The Mask I Wear

As it Finally Crumbles

            Truly, Mirabel wasn't sure how they made it back across the rickety bridge and down all those winding stairs. Mutely, they shuffled their feet down and out of Bruno's tower. It wasn't until they were at the bottom of those last stairs that she even registered the weight of his hands guiding her, his ruana on her shoulders as though it would help her. Instinctively she pulled it tighter around her, searching for the comfort it might provide in different circumstances.

A chorus of soft footsteps caused the two to immediately drop down into low crouches, fearful of the idea that they could be seen. Much like the rats perched on Bruno's shoulders, the two of them were eerily silent.

"Thank you for coming to join us for such a delightful meal." Abuela spoke with authority in her voice, but trained ears could hear the strain. It told them that there was something going on that she was not pleased with. Mirabel's mind immediately went to the flower crowns and the cracks, but she paused, wrinkling her nose slightly as Abuela continued. "I, for one, truly cannot wait to see our families unified."

Her heart was in her throat, or was it the bile she could feel rising? Mirabel didn't care to think on what the answer to that would be. All she knew was that her sister and her cousin were both unhappy, and this claim? Well, it didn't sound very promising for them. Leaving Bruno's side she crawled forward, even as he urged her to stay hidden. By the railing she could peer down to see everyone in the courtyard. As she watched and listened, she didn't seem to realize she was slinking along the railing, down the steps one at a time.

Isabela and Mariano looked stiff, awkwardly placed together, her arms gently hanging off the one he had offered as he was expected to do. "I was thinking a spring wedding would be appropriate." Alma kept talking, as if the sense of dread and foreboding her family was projecting didn't affect her in the slightest bit. She opened her mouth again but a flash of utterly angry disbelief crossed it in the same second as her eyes fell on something sitting directly in her path to the door.

Mirabel felt her eyes widen and her breath quicken in anticipation when she realized she had left something very important sitting right in the center of the beautiful tile patterns. It was like she could only stare as Alma Madrigal stalked towards it, peered down at it, and raged.

"Mirabel!" She almost screamed her granddaughter's name as she spun around, pointing a finger right at the girl who was standing on the bottom step of the staircase, frozen like a deer caught in the headlights. It was hard to breathe and all sounds became a dull hum as Alma approached her, growling and raising her voice in a way that was a little shocking to Senora Guzman, whose hand was over her heart. If shenoticed the familiar green ruana, she didn't say, but she did seem to getincreasingly angrier with each step.

"Of course! It just had to be you! You insolent child! For once in your life, why can't you just do as you are told? If you had listened to me, had learned even just one thing in your life, then maybe this wouldn't have happened." The broken green tablet was in her hands and if she had Luisa's strength, she would have surely crushed it to dust with how tightly she clutched it. "But no, Mirabel just had to get underfoot and in the way. Wasn't made special and just had to drag the rest of her family down with her." This time, she threw the tablet fragments at the ground, and they splintered even more than before, shooting out in various directions.

This is what brought young Mirabel back to herself. The tiny shards sprayed around her ankles, leaving her with a few pieces lodged in her skin like slivers. It was only by a wince that you would guess she'd been hit.

"You are the cause. It's been you all along, and I was too foolish to see it." she threw her hands in the air with a shake of her head before pinning Mirabel back to her place with what was undoubtedly the angriest, most disgusted, despising look she had ever given Mirabel. With one finger she jabbed Mirabel in the chest, hard. "You are the reason this family has splintered. You are the reason our Casita is cracking. You are the reason the magic wavers. You are a curse of destruction upon this family. It has always been you." Each hard jab made Mirabel flinch back until finally she fell onto the steps behind her, unable to hide the cry of pain as she cradled her elbow which had hit a corner edge.

"No." her voice was hard in a way it had never once been. "It's not about me, it never has been." She trembled with unbridled fury as her courage blazed and the words came forth from her without a thought. "You control this family like we are your own personal dolls. We do not say, we do not do, we do not think without your permission. And for what? A life of hardships and pain? A life of wearing a mask and pretending to be perfect just so you are un-angered? A life of service is only worth it when the people you serve do not actively seek to take advantage of your goodwill. Only worth it when it does not drain you so much it drives you to your grave. Only worth it when it is appreciated and not scorned." She pushed herself to straighten her back and train her best Tia Pepa glare on Abuela. "I don't have a gift. You've not held the contempt, the disdain, the hatred you have for me because of this. I have done nothing in my life but try to earn your approval." she laughed bitterly, "Your whole family has done the same. You demand perfection. You don't allow mistakes. You don't allow choices. You are the reason this family has fractured and broken. You are the reason our Casita has begun to crack. You are the reason the magic is in danger. It has always been you."

As she looked up at her Abuela, staring her down, she realized it was not just her that was trembling. Hushed exclamations of upset had turned to terror and when she broke eye contact, she realized why. All around Casita was cracking, violently.

Without another word to Mirabel, Alma looked up to the precariously balanced candle of their miracle, shaking and almost tipping off its long-time resting place. Her mouth gaped as Antonio grabbed at her hand to drag her away while Mirabel turned and scrambled back up to try and save the candle. Luisa tried and failed to heft Isabela very far as she threw her towards the room, a vine leaving her outstretched hand and falling flat. Camilo only just managed to shapeshift and catch her before they collapsed into a pile together. The only one to make it to the roof was the unmagical Mirabel. Distantly, as she dove for the candle, she could hear Tia Pepa screaming for Dolores as she was dragged out by Casita in an attempt by the sentient home to save her people.

As she leapt from the rooftop back to the hallway, she could see Dolores, her hands over her ears and eyes screwed shut, having come as far as she could manage through the pain. The deafening sounds of Casita's cracks and destruction are disorientingly painful. The floor tilted under both of their feet just as the stairs turned to a slide for Mirabel, she watched in horror as the railing crumbled and her elder cousin twisted around, mis-stepping. She couldn't tell if it was her own scream of terror or Dolores's blind and panicked terror filled one that rung loudly in her own ears.

Mirabel's feet met the main level and she rolled with the impact, resting in a crouch as she came out of her jarring somersault. When she looked back up she was just in time to see Mariano, who was thankfully still close enough to throw himself forwards, catching her against him. It was like watching something happen in slow motion. He twisted in the air as he crashed into her, turning their bodies simultaneously so that he was the one to land on the hard ground, cushioning her fall with his own body. He groaned and Mirabel heard the screams of her mother rising desperately above the rest.

Unfortunately, in the moment she turned wildly to get a glimpse of her mother, Casita finished its crumbling demise. Ruins rained down, and Mirabel curled in on herself, surrounding the quickly fading candle as best she could. The dust choked her, and she coughed until she couldn't cough anymore. Mama. Papa. Dolores. Mariano. Tio Bruno. Tia Pepa. Camilo. Isabela. Luisa. Antonio. Abuela. Senora Guzman. Were they out? Were they safe? Had Casita managed to save any of the family? Tears began to trail, clearing a path down dusty cheeks. Would they come find her? Would they even want to after what Abuela said? She huddled under the propped furniture Casita had thrown her way, breathing shallowly as she cried under the ominously creaking items. She didn't dare blink, watching and hoping until the candle's light finally flickered out.