to the concert. She didn't want us there during the presentation, wanting to do it herself.

We were sitting outside Mei's window, waiting for her to come back.

“I wonder how it's going.” Manolo thought out loud. 

“Paimon is sure it's great.” Paimon said, “Mei-Mei can control the panda now, so they have to say yes.”

Even from outside, we heard the door slam, making us all jump. We heard frustrated screams and clattering.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Maria said.

We slowly looked toward the window. I slowly knocked on it, “Mei-Mei?”

We stepped away from the window as Mei opened it, “Oh, hey. You're still here.”

“I mean, we don't have anywhere else to go.” Mirabel muttered, “And your mom wants to keep an eye on us. But, anyway, how did it go?”

Mei sighed angrily, “Horrible! My mom said no!”

“What?!” Manolo exclaimed.

“Why would she say no?” Maria asked, “Were you able to show your parents that you can control the panda?”

“Yes!” Mei exclaimed, “I passed all their tests with flying colors! Even the kitten box!”

“Kitten box?” Mirabel asked.

“Don’t ask.” I said.

“She called 4-Town filth, she doesn’t think I can keep my panda in!” Mei-Mei groaned in frustration, “I really thought she was going to say yes.”

“Aw, I’m really sorry to hear that, Mei-Mei.” I blinked, “Oh, uh… is it ok if we call you that? I don’t think I asked.”

Mei shrugged, before grinning, “I actually don’t mind. Have you ever been through something like this before?”

“Having your parents say no to something you really want?” I scoffed, “Who hasn’t?”

“I know I have.” Manolo said.

“Have any of you been to a concert before?” Mei asked.

“I’ve been to a couple.” I said, “You wouldn’t know any of the artists.” Not yet, anyway. 

Mei groaned, “Now I’m jealous.”

“Sorry.” I chuckled nervously.

“Ooh! Paimon has an idea!” Paimon said, “Why don’t we listen to 4-Town right now?”

“That’s not a bad idea.” Maria said, “We all love music.”

“Yeah, I want to know how they sound.” Manolo added.

Mei looked at all of us, “You actually want to hear them?” 

“Of course.” Mirabel said, “We want to know what you and your friends are so crazy about.”

Mei smiled, “Thanks guys. Just give me a second.” She went back to her room, grabbing a CD and a CD player. Manolo helped her climb through the window.

We spent the next hour listening to 4-Town. I could tell Manolo, Maria, Mirabel, and Paimon loved it. I only heard a few of their songs from the movie, but they were pretty cool. Nobody Like You was my personal favorite. Mei didn’t talk much about Ming saying no to the concert. But listening to music seemed to help distract her a little.

The next day, we all decided to walk around town for a while and we were heading back to the temple. Just as we saw the temple ahead, we saw Mei running towards us, waving frantically, “Hey! Hey, guys!”

“Whoa, Mei, where’s the fire?” Mirabel asked when we met in the middle.

“I’m going to see 4-Town after all!” Mei said, excitedly.

“Really?” Maria asked.

Mei explained how most of their parents said no about the concert. Well, Miriam’s parents said she had to buy the tickets, but it was technically no. So, the four of them decided to just go to the concert behind their parents’ backs. To get the money for the tickets, they were charging their classmates to see the panda (Get your mind out of the gutter). 

“Wow.” I said, “Even I wasn’t this much of a rebel when I was your age. Or a business owner, for that matter.”

“But this could actually work.” Mirabel said. 

“I’m surprised the other kids like the panda.” Maria said.

“I thought so, too.” Mei said, “But apparently they think it’s cute.”

“Are you kidding?!” Paimon exclaimed, “It’s adorable! Paimon wants to hug the panda too!”

I chuckled, “Uh, Mei-Mei? Is it ok if you…?”

Mei playfully rolled her eyes, “Yeah, yeah, come on.” We went through the temple gates, and Mei turned into the giant red panda.

“Yay!” Paimon threw herself at Mei’s giant fluffy body with glee, “So fluffy!”

“You’re just like Abby.” Mei said.

“Hey, uh…” Mirabel said, twiddling her thumbs, “Is it ok if we…”

“Bring it in everyone.”

“Ok.”

She didn’t need to tell us twice. We all hugged Mei in her panda form.

“Oh, wow, you’re softer than I thought.” Maria said.

“You tell me how much money we owe you for this.” I said.

“It’s ok.” Mei-Mei said, “This one’s for free. But also, can you please not tell my parents about this? My mom would freak if she found out.”

“Your secret is safe with us, Mei.” Manolo said.

“You’re so amazing, Manolo.” I sighed, dreamily.

“What?”

I cleared my throat, “I said you’re right, Manolo. Our lips are sealed. We don’t want your mom kicking us out of the temple either.”

Mei smiled and hugged us tighter, “Thanks, guys.”

Chapter Text

It's been a few weeks since Mei decided to go to the concert. She, Miriam, Abby, and Priya have been working their butts off to make the money for tickets. 800 dollars, my gosh. 

They've been charging classmates to take pictures with the panda, selling merch, it was a lot. We all helped in any way we could and hid everything from Ming and Jin.

Mei told her mom that they all joined a math club to cover up the hustling. They even made a deal with Tyler of all people to bring the panda to his birthday party.

But all the time we've spent here was starting to worry me.

“Hey, has anyone else noticed how long we've been here?” I asked as we hung out in the temple one evening.

“A few weeks, right?” Paimon asked.

“Exactly. We've only spent a few days in each world. Don't you think we should've moved worlds by now?”

“Wait, we've really been here for that long?” Manolo asked, “I don't think I've noticed.”

“I don't think we decide when it's time to go.” Maria said.

“Yeah, it's up to the stupid rock.”

“Well, maybe we won't have to wait much longer.” Mirabel said.

Before I could dwell on the issue for too long, we saw Ming and Mei walking towards the temple gates.

“Oh, yeah, the party.” Manolo said, “But what's Ming doing with her?”

“She wants to go with Mei to the ‘math meeting.’” I said.

Manolo pinched the bridge of his nose, “She needs to learn how to be more trusting. Sure, Mei is still young, but if she doesn't–”

“But I don't want you to!” Mei suddenly yelled.

We all froze and stared at the mother and daughter. Mei looked genuinely shocked at what she just said and I could tell Ming was hurt. Even I never had the guts to tell my parents that.

Suddenly, the temple gates were shaking. We heard women's voices on the other side. The gates burst open with a bright light, blinding all of us. In came four women all dressed in green who gathered around Mei, talking over each other.

“Who are they?” Paimon asked, all of our eyes wide.

“Mei’s aunts.” I explained, “They're in town for the ritual.”

Mirabel shuddered, “I know the feeling. Tía Pepa gets all over us on our birthdays.”

“Ladies.” An older woman with sunglasses spoke up, the aunts parting to make way for her.

“Mother.” Ming said with uncertainty.

“Mother?” Maria repeated. I nodded.

“Hey, Grandma.” Mei said nervously. 

Mei's grandma walked up to Mei, looking over her and grabbing her face, “Poor dear. It must be so difficult keeping that unruly beast at bay.” She removed her sunglasses, revealing a scar above her right eye, “Your family is here now, Mei-Mei. And we will take care of everything.”

Oh, boy…

After a few minutes, it was time to head to the party. I was going with Mei for there to be at least one adult. If there were adults at the party, I sure as heck didn't see them.

“You guys be careful.” Maria said.

“Leave the stone with us.” Paimon suggested, “That way you won't have to worry about losing it.”

“Good idea.” I gave Manolo the Mora Stone, my heart stopping when I felt our hands touch. Keep your thirst in check, Fabi.

“Good luck.” Mirabel said. 

