El Milagro || C. Madrigal

CHAPTER 8

The trio finally arrived at Casita. They were greeted by Bruno, who was just walking out from the kitchen.

"Hey kiddos, just in time, the food's all ready." he said to the three teenagers as he gestured them towards the dining area, in which they followed after greeting him back.

In the dining area, Antonio already sat on his seat while conversing with a jaguar that was sitting on the floor, beside his chair. Valentina hung her guitar on one of the hooks that was beside the entrance to the dining area. Luisa, Isabela and Julieta placed plates and food on the table, while Felix and Agustin just entered the room, along with Bruno and Abuela Alma.

Alma quickly noticed Valentina and gave her a wrinkled smile, "Good too see you again, Valentina dear." she said to her in a gentle voice.

"Thank you for having me." Valentina politely replied. The girl then felt a small tap on her shoulder, turning around, only to come face to face with the shapeshifter. Camilo then dragged a chair from out of the table that was beside Antonio.

"You can sit here." Camilo said, gesturing to the girl to sit down. Valentina paused, looking at the boy strangely before sitting down on her seat. As she did so, Camilo went ahead and sat right next to the vacant chair beside her before Mirabel could.

The rest of the Madrigals sat around the dining table and already started helping themselves with some food. Valentina doing the same.

A few minutes had already gone by, they were all peacefully minding their own business as they ate. Until Alma broke the silence.

"So, Valentina," Alma started, as the girl suddenly shot her head up, looking straight towards the Abuela Madrigal as she silently chewed on the food that was left in her mouth.

"How are you settling in Encanto so far?" She asked the girl. Valentina swallowed her food before replying, "Me and mi familia are liking it here so far. I could really see us living here for a long time. It's a lovely place." she said, looking towards Alma, then took a quick sip of her glass of water.

Alma nodded at her response, "That's good to know, I assume you've already been toured by Mirabel and Camilo around town?" the lady asked once again.

"Yes, I was. It was nice." Valentina replied instantly with a calm voice, looking directly at Alma.

Out of nowhere, Agustin just got back, who stood up not too long ago to refill the pitcher, suddenly found himself stumbling on his own feet as he headed towards the dining table. Everyone let out a shocked or frightened gasp.

The moment he stumbled, the pitcher he was holding flew out of his hands. Water was in the air as well as the pitcher as it was about to pour down the people on the dining table.

Everything went in slow motion as suddenly, out of nowhere, the pitcher stopped mid-air and the water that was about to get everyone wet was blocked by a floating crystal dome above the table. The water splattered around the room, but nevertheless, no one got soaked.

Looking closely, Mirabel noticed that the pitcher's handle was surrounded by crystals as it slowly floated back down, placing itself back on the table.

Everyone was silent, trying to process what just happened as everything seemed to happen so fast. The Madrigals, who all still had shocked looks, faced the only Esperanza in the room.

Valentina had a calm look on her face as she analyzed the dome she created, her hand a little raised as her right hand's mark glowed, not yet realizing the eyes on her. After just a few seconds, she let the crystals vanish, creating glowing sparkles from above and on the pitcher, slowly vanishing. By this time, Valentina was now aware of the silence, looking around.