》¯» 𝓜𝓲𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓾𝓵𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓜𝓪𝓭𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓪𝓵𝓼 «¯《 (C. Madrigal x Reader)

Ch. 2~

As the event progressed, the interaction with Camilo at the entrance lingered, but I pushed it to the back of my mind to focus on my article. I flipped my notepad open, plucked my pencil from behind my ear, and started to jot down a few stray thoughts about my surroundings.

The atmosphere was buzzing with anticipation as guests gathered and chatted. Some of the Madrigals with the flashier gifts were sent down to entertain the guests. Isabela garnered the most attention, as usual, sprouting flowers from between the tiles. They jittered and danced as if Casa Madrigal was laughing. I imagine it would be ticklish.

Eventually, the main event rolled around and from the first floor of the home, I noticed the magical candle glow brighter and more beautiful than usual. The Madrigals all stood together, ready to celebrate Antonio's ceremony, wearing the Madrigal tokens.

Well, that's what everybody called them anyway.

To be perfectly honest, nobody really knew what they were. I spent a lot of my free time re-reading older articles, looking for any new stories that I could pluck out of them or for clues for my own articles. I considered myself a bit of an amateur detective for that. One of my personal favourites was the one detailing Luisa's gift ceremony from all those years ago.

That article was written by my mother.

I wasn't born yet for any of the gift ceremonies of any of the older Madrigal grandchildren and I was much too young to remember anything from the younger ones. But according to my mother's article about it, gift ceremonies came in two parts. The first one being the magical part in which the gift is blessed upon the child and the second being quite a bit afterwards.

The child is pulled away from the party, the dancing and loud music and all that, and accompanies Alma Madrigal in her room. Nobody has seen what happens in that room when this mysterious second part of the ceremony is happening, making it much more intimate and less of a show for the townspeople. When the child walks out of the room with Alma by their side to return to the party, they have a new token, one that they never take off.

Of course, quite a few people have asked about these tokens but they're always met with vague answers by any of the Madrigals. Something generic and unhelpful like "Oh, this was given to me at my gift ceremony!" or "Ah, Abuela told me never to take it off so I wear it at all times!" It's really the one thing that the Madrigals have managed to keep hidden from the town's curious ears.

Huh. The one thing that the Madrigals have managed to keep hidden...

Gears began to turn in my head, clicking and hissing as I scribbled furiously onto my notepad, a wonderful new story to follow forming. Many other journalists, some from Dad's business and some from others, kept their eyes peeled at this event, looking to detail the event in their articles, hoping for the front page. If I followed suit, mine would be nothing special, nothing impressive to Dad.

But this? This stretched back to another generation of Madrigals, this was the one thing that the Madrigals just had to keep from the public, something that would capture the entire Encanto's attention, this had the potential to truly expose something that the Madrigals thought was truly worth protecting, this was just what I needed!

This was a story...

While every other person in the crowd watched as Antonio beckoned Mirabel to his side to walk towards his door with him, as he beamed in front of his Abuela as he received his gift, as he called a flurry of different animals from all over to his room, I was hatching a plan to gain as much information as I could about these accessories that seemed to be of great importance to this family, these "Madrigal tokens."

The party kicked off on a makeshift dance floor in Antonio's new room, a huge rainforest landscape with a giant tree rooted strongly right in the middle, serving both as a place for Antonio to sleep as well as somewhere for the animals to come together and do whatever it is that animals did. I danced a bit, as anyone would on a dance floor, keeping my notebook safe as I smiled and swayed to the music.

The upbeat music echoed in my ears as the celebration continued in full-swing. I suppose I got lost in the rhythm of it all because in the midst of the dance, my shoulder crashed into someone – None other than Camilo Madrigal. Of course...

The playful smirk on his face vanished as he shot me a sharp look, his eyes boring into me. "Watch it, L/n."

"Says the guy standing in the middle of the dance floor..." I retorted.

Unfortunately, before I could unleash my vast vocabulary upon him, my attention was diverted to something much more important than another petty dispute with a Madrigal, especially Camilo.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alma Madrigal and Antonio leave the room. My journalist senses tingled, the urge to follow them following close after. Without missing a beat, I hastily excused myself from the exchange with Camilo, ready to chase a unique angle for my article.

"Sorry, gotta run" I said with a quick smile, more out of courtesy than out of genuine enjoyment.

I dashed away from the dance floor and followed the pair of them, doing my best to remain discreet. I watched as Alma led Antonio into her room, somehow neglecting to close the door. Perhaps, she just assumed that everyone would be too caught up in the festivities to even notice their absence. She was right, mostly anyway.

Lingering at the doorway, I peered into the room to see Alma reaching into a hidden compartment beneath her bed, much to both Antonio and I's surprise. She revealed a large, ornate box that looked like something of a jewellery box. Geometrical shapes painted in white on the circular lid and along the sides of the hexagonal wooden box.

She pulled a small key from her pocket and inserted it into the box, a distinctive click of the box unlocking resonating through the room. Alma then faced the box towards Antonio, leaning down so that he could reach inside it.

"Antonio Madrigal," she began, her voice hushed and her tone gentle. "Please choose the Miraculous that calls to your heart the most."

The word "Miraculous" caught my ear, the unfamiliar word piercing through my mind like a sharp sword. I wrote the word down onto my notepad, keeping an ear sharp to continue eavesdropping into the conversation.

"Abuela..?" a small voice called out. "What...What are these?"

"These, Tonito, are the Madrigal Miraculous" she began to explain. "These Miraculous grant us powers that go hand in hand with our gifts. The blessings granted by our candle give us the ability to help and nurture the community while the Miraculous allow us to protect the Encanto from the threats outside."

"Threats?" Antonio's small hands fiddled with his sleeves as he teetered back and forth on his heels.

His Abuela laughed softly, shaking her head. "You don't need to worry about that. Your mami and Dolores will explain everything to you later."

She urged the box towards him, creaking it open a bit more in an inviting gesture. I cursed myself internally for being too afraid to ask Dad for a camera to use for tonight. Then again, there was no way I would've been able to snap a picture discreetly with how bright the flash was.

"For now," she continued. "Please choose a Miraculous to use to protect our community and make your family proud."

Antonio huffed, his eyes darting as he peered into the box, too far away from me to look into as well, reaching his right hand towards it. Just before he could pick something from the box, he hesitated, retracting his hand and letting them fall to his sides, balled into fists.

"Don't worry, Tonito" Alma reassured him. "Choose whichever one calls out to you the most."

"Phew..." he sighed, a determined look glowing in his eyes as he reached into the box again. "Make your family proud..."

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Finally getting into the crossover stuff!! Ugh, it's so nice to write for fun again. 

-Kolour.