I went to Mei’s bedroom window. She was just opening her window when her grandma came in. I normally wouldn't blatantly eavesdrop, but I couldn't help myself. I went to stand under the window.

“I found this.” I heard her grandma say, “Strange for a girl who hasn't let her panda out.”

Uh, oh.

“It's, uh… It's not mine.” Mei lied.

“Mei-Mei, I know what you're doing. I know how hard it is to keep the beast in. It feels so good to let it out. So free. But each time you do, the stronger it gets. And then you'll be bound to it forever, and the ritual will fail.”

Mei became nervous, “Has that ever happened?”

“It cannot happen. Your mother and I were close once, but the red panda took that away. I couldn't bear to see that happen to you. So, no more panda. You are your mother's whole world, Mei-Mei. I know you'll do what's right.”

When her grandma left, Mei silently came to the window. She knew I heard everything, but didn't comment on it.

“So… what are you gonna do?” I asked.

She looked at me, thinking hard, “Give me a second.”

Mei ran up to Tyler's front door, “Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked when I caught up to her.

Feeling guilty after what her grandma said, Mei decided to wear her cardboard red panda costume instead.

“No, but you heard my grandma.” Mei said, “I can't let the panda out again. It's worth a shot, right?”

I sighed, knowing this wasn’t going to go well. I rang the doorbell. 

The door opened and it was obvious that everyone was disappointed by the costume, “Yo! What up, peeps?” Mei panted as we walked inside. I smiled awkwardly at everyone.

“What are you wearing?” Tyler asked, clearly annoyed.

“Hey, Tyler. Happy birthday.”

“I'm paying for the red panda, not this garbage! Deal's off!”

“Wait! Can garbage do this?” Mei tried dancing to salvage the situation, but it wasn't working.

Miriam, Abby, and Priya pulled us aside, “Are you feeling okay?” Miriam asked.

“Guys, it's hard to explain, but just, hmm… Just trust me on this.” Mei said, “I can't panda anymore. I'm sorry.”

“Okay, okay, okay. It's-It's fine. You don't have to do it. We'll just, uh, figure something…”

“I won't go.” Priya said sadly.

I blinked in surprise, “Huh?”

“What?” Mei asked, taking her friend's hands, “Priya, you can't not go. Jesse's your soul mate.”

“But we only have enough for three tickets.”

“Then I'll stay home.” Abby declared.

“Abby, no! I'll stay home.” Mei said.

“Guys, if we can't all go, then none of us should go.” Miriam said, “Right?”

My heart broke for the four of them. They're so determined to go to the concert together. They were so loyal. 

I looked at Mei, “Come on, Mei. You need the money.”

Mei sighed, “Just one last time.” She turned around, “Hey, Tyler! You want the panda? You're getting the panda.” She poofed into the giant red panda, “Let's hear it for the birthday boy!”

While shocked at first, the kids were loving it. Mei-Mei was the life of the party.

After a while, the five of us were on the roof, eating Tyler's cake and celebrating that the girls were going to 4-Town. 

“This was fun.” I said, “I can't remember the last time I went to a party like this.” 

“You need to go out more often.” Priya said.

“Rude.”

“Hey, has anyone seen Mei?” Tyler was looking for Mei on the ground.

“Dang.” Priya said, “He is working you.”

“What a diva!” Abby almost threw a slice of cake at him before shoving it in her mouth.

“There you go, Abby.” I said, “It'd be a waste of a perfectly good slice.”

The four girls chuckled at my lame joke.

“It'll all be worth it.” Mei said. We all crawled up the roof to lie down, looking up at the night sky. Mei poofed back into herself, “Tomorrow, we are walking into that concert girls and coming out women.”

“Literally goosebumps.” Miriam said.

I smiled and rolled my eyes, “You sure are.” I said, playing along.

“Hmm.” Priya thought, “What do you think Jesse smells like?”

“Girl, seriously?”

“It's a valid question.”

Miriam inhaled deeply, “Milk chocolate and wet rocks.”

I chuckled at how silly they were being, but who am I to judge them?

“It's happening, Robaire Junior!” Mei told her tamagotchi, “You're finally gonna meet your daddy!”

“And your hot uncles!” Abby said. 

After calming down from laughter, Miriam got serious, “Mei, what if you didn't do the ritual? What if you kept the panda?”

“What?” Mei asked.

“Look at you! You're not the same feather-dustin', straight-A, goody-goody…”

“Who we never saw, like, ever.” Priya said.

“Yeah.” Abby added.

“You're such a rebel now.” Miriam said.

“Guys, I can't be like this forever.” Mei said, “My whole family would freak. Especially my mom. All her hopes and dreams are pinned on me.”

“I know. But you've really changed and I'm proud of you. Just don't get rid of all of it, you know?”

“She's right.” I said, “Change can be scary, but it can be good. Especially at your age, when you're figuring yourself out.”

“Yeah.” Abby said, “If it weren't for you, none of this would be happening. You the bomb!”

“Word.” Priya said, “You da bomb, Mei.”

“No, you da bomb.” Mei said.

“We all da bomb!” Miriam said, “You too, Fabi!”

I was surprised they were including me, but I wasn't going to question it. They stood up, jumping and cheering, and I couldn't help but join them, “We da bomb!”

The four of them did their friend handshake calling thing and did a group hug. I'd just be intruding if I joined in on that.

“All right, homies, next up is 4-Town.” The man on the radio said, “The boys are coming to Toronto on the 25th!”

All of our hearts stopped, “What?!” I exclaimed. The four friends slowly gathered around the radio. 

“So get your tickets now. And check it, they'll be cranking open the SkyDome and performing under a red lunar eclipse. It's gonna be galactic, for sure.”

Mei's eyes went wide and she grabbed Abby's face, “Abby… you said the concert was the 18th.”

“It is!” She exclaimed, pulling out the flyer, “He's wrong! Look! The 18th, Toronto!”

Priya looked at the flyer more closely, “This says Toledo.”

“What?” Abby looked at the flyer, angrily yelling in Korean and ripping the flyer to shreds, “What the heck is Toledo?!”

“Oh, no.” Miriam realized, “4-Town's the same night as the ritual?”

“No!” Mei panicked, turning into the panda, “The same night? The same night? What?!”

“Mei, chill.”

“We can figure this out.” I said, trying to calm her down.

“It's okay.” Priya said.

Mei was having a panic attack now, freaking out about the concert, the ritual, letting everyone down, all the hard work they've done. It was too much for her.

“Hey, Panda Girl.” Tyler called up. 

Uh, oh. We looked down at Tyler.

“What are you doing? We want more rides.”

“Buzz off, jerkface.” Mei snapped, “I'm busy.”

Tyler wouldn't stop pestering Mei, which was only agitating her more. We tried to hold her back as she got more and more angry. We were about to leave when Tyler crossed the line.

“Fine! Get out of here! Go back to your psycho Mom and your creepy temple, you freak!”

She snapped. Mei jumped off the roof and tackled Tyler, yelling at him, having had enough of everything.

“Mei!” I screamed.

“Mei-Mei, STOP!” I don't know how she came, but Ming showed up, horrified at what was happening, “What is going on here?!”

Mei snapped out of it, realizing what she was doing. Not only did she hurt Tyler, but the other kids were scared of her now.

We all got down from the roof. Ming was talking to Tyler's parents who were obviously furious at what happened. They told everyone to go home. We all watched fearful of what happened. I hid from Ming's view, not wanting to risk her seeing me.

Mei was expecting Ming to yell at her, but to her surprise, she scolded her friends, “I can't believe you girls would use her like this!”

“What?” Miriam asked in disbelief. 

Ming accused the three girls of manipulating and taking advantage of Mei, which only got worse when they mentioned 4-Town. When they said Mei wanted to, Ming didn't believe them.

