camera shy (camilo madrigal)

chapter 31

"Saving the Candle.. Again."

Casita waved a door at you once you reached it. "Hi to you too, Casita." You say, a hint of amusement in your voice. What a whimsical house. But more importantly, your mother would finally be able to wake up today! You'd be able to finally see her open her eyes, have her back, all this chaos would finally be over.

Mirabel waved to you enthusiastically.  "You ready girl?" She smiled. You nodded. "Let's do this." A familiar yellow clothed figure slid next to you. "I believe you forgot to include me!" Camilo leaned on you, smiling. You rolled your eyes. "I didn't forget you, boy." He nodded. "Gotta make sure."

Dolores approached the three of you with a large flask of water. "For the journey. I know you can do it." You weren't very close to her, but you took the flask and spoke a word of thanks. "You're not coming?" Camilo asked. "Who's gonna take care of things at home?" She cracked a smile. "I'll be fine."

Abuela had decided to select a few family members to stay and take care of things. You discovered those members would be Dolores, Isabela, Pepa, Abuela and Felix. "These old bones can't move much, I'm afraid." Is what Abuela said.

Few minutes later, you and the rest of the expedition team went into the location. In fact, the one who even found it was Antonio! The littlest Madrigal had gotten word from a friendly toucan who lived in the outskirts of town. So now you were swatting at mosquitoes and searching far and wide for a location even close to what Bruno had seen in the vision.

Luisa had even uprooted a whole tree in search.

You made a mental note to ask Isa
to help fix that tree later. Mirabel, who was the caretaker of the vision, gripped the glass pane in her hands tight, scanning for something more in the vision. "There has to be a reason why we fell down into some weird place to find the spark." Agustin and Bruno were by her side, there to make sure Mira doesn't bash her head into a tree trying to figure out that vision.

Meanwhile, Antonio continued to ask the toucan who's tipped you off on the place for more info. You quietly searched on your own.

A golden ball of light, giggling mischievously darted around in the sand. The spark chittered and darted around before darting downward. You saw a few people following it, one of them being you.

Recalling the vision, you hunt for a spot in the ground that would seem at least a little dented. If it was going down, it could be underground. You kept walking, head down. Leaves crunched under your shoes, birds chirping overhead. Had you not been on a mission, you would've sat there and basked in the serenity.

"Guys! We found something!" Your neck actually cracked a little as you whipped your head around and hurried over to the group. The toucan squawked. "He says he'll take us there!" Antonio says. You gave a thumbs up and the group followed the waddling toucan deeper into the forest.

———

"Hey, you sure the toucan's right?" Camilo scratched his head in confusion as the toucan finally came to a stop in front of a clearing covered in dead leaves and sticks. "I don't see any glowing ball here."

The spark chittered and darted around before darting downward.

You immediately go on your knees and start pushing the leaves and sticks aside. "Y/N, what are you doing?" Mirabel asks, confused. "Remember the vision? The spark went downwards. It could be underground!"

Agustin snapped his fingers. "My god, She's right!" The others followed you and began helping you sweep the leaves and sticks aside. After a while of nothing but the sounds of leaves crinkling and sticks clattering, you finally uncover it. A tiny hole in the ground.

"We need to dig deeper." Bruno says. You turn to Camilo. "You don't happen to be able to turn into a shovel, can you?"