Luz (camilo madrigal x oc)

XI. TOWER

we sat down on the tiles of the roof, i was able to see the green sceneries that were set on top of those high mountains that surrounded that very town.
"you still have the bracelet huh?" said camilo, i looked over at my wrist as i held my knees close to my chest.
"yeah, i like it." i said, the boy let out a soft chuckle before looking back at the scenery.

"so..." i said trying to break the silence "are you and carlos twins or...?" i asked, camilo frowned at me "it's just that you guys are really similar and all, just asking." i gave him a curled up smile.

"well yeah, we are twin brothers," camilo responded "sort of i guess." he chuckled.
"how so?" i asked.
"well uh..." he squinted his eyes as he continued to think "he's taller than me—only a little but still taller." camilo began counting on his fingers "he's grumpier, his gift is about literal fire stuff, he likes hiding one of his eyes with his hair for some reason." camilo cringed at the sudden thought of his brother's hair.

"he just has a different style," i chuckled.
"yeah maybe," camilo sighed "but ever since we got our gifts we have been distant, like a whole lot distant!" camilo gestured with his hands.
"why?" i asked.
"i would like to know too," he then laid his back down against the tiles of the roof, letting his hair rest away from his eyes and showing off the structure of his face.

"were you close as kids?" i asked looking down at him.
camilo scoffed "duh course!" he said "we even did pranks together!" he began to stare off at the sky.
"must've been great." i said, camilo gave a gentle nod.
"good times." he sighed before mumbling "good times."

i looked over at the view of the mountains, slowly and carefully, setting my back against the tiles next to camilo. the cold touch of the tiles could be felt on my back as i laid down, it felt refreshing due to commonly hot weather.

"what's his room like?" i asked out of the blue, camilo frowned and turned to look at me.
"why are you asking about his room?" asked camilo.
"well felix and agustín told me his room was a total mess, so i just wanted to know what kind of mess they meant." i gave him a curled up smile, camilo chuckled.

"they're kind of right," camilo shrugged "since his gift is all about fire and stuff we try our best to avoid it." he clicked his tongue at the end.
"i see." i responded while looking over at him, not to be mean or anything but camilo seemed to be way more handsome than mariano and his little hunk of a beard.

"so tell me stuff about you," camilo and i then locked eyes, i could feel my heart start to beat louder and faster.
"what do you wanna know?" i asked, camilo hummed as he continued to think.
"what's your favourite flower?" he asked, i chuckled at the silly question.

"i really like daisies, i think they give out this sort of comfort sometimes." i responded.
"well i prefer rosas, they have this sort of beauty and delicacy in them." camilo explained.

"wow how fancy of you!" i teased, camilo rolled his eyes playfully at me with a smirk.
"whatever you say princesa." he said while laying on his side to look down at me with his mischievous grin.

"right." i looked away, camilo laughed at my reaction before laying again onto his back.
"you and i should hang out in my room sometime," camilo suggested out of the blue.
"really?" i asked, camilo nodded "i bet you have a nice room." i shrugged, camilo chuckled.
"oh it's much more than a nice room!" camilo sat up with a beam, i frowned as i continued to look at him "it's an amazing room!" he corrected, i sat up next to him.

silence began to surround us after a while, it wasn't uncomfortable or anything but it was just weirdly calm for some reason. the calm breeze that swept through the leaves of palmeras de cera and some local bushes alongside the beautiful songs of passing by birds in the sky.

"by the way," camilo spoke out "if your candle hasn't been lit yet, does it mean you're not immortal anymore?" he asked.
"well," i bit my lip "I don't think i've ever been immortal," i sighed.
"wait so you're giftless?" he asked, i shrugged "well it's not that bad, mirabel is also giftless." camilo gave me a soft smile as he patted me on the back.

"mirabel doesn't have a gift?" i asked, hugging my knees close to my chest.
"nope." camilo responded.
"then why doesn't she help felix and agustin?" i asked, camilo let out a breath.
"well uh..." he rubbed the back of his neck nervously "ever since abuela alma passed away, mirabel has been trying to fill out her place as the town's leader." said camilo "it's complicated." he sighed again.

"isn't she sixteen as well?" i asked, camilo nodded.
"she's quite responsible for someone her age," he shrugged "sometimes i wonder if she's actually fine with everything.

"well uh..." camilo cleared his throat and stood up "how about we go hang out on the town's playground?" he asked.
"camilo!" we heard mirabel call, the boy groaned.
"que?!" he shouted back as he leaned down to see mirabel by the front door.
"some people need your help! i think señora guzman needs another jose!" said mirabel, camilo rolled his eyes.

"sorry maria, i need to go." he sighed.
"it's ok, we can hang out later." i responded, camilo gave me a soft smile and offered his hand out for me, i accepted it and let him pull me up on my feet.
"now don't you dare fall señorita." said camilo with another smirk, i rolled my eyes at him whilst he helped me down with casita's help.

"thank you casita." i said once we were on the porch of the front door.
"don't miss me too much." camilo winked again before walking away towards town, leaving me alone with mirabel.

"i need to talk to you." said mirabel, pulling me by the arm towards the inside of the house.
"what is it?" i asked as she continued to lead me towards the balcony with all of the doors, stopping in front of a tower.

"so i told my tio bruno about your family's candle," said mirabel pulling out my candle from her little bag "he told me he could help us try finding a way to light it back up!" she smiled at me, handing the candle back.
"really?" i asked, the girl nodded.
"he's in his tower right now doing some visions for some of the town folk." said mirabel opening the door of the building.

"ok." i nodded, letting myself step into the building.
the inside of the tower had a few stairs that led to a few doors, one of them was painted in a dark shade of green with symbols of eyes alongside floating pages of a blank book drawn all over the door with hands printed on its frame, it was oscar's room.

as we continued to walk up the stairs of the tower we passed by another door painted in sage green with some paint  and brushes drawn all over alongside some silly smiley faces and hearts, it was valentina's room.

and soon enough we reached the top where it stood a jade green door with symbols of hourglasses and green eyes all over, it was bruno's room.
"tio bruno!" mirabel knocked on the wooden door, letting her voice echo within it's stone walls.
"come in!" we heard him say.

we walked inside the room and were instantly met with this sort of library with a giant hourglass door standing on the other side of the room, showing off a giant sand cascade on the other side of the passage.
"oh hola mirabel!" said bruno popping out behind one of the shelves.
"we brought the candle." said mirabel, i showed him.
the man nodded and began to walk over to the hourglass door "welcome to my room!" said bruno turning off the sand cascade by clapping his hands together.

"what are we going to do?" i asked as we followed behind him.
"oh you'll see, it's going to be awesome!" said mirabel "anyways i'll get going now, some people need my help." she gave us a small wave before literally running away, almost tripping on her own feet.

"alright." bruno cracked his knuckles and turned over to look at me, i blinked.
"what do we do now...?" i asked while looking around, bruno took a deep breath before responding.
"we fall." he said, and with that he fell down onto his back into the sand room, i gasped and ran towards the hourglass door, seeing as bruno fell onto mountains of sand inside this sort of giant temple with a large staircase.

"come on!" bruno shouted, his voice echoing rather loudly.
"meu deus." i breathed in confusion, these people had no fear whatsoever.
"come on we need to light up that candle!" bruno shouted again as he walked over to the large staircase.

"jesus eu te amo...(jesus i love you...)" i prayed before jumping down onto the sand, i quickly stood up and tried my best to get some of the sand out of my hair and skirt.
"you better hurry!" said bruno as he walked up the staircase, i groaned and gripped tightly onto the candle before running towards him.
i might as well die after this.