“Don't you blame her! She is a good girl, and you've taken advantage of her!”

“Mei, tell her!” Miriam begged Mei. 

Mei looked at her friends, but said nothing, hiding into her mother's embrace, leaving her friends in disbelief.

It wasn't an easy decision for her, but she left with Ming. The four friends were heartbroken and betrayed. When they were gone, I left my hiding spot.

“I'm sorry that happened.” I said to the three girls who were still there, “I'm also sorry I didn't step in. I'm relying on her mom for shelter and I–”

“It's-It's ok, Fabi.” Miriam said, “None of this is your fault. I just… can't believe she just…”

“Hey, it’ll be ok, guys. It'll be ok.” I gave each of them a hug, “Can you make it home ok?” They nodded, “Ok, good. You guys get some rest. And don't worry, I’ll talk to Mei.”

When I finally made it back to the temple, I told the gang what happened before going to Mei's window. I knocked on the glass and it wasn't long before she opened it.

“Hi, Fabi.” She said, sadly. 

“Hey. Meet us outside?” I asked.

She stepped away from the window and we both went to the temple with the others.

“We heard about what happened.” Manolo said.

“I didn't want to lie, I was just scared of what my mom would say.” Mei said.

“It's ok, Mei-Mei.” I said, “We understand.”

“It's not ok.” Mei sat down, curling her face in her knees, “I messed up with my friends. They hate me now. And my family was right about the panda.”

“Your friends don't hate you.” Maria said.

“Sure they're mad, but they just need space right now.” I said, “If you explain, I'm sure they'll understand.”

“And you are sorry for what you did, right?” Mirabel asked.

“And there's nothing wrong with the panda.” Paimon said, “It was an accident. We've all done things when we're angry.”

“Yeah.” I said, “Same as before, just let everyone cool down. You can still control your panda. I've lashed out a few times, we all explode.”

“How do I know they'll ever talk to me again?” Mei asked.

“Because you and your friends have something I haven't had in a long time. A true bond that nothing can get in the way of. You guys are practically sisters. And, yeah, you argue, but things always fix themselves in the end.” I suddenly got sad, “I… really wish I had that.”

Mei looked up at me, “Huh?”

I sighed, looking at the ground, “When I graduated high school, all of my friends basically ghosted me. I tried to reach out to them and keep contact, but… nothing. Even with who I thought was my best friend. We've known each other since 4th grade. I thought for sure we'd be friends forever. She moved away for college, but I thought that wouldn't matter.”

I remembered the last time I saw her. The last time we spoke. The last thing she said to me.

I have to go now

We'll be in touch

I promise this won't end

I have to go now

We'll talk again

Thanks for being my best friend

And then she smiled, that's what I'm after

A smile in her eyes, the sound of her laughter

Happy to listen

Happy to play

Happily watching her drift away

I stood up, looking at the sky. The pain from all those years ago was rushing back to me.

Happily waiting

All on my own

Texting to just say "hi"

Counting the seconds, waiting for texts

As day after day went by

Happily wondering, night after night

When will she be home?

When will she speak to me?

Happy to listen

Happy to stay

Happily watching her drift away

The more I remembered her, the more pain I felt. We used to be so close… we went through so much together.

I kept on turning pages, for people who don't care

People who don't care about me

And still it took me ages

To see that no one's there

See that no one's there

See that no one's there

Everyone's gone on without me

I blinked, trying to hold back my tears.

Finally something

Finally news

About how the story ends

She goes home and back now

Living her best life

With all of her brand new friends

Isn't that lovely?

Isn't that cool?

And isn't that cruel?

And aren't I a fool to have

Happily listened

Happy to stay

Happily watching her drift

Drift

Drift away

I sat back down as tears streamed down my face. No one said anything.

“I really thought my friendship meant something, only to realize… I meant nothing to them. I sometimes wonder if there's something wrong with me. What did I do to deserve this?”

I wiped my tears away and turned back to Mei, “But you have something different, Mei-Mei. And trust me, your friendships won't break like mine did.”

“Have you ever tried to make friends again?” Paimon asked, sadly.

“Yeah, but no one ever stays for long. I want friends, but I also don't want to be hurt again. But I keep getting my hopes up and getting hurt again and again.”

I felt someone place a hand on my shoulder, “We're your friends.” Mei said. I felt her hug me from the side. Everyone else slowly wrapped me in a group hug.

My eyes widened and I felt tears well up my eyes. We sat there in silence for a little while, holding each other. I considered them my friends, but I didn’t want to say it out loud. I'm glad they confirmed it.

Chapter Text

The day of the concert came. Mei and her friends still weren't talking and we couldn't help but feel sad for them. We just hoped they could make amends soon.

The whole family was having dinner before the ceremony outside the temple. We could see the red moon forming in the sky along with the lights coming from the stadium for the concert.

“Beautiful, isn't it?” Maria asked, looking at the moon.

“I'll say.” I said, “Though, I've never seen the moon change  like this. It looks really cool.”

“Big deal.” Paimon said, crossing her arms, “Paimon has seen way prettier skies in Teyvat.” I chuckled.

“Do you think they went to the concert?” Manolo asked, thinking about Miriam, Abby and Priya. 

“I hope they did.” Mirabel said, “Or else all of their work would've been for nothing.”

“None of this feels right. I don't think Mei really wants this.”

I sighed, standing up, “I'll go check on her.” I went to Mei’s window and tapped the glass. She opened the window after a second, “Hi. You look nice.”

Mei looked down at her traditional dress, “Thanks. My grandma gave it to me.”

“You nervous? It's ok if you are.” 

Before she could respond, Jin came into the room, surprising us.

“Hey, Dad. I-I'm almost ready. Fabi was just checking in.” I waved from my spot by the window.

Jin was holding a camera, playing a video, “Did you make this?” He asked, showing Mei.

“Here, I'll erase it.” Jin pulled the camera away from her, “What? We were just being stupid. The panda's dangerous, outta control.”

“Huh. You sound like your mother. What has she told you about her panda?”

“Nothing. She won't talk about it.”

Jin and Mei sat on the floor together, “It was quite destructive. And big. She almost took out half the temple.”

As they talked like I wasn't there, Jin revealed that Ming and her mother fought about him because Grandma didn't approve of him. Jin talked about Ming's panda with such admiration. It was kind of sweet.

“But, I'm a monster.” Mei said silently.

“People have all kinds of sides to them, Mei, and some sides are messy.” Jin said, “The point isn't to push the bad stuff away. It's to...make room for it, live with it. Mei, erase it if you want, but this side of you… made me laugh.”

I stepped away from the window tearing up. What he said really resonated with me. There were so many times where I was ashamed of myself when I made a mistake. Like there was something wrong with me. 

I'm still learning this lesson. And I don't know how long it'll take for me to get it.

“Mei-Mei.” I heard Ming say, “It's time.”

The gang and I were on the rooftops where no one could see us. The whole family and Mr. Gao were outside the temple for the ritual.

“So how is this going to work?” Mirabel asked, “It’s not going to hurt, is it?”

“No, it’ll be fine.” I said, “It’s actually quite simple, they’re gonna–” 

“Oh! Mei’s here!” Paimon said, pointing at the family. We saw Mei in her traditional robes, looking nervously at everyone.

Mr. Gao brought Mei to the center, “Just follow my directions and breathe.” Mei sat on her knees, as he drew a circle around her in chalk, “Now don't move from the circle. You understand? For as long as the red moon shines, the astral realm will be open. And this circle is the door.”

He nodded to the aunts who started playing different Chinese instruments and singing in Chinese. It was beautiful and chilling. 

“This song is beautiful.” Maria said.

“What are they saying?” Mei asked.

“The door will open only if we sing from our hearts.” Mr. Gao explained, “It doesn't matter what. I like Tony Bennett, but your grandma, uh, she's from old school. Now, focus on their voices. Let them guide you.”

“Something’s happening.” Manolo said.

“You’re right.” Mirabel said. As the family sang, the circle around Mei started glowing green. The ritual was working. 

“Oh, Sun Yee, revered ancestor, hear us now.” Mr. Gao said, “Guide this girl through her inner storm.” The red moon was full, the circle glowing bright with a red panda symbol in the center. The power created a strong wind, the temple walls shaking, and Mei slowly being lifted in the air.

“What’s happening?” Maria asked.

“Louder! Louder!” Mr. Gao held his sword to the light of the red moon, “And return the red panda spirit from where it came!” The ruby in the center of the sword shot red glowing energy on Mei’s head.

“Mei!” Mirabel exclaimed.

“It’s ok.” I said, “She’s ok.” Red shimmering magic flowed through Mei, lifting her higher into the air. She was in a different plane of existence now.

During the ritual, Mei started struggling, like she was having a nightmare. We saw the panda spirit come out of Mei, Mr. Gao holding something to trap the panda in. 

“This still doesn't feel right.” Manolo said, “Is Mei sure she wants this? It's not too late to stop, is it?”

“Yeah, just because there’s a danger to the panda, doesn’t mean she should repress it.” Maria said, “We all have different sides to us and –” She did a double take when she saw I was looking at her, “What?”

“You guys kinda sound like Mei’s dad.” I smiled, “He told her something similar.”

All of a sudden, there was a large puff of pink smoke that spread everywhere, stopping the ritual. Everyone was coughing and confused.

“What happened?” Paimon asked, coughing, “Is this normal for the ritual?”

“Nope.” I smiled. When the smoke cleared a little, we saw Mei as a panda!

“It didn’t work!” 

“But she looks… happy.” Mirabel said, smiling.

“Exactly.” I said. While Mei and the rest of us were happy about this, Ming and the others were shocked and confused.

“Mei-Mei.” Ming said, getting up from the ground, “It's okay. We can do it again.” Mei pulled away from her mom, confusing her, “Mei-Mei?”

“I'm keeping it.” Mei declared. Everyone was horrified at the idea, but Mei stood her ground, “I'm keeping it!”

Mei went to the front of the temple, but the others grabbed onto her, trying to stop her from leaving. 

“No!” Maria said, “Let her go!” She looked like she was going to jump into the fray, but Manolo held her back. Thankfully, she didn’t have to do anything.

“NO!” Mei managed to push her entire family off her onto the ground. It looked painful, but it was pretty impressive, “I'm going to the concert!”

“You go, Mei!” I said. Mei ran out of the temple without looking back. 

Her entire family was confused and horrified at what just happened. Mei’s grandma even blamed Ming, as if this was her fault.

“Uh, guys.” Paimon said, “Paimon thinks there’s something going on with Ming’s necklace.” 

“Oh, no.” I said, my face falling.

“How could she?” Ming asked through frustrated tears, “How could she do this to… her own mother?!” Her voice shook the walls of the temple, scaring everyone. As her necklace broke, a large and furious panda spirit came out and leapt into Ming.

“Is that…?” Manolo asked, his eyes wide in horror.

“Yep.” I nodded.

Ming was raised into the air with fury in her eyes, “Mei-Mei!”

We joined the family in running after Ming. There was nothing scarier than an angry mother, and Mei was gonna have to start planning her funeral.

“What the heck is up with her?!” Mirabel asked as we ran, “Has anyone’s panda ever been that big?!”

“I don’t think so!” I said, panting, “Jin did say Ming’s panda was big!”

“Colossal is more like it!” Maria said.

“We have to warn Mei and her friends! Ming’s gonna destroy everything!”

Too late. 

Ming was on a rampage and had torn open the SkyDome. We could hear everyone freaking out inside. The only upside to this meant that it was easier for us to get inside. The crowd of mostly kids was running away from Ming as she looked for Mei. It didn’t take us long to find her either.

“Mei!” Jin exclaimed when he found Mei.

“Dad?” Mei asked. She was with her friends, and surprisingly Tyler, “Guys! You’re here too?”

“We’re all here.” I said.

“We have to save your mother!” Grandma said.

“She's gone loco!” One of the aunts said.

“Mei, we have to do the ritual again!” Jin said.

“What happened?!” Mei asked, “She's HUGE!”

“Her necklace broke when you left!” Paimon explained, “She must’ve had a lot of pent up rage, huh?”

“I told you, she was big!” Jin said.

“That big?” Mei asked in disbelief.

“Mei-Mei!” Ming shouted as she scooped Mei up in her giant paw.

“No!” I exclaimed. 

“You are in big trouble, young lady!” She grabbed the 4-Town sign, “I'm shutting this down, right now!” The 4-Town members were still suspended in the air, looking absolutely horrified, “Everyone, go home! Where are your parents? Put some clothes on!” She dropped and destroyed the sign, “This isn't you!”

Mei turned into panda form and bit Ming, causing her to drop Mei. Mei transformed back into herself as she landed, the rest of us running to check on her. She didn’t acknowledge any of us, angrily turning back into the panda, “I'm not your little Mei-Mei anymore! I lied, Mom!”

“What?!” Ming asked in shock.

“It was my idea to hustle the panda. My idea to go to Tyler's party! It was all ME! I like boys! I like loud music! I like gyrating! I'M 13, DEAL WITH IT!”

The gang and I exchanged wide eyed glances of horror. While it’s good that Mei stood up to Ming, we knew that if any of us spoke to our parents like that, we’d be six feet under in a second. Mei must be really fed up. 

Ming paused for a second before roaring loudly. I think she’s even angrier than before.

“The ritual.” Grandma clapped her hands, “Everyone in position!” The aunts ran off to do their jobs, “Mei, keep her busy.”

“Oh, I'll keep her busy!” Mei said, fury in her tone as she ran off to do so.

“We should probably get out of the way.” Manolo said as we all ran to the side with Mei’s friends.

“Are you guys ok?” I asked them.

“We were having the time of our lives until Mei’s mom showed up!” Miriam said.

“I’m guessing you guys are friends again?” Maria asked.

“You bet!” Abby said, “Tighter than ever!” 

“Tyler’s even a part of the group now.” Priya said.

Tyler scoffed, “We’ll talk about this later.”

“Well, I’m happy to hear that.” I said. I sighed, “Hey, when this is all over, there’s something we–”

“You think you're so mature!” Ming shouted, making us all flinch. She made the whole stadium shake with each step she took as she chased Mei around, “Lying to me! Biting me! How could you be so, so… crass?!”

“Yeesh, even I’m not like this with my mom.” I said to myself. 

Mei started twerking in front of her mom which was pissing her off so much. We cheered her on from the sidelines.

“What is she doing?” Mirabel laughed.

“Destroy her with your big butt!” Abby said.

“Start singing now!” Jin shouted as he ran by us and the aunts. I almost forgot about Jin making a giant circle with a random chalk bucket he found. Grandma and the rest of the aunts started singing, but they needed to be louder.

“Ugh!” I groaned, “They’re not loud enough.”

After a while, Ming turned around, sweeping Mei with her giant tail.

“Mei!” I screamed.

Mei climbed Ming’s tail, poofing back and forth between human and panda, “All I wanted… was to go to a CONCERT!!!” She dodged Ming’s attacks like she was an anime character.

“I never went to concerts!” Ming shouted, trying to catch Mei, “I put my family first! I tried to be a good daughter!”

Something within Mei snapped. She landed on Ming’s nose, “Well, sorry I'm not perfect!” In her human form, she rose high in the sky, “Sorry I'm not good enough! And sorry I'LL NEVER BE LIKE YOU!” With as much force as she could, she headbutted Ming right between her eyes. 

I closed my eyes, feeling the impact of everything crash around me. It was overwhelming. When I opened my eyes, Ming was on the ground unconscious and Mei was in her human form, “Oh, no!” She gasped, “Mom… Mom!” We looked up to see the red moon was running out, meaning we were almost out of time for the ritual.

Mei ran to Ming, poofing into her panda form, “Mom! You have to get in the circle!” She started pulling on the tail to try and move her. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I ran to try and help with what little strength I had, “Wake up! I'm sorry! Mom? Come on. Please!”

“Come on, you giant thing.” I strained, “Help us out here. If not for you, for Mei. I turned to Mei, “None of this is your fault, Mei-Mei! It was an accident. None of this is your fault.” I tried to focus on getting Ming back in the circle. Not like I was helping at all, but still.

Next thing I knew, we were actually moving Ming. It was Grandma who had turned into her panda to help, “Pull, Mei-Mei!”

“Grandma?” Mei asked in shock.

“I am not losing my daughter!” She turned to the aunts, “Don't just stand there!”

All four aunts ran in, destroying whatever their panda was held in. Gotta admit, they all looked good as pandas. I still had some questions since they were all still significantly smaller than Ming, but that doesn’t matter now.

“Make room for your elders, Mei-Mei!” One of them said as they pulled Ming’s tail.

“What?”

“We're with you!” Another said.

“What are you doing?!” Mei asked “What if you can't turn back?!”

“Your mom needs us!”

“She's family!”

“Less talking, more pulling!” Grandma said.

All of our strength combined was able to pull Ming further into the circle. It was working! The aunts began singing the same song they sang during the first ritual, but they still weren’t loud enough. 

All of a sudden, we heard familiar singing. It was Mei’s friends, my friends, and of all people, 4-Town! I don’t know what they told them, but all of them singing was helping the circle! Mei gasped excitedly when she saw what was happening, tears forming in her eyes.

I smiled in excitement, knowing what was coming. It was even more exciting since my friends joined in. I already knew they all had the “sing from the heart” requirement in the bag.

The things that happened during the first ritual happened ten-fold. Mei and I couldn’t help but sing along to the 4-Town part of the song. The red energy spread throughout Ming’s body and everyone in the circle was floating, including me. 

It gave me chills as the light blinded me and everyone.

When I could see again, Mei and I were in a bamboo forest, “Whoa!” I exclaimed looking around, “Where are we?”

“I-I don’t really know.” Mei said, “Sun Yee was here, but– wait.” She looked around again before running off, “Mom? Mom!” I ran with her, calling out for Ming.

We heard sobbing, which we assumed was Ming. We found her curled up on the ground, “Mom? Are you okay? We have to…” When she turned to us, Ming was somehow a younger version of herself, probably Mei’s age, “Mom?”

“I'm sorry.” Ming sobbed, “It's all my fault.”

“What happened?” Mei softly asked, crouching down to her.

“I-I hurt her.”

“Who?”

“My mom! I got so angry, and I lost control. I'm just so sick of being perfect! I'm never gonna be good enough for her. Or anyone.” 

I felt like I was shot in the heart. I almost didn’t realize that I was crying. I silently wiped away my tears. I could relate to this all too well.

Mei softly tucked a lock of hair behind young Ming’s ear and put her hand on her shoulder, the same way Ming would do with Mei, “I know it feels that way. Like, all the time. But… it isn't true. Come on.”

She gently took Ming’s hand, helping her up. We walked through the bamboo forest in silence. As we walked, Ming slowly aged up until she was back to her adult self. Only this time, she had red hair. She looks good. 

We found the rest of Mei’s family who also had red hair, freaking out. When they saw us, the aunts clamored around us saying we had to go.

“Ladies.” Like before, Grandma stepped through them. She walked up to Ming, who couldn’t look more hurt. To everyone’s surprise, she embraced Ming.

A tear silently fell down Ming’s face, “I'm sorry.” She softly said.

“Shh. You don't have to apologize.” Grandma broke the hug, “I'm your mother.” 

I silently sobbed to myself. I couldn’t be more grateful that no one was looking at me.

Grandma turned to Mei, “May Sun Yee guide you and keep you safe. One at a time, ladies. And quickly.”

One by one, each aunt put their hands on Mei’s shoulder in pride, making her smile. They each stepped through the portal, their pandas flying away from them. It has been years, but at the end of the day, they don’t have to keep their pandas if they don’t want to.

When it was just the three of us, Ming and Mei stood before the portal hand in hand, “Go ahead.” Mei told Ming, “It's okay.”

Ming slowly stepped through the portal, her giant panda flowing past us with a breeze. The panda turned to us. We exchanged a smile with it as it left for good. I chuckled lightly to myself, “So, what now?” I asked.

“Mei-Mei, please.” Ming said from the otherside of the portal, “Just come with me.”

“I'm changing, Mom.” Mei said, standing her ground, “I'm finally figuring out who I am. But…” Her voice cracked, “I'm scared it'll take me away from you.”

“Me too. I see you, Mei-Mei. You try to make everyone happy, but are so hard on yourself. And if I taught you that… I'm sorry.” 

Dang it. It felt like she was talking to me.

“So, don't hold back. For anyone.” Both Ming and Mei were tearing up as they pressed their hands against the portal together, “The farther you go, the prouder I'll be.” 

The portal slowly disappeared. I wiped my tears away before Mei could see them. We slowly turned around and Sun Yee was right behind us. 

“I'm not going to regret this, am I?” Mei asked.

“Maybe.” I said, “But maybe not. You just have to trust your gut now.” Mei smiled at me.

Sun Yee floated straight towards us. She and Mei poofed into their pandas as Sun Yee grabbed us, “Whoa!”

We were lifted into the sky, high above the bamboo forest. I gripped onto Mei’s fur as we floated in the air, seeing the moon in its pure form. I couldn’t help but tear up a little bit. I was in awe of how beautiful it was. 

Sun Yee floated so that she was facing us, touching noses with Mei.

I think we’re all going to be ok.

I don't know how we got back to the mortal realm, but it was a frenzy after all of that. We actually got to meet 4-Town and even got a picture with them! I could tell the gang was more than happy.

The next morning, I asked Mei and her friends to come by so we could tell them the truth. We've been here the longest out of all the worlds we've visited so far, they have to know by now.

“So, what's up?” Mei asked when we were all outside.

“There's something we need to tell you guys.” I said, “Something we honestly should've told you a long time ago.”

“Oh, yeah!” Abby said, “You said you wanted to talk to us after everything, Fabi!”

“I remember.” Priya said.

“Ok, ok.” Paimon said, “Sit down. We'll explain everything.”

And so we did.

“And that's everything.” I said, “You can freak out now.”

The girls looked at me with wide eyes.

“Not… the weirdest thing that's happened recently, but it's something.” Miriam said.

“How are you guys so chill about this? You should be having an existential crisis right now.”

“We can do all that later.” Priya said.

“Yeah!” Abby said, “Who wouldn't want their life as a movie?”

I chuckled a little, “Hey, I just realized something. Whenever a portal shows up, it’s when we reach the end of the story. Or the end of the movie in my world.”

“Really?” Maria asked.

“Yeah, so we should be–” As I was talking, of course another portal shows up, “There you go.”

“Whoa!” Miriam gasped.

“I’m sorry, girls, but this is where we say goodbye!” Manolo said. We fought against the force of the portal.

“No!” Mei said, “I’m going with you!” 

“What?!” I asked, “But what about your parents? I don’t know how you’re gonna get back!” 

“I don’t want the adventure to end! Especially after you just said you’re all from different worlds! Please, Fabi, let me go with you.”

“If you’re going, I’m going with you.” Miriam said, holding Mei’s hand.

“And me.” Priya said, joining in.

“And me!” Abby shouted.

The pull from the portal was getting stronger, our feet dragging on the ground.

“I think the portal has a bigger say in this than we do!” Mirabel said.

“Ok, fine!” I said, “But when we figure out how to go home, don’t blame me when your parents freak out!”

“We won’t.” Mei said. 

With a scream, we were all sucked into the portal. Even though the girls asked to come, it still felt wrong letting them join. We’ll see how this goes.

Chapter Text

I should probably be used to the portal by now, but I'm not. I think I hate it even more with every trip. By the looks of it, everyone else felt the same way. 

After a while, we were shot out of the portal and landed hard on the ground.

“Is everyone ok?” I asked, not getting up.

“I think so.” Miriam groaned. 

“That was horrible!” Abby shouted.

“I tried to warn you guys.” I said. I sat up and looked at the new members of the group, “Ok, I'm gonna say this once. You four are the youngest ones here. Mirabel isn't much older than you, but you're still kids. During this adventure, you need to stay close to us, ok?”

Miriam, Abby, Priya and Mei nodded.

“Good.” I finally got up from the ground.

“Let's look at the stone.” Manolo suggested.

“Oh, right.” I took the stone out of my pocket. The purple gem spot was a bit bigger now. It was about the size of a Gatorade cap and took up a quarter of the stone. 

“What happens when the stone is a gem?” Mei asked.

“We don't know.” Maria said, “But we'll find out soon enough.”

“But we don't have to think about that now.” I said, putting the stone away, “We need to figure out where we…” My voice trailed off when I saw a sign.

Westerburg High School. 

Oh, no…

“Uh, Fabi?” Paimon asked, “Are you ok?”

“Oh, my god, this is bad.” I said.

“What's bad?” Mirabel asked, “Where are we?”

“Nowhere good. In my world, this is a movie called Heathers. We're in the 1980s, a very… problematic time.”

“Problematic?” Priya asked.

“Yes. This world is going to get rough, so please listen to what I say here.” Everyone nodded nervously, “Ok. We're not supposed to do this, but let's go inside. We need to find who we're dealing with.”

I could feel my heart hammering in my chest. This story is super gritty and dark and I sometimes question why I liked it. But even still, we opened the school doors. 

There were a couple students in the hallway, talking, at their lockers, walking to class. I didn't know where we were going, but I kept walking, keeping my head down.

“Is everyone staring at us?” Mirabel asked.

“Most likely.” I said, “High schoolers can be very judgemental. That's something to keep in mind, Mei-Mei.”

“Good to know.” Mei said, awkwardly.

“I already am.” Priya said in her usual monotone voice. I couldn't help but snort a little.

We came across a large set of doors which led to the cafeteria. After a quick look around, I knew this was where we needed to be. All the main characters were here.

We walked into the cafeteria, staying in the back where it was less crowded.

“Who are we looking for exactly?” Maria asked.

“Oh, we're looking for–”

“Hi?” I turned around and my heart stopped. Just the girl I was looking for. Veronica Sawyer. She had dark brown hair and wore a blue outfit that could pass as business casual, but she still rocked it, “Are you guys new here?”

“Uh… n-no. We… got lost. We didn't realize this was a school.” 

Veronica didn't seem convinced but didn't question us, “Pretty sure there's a sign. You guys new in town?”

“We're just passing through. We're looking for a place to stay. I'm Fabi, by the way. These are my friends.” The group waved with uncertainty. 

“Veronica.” She said, shaking my hand, “Welcome to hell.”

“Oh, yeah?” Maria asked.

“Yep. Those three bitches are the devil queens, the Heathers.” She pointed to three girls, one dressed in yellow, one in green, and the other in red. 

I swallowed the lump in my throat, “Huh. Friends of yours?”

“You could say that. But I like to think of them as my coworkers in popularity and shit.”

“That's… nice…” Mirabel said.

“Hey, sweetheart!” A football player named Kurt started harassing the new kid, who I recognized as J.D., “What did your boyfriend say when you told him you were moving to Sherwood, Ohio?”

I couldn't help but cringe. I almost forgot how cruel high schoolers can be.

“Ugh, not them again.” Veronica muttered.

“Who are they?” Miriam asked.

“Ram and Kurt. They can't go three minutes without being dumb dicks.”

I turned to the four youngest girls of our group, “Everyone here is super edgy and vulgar, so please don't repeat what they say.” The girls nodded, looking kinda uncomfortable. 

The next thing I knew, a fight broke out. J.D. was beating the living snot out of Kurt and Ram.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Abby shouted.

While the rest of the students watched in shock, time seemed to slow down. Literally. 

“Uh… why is everything slowing down?” Paimon asked.

“Ask her.” I pointed at Veronica who was watching J.D. lovestruck.

“What?” Mei-Mei asked.

Veronica started singing.

Why when you see boys fight does it look so horrible, yet feel so right?

 I shouldn’t watch this crap, that’s not who I am. But with this kid, damn.

“I feel like we shouldn't be watching this.” Priya said.

We watched as Veronica sang about her blossoming crush on J.D. and she walked closer to him.

“She can sing, I'll give her that.” Manolo said.

“You know, I just realized that a lot of the places we went to had something to do with music.” I thought outloud.

“You're right!” Paimon exclaimed, “Paimon didn't notice until you mentioned it!”

“Awesome!” Abby exclaimed, “Musical adventure!” We all chuckled.

After a bit, we noticed that time was slowly moving again as J.D. continued to beat up Ram and Kurt.

Veronica: Well, woah, you can punch real good. You’ve lasted longer than I thought you would. 

So, hey, Mr. No­Name­Kid, if some night you’re free, wanna fight for me? 

Students: Holy shit. 

Veronica: If you’re still alive

Students: Holy shit.

Veronica: I would fight for you, 

Students: Holy shit, holy shit

Veronica: If you would fight for me! 

Students: Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! 

After the fight, Veronica gave us her address to stay for a while. She said her parents were super nice and were the type to pick up hitchhikers. I didn't know how to feel about that, but whatever.

We chilled out a little bit, getting to know Veronica's parents more until Veronica and the Heathers came.

We were all outside as the high school clique played croquet. 

“Am I the only one who's getting the creeps from this place?” Miriam asked.

“Diddo.” Mei said.

“Yeah, I'm sorry this had to be the first world we come to with you.” I said, “Hopefully the next one will be more laid back.”

We looked over at the Heathers and Veronica.

“Which one is which?” Mirabel whispered.

“The one in yellow is Heather McNamara, the one in green is Heather Duke, and the one in red is Heather Chandler.” I explained, “Chandler is the queen bee of the school.”

“Veronica seems to hate them, though.” Maria said, “Why hang out with them?”

“I don’t know. Popularity, I guess.”

“God, Veronica, drool much?” Heather Chandler said, “You were totally throwing your panties at that new kid.” She turned to the other Heathers who forced a laugh, “And, judging by your house, you can’t afford replacement panties.”

“Oh, my god, she’s horrible.” Mei said.

“Yeah, who would want friends like that?” Abby asked.

Heather Chandler hit the ball near us and Veronica’s parents, “Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer, watch out!”

“Oh!” Mrs. Sawyer went to give the ball back to them, “Haha, there you go, girls.” She held out a tray, “Care for some pate?”

“That is not pate, it’s liverwurst.”

Mrs. Sawyer laughed awkwardly, “I’m aware of that, Heather. It’s a family joke.” 

“Oh… funny.”

I glared at Heather Chandler. How can she have the audacity to disrespect a parent like that? 

“Damnit. Will somebody please tell me why I read this spy crap?” Veronica’s dad asked.

“Oh, because you’re an idiot, Dad.” Veronica replied with a smile.

“Oh yeah, that's why.” The family laughed. I guess this was an inside joke of theirs. I smiled at the warm exchange.

“So girls, any big plans for tonight?” Mrs. Sawyer asked.

“Yeah, there’s a big homecoming party at Ram Sweeney's house so I'm gonna catch a ride with Heather.” Veronica said.

“Oh, why don’t you take your new friends with you?” Mrs. Sawyer gestured to us, catching me off guard.

“Oh… uh, do you want to come?” Veronica asked us.

I blinked and looked around nervously, “Uh, yeah, sure, Paimon and I can go.”

“Wait, what?” She asked.

“Just give us a second.” I huddled with everyone.

“Why are you holding out on us?” Abby asked.

“Yeah, we can party.” Priya said.

“I know, I know, but trust me. You’re not at all ready for this kind of party.” I whispered, “Paimon and I will go, but please stay here. I told you guys this world is dangerous and the last thing I need is anyone getting hurt. Especially you guys.”

Everyone nodded, “And hey, take this opportunity to get on the Sawyer’s good side so we can stay here.” 

“We got it, Fabi.” Manolo said.

We broke the huddle and I turned to the others, “Paimon and I are coming.”

“Speaking of which.” Heather Chandler put the croquet ball onto Mrs. Sawyer’s tray. I clenched my jaw. The nerve of this girl. Why aren't Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer saying anything? They shouldn't tolerate this disrespect.

Veronica awkwardly turned to her parents, “Okay, uh… great pate, Mom, but we gotta motor if we want to be ready in time for this party.” 

Just as Veronica was walking away, Mrs. Sawyer grabbed her hand, “Don't let these popular girls change you.”

“I need them.”

“What for? You have other friends. You have Martha, and you just made some new… strange ones.”

“Maybe I want more out of life than liverwurst, Mom.” With that, Veronica left to join the Heathers. 

I turned to Veronica’s parents, “We won’t be out too late.” Paimon and I followed Veronica and joined the Heathers. This is going to be an interesting night.

The car ride was kind of awkward since I knew what was going to happen. I didn't say much and tried to answer their questions with the most basic answers.

“So, Fabi.” Heather McNamara said, “What’s with your friends? And the little fairy with you?”

“Paimon is not a fairy!” Paimon exclaimed, “Paimon is Paimon!” 

I chuckled awkwardly and said, “We’re travelers. We go from town to town and this is our next stop.”

“Oh, so you’re like hippies. I wish I could live life on the road.”

“Have you ever been to Florida?” Heather Duke asked.

“I think I’ll pass on the traveling circus.” Heather Chandler snarked. I tensed up, my eyes widening slightly. I did my best not to say anything and I grabbed Paimon’s hand telling her to keep quiet.

“Look.” Heather Duke said, “We're here.” We pulled up at a seven-eleven. 

“Finally.” Heather Chandler said, “Out you go, Veronica.” Veronica rolled her eyes as she stepped out of the car.

“We’ll go with you!” I said, quickly getting out of the car with Paimon. I really needed a break from those girls.

“Veronica!” Heather Chandler shouted from the car, “Don’t forget the corn nuts! It’s not a party without corn nuts!” 

“BQ or plain?” Veronica asked.

“BQ!!”

“Yeesh.” Paimon said, shaking her head, “She’s louder than any monster Paimon has ever seen.”

“That’s putting it lightly.” Veronica muttered while she got the corn nuts.

“Greetings and salutations.” My heart stopped. J.D. “You want a Slurpee with that?”

I grabbed Paimon and hid behind a shelf. 

“Isn’t that the guy from the school?” Paimon asked.

I nodded, “His name is J.D., and he’s the villain of this story. He’s extremely dangerous, psychotic, and I’d rather not interact with him.”

We listened to him and Veronica talk. J.D.’s dad is a demolition man, making a living from destroying buildings. The story kind of implies he's abusive, but they haven't outright said it.

“VERONICA!” 

We all flinched when Heather Chandler honked the horn.

“Give it a rest, already.” Paimon said.

J.D. sang a bit more about his life. Because of his dad’s job, he’s had to move around a lot. His mother passed away when he was young. But he finds comfort in seven-eleven slushies, giving himself brain freezes. I’ve never had a brain freeze and I think I'd like to keep it that way.

Still, Veronica took a sip of the slushie he gave her, “Yeah, I don’t really see–­ Oh, son of a bitch!” I snickered a little bit. 

 Heather Chandler came inside looking for us, “Veronica?” While I hate her, I don't blame her for being impatient.

“Oh God, uh, I gotta go.” Veronica bid J.D. goodbye as she gathered the stuff she bought.

We all got back into the car to go to Ram’s party. Why did I let myself get dragged into this?

Chapter Text

Again… why am I here? 

I've never been to a party like this in my life. Not even during high school. Everyone was drinking, smoking weed, some people were most likely banging somewhere, and the music was overwhelmingly loud.

I couldn't remember the last time I felt so uncomfortable. Paimon and I just sat on the sofa watching the chaos unfold around us.

“Uh… do you have parties like this in your world?” Paimon asked me.

“Yep.” I said, “My first time attending one, though.” After a while, Veronica staggered over to us, “Nice to see you finally sober.” 

“Barely.” Veronica said, “Sorry I just left you hanging. I wanted to see how you were doing. You guys look really uncomfortable.”

“Ya think?! I'm wracking my brain figuring out why the hell I came. This is so not my style. I'd rather be home watching movies and writing fanfiction.”

Veronica raised a brow, “What the fuck is fanfiction?”

Before I could say anything, Kurt shouted, “Alright, everybody, listen up!” He was holding a pig piñata, “What is Westerberg gonna do to the Razorbacks at Sunday's game?”

“Gonna make 'em go ‘Whee! Whee! Whee! Whee!’” Ram joined in and started humping the pig which was… disturbing. The rest of the party was eating it up though. 

“Way to show maturity!” Heather Duke said. All of a sudden, Ram started to try and hump her, “Quit it jackass, get off of me!”

“Oh, my god.” I gaped.

Veronica ran over to help. She got rid of Ram by saying freshmen were climbing the fence. When Veronica asked Heather if she was ok, she just flipped her off. 

“Yeesh. Ungrateful much?”

“Yeah, she should be thanking Veronica for saving her.” Paimon said, “Why the attitude?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Martha talking to Veronica. Oh, boy…

“Who's that with Veronica?” Paimon asked. 

“That's Martha Dunnstock. She's Veronica's best friend from before she became popular. Unfortunately, she's bullied because of her weight.”

“That's terrible.”

“I know. She's really sweet. If you ask me, I'd way rather hang out with her.”

“What’s she doing here, anyway? This doesn't seem like something she'd enjoy.” 

“Remember when we were in the cafeteria?” Paimon nodded, “Well, Heather Chandler told Veronica to write a note for Martha like it was from Ram. Martha’s had a crush on Ram for years. The note was inviting her as if he was in love with her.”

Paimon rose an eyebrow, “But… that’s a good thing, right?”

“It would be if Ram didn’t bully Martha, too. And they ‘dated’ all the way back in kindergarten. As in when they were four.”

Paimon’s eyes widened, “Oh… Paimon… doesn’t know what to say. Martha will be so heartbroken.”

I sighed, “She deserves nothing more than a happy ending.”

After a while, Heather Chandler called out to everyone, “Okay, Westerburgers, it’s time to celebrate our upcoming victory over the Razorbacks by whacking apart their mascot.”

“We need a volunteer to take the first swing at the piñata.” Heather McNamara said. To everyone's surprise, Heather Chandler volunteered Martha for the job.

Martha was apprehensive, “I don’t really know this game…”

Heather McNamara went to Martha’s side, “Let’s show this girl some Westerburg spirit!”

As Heather McNamara put a blindfold on Martha, the whole party chanted her name. Martha seemed confident enough to take a swing at the piñata. But when Heather Duke brought in the piñata, the pig was made to look like Martha.

As everyone cruelly laughed at the prank, Paimon, Veronica and I exchanged looks of horror. I almost saw the fire in Veronica’s eyes, “GIVE ME THE PIG!”

Veronica bolted for the pig, playing tug-of-war with Heather Duke. She managed to get the pig, enraging the Heathers, “What is your damage, Heather? If you want it, swim for it.” Veronica threw the piñata into the pool.

Martha took off her blindfold, confused by the commotion, “What’s going on?” 

“Just go home, okay?” Veronica said, “I’ll explain it to you later.”

“No, I was going to–”

“Listen to me. Listen, just go, okay? Go.” 

Martha looked back at everyone, clearly hurt and confused. She quickly ran out of the house. That was way too close.

Veronica looked at Heather Chandler, “Well, we gave it a shot, okay? I’m resigning my position from the lip gloss Gestapo. I’m going back to civilian life.”

This enraged Heather Chandler. She violently grabbed Veronica and started shouting, “You don’t get to be a nobody. Come Monday, you’re an ex somebody. Not even the losers will touch you now. Transfer to Washington, transfer to Jefferson. No one at Westerburg’s gonna let you play their reindeer games!”

Heather Chandler pushed Veronica away and she almost immediately threw up on Heather’s shoes. If my eyes were any bigger, they’d pop out of their sockets. 

Heather Chandler shrieked, “I raised you up from nothing! And what’s my thanks?! I get paid in puke!”

“Oh, lick it up, baby. Lick. It. Up.” Veronica snapped back. Pop off, queen.

Heather Chandler glared at Veronica, “I know who I’m eating lunch with on Monday. Do you?”

Veronica didn’t have much to say. She silently walked out.

“Okay, party people! Where’s the goddamn keg?” With this, the party was back on. 

I looked at Paimon and gestured for us to get out of here. Not like we have a reason to be here anyway. Veronica was outside, looking absolutely defeated. “Hey, you ok?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” Veronica said, “I just… I guess I should’ve known my time with the Heathers wouldn’t last.”

“Paimon says good riddance.” Paimon said, “You’re way better off without them.”

“I’ll say.” I said, “Martha’s a way better friend to you than the Heathers. She's always by your side. And hey, if you want to add more friends to your roster, you’ve got us.” 

Veronica looked at us, her expression hard to read, “I… think I need to be on my own for a while. Will you guys be ok getting back on your own?”

“I think so. When you get back, we'll properly introduce you to the gang.”

“Sounds good. I’d like to get to know your traveling band of merry men.”

We exchanged a small smile before parting ways.

“Do you know where she’s going?” Paimon asked.

“She’s gonna spend the night with J.D.” I explained as we walked, “She’ll come back when she wants to.” I didn't want to tell her about what was gonna happen. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

It was a nice and quiet night. I honestly needed it after the party. I don’t even want to be proud of myself for trying something new, it was just awful. This has probably been the most wild day of this whole adventure, even with the magical family, fifty-foot red panda, and visiting the afterlife.

When we were a few blocks away from the Sawyer house, I couldn’t help but feel like we were being watched. But every time I turned around, there was no one there. 

After a bit, I heard a weird gurgling noise, “Do you hear that?” 

We stopped in our tracks, looking around, “Yeah…” Paimon said, nervously, “Do you know what it is?”

“No…” When I turned around, I had my answer. Behind us were a handful of weird creatures. They looked like the soot sprites from My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, but way bigger and green with legs. And a lot less adorable.

“Are they part of this world?” Paimon asked me.

“No…” 

“Then… what are they?”

“I have no idea.” The creatures stared at us for a while, like we were waiting for someone to move first. 

The creatures moved like half an inch before we made a run for it. This was a mistake since the creatures started chasing us.

“What do they want with us?!” Paimon shrieked.

“I don’t think I want to find out!” I yelled. These guys were hot on our trail and were surprisingly fast, “Mei! If you can hear me, we need the panda! Green fluff balls are after us!”

I almost ran past the Sawyer house, “Paimon! Go get the others for help!” As Paimon flew off, the creatures stopped chasing me. 

I looked at the creatures in fear, “What the hell do you want?” I panted, “Who are you?” They didn’t respond, “Could you at least tell me what world you’re from? And how did you get here? You’re not supposed to be in this world! This place is pretty close to mine!”

One of the creatures slowly lifted their legs, pointing at me. Oh, god, this can’t be good. 

The creatures started to pump their legs, as if warming them up. Were they going to chase me again? Answer: yes.

They chased me up and down the street. I don’t think I’ve ever run that fast in my life.

“Fabi!” I never thought I’d say this, but I’ve never been so grateful to see a giant red panda. Mei leapt up and tackled the creatures in her paws, squishing them. 

I stopped running to catch my breath as everyone else caught up, “Thank you so much.” I wheezed.

“Are you ok?” Manolo asked, rushing up to me.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Let’s see what freaks were trying to mess with you!” Abby said, marching up to where Mei was. When Mei got up, the creatures were gone. Mei’s fur was stained with the green color of the creatures.

“What?!” I exclaimed.

“You killed them.” Mirabel said with wide eyes.

“I-It was an accident!” Mei freaked out. She frantically wiped the green off her fur, which fell off like a powder.

“What were those things?” Miriam asked.

“I have no idea.” I said, “All I know is that they’re not from this world.”

“But what did they want with you?” Maria asked.

“Yeah, did you owe them money or something?” Priya asked.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged, “The only thing they have on me is Lisa's money pouch and… the Stone.”

My eyes widened in realization. Everyone exchanged glances between each other.

“Is it… possible they somehow knew about the Mora Stone?” Paimon asked.

“I… guess it’s possible.”

“But what would they want with it?” Mei asked, poofing back into herself.

“I don’t know.” A lot of questions ran through my mind. There were others who knew about the stone? How is that possible? I didn’t know how to answer any of these. All we could do was go back to the Sawyers.

When we got home, Paimon and I told the gang how the party was. Mei, Miriam, Abby, and Priya looked almost relieved to not have gone. I think they’ll make good choices in high school. 

The next morning, we woke up to knocking on the guest room door, “Gah!”

“Guys.” It was Veronica, “Are you awake?”

“We are now.” Mirabel mumbled as I got up to open the door.

As soon as I opened the door, Veronica rushed in, looking frantic, “Oh, thank god. So much happened, I just need someone to talk to.”

We all looked at Veronica with concern. Oh, no…

“Veronica?” Manolo asked gently, “Is everything ok?”

She looked up at all of us, almost fearful, “Can you guys keep a secret?” We nodded, “Heather Chandler is dead…” She almost whispered.

I could almost feel everyone’s blood run cold.

Veronica explained what happened. After spending the night with J.D., she realized she still wanted to be popular. She and J.D. went to Heather Chandler’s place to apologize. 

She knew Heather would be hungover, so they were gonna make a “hangover cure” which was just orange juice and milk. J.D. poured liquid drainer in a cup that looked exactly like the one Veronica was using. 

When she was distracted, she picked up the cup with liquid drainer and J.D. never corrected her. And that was the end of Heather Chandler. Veronica forged a suicide note so the freaks wouldn't be suspicious. 

Everyone looked at Veronica with wide eyes as she buried her face in her knees, “I didn’t mean to… it was an accident.”

Without knowing what else to do, I put a hand on Veronica’s shoulder, “I know it was. It wasn’t your fault.”

We spent some time calming Veronica down, even giving formal introductions. I couldn't tell her that things were just gonna get worse from